May the Lord give you peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is 4th July 2021. We celebrate the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We reflect on Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; and the Gospel from Mark 6:1-6.
All the three-reading trying to address the answer to the question How Do We Handle Rejection?
Henri J.M. Nouwen once said “Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, as soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, “Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody.” … [My dark side says,] I am no good… I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.”
How do we handle rejection? The first reading expounds on how God warns Ezekiel about his call to be the prophet remains whether people respond or not. Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. “In the Second reading, St. Paul is strengthened when he felt rejected by the community of Corinth as he looks down on his weakness. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Jesus consoles us that as a prophet, we do not need to expect respect from our own. No prophet is accepted in his own town.
There is a story told that soon after Mother Teresa took over the house beside a Hindu temple in Calcutta where she cared for the destitute and dying, some people complained, accusing her of proselytism. They wanted her evicted and appealed to the police. When a senior police inspector went to the house to see the situation, he was both overwhelmed and appalled. The Officer was overwhelmed by the loving care that was being given to the most wretched of people and appalled by the terrible stench of disease and death. He went back to the critics and said he would evict Mother Teresa if they would be willing to take over her work. No more criticisms were heard. They were not prepared to empty themselves as she was.
Are we overreacting than acting when we are rejected, ignored, suppressed, and sidelined?
The reaction of Jesus: “A prophet is only despised in his own country among his own relations and in his own house.” He feels powerless to do any miracle even to his kith and kin. Lack of trust limits the potentiality of the other. Jesus moves to another place without being imprisoned by the reaction of people. Jesus never returned to Nazareth again.
The reaction of Paul: Paul shares a personal experience. He realized that his own weakness and limitation are not problems for God. God works in human frailty. “For it is when I am weak that I am strong.”
We become perfect, productive, and fruitful when we are willing to embrace our imperfection, work with impotence and pruning our unfruitfulness.
It is all about the way of look at things in a new way.
HOPE is the way to deal with rejection. Honest with our feelings. Optimistic in our approach. Progressive in our perspective. Erasing the toxic self-talk that goes on when we are rejected.
Rejection hurts so painfully but it does not need to hold us back. It is the feeling of not being accepted by those whom we love and admire and relate to. Rejection makes us feel lonely, jealous, and anxious.
Returning home and its shadows that haunting Jesus. Jesus wanted his hometown, Nazareth, to hear the Good New like Galilee. They were astonished and wondering at the teaching, yet they could not receive it due to their knowledge about His family. They failed to see who Jesus because of their vested interest.
Mark records the reaction of the people of Nazareth. Familiarity freezes every good thing about the person.
Familiarity breeds contempt. We get blinded when we get used to the goodness of the person. Unless we return to the root, we will miss the routes or the ways to reach the destination. Treasuring people and value them rewards us than measuring and manipulating them. It is easier to do nothing than to do something, it is easier to be negative than positive, easier to be destructive than creative, and that I am an amalgam of these contradictory tendencies. The Gospel strongly suggest refraining from judging people. Negativity is contagious and contaminates not only the person who has but it affects and spreads.
There is a longing to returning home during this pandemic. Jesus returns home. He was looked down upon as the carpenter, the son of Mary. But He returned as teacher and healer, but people did not accept Him and rejected Him. His homecoming was the most painful experience.
Paul’s prayer was answered, but not in the way he had expected. In prayer, he came to realize that God was powerfully present in and through this thorn in the flesh.
Whoever rejects us for any reason, they have to live with it. Even if the whole rejects us, our Loving God accepts us as we are and wishes to work through us. So let us constantly move on in our life from human rejection to the acceptance of God. Have a day full of blessings. God bless you.