14th Sunday: Prophets and the truth

(Tissot: Jesus rejected at Nazareth)

"He was amazed at their lack of faith"

Mark 6: 1-6

The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070818.cfm

We often find ourselves quoting famous lines from favorite movies. One of the most often quoted lines takes us back to a military movie entitled “A Few Good men” in which Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise are the main characters.  In one very passionate courtroom scene where Cruise is questioning the Colonel, played by Nicholson, Cruise strikes a nerve and challenges Nicholson on his testimony.  Nicholson explodes in anger and strikes back at Cruise with force as only he can do: “Truth?” Nicholson screams out, “You can’t handle the truth!” Everyone loves that line and we may have used it a number of times in other situations.

But, the point made is indeed true.  Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable, challenging, embarrassing, and certainly not always what we want to hear.  Often we would much rather live in our familiar: “same old/same old” world.  In fact, when it comes to change itself, it can be hard: “If things are working well, why change them?” 

In ancient Israel the life of the prophets found themselves called to the ever unattractive way of speaking the truth to a people who resisted with force. .  There is no doubt that the prophets have made their mark on Biblical history. Yet, they were among the most popular characters that inhabited that land.   

Prophets were the conscience of Israel and that conscience was constantly challenged and called to conversion; to change and penitence; away from the familiar to the new.  Those called knew they would be asked to lay their lives on the line and that they would find opposition to God’s voice speaking through them.  Yet, God did not abandon his prophets to their own; he remained with them in the power of his Spirit. In this Sunday’s readings we hear of this with both Ezekiel and Jesus himself

Ezekiel is told by God: “I’m sending you to rebels who have rebelled against me.” They are: “. . . hard of face and obstinate of heart.” Ezekiel was called to go and deliver this message and, as God said, “. . . they shall know that a prophet has been among them.” In other words, whether they listen or not, at least they will hear the message and be offered the choice to heed the words or reject them.  They will at least hear the truth. 

Then the Gospel hears of Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth.  By now his reputation had preceded him and one would think that many would be proud of his accomplishments.  This young man has done well.  We hear his eloquent words, his inspiring insights in to the Scriptures and we hear of wonders worked through him.  He makes us proud! 

Yet, the opposite was clearly true.  His very mission, now expanded far beyond his ordinary life in Nazareth, was a threat to his own townsfolk. Those who knew him growing up, who knew Joseph and Mary, now basically ask: Who does he think he is? Where did he get all this knowledge? His presence here upsets the same old/same old existence so let’s drive him out! 

Tough words indeed but essentially Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth, a place he sadly most likely never returned to, for their “lack of faith” became an obstacle to their greater good, may be more familiar to us than we would want to admit. 

If the life of a prophet and the prophetic mission itself is to call others to conversion, then Jesus was right in line with the prophets long before him.  With one exception, he was the Prophet the prophets themselves spoke about – the savior, the voice of God himself living among the people.  That voice of challenge, mercy, forgiveness and conversion of life that our Lord indeed has been for all was offered in ancient times and the same continues today.   

To go from the familiar to the new and away from an ordinary rut in our life is tough. Moving, leaving family and familiar surroundings is one thing but recognizing something in my life that may be unhealthy or missing is another.   Sometimes we have to face the truth about our need for change; a truth that we need to hear not necessarily that we want to hear. Can I handle the truth? 

The people of Nazareth may be a good symbol of a skeptical age.  We know the facts about things and we order our lives in a particular pattern of behavior.  They knew the facts about Jesus early life: who his relatives were, where he lived, what he did (carpenter trade), and so they were saying, you’re no better than us; you’re like the rest of us and how dare you become more than that.  You’re not the expert! Of course he was far more than they assumed yet they rejected their own way out. “Don’t upset the apple cart,” as the saying goes.  Don’t insert “God talk” in my life or remind me of what I know I should be doing but am not. 

Where can we prophecy?  Religious polls and studies tell us that among Catholics today for example, approximately 30% of Catholics regularly attend Church.  This means that 70% of Catholics simply never show up at Sunday services or only rarely do so.  Yet, we were all baptized into Christ Jesus as “priest, prophets, and kings.” The very nature of our Christian mission is to be prophetic.  To live by the truth and call it when we see it. 

There are multiple reasons given why so many have become lax in their sacramental practice of the faith.  Yet, this alone lays out a mission prophetic in nature for that faithful 30%.  Who here does not know someone who falls in that 70%? If you raise your hand, I frankly doubt your sincerity.  We all do.  Often, most often, they are family members: children, spouses, relatives and neighbors, brothers or sisters.

Don’t we then have a mission to somehow be prophetic to our brothers and sisters in the faith? Not in a way that beats people over the head or lays the guilt trip.  But to show how attractive and beautiful the Church can be. To uncover some of the false assumptions and to say that we are all “sinners trying to be saints.” To show the importance and benefits of the Eucharist and the shared Word in the community of faith.  To call others to a mission which lives out the need to evangelize the world by our lives and to offer ourselves in selfless service to others. 

The prophets were called to live by the truth; to share the truth and to call others to see what they’re missing.  In this way they hear the invitation of Jesus to embrace something better; more in line with God’s desire that we live full lives. 

We have the Holy Spirit with us.  We all do and through our personal prayer and personal witness to the truth of the faith, we can provide an example of something better than empty pursuits or limited satisfaction. 

The fact that we are not perfect and flawed ourselves helps us to understand the human experience.  We hear Paul reflecting on his “thorn in the flesh” as a grace rather than a curse for it leads us all to dependence on God’s grace rather than our own power.  This is at the heart of a prophet.  He takes God’s voice, not his own, to others. 

The celebration of the Eucharist is our key to touch the divine in the midst of the ordinary: bread and wine and word.  Here Christ comes as our food, calling us beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary, his will and his way. 

The truth is that God loves us beyond what we can totally comprehend.  That he has sent the greatest Prophet of all, his own Son, who shows us a way out and a way forward.  That Son reveals the truth of God and the truth of opportunity in our life.  Despite our sin he always shows us the open door: his mercy and forgiveness.

Why would anyone fear that truth? 

For by your Word you created the world

and you govern all things in harmony.

You gave us the same Word made flesh as Mediator,

and he has spoken your words to us

and called us to follow him. 

He is the way that leads us to you,

the truth that sets us free,

the life that fill us with gladness. 

(Preface: Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs III)