14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) - 7 July
7th July 2024
“Christ does not force our will, He takes what we give Him. But He does not give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield ourselves entirely to Him.” - St Teresa of Avila
A reflection on today's Gospel by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"It was understandable that the people of Nazareth, who had seen Jesus grow up among them, were surprised to hear Him proclaim Himself the anointed of God, of whom Isaiah spoke. They now had a double alternative before them: either they could accept Him as the fulfilment of the prophecy; or they could rebel. The privilege of being the home town of the long-awaited Messiah and the One Whom the Heavenly Father in the Jordan proclaimed His Divine Son was too much for them, because of their familiarity with Him. They asked: ‘Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary?’ (Mark 6:3)
"They believed in God in a kind of way, but not the God Who touched their neighbourhood, entered into close dealings with them, and lifted hammers in the same trade shop. The same kind of snobbery that was found in the exclamation of Nathanael: ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ now became the prejudice against Him in His own city, and among His own people. He was indeed the Son of a carpenter, but also of the Carpenter Who made heaven and earth. Because God had taken upon Himself a human nature, and had been seen in the lowliness of a village artisan, He failed to win the respect of men.
"Our Blessed Lord ‘was astonished at their unbelief.’ Twice in the Gospels, He is said to have ‘marvelled’ and to have been ‘astonished’: once because of a Gentile’s faith; a second time because of His townsmen’s lack of faith. From His own people He might have reckoned on some touch of sympathy; some predisposition to welcome Him. His wonder was the measure of His pain, as well as of their sin, as He told them: ‘It is only in His own country, In His own home, And among His own kindred, that a Prophet goes unhonoured.’ (Mark 6:4)
"In order to bring home to their souls that their self-esteem was wounded, and that if His own received Him not, He would take His salvation elsewhere, He placed Himself in the category of Old Testament prophets, who themselves received no better treatment. He quoted two examples from the Old Testament. Both were a foreshadowing of the direction that His Gospel was to take, namely, to embrace the Gentiles."
(Life of Christ)
Special Act of Love
O good and merciful Saviour, it is the desire of my heart to return Thee love for love. My greatest sorrow is that Thou art not loved by all men, and, in particular, that my heart is so cold, so selfish, so ungrateful. Deeply sensible of my own weakness and poverty, I trust that Thine Own grace will enable me to offer Thee an act of pure love. And I wish to offer Thee this act of love in reparation for the coldness and neglect that are shown to Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love by Thy creatures. O Jesus, my sovereign good, I love Thee, not for the sake of the reward which Thou hast promised to those who love Thee, but purely for Thyself.
I love Thee above all things that can be loved, above all pleasures, above myself and all that is not Thee, protesting in the presence of Heaven and earth that I will live and die purely and simply in Thy holy love, and that if to love Thee thus I must endure persecution and suffering, I am perfectly satisfied, and I will ever say with St Paul: “Nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ.”
O Jesus, Supreme Master of all hearts, I love Thee, I adore Thee, I praise Thee, I thank Thee, because I am now all Thine Own. Rule over me, and transform my soul into the likeness of Thyself, so that it may bless and glorify Thee forever in the abode of the Saints. Amen.
Sweet Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us and on our erring brethren. Amen. 💐💖🙏