Weekly Mass Discussion Thread #44 | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

@Corinthian @khaoskid664 @FBIshill could one of you ping Catholics and Christians for me? I left all my ping groups like a week ago and haven't been re-admitted into them yet.

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First Reading

As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me

and set me on my feet,

and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:

Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites,

rebels who have rebelled against me;

they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.

Hard of face and obstinate of heart

are they to whom I am sending you.

But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD!

And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—

they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

-Ezekiel 2:2-5

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (2cd) Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

To you I lift up my eyes

who are enthroned in heaven —

As the eyes of servants

are on the hands of their masters.

R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

As the eyes of a maid

are on the hands of her mistress,

So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,

till he have pity on us.

R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,

for we are more than sated with contempt;

our souls are more than sated

with the mockery of the arrogant,

with the contempt of the proud.

R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

-Psalms 123:1-2, 2, 3-4

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

That I, Paul, might not become too elated,

because of the abundance of the revelations,

a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,

to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.

Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,

but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

for power is made perfect in weakness."

I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,

in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.

Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,

hardships, persecutions, and constraints,

for the sake of Christ;

for when I am weak, then I am strong.

-2 Corinthians 12:7-10

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Responsorial Psalm

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

for he sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Luke 4:18

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Gospel

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.

When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,

and many who heard him were astonished.

They said, "Where did this man get all this?

What kind of wisdom has been given him?

What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!

Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,

and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?

And are not his sisters here with us?"

And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them,

"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place

and among his own kin and in his own house."

So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,

apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.

He was amazed at their lack of faith

-Mark 6:1-6

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The Gospel reading is pretty funny. Jesus can't perform miracles in his hometown because to everyone there, he's just the carpenter who quit his job at 30 to wander around aimlessly.

What sticks out to me from all the readings today most is the second reading. "When I am weak, then I am strong." One of the greatest mistakes a Christian can make is believing that he is holy. Any grace one has comes from God, not from oneself. I'm reading Saint Augustine's confessions right now and he makes the same point but about himself. All the wisdom he has is because God has gifted it to him. And this is why Saint Paul says he is strong when he is weak, as when he is most honest about his own incapacity for good, he is most able to see God's grace.