Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Following his baptism at the Jordan and his showdown with the devil in the wilderness, Jesus returns home to Nazareth’s familiar synagogue. Neighbors gathered on that Sabbath would have known him since infancy. But this time his homecoming caused an uproar.
Mary and Joseph’s boy seems to have flipped his lid!
Opposition does not mean you are on the wrong path. Jesus’ first recorded “sermon” did not go well by human standards, but failure is never final. Remember the words of Mother Teresa, “God does not call us to be successful. God calls us to be faithful.”
In his youth, Abraham Lincoln fought in the Black Hawk War, entering as a captain but returning as a private. He started many failed businesses (as did Harry Truman), went bankrupt twice, and lost countless campaigns for public office. When Fred Astaire, a dancing legend, got his first screen test with MGM, the evaluation read: “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Can dance a little.” Later he would frame that note to remind him of his rocky start. Stephen King’s first manuscript, “Carrie,” was rejected by thirty publishers. Tired of rejection, he threw his work in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it. He is one of the best-selling authors of all time.
St. Paul knew hostility and beatings. His letters, written after his evangelization of towns such as Thessalonica or Corinth, reveal that some of the new disciples lost sight of the Gospel and began infighting and false teachings. Paul’s frustration resonates in the highly charged words he writes to the Corinthians today. His incessant anxiety, and his commissioning Timothy to check in on them time, demonstrate his despondency. It is said that Paul died by the sword in Rome thinking himself a failure.
Jesus and Paul’s examples teach us to expect uphill battles and setbacks. How can we, his disciples, expect anything else? Nevertheless, we continue plugging away and recommitting to Messiah Jesus wherever he leads in his Kingdom mission of healing and restoration. Failure is never final.
The same Spirit who descended upon Jesus at the Jordan, in the desert, and in that tiny Nazareth synagogue, has been gifted to we who follow him. That includes you and me. Remember that God alone sees the big picture, which we cannot see, and it is by God's grace alone that what seems like failure can bloom into something profoundly unimaginable.
—Timothy J. Cronin