"THEY TOOK OFFENSE AT HIM."

Homily for February 3^rd, 2016: Mark 6:1-6.

When Jesus returns to Nazareth, he speaks in the synagogue with an eloquence and power which astonish his hearers. “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary?” they ask. Those last three words suggest a hostile insult. In Jewish usage a man is normally identified with his father’s name: in Jesus’ case, “son of Joseph.” So the brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned here, and elsewhere in the gospels, are not necessarily full siblings. “They took offense at him,” Mark tells us.

People are still taking offense at Jesus today. They take offence, for instance, when they hear Jesus speaking about marriage as exclusively the union of one man and one woman, terminable only by death. When they hear our wonderful new Pope saying that we must also remember to be kind and compassionate to people who have difficulty living up to Jesus’ standards, they rejoice that at least this pope, unlike his mean and heartless predecessors, finally “gets it” and is starting to change Church teaching accordingly.

That is pure wishful thinking and utter nonsense. Pope Francis has changed nothing. “I am a son of the Church,” he said shortly after his election. He teaches exactly what his predecessors have taught. A professor at Notre Dame University wrote an article, which the New York Times was only too happy to print (no surprise there!), suggesting that Pope Francis might soon tell us that there were cases when abortion was perfectly OK. What nonsense! 

Jesus responds to those who take offense at him with words that have become proverbial: “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.”

Mark concludes his report of Jesus’ home visit by writing: “So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there … He was amazed at their lack of faith.” It is faith which opens the door to the action of God in our lives. What prayer could we better offer in this Mass than that of the man seeking healing from Jesus, who prayed: “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”