July 07, 2012
Saturday
Anticipated Sunday Mass
(Fourteenth
Sunday in Ordinary Time)
by Rev. Fr. Stephen Mifsud (MSSP –
Quezon City)
MSSP House / Mass for the poor
1 He went away from there and came to his
own country; and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the sabbath he began to teach in
the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did
this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are
wrought by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses
and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took
offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his
own kin, and in his own house." 5 And he could do no mighty work there,
except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their
unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
HOMILY
Most of us know the
definition of an "expert": anyone who comes from more than fifty
miles away or five hundred miles dressed in fine clothes. We seem to
have a problem with closeness, with the ordinary, with the
everyday. We percieve those around us as they have nothing to
contribute to us.
Why? Sometimes
we say “Who does he think he is!”, Sometimes
we are jealous of the gifts God may have given to others and not to us? And so
we reject their suggestions, their help and by rejecting them it is we who
loose.
I have a personal
experience of a 15 year old young man, Saviour, was attending our weekly prayer
meeting and Sunday mass. His parents at home were having hard time,
they quarrelled frequently, had so much tension at work in their
business. Saviour used to invite his parents on Sunday for the mass
but they never had time. Once, they decided to come with
him. What happened ?? They did not say “who does he think he
is?” No ... although he was their son ... they listened and went to
the mass and continued going. They started going also going the
prayer meetings on Mondays and are active members in the MSSP Lay Community..
and today they say... our son saved our lives... but the truth is not only
their son saved their life and marriage but their openness, their humility to
listen to someone less important than them.
God
does not speak only through experts and movie stars. God is all
around us, speaking to us through the most unlikely people.
- God speaks through your children,
sometimes through a disabled person or someone you have low regard to
him/her.
- If you are still student, God speaks
not only through the teachers but also through your
classmates.
Some days ago I was
having a spiritual direction to one of the youths. And after I held the hands
of this young person and prayed for him, he asked me whether he can pray
for me... I didn’t say “who do you think you are to pray on a priest” but said
“of course”... Believe me it was such a beautiful prayer coming from his heart
that I could feel its coming from God... he is still young, still discovering
his faith but God spoke through him.
The people we heard
in the Gospel when Jesus spoke to them “They took offense at Him”.
Why?
For them Jesus was
a common man, son of a carpenter. They couldn’t see
beyond. They couldn t believe that his words are powerful even if
they saw some miracles they wouldn’t accept it. Jesus was inviting
them to go beyond what they knew about him and to enter into a relationship of
faith. To believe that God uses the weakness to show his
strength. As st. Paul says today: “Sapagkat kung kalian ako mahina, saka naman ako malakas.”
So let us be with our ears and
hearts open to listen to everyone as everyone can be the voice of God to us.
And not to reject the prophets that God sends us but be humble enough to listen
and act on what God is telling us through them.
