Feb. 4, 2015 Wednesday: 4th Week in Ordinary Time B
Feb. 4, 2015 Wednesday: 4th Week in Ordinary Time B
1. Preparation
How am I really feeling? Lighthearted? Heavy-hearted? I may be very much at peace, happy to be here. Equally, I may be frustrated, worried or angry. I acknowledge how I really am. It is the real me that the Lord loves.
2. Today's Scripture (Mark 6:1-6)
Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 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 offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
3. Reflection (www.sacredspace.ie)
Jesus ‘was amazed at their unbelief’. Do I sometimes amaze God by my unbelief? Do I bring God down to my own small size, so that I am no longer open to wonder? And do I diminish other people? The Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, has the challenging line, ‘He had the knack of making men feel as small as they really were, which meant, as great as God had made them.’ Can I do that? Or do I diminish myself, so that I am afraid to use my gifts, afraid to respond when the Holy Spirit prompts me to be kind, to speak out, or to intervene in awkward situations?
4. Prayer
Lord, save me from spoiling the lives of others or my own. Let me amaze you a little by responding more often to the gentle calls of grace!
1. Preparation
How am I really feeling? Lighthearted? Heavy-hearted? I may be very much at peace, happy to be here. Equally, I may be frustrated, worried or angry. I acknowledge how I really am. It is the real me that the Lord loves.
2. Today's Scripture (Mark 6:1-6)
Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 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 offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
3. Reflection (www.sacredspace.ie)
Jesus ‘was amazed at their unbelief’. Do I sometimes amaze God by my unbelief? Do I bring God down to my own small size, so that I am no longer open to wonder? And do I diminish other people? The Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, has the challenging line, ‘He had the knack of making men feel as small as they really were, which meant, as great as God had made them.’ Can I do that? Or do I diminish myself, so that I am afraid to use my gifts, afraid to respond when the Holy Spirit prompts me to be kind, to speak out, or to intervene in awkward situations?
4. Prayer
Lord, save me from spoiling the lives of others or my own. Let me amaze you a little by responding more often to the gentle calls of grace!
