My Résumé

14th Sunday In Ordinary Time
05 July 2009



We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Ezekiel 2:2-5
The spirit came into me and made me stand up, and I heard the Lord speaking to me. He said, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. Till now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me. The sons are defiant and obstinate; I am sending you to them, to say, “The Lord says this.” Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 122:1-4

Second reading 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.’ So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

Gospel Mark 6:1-6
Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Reflection
By Gharri Tulabut

This is the first time for me to write a reflection for God-speak. And what a nice coincidence that this Sunday’s Gospel reading is about how prophets were rejected!

Since I am a new comer, allow me to introduce myself and let you know my credentials:

I am a sinner. In my 35 years of existence, I have committed too many mistakes. Although none of these mistakes are illegal or could be categorized as crimes, yet they are the ones a Christian will not be proud of.

Nice resume for a reflection writer huh? It doesn’t end there though as I did struggle to straighten my ways... and until now, the struggle goes on. And along the way as I fight to follow the right path to Christianity, I decided I wanted to evangelize. I wanted to start small, with my friends. I thought that if I will be able to lead at least one soul to righteousness, it will be a big success for me. But how will they even listen? First of all, I am not a good speaker. Second, my friends despise preaching. Third, they know my past. (Fourth … and the list goes on) Once they hear me talk about the Good News they will say: “What’s wrong with our friend? Why is he speaking about God? Weren’t we just drinking with him the other night? Isn’t he just a sinner like us?”

Sounds familiar?

Yes, I am one of them. But I will not let a dark past get in the way of my mission to spread the light. I will not let it be the chink in my armour. Instead, I will use these bad credentials as my weapon in gathering His sheep back to His herd. I will use the same mistakes to relate to those who have the same experiences as I do. I will be a living proof that God is a merciful and forgiving God!







Lord, Your grace is sufficient for me for power is made perfect in weaknesses. I will rather boast gladly of my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Amen.”

Next week on God-speak:
Don’t Do All The Talking