I invite you to cast your mind back to your childhood, or adolescence, even your early adult years. Were there hints of what you would do for a living? What you would aim for? Your vocation? And, were there the beginnings of the path of faith?
James and John – who feature in today’s Gospel reading – faced both these questions …
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The Lord is Our Shepherd
We read in Mark about Jesus being a shepherd to his people. (“He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”) But not quite an enthusiastic one, it seems! He was hounded by demanding crowds, with barely time to recover, regain his strength, regain that power that left him when he healed.
… So I can’t help noticing that Jesus was sometimes a reluctant healer. Why do I say that?
On the Other Hand …
A news commentator recently said, “We’ve lost the ability to disagree.”
The 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof examines issues like tradition and the mixing of competing values; the place of love in long term marriages, and the repression of Jews. Characters are forced to examine the views of outsiders, and how their own views need to change and accommodate – often to compromise long held beliefs.
God’s grace is sufficient
“Hear O Mortal” — if I heard God’s voice like Ezekiel did way back then I would certainly know there were going to be some directions to follow.
… we have Paul and Ezekiel, Apostle and Prophet, both hearing God’s voice and being sent out to proclaim a message to people who don’t particularly want to hear what they have to say.
