Readings: Heb. 12:4-7.11-15, Ps.103, Mark 6:1-6
Rev.
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
NEVER LOOK
DOWN ON PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR HUMBLED
BACKGROUND
In
life people are quick to neglect and look down on others, who they believed
cannot offer them anything good at the moment. They are quick to forget that
everyone, no matter the present condition is a potential instrument for God's
blessings. This is the ugly attitudes of the people of Nazareth in our Gospel
passage today.
For
when Jesus came to his home town and taught the people in the synagogue in such
a way that they were astonished, but instead of embracing the message of Jesus,
they treated him with contempt and in their pride they said: ‘Where did this
man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son,
surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers and sisters
here with us? Where did he get all these?’ And they would not accept him. But
Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his
own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of
faith and he marvelled because of their unbelief.
Thus,
out of pride and contempt the people rejected the blessings God has for them.
And like the prophets of old, Jesus was not accepted by the very people to whom
he had been sent. Because the people showed only little faith, he was only able
to cure a few of the sick. But he went on to teach in other villages, while
there were few great work done in his hometown. So, if he is not allowed to do
good where he would, he must do it some other place.
Therefore,
he had to move on, he did not insist on convincing those whose minds were
closed. Consequently, they missed out the blessings he is offering them. So in their pride they treated him with
contempt. Today this kind of ugly attitude is what stops people from doing
good, because they don’t want to be treated with contempt and as a result, a
lot of people have been deprived of their blessings out of human pride and contempt.
Dear
friends, do not treat anyone with contempt, for everyone is a potential
instrument of God’s blessings and favour. And if we want to make a difference
in life, we should be ready to ignore what people are saying about us now, we
have to forget our past failures and our humble beginning. People may not
appreciate us now, they may even say all kinds of things about us, just to
humiliate and discourage us.
But we
should not give up, for we are told in our first reading that in the fight
against sin, we have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death and
when the Lord corrects us, we should not treat it lightly or get discouraged
when he reprimands us. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he
punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. God is treating us as his
sons and daughters, of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, but
later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness.
Therefore,
we should put all our obstacles behind us and work hard for our dreams, give
our time to it, sacrifice our sleep and comfort, sweat for it, plan for it,
overcome all our terrors of opposition, enduring pains and obstacles, with the
help of God we will succeed and become a source of God's blessings. Then we
will sing joyfully to God our strength and all the people will gather about us
in praise of our God. And they will say: Is not this the Carpenter's sons or
daughters? Where then did they get all these? Yes, that's who we are, for Jesus
is the Carpenter of our success and salvation.
LET US
PRAY: Almighty God, oftentimes in our pride we treat people with contempt
because of their humble background, give us the grace to realize that everyone
is a potential instrument of your blessings and favour to humanity, and as we
struggle towards our goals, may you crown all our efforts and sacrifices with
success. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy New Month.
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