To read the texts click on the texts: Ezek 2:2-5; 2Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6
When I go to a place where I am not known, the first question I am
often asked is “Father, where are you from?” I reply to this question not in
words, but by pointing my thumb and looking upwards at the sky. The person who
asks the question will look at my thumb and glance upwards and then respond,
“Father, we have all come from heaven, but where are you from?” My response is
to continue to point upwards without saying a word. One important reason why I
do this is because of what we hear in the Gospel text of today.
The Jesus, who has come to his home town, is a Jesus who has been mighty in word and deed. He is a Jesus who has exorcised a demon, healed numerous
people including a leper, a paralytic, and a man with a withered arm. He is a
Jesus who has calmed a storm, healed a woman with a haemorrhage and even raised
Jairus’ daughter from the dead. He is also a Jesus who has spoken mightily
through his word and revealed in simple language that even the unlettered can
understand the secret of the kingdom
of God
A similar situation is addressed in the first reading of today. Ezekiel
is asked to go to his own people and address them. He is to alert them of the
destruction of the Jerusalem
Temple
There are two dangers that the readings of today warn us about. The
first is that of our familiarity with the Lord. Since we may be cradle
Christians, we may tend to think we know everything about the Lord and thus,
set limits on what he can and cannot do. This danger is pointed out to Paul in
the second reading of today in which God instructs him to let God be God. He is
a human and must trust that God’s weakness is stronger than his strength and that
God’s foolishness is wiser than his wisdom. Paul realizes this and therefore can
boast about his weakness because he trusts in God’s strength.
The second danger that we are warned about today is Stereotyping. Stereotyping
people is common among many today. We stereotype on the basis of country,
state, religion, and caste. We tend to categorize people on these bases and so,
prejudge them much like the people of Jesus’ home town did. We lump all of one
kind together and look at them with prejudiced and jaundiced eyes. We do not
give them a chance to reveal their uniqueness, because once we “know” where
they are from, we think we “know” all there is to know about them. We close our
minds and eyes and ears and refuse to see and hear. We refuse to change our
opinion because of what we already “know”. “They are always like that”, “they
will never change”, and “what else can you expect from them” are some of the
responses which reflect this closed attitude. This kind of attitude leads to a
loss on both sides. We lose out on the individuality of the person we have
judged and he or she is not allowed to be the person that he or she is because
“We know”. Be careful of saying “I
know”. You may miss the Messiah.
Reasons to Believe in Jesus
ReplyDeleteReasons to believe Jesus is alive in a new life with God can be found in quotes from two prominent atheists and a biology textbook.
Thus the passion of man is the reverse of that of Christ, for man loses himself as man in order that God may be born. But the idea of God is contradictory and we lose ourselves in vain. Man is a useless passion. (Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology, New York: Washington Square Press, p. 784)
Among the traditional candidates for comprehensive understanding of the relation of mind to the physical world, I believe the weight of evidence favors some from of neutral monism over the traditional alternatives of materialism, idealism, and dualism. (Thomas Nagel, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False, location 69 of 1831)
And certain properties of the human brain distinguish our species from all other animals. The human brain is, after all, the only known collection of matter that tries to understand itself. To most biologists, the brain and the mind are one and the same; understand how the brain is organized and how it works, and we’ll understand such mindful functions as abstract thought and feelings. Some philosophers are less comfortable with this mechanistic view of mind, finding Descartes’ concept of a mind-body duality more attractive. (Neil Campbell, Biology, 4th edition, p. 776 )
Sartre speaks of the "passion of man," not the passion of Christians. He is acknowledging that all religions east and west believe there is a transcendental reality and that perfect fulfillment comes from being united with this reality after we die. He then defines this passion with a reference to Christian doctrine which means he is acknowledging the historical reasons for believing in Jesus. He does not deny God exists. He is only saying the concept of God is contradictory. He then admits that since life ends in the grave, it has no meaning.
From the title of the book, you can see that Nagel understands that humans are embodied sprits and that the humans soul is spiritual. He says, however, that dualism and idealism are "traditional" alternatives to materialism. Dualism and idealism are just bright ideas from Descartes and Berkeley. The traditional alternative to materialism is monism. According to Thomas Aquinas unity is the transcendental property of being. Campbell does not even grasp the concept of monism. The only theories he grasps are dualism and materialism.
If all atheists were like Sartre, it would be an obstacle to faith. An important reason to believe in Jesus is that practically all atheists are like Nagel and Campbell, not like Sartre.
by David Roemer
347-417-4703
http://www.newevangelization.info