Reading I
2 Sm 24:2, 9-17
King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him,
“Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba
and register the people, that I may know their number.”
Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered:
in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service;
in Judah, five hundred thousand.
Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,
and said to the LORD:
“I have sinned grievously in what I have done.
But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your servant,
for I have been very foolish.”
When David rose in the morning,
the LORD had spoken to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying:
“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says:
I offer you three alternatives;
choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.’”
Gad then went to David to inform him.
He asked: “Do you want a three years’ famine to come upon your land,
or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you,
or to have a three days’ pestilence in your land?
Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me.”
David answered Gad: “I am in very serious difficulty.
Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful;
but let me not fall by the hand of man.”
Thus David chose the pestilence.
Now it was the time of the wheat harvest
when the plague broke out among the people.
The LORD then sent a pestilence over Israel
from morning until the time appointed,
and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died.
But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,
the LORD regretted the calamity
and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people,
“Enough now! Stay your hand.”
The angel of the LORD was then standing
at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking the people,
he said to the LORD: “It is I who have sinned;
it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.
But these are sheep; what have they done?
Punish me and my kindred.”
Gospel
Mk 6:1-6
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.
Meditation: Mark 6:1-6
Before returning to his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus had calmed a violent storm at sea, driven out demons, and raised a child from the dead (Mark 4:35–5:42).
The news had traveled. He clearly astonished his townsfolk with the wisdom and power he had displayed (6:2). But still, he was unable to perform mighty miracles there. The people simply could not believe that Jesus was anyone other than an ordinary carpenter. They could have approached him with their sickness, fears, and weakness, as others had. Instead, they closed their hearts to him. Jesus had come to them, but they didn’t come to him.
Jesus was always, in every situation, fully God. The people of Nazareth simply couldn’t imagine or believe that God was working through him so powerfully. His mighty deeds and insightful wisdom stirred up curiosity, but they still didn’t foster belief—the mental acceptance that something is true. God wants us to know him personally. He wants us to enjoy an intimate relationship with him—a relationship built on faith and trust, so that we can have total confidence in him.
Confidence! Not mere acceptance of Bible stories as true or even as lessons about what God but the assurance that enables you to base your words and actions on him. Not only mental agreement that certain things about God are [probably] true but a lively relationship of love that grows every day. Confidence that allows you to acknowledge and act on the truth even when you lose your job, your spouse is terminally ill, or you are facing a frightening medical diagnosis.
Seek the Lord. Turn your heart toward him. Give him the chance to demonstrate his power in your life so that you begin to discover the truth of it personally. Jesus came to the people of Nazareth, but they didn’t come to him. They stayed firmly rooted where they were. Don’t follow their example! Spend time with Jesus, listen to him, ponder his words, ask him questions, and then listen some more. You will definitely receive wisdom and see miracles in yourself and in those around you!
“Jesus, I turn my heart to you today. Deepen my belief that you are who you say you are, and that you can do what you say you can do.”
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