Tag: <span>Rejection</span>

July 30, 2021July 28, 2021

Apparently Powerless

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

In today’s gospel, we see Jesus frustrated at the inability of those from his own town to recognize and accept His mission, and unable to perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

We may wonder why it is that, as Jesus says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” (Interestingly Moses, through whom God is working in the first reading, was largely exempted from this phenomenon in the divine plan; though a Hebrew, he had been exiled from his own people as a baby.)

The gospel provides ample clues as to the reasoning for this hometown rejection of prophets, as it cites the people’s familiarity with Jesus’ background and kin. Bottom line: They knew Jesus’ human normalcy and ordinariness; in their minds, prophets were supposed to be something utterly different, in some ways superhuman. All flaming chariots, glowing faces, spontaneously combusting sacrifices, and tablets shattering portentously on the ground.

But Jesus, who was to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s suffering servant prophecy, was not exempt from the human condition and its limitations in any sense. While He never sinned, the limitations deriving from the penalty for original sin affected Him as much as any other, by His own eternal design and will.

Jesus’ subjection to these limitations in His own regard led to a lack of faith among the people of His town. And later, to further discourage faith in Him, it is these limitations that the Pharisees throw at Him at His crucifixion: “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!”

It is the experience of these same limitations and penalties that threaten to erode our faith in Jesus, also. As we suffer in life, and behold the chaos that seems constantly to befall humankind, we can unconsciously or consciously consider that Jesus is powerless against these. With His coming, none of these sufferings and limitations on earth were eliminated. Did He really do anything at all? Where is His power?

The truth is that confident power often manifests itself in restraint. Jesus, the Omnipotent, did not come to impose a reversal of original sin or personal sin, with all their earthly consequences and effects, upon us. He came to open a door, to allow us individually to choose the obedience that Adam and Eve had rejected on our behalf. And on those who do choose Him and that door, He confers immense, even supernatural dignity, and power–power to become children of God (cf. Jn. 1:12).

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for staunch and unyielding protection from the negative influences of the base and the banal on your faith and trust in Him. Ask Him to increase that faith and trust every day, by whatever means He chooses, whether those involve beautiful gifts or difficult suffering.

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May 8, 2021April 22, 2021

Rejection

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The spread of Christianity in the early Church was messy. Paul and Barnabas were in the midst of spreading to the new Gentile Christians the happy news that they didn’t need to be circumcised–but then, Paul orders his new companion Timothy circumcised so as not to upset the Jews. Also, while it is beautiful that they are led very directly and explicitly by the Holy Spirit, that Spirit is not leading them into every place to preach, at least not yet–according to the first reading, He explicitly directs them away from certain places.

Even after Jesus’ Resurrection, even after Pentecost, the world is a dangerous place for Christianity; the pervasive culture is against the Gospel. Then, and now. It is tough to navigate.

As Jesus explains it in today’s gospel: “Because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.”

The Church teaches us clearly and explicitly in its social doctrine that as Catholics, we are called to make the world as just a place as we possibly can, bringing the principles of the Gospel into public life.

We can point to times in history when this effort has enjoyed some degree of success. There are kings and queens who have been saints…and in the Western world, we have enjoyed for many years the freedom to practice our faith.

But we should not be surprised, much less discouraged, when the world hates Christianity and all it stands for, and us by extension. This fact sits squarely within God’s providential plan. He knew it, planned for it: That the world by and large would reject Him until the end of time. In the midst of this hatred, though, He calls His chosen ones to Himself.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for patience and serenity in the midst of this inimical world, which in its majority rejects His teaching. Tell Him you give Him your whole life and your whole self, that He may leverage you to help with the salvation of His chosen ones.

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April 25, 2021April 8, 2021

The Cornerstone

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

We hear this theme over and over during the Easter season. Consider it: This theme is not about salvation, directly. It is also not so much about Resurrection from the dead as such.

What it directly speaks to, over and over again in this season, is the absolutely pivotal place Jesus has in human history through His victory, and how that place was attained specifically through the rejection of the craftsmen of human history. For Jesus, rejection is the path to critical relevance.

It is not much of a leap to identify that this metaphor speaks not only of Christ, but of the Christian as well. “If the world has hates you, realize that it hated me first,” says Jesus to His disciples in Jn. 15:18. So too, then, while Christ is the one true Cornerstone, through the rejection of the world we take our place as critical foundational stones for the salvation of humanity.

Every saint has the glorious calling and role to bring many others to heaven who were not previously on the path there. Every saint becomes one of these foundational stones. When we consider this, a Christian life aimed solely at avoiding grave sin makes no sense. We must take advantage of the glorious opportunity of our calling, to become saints, true intimates of Jesus, redemptive partners with Him, for the salvation of many.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus brazenly for a share in His glory. Tell Him that you want the eternal glory that He offers, not the glory that the world provides. And when He asks you, as He did the Sons of Thunder, “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?”, answer like them: “I can.” (Cf.

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April 14, 2021April 14, 2021

Not Playing for the Crowd

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

After Pentecost, God ardently desired for Jesus’ disciples to spread the word about Him and (as the angel put it in today’s first reading) about “this life” (that is, the Christian life). That is why He sent the angel to usher them out of the jail cell.

If we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, we will likewise ardently long to share Jesus Christ and Christianity with others.

