Today’s readings: Ezekiel 2, 2-5; 2 Corinthians 12, 7-10; Mark 6, 1-6

One of our major worries today whenever we analyse our culture is what we judge as an overtly adamant refusal, particularly on the ethical level, of the values of Christianity or even of any other religion.

In a very illusory way, for centuries we made ourselves believe that Christianity should be the religion of the State, that ideally we should be a confessional State because that would secure the status of religion in the lives of people. But all this goes against the very essence of our belief.

Jesus was not a founder of a new religion. He was a prophet and a prophet is never a man of the institution. We seem to forget the great truth that today’s readings reiterate that rejection is an essential component of the Christian message itself.

Very often we struggle to make the world around us believe that whatever we say about marriage, sexual behaviour, fiscal morality, racist attitudes and so on stands to reason and should be evident to all. The Scriptures give a different picture.

Like Ezekiel, Jesus was rejected in his hometown because the wisdom and power he showed in his doings seemed much above their expectations. Normally people in top positions are looked up to and much is expected of them. Hence they are criticised if they are not up to it. In the case of Jesus it’s a different story.

He himself was raising their expectations, trying to speak on a different wavelength, showing wisdom and power that went beyond what they expected. They were put off because it was a different teaching, yet many were astonished, acknowledging that what he was saying and doing was extraordinary.

A prophet is someone who indicates the way ahead, who goes beyond the boundaries even of institutionalised religion. Jesus was a scandal not because he was irreligious but because he refused to let religion turn into an ideology.

Basically Jesus Christ is the opposite of much of what we’ve made him to be, including our idea of a confessional State. Like Ezekiel, Jesus’ prophetic mission was destined to a hostile and uncomprehening world. On the one hand Ezekiel has much to fear because he was sent to a nation of rebels who will refuse to listen to what he had to say. On the other hand God leaves Ezekiel with no illusions.

The prophet is not afraid because he was overwhelmed by the spirit. It is never an easy task to face the rejection of one’s people. But it is only the spirit that can ease that out, that can make us stand up. Same thing which Paul says about grace that suffices in the face of turmoil.

To let God be God will never leave us the same. But that is exactly what the people of Nazareth did not want; they opted for normality which probably made them comfortable with themselves and with their perceptions of God. This continues to happen when, rather than have our fears be overwhelmed by him who has the power to redeem, we resort to the same old ways and reject the power that comes from above.

We fear a God who is invading and prefer to get on with our fears, unaware that the power of the spirit can easily be suffocated by religion itself. Just as it was the spirit that made Ezekiel stand up, so also it is only the spirit abiding in those who believe that empowers their voice as a public voice in society where truth and the common good are concerned. We read from Ezekiel that “Whether they listen or not, they shall know there is a prophet among them”.

The task of the prophet is not, at the end of the day, to persuade people but to bring them to see and realise for themselves. Rarely were the prophets brilliant in the art of persuasion. Persuasion is more the ambition of politicians or diplomats.

A prophet normally says things that are not evident to all, that are also rejected, but that endure in time because they are profoundly true.

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