We Are Called! The Spirit of God is Upon Us! His Grace is Sufficient for Us! Power is Made Perfect in Weakness!
The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, for God sent us to bring glad tidings to the poor! God's grace is sufficient for us, for power is made perfect in weakness! A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house! And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—they shall know that a prophet has been among them! So many prophets among us! Are some of us prophets too today? Maybe we are. We know that God used Ezekiel and Paul as prophets, neither were perfect, not all wanted to listen to them or heed their warnings, even Jesus was not welcome in His own home town. He was limited as to what He could do there as can be seen in the Gospel. All showed some weakness. We are called though! Called to fix our eyes on God and plead for His mercy! He wants us to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. He does not want us to do it on our own on this Earth School journey. He is there for us! Even when we too act as disciples and bring the good news of Jesus to God's people, we need to know, many will not want to know anything about this, they will rebel and ignore us, they think they can do it on their own and do not need God, God has many stubborn people today too. Are you one of them? Or are you open to following God, imitating Jesus, living an upright, holy, and life of service for our Lord? We need to obey God, turn from sin, and realize like Paul, we often do have a thorn in our flesh in this life, a cross to carry like Jesus did. However, we are called! We are called to love one another! We are called to be light for the kingdom To live in the freedom of the city of God. We are called to act with justice. We are called to love tenderly. We are called to serve one another. To walk humbly with God!
Reading 1
Ezekiel 2:2-5
As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me
and set me on my feet,
and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:
Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites,
rebels who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.
Hard of face and obstinate of heart
are they to whom I am sending you.
But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD!
And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—
they shall know that a prophet has been among them.
Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
R. (2cd) Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven —
As the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,
for we are more than sated with contempt;
our souls are more than sated
with the mockery of the arrogant,
with the contempt of the proud.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Brothers and sisters:
That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Cf. Luke 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Mark 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
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