14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B July 4th, 2021
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
“He was amazed at their lack of faith.” Just a few verses before, as we heard last weekend, Jesus raised someone from the dead! He cured a woman simply because she touched his clothes with faith. Coming from the joy of being able to reward such faith, Jesus is astounded at the contrast, the hard-heartedness of his own friends and family that blocks them from seeing similar miracles.
As an aside, if you’re wondering about the brothers of Jesus, there is an explanation. As Catholics, it is doctrine that Mary remained a virgin and her only son is Jesus. This passage talks about “brothers,” but we need to realize that the Greek word being used there can also be used to talk about cousins and relatives more generally. Later in the Gospel, it tells us that James and Joses – two of Jesus’ “brothers” were the sons of a different Mary – it was a very common name – who was married to Clopas. Clopas was Jesus’ uncle. So, they are his cousins.
Back to the point: We know that Jesus is God. He could very well have known that this rejection was going to happen. In fact, he has pithy saying ready to use: “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” Jesus may have been amazed at the lack of faith in Nazareth, but it doesn’t seem he was totally surprised. Yet he went anyway. He preached anyway. He even did a few miracles anyway. Why? Because, as God tells the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading, “whether they heed or resist… they shall know that a prophet has been among them.” So it is meant to be with us.
At baptism, every Christian becomes a child of God, an adopted son or daughter who shares in Christ’s sonship. We also share in Jesus’ mission as priest, prophet, and king. You renew this mission verbally every Easter and symbolically every time you receive communion. All of us are called to offer prayer, worship and sacrifices to God. All of us are called to rule over our lives and whatever is entrusted to us according to God’s law and commandments – to be kings and queens on behalf of God through self-control. And all of us, not just me in the pulpit, are called to be prophets… called, like Ezekiel, to say “thus says the Lord God” to those around us in both word and deed.
And that includes in our country, whose Independence Day we celebrate this weekend. This country is our home; we are right to love it, to defend it, to work towards making it better. Patriotism is a virtue that is connected piety, which is the virtue – the good habit – of showing respect and doing our duty toward those we depend upon: God, parents, nation, and leaders.
God Bless America… we often say this as an expression of gratitude. And there’s much to be grateful for. Thanks to the freedoms we have in this country, it’s theoretically easy for us to carry out the prophetic demand of our baptism. We have the right to practice our faith and to speak publicly of Jesus Christ.
We should not, however, forget the powerful lesson of Jesus in his hometown, which is just a foreshadowing of the response of his entire nation… they used Roman law and guards, but it was the Jewish people – Jesus’ own people – that ultimately crucified Jesus. It doesn’t take long to see the ways in which our country, our own beloved people, reject us as Christians, as Catholics.
God Bless America… some people use this phrase almost like a demand or an assertion of the superiority of our country. As much as we wish it were true, the reality is that this country is not a “Christian Country.” Thanks be to God many Christians had a hand in establishing the country, but our society is also specifically built on the idea that there is no one religious foundation for it.
And when this conflict comes into play in our lives, when being a “good American” means bracketing our faith, downplaying Jesus Christ, or outright contradicting the truth in our words or actions, we should recall this scene from Nazareth. Jesus did not pretend he wasn’t a prophet. He didn’t downplay his mission. He continued to bear witness to the truth so that they would know a prophet was in their midst.
God Bless America… this is perhaps best said as a prayer, a request for God to bless our homeland despite it’s flaws. Yet prayer is not just a way of shirking our responsibility. You. Are. A. Prophet. If you are baptized, you are called to proclaim the gospel in your words and actions. When we pray for God’s blessing, we should also renew our commitment to cooperate with it.
God tells Ezekiel “I am sending you to… 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.” It is right for mankind to reject tyranny as our ancestors strove to do, but we cannot forget that our country’s origin is laced with the spirit of rebellion and that rebelling against legitimate authority is a sin… in fact it is the first sin. Americans can be quite “obstinate of heart” and are prone to rebel, even against God himself. Our country, for all it’s greatness, has many sins past and present that it needs to address.
Ezekiel’s career ended badly. Despite his fidelity to God’s message of warning, the Israelites rejected God until that God allowed Babylon to conquer and completely destroy their country, their city of Jerusalem, and even the Temple. But they knew a prophet was in their midst.
All countries fail eventually because every earthly home is just a reflection, a shadow of our true home in heaven. What will matter most is not how long a given country or government lasts. What will matter is whether or not it’s citizens recognized their true homeland… whether or not those prophets sent by God were faithful so that the rebellious would at least know a prophet has been among them.
God Bless America. Pray for our country. Love our country best by being the prophet you were called to be. You can either be one of the prophets or you can the one who rejects them. Is Jesus real enough to you for you to care? Do you know the faith well enough to proclaim and live it? Do you love your neighbor enough to share it? In the end, there is no middle ground, so if you’re not yet a prophet, what will you do to change that?