Rest But Don’t Quit

First Reading: Ezekiel 2:2-5

As he said these words the spirit came into me and put me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said, 'Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been in revolt against me up to the present day. Because they are stubborn and obstinate children, I am sending you to them, to say, "Lord Yahweh says this. Whether they listen or not, this tribe of rebels will know there is a prophet among them.

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

Second Reading: Second Corinthians 12:7-10

Wherefore, so that I should not get above myself, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter me and prevent me from getting above myself. About this, I have three times pleaded with the Lord that it might leave me; but he has answered me, 'My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.' It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me; and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ's sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

Leaving that district, he 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 despised only in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house'; and he could work no miracle there, except that he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He made a tour round the villages, teaching.

Reflection

By Beth Eguia

People like me tend to complain when overwhelmed with work in the office, doing errands at home, performing extra-curricular commitments and more often also, when things don’t go as what we expected. We say “Ayoko na...pagod na ako” ( I give up, I am tired already). “Bakit ganito na lang parati...nakakasawa na.” (Why it is like this all thetime?) “Bakit sunod sunod naman ang problema....gusto ko ng bumigay”. (Why problems come in successions, I want to give up already.)

I had a long day at work. Ten hours of working and it made me so exhausted.  Office was like a market, while performing one task, another task comes in between. On top of it will be teleconference sessions with customers, ad-hoc internal meeting and peer work review. Sometimes, you will also get a bad remark from your boss after working so hard. I wondered if I haven’t given more than 100% of what is expected of me. My answer was yes, I have given my 100%  and even more than that. Then other problems have to be faced when I get home.

 The readings for this week made me think twice and stop complaining.  “Wherefore, so that I should not get above myself, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter me and prevent me from getting above myself.” It didn’t sink in my mind at first but suddenly everything became so clear as I was writing this article. We act like super heroes doing multi-tasking, handling our problems on our own. Oftentimes, we tend to do things over and above our capacity.  God rested on the 7th day, why shouldn’t we? When there were commotions among the crowd, what did Jesus do? He went up to a mountain or to a secluded place to be on His own, reflected, prayed and rested. Have we done the same? Second thing, after He was energized, He was full of Spirit. He was positive all the time and it radiates to people around Him. He didn’t even babble on what He did. Jesus was too humble. His own community didn’t believe Him. They questioned His origin. Did it affect Him? No. He continued with His mission, cured the sick and spread the Good News. He didn’t expect to be accepted by all but He is always open to everyone who believes.

The Gospel reminded us to take rest when tired and when overwhelmed with worries in our mind. It also showed us not to expect something from others but be more humble.  We cannot please everyone even if we knew we have done our best and we haven’t done anything wrong. Take the case of the traffic light. It has red, orange and green.  Red means full stop. Take a break. Don’t bring office work at home. Spend happy moments with family and friend. Orange is halt. Rest if you must but never quit. Ask and seek God’s help. Green means go. Seize the day. Do things with a positive perspective. Enjoy the road as you face another day.

 Prayer:

Thank you dear God for the gentle reminders. You have showed once again the beauty of life and how we should be spending it in accordance to Your will. May our days be fruitful and enjoyable. All this we ask in Jesus name. Amen.