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 offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, 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.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
You Can Most Certainly Go Home Again
In today’s Gospel, Jesus went back home to Nazareth and was met with unsettling incredulity, disdain and hostility. I am reminded of Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again. His novels were largely based on his own small-town upbringing in North Carolina, his journey out in the world and his homecoming. He kept his hometown as a beacon of hope for which he worked to make a name for himself. As he made his way back home, he was surprised and disheartened to discover that the townspeople were bitter and distant, even resentful, of his return. He was the one who changed while everyone remained the same. When we have a life-changing experience or something that affects change sometimes it’s difficult to remember that the journey is so personal and interior that we may leave others on a different footing. May we all be so bold in our love and contributions to the world.
—Ellen M. Walker, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Xavier University in Louisiana — the only Catholic HBCU in the US — and a lector at Saint Anthony of Padua in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Prayer
That is how it seemed to young George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train. And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there. It was only when he got there that his homelessness began.
—Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.