Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

“St. Paul Miki and His Companions”
Artist and Date are UNKNOWN

(Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time)

Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions

Readings for Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1: Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15

In your struggle against sin

you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:

“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord

or lose heart when reproved by him;

for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;

he scourges every son he acknowledges.”

Endure your trials as "discipline";

God treats you as his sons.

For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?

At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,

yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.

Make straight paths for your feet,

that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.

Strive for peace with everyone,

and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God,

that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble,

through which many may become defiled.

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Commentary on Heb 12:4-7, 11-15

The Hebrews author continues the exhortation to remain strong in the faith and not to become discouraged because there are obstacles.  He counts these trials as discipline from the Lord and then analogizes a father disciplining his child.  He begs the Hebrews to be strengthened by this resistance to their faith rather than disheartened by it. The passage ends with encouragement to seek the peace of Christ in all things and with everyone.

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18a

R. (see 17) The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;

and all my being, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits.

R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,

For he knows how we are formed;

he remembers that we are dust.

R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.

But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity

to eternity toward those who fear him,

And his justice toward children's children

among those who keep his covenant.

R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.

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Commentary on Ps 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18a

Psalm 103 continues the analogy used in the Hebrews reading speaking to us of the loving and compassionate Father.  It goes on to emphasize the omnipresence of God and His eternal nature, know us from eternity.

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Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

He (Jesus) departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.

When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,

and many who heard him were astonished.

They said, "Where did this man get all this?

What kind of wisdom has been given him?

What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!

Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,

and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?

And are not his sisters here with us?"

And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them,

"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place

and among his own kin and in his own house."

So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,

apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.

He was amazed at their lack of faith.

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Commentary on Mk 6:1-6

This passage is St. Mark’s account of the Lord returning to his home town.  As is his custom he goes to speak in the Synagogue and amazes the people he grew up with.  The Lord encounters intense skepticism born out of the fact that the people knew him before he took up his mission.  In the version today the part about their attempt on his life is omitted, but we still see the Lord’s response to their lack of faith.

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Reflection:

In this account of Jesus returning home we understand something about the Lord’s early years; that period between age 12 when he was presented at the temple the second time and his baptism in the Jordan by St. John the Baptist.  The last we were told following his first presentation was “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” (Luke 2: 40)  That does not tell us much about his interaction with the community in which he grew up.  This exchange, however, hints at what the young Jesus must have been like in those years.

When he came to teach in the Synagogue that sabbath, we are told that those who heard him were “astonished”.  They asked themselves where he had come by the knowledge and wisdom he displayed.  In order for them to react this way we can only assume that as a young man, Jesus was humble and unassuming.  He did not presume to instruct his elders or even his peers.  He was growing into what he must become; a humble and compassionate man who could weep for those who mourned at the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11: 35).

The people of his community would have certainly seen the young Jesus, unassuming, learning the carpenter’s trade at the side of his foster father, St. Joseph.  He would not have stood out among his peers with the exception that he never seemed to get into mischief.  He could not take the lead in these early years except by example – his ultimate role was much, much larger.

Is it any wonder then, that when he came home after his remarkable transformation at the Jordan, after going into the desert and confronting his nemesis, the people who knew him before he assumed his Father’s mission would be amazed and then angered?  They were not with him to see the Holy Spirit descending upon him (Luke 3: 22), they were not there when he returned from the desert “in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.” (Luke 4: 14-5)

Now, robed as he was in his Father’s mighty mission, we can feel the Lord’s disappointment as the great lack of faith displayed by those friends with whom he had grown up was shown in their petty attacks on him.  Such lack of faith would naturally prevent the full effect of his healing power from being effective with those people.  We are told “he was not able to perform any mighty deed there”.

And what message do we take away from this encounter?  Do we think our friends and families will be kinder to us as we go through our ongoing conversion?  Especially if we are away for a while and come home with great zeal for our faith, we should expect to be received as Christ was.  human nature has not changed.  Our hope remains in the Lord and when we do encounter this kind of response, we rejoice, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews encouraged, for the trials we face for the faith are a blessing from God our Father.  In this case – we know we are doing something right.

Pax

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[1] ALTRE

[2] The illustration used is “St. Paul Miki and His Companions” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL).  This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.