Mark 6:1-6 is a short narrative about the work of Jesus among his kinsmen. While his reputation as a healer and an authoritative teacher has been growing in other parts of Galilee, he is met with coldness at home. It is also the first time in the Gospel of Mark that he applies the word "prophet" to designate himself as he sums up his ministry in his hometown: "A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his relations and in his own house." (JB)
- Reflect
- We know from our own experiences how familiarity makes us take certain things for granted. A new friend takes our attention and we forget a brother or a sister we've been living with all our lives. The moment we lose that brother or sister, we remember that more than the new friend, the brother (or sister) should have received more of our attention. But then it is already too late. Perhaps we've grown familiar with things of the faith that we tend to take them for granted and lose ourselves in the fad of the moment? How attentive have we become to the Word of God as it is addressed to us in the Sunday liturgy?
2. Jesus designating himself as "a prophet" is one of the first hints that he verbally gives about himself. Mark is anticipating here the identification that the the Christian community makes between Jesus and the Servant of Yahweh, that mysterious prophet whose Servant Songs we listened to during the liturgy of the Holy Week. That Jesus is rejected by his own relatives and folks should echo Isaiah 53:2-3
He grew up before us
like a tender shoot
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty
to attract us to him
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men
a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering...
- Reflect
- When we were baptized, we began to participate in the three-fold office of Christ (cf. CCC §783). Of these three offices, one is that of prophesy which we exercise in witnessing (CCC §904) evangelization (CCC §905) and in catechetics (CCC §906). Evangelization is the witness of life that also engages in dialogue as §905 reminds us:
- This witness of life is not the sole element in the apostolate;
the true apostle is on the lookout for occassions
of announcing Christ by word,
either to unbelievers ... or to the faithful. - In the exercise of our prophetic office, however, we can be sure that what Christ underwent as prophet, we will also undergo.
3. As an exercise: On a piece of paper (better yet, on a page of your journal) make a list of the moments when you consciously gave witness to your faith (e.g. you led a prayer before meals in a cafeteria). When you've finished the list, mark each one with a cross (x) if you were rejected then or a check mark if people approved of what you did. Then try to see which of those you have listed have drawn negative reactions. Then read this Sunday's second reading 2 Cor. 12:7-10 and dwell on the last verse.
