A THORN WAS GIVEN ME…

Ezekiel 2:2-5

2 And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them; and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ 5 And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among them.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

7 And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Mark 6:1-6

1 He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them.6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.  

MEDITATION

EZEKIEL THE PROPHET appears to have neglected his prophetic duties which led to him being awakened from his slumber by Yahweh who ordered him to fulfill his calling and mission to address the stubborn belligerent Israelites to depart from their ways, notwithstanding their  contumacious behavior!  

St PAUL THE APOSTLE is indeed a well versed scholar of the Torah, prophets and ‘Ketuvin’ also known as Writings which gifted him with the ability to reconcile the old covenant promises to the work of salvation brought about by Christ. Paul share his struggle with a personal bodily affliction which he surprisingly welcomed, because it shaped and reminded him to remain a humble servant of God and not to be too proud about his achievements or spiritual standing.

St MARK describe the response of Christs aquaintences, neighbors and fellow village community members when He delivered His maidan teaching in the local synogogue from the book of the prophet Isaiah after having completed His training and consecration as a Rabbi.Lk 4:17 A student of the Torah would refer to his teacher as “my master” which means Rabbi. Upon their ordination Catholic priests are known as father a word derived from the Greek word ‘pater’ or Abba which means teacher. Peter and Paul regularly used father as title in reference to their apostolic office as teachers. Acts 5:30,1 Cor 4:15

We observe a mixed reaction from the locals towards our Lords new standing to the extent that Jesus was only able to apply His ministry to the sick whereas those whose hearts were hardened because of jealousy or bitterness starved themselves from being reformed and redeemed! It is not uncommon to hear some Catholics refuse or delay the need to regularly submit to the sacrament of reconciliation or confession which can be considered a slap in the face of Christ who instituted this work of mercy and grace to absolve us from our mortal addictions and afflictions, sicknesses that are actually thorns in our flesh that hurts us! We are called to repent and submit to Christ Jesus, failing which we shall be denied heaven! 

LET US PRAY: Psalms 123:1-4

To thee I lift up my eyes, O thou who art enthroned in the heavens! 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he have mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Too long our soul has been sated with the scorn of those who are at ease, the contempt of the proud.

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days

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