But, Jesus Himself provides a healthy reality check in the Gospel. Although He says the words looking back on His own coming among the Jewish people, we can imagine the same words stated by Him as glorious Judge at the end of time: “And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”

Those of us who know and love Jesus, who have decidedly opted for Him, sometimes find it hard to understand how anyone in their right mind could decline His invitation to complete fulfillment and the fullness of life in Him.

We should not expect a different reception from what Jesus Himself encountered, however, when we strive to share the Gospel. Most will prefer darkness to light, because their works are evil. Jesus never expected the majority to welcome Him with open arms. He came for those whom He had chosen, and who would choose Him, and for Him, this is worth it. It should be worth every sacrifice to us as well.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you understand the value of the complete, eternal fulfillment of a single soul. Ask Him to grant you patience with rejection, and renewed determination for evangelization.

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February 3, 2021January 21, 2021

Really?

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Jesus was amazed at people in today’s gospel, and not in a good way. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

And well He might be. It is clear from the passage that his audience in his native place (presumably, Nazareth) not only heard Him and recognized what He said to be profound and wise; they also saw marvels wrought by His hands.

And after all that, instead of excited, they’re just annoyed. They’re sour from envy: He’s “better than them” and it bothers them. He was born of the local townsfolk, just like them. Why should He be anything special.

While He acknowledges this as part of God’s plan by stating that a prophet is never welcome in his home town, Jesus remains amazed. How can people be so blind to such an incredible gift, when it is staring them in the face?

The first reading from Hebrews effectively warns us that this will be our lot as well. God’s plan for us, too, will lead us to unsavory places with very low-minded people. Perseverance is what the reading urges. Stay the course. For as unseemly as may be much of what we must pass through on earth, in imitation of our Savior, what is waiting for us will be far more than worth it.

And the reward that the reading describes as awaiting us is to “see the Lord.” Indeed, theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas define Heaven as just that, no more, no less: the Beatific Vision, that is, to see the Lord. But it is to see Him in such glory that we cannot here imagine, and to participate in that glory with Him.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for the gift of perseverance, to stick it out with Him, never to falter or flag. Ask Him to send the Holy Spirit into your heart with His gift of fortitude. Life here below is a slog, but we have sold everything to buy the pearl of great price, the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is worth every penny.

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January 2, 2021December 28, 2020

Opening Doors

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

As we approach the celebration of the Epiphany, which in addition to the arrival of the Magi, also commemorates the revelation of the Incarnate Word to all nations, we see in our readings references to that revelation–and also, even its earliest manifestations, resistance to it on the part of the world. As we heard in the Gospel at Christmas Midnight Mass, “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”

Even before Jesus Christ was on their radar, the Pharisees were already questioning and doubting His great herald, John the Baptist, as we see in today’s gospel.

And in today’s first reading from the First Letter of John, we hear the apostle speak of those who reject Christ, and He admonishes them: “Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father.”

Many of the people we deal with day to day are pleasant and friendly, and our superficial dealings with them are agreeable and uneventful. So, sometimes we forget that this drama is the one that plays out in every human heart: Jesus Christ reveals Himself, sometimes clearly, sometimes in a manner that is blurred by human sin, and each person decides to accept or reject Him. And many, even many persons we might consider otherwise pleasant, choose to reject Him. To the extent that this choice becomes permanent, they reject their eternal happiness. For, “Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father.”

Thankfully, in the midst of this often tragic dichotomy wherein Jesus comes “to what is His own, but His own people do not accept Him,” we have a role to play, to help make things better.

When we sincerely and consistently offer ourselves to Jesus every day in our time of prayer and through the fulfillment of our daily duty, and ask Him to leverage that offering for the welfare of those who do not know Him or reject Him, it gives Him “license” to push into hearts a little harder without transgressing human freedom. The gift of our freedom to Him opens doors to hearts whose freedom alone may be too weak to open those doors. Thus, we are cooperators in salvation, and every day of our lives has profound meaning.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider with Jesus the example of Mary, whose gift of self at the Annunciation, at the Cross, and every day in between augmented the reach of His infinite merits by standing in for weak human freedom. Ask Jesus to make you “part of Mary’s team” in assisting Him, through your gift of self each day.

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December 31, 2020December 24, 2020

Planning for Rejection

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Today’s gospel could provide the basis for infinite meditation, because it eloquently lays out the entire context of the Incarnation of God, including His reception within the world. Little need be said; savoring this passage, line by line, is sufficient reflection in itself.

There is pathos contained in these lines. “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”

The Word of God, prior to taking flesh, knew full well that He was coming into a world that would reject Him. A world that would be full, to borrow from today’s first reading, of antichrists that shun the invitation of Jesus.

The attitude of the world in its rejection of Christ can scandalize us and make us feel lonely, maybe even occasionally test our faith. But it need not shock us. Christ knew that this would be the attitude that would fill the world at His coming.

And He came anyway.

The next line in the Gospel passage tells us why: “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” The Word of God took on flesh with a tragic desire to save every single person, since there is not a single person created with the God-given destiny of damnation. But He also knew, long before the Annunciation, that only a relatively few would accept His invitation to the transformed, exalted life that brings with it eternal happiness.

And He came anyway.

In the end, because He knew ahead of time the number of the “chosen,” of those who would accept His invitation, it is these in particular for whom He has come. All of the rest of the drama of rejection was worth it to Him as He contemplated saving, redeeming, transforming, and exalting you and me.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Thank Jesus over and over for taking flesh, in spite of the foreseen enormous push-back of the world. Thank Him for contemplating rejection from the vantage point of eternity, and for embracing that rejection for you.

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