And they took offense at him

WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY (Mk 6,1-6)

Can a meek and humble at heart man, born into a poor family, with no apparent and visible human grandeur, be the bearer of a great mystery of salvation? Can Jesus, the son of a carpenter, be a great prophet? Can he also be the Messiah, the King expected by all? He can because God has always chosen simple people and has constituted them bearers of his voice. He can because Joseph is from the lineage of David, even though the reign of David has no longer existed for centuries. Humility and simplicity pose no problem. Even David was so humble and simple as to be deemed by his father not worthy to attend the banquet with Samuel: “Samuel did as the Lord had commanded him. When he entered Bethlehem, the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired, “Is your visit peaceful, O seer?” He replied: “Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet.” He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves and invited them to the sacrifice. As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is here before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel, who said, “The Lord has not chosen him.” Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any one of these.”

Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.” Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance. The Lord said, “There-anoint him, for this is he!” Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David (1Sam 16,1-13). Who was the first great king of Israel? A shepherd of sheep and goats. David didn’t make himself great. He was not great when he was anointed king. It is the Lord who made him great. It is He who makes great those chosen by Him. This truth is the essence of the faith of the people of God and without this truth there is no faith. For those of Nazareth, Jesus is a cause of scandal only because of the lack of knowledge of their history. They read the Scriptures, but only hear their words. They do not enter into the truth that is contained in them. Theirs is an empty, sterile reading of the Word of their God.

He departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

Today, if we are take offense at Christ Jesus, we are ashamed to name him in public, we refrain from making any reference to his relationship with the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Church and the salvation obtained in his name, the reason must be found in non-knowledge of the Scriptures. We quote the Gospel, but only in those phrases that justify our non-faith, non-truth and non-will to affirm the mystery of Christ the Lord, in which the mystery of man is. Scriptures are not the ones that are unclear. The hearts of those who read them and those who teach them are unclear. A distorted teaching of Scriptures will necessarily lead to a wrong, partial, incomplete, heretical and completely false view of Christ Jesus. From a false knowledge the scandal and every distancing towards Him will always be born. We get detached from Him.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints arrange that Christians know Christ according to full truth.