Scripture of the DayMass Readings—Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses four thru seven & eleven thru fifteen;
Psalm One Hundred Three (R/. cf. seventeen), verses one & two, thirteen & fourteen, & seventeen & eighteen(a);
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter six, verses one thru six.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is rejected by the people of his own town. For as he says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.” But he astounded crowds throughout Galilee because he taught with authority.Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
As far as we can determine, Jesus was not formally trained in a rabbinic school, nor was he educated to be a temple priest or a scribe, nor was he a devotee of the Pharisees, the Saduccees, or the Essenes. He was, if I can use a somewhat anachronistic term, a layman. And this made his arrival on the public scene all the more astounding.
For this Nazarene carpenter with no formal religious education or affiliation began to speak and act with an unprecedented authority. To the crowds who listened to him preach, he blithely declared, “You have heard that it was said, but I say . . .” He was referring, of course, to the Torah, the teaching of Moses, the court of final appeal to any faithful rabbi; and therefore, he was claiming for himself an authority greater than that of Israel’s most significant teacher and lawgiver.
Saint Quote o' the Day
"If I were worthy of such a favor from my God, I would ask that He grant me this one miracle: That by His grace He would make of me a good man."
—St. Ansgar (801-865, feast: 3 February)
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