What Blocks Your Door?

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, July 7th, 2024:
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Mark
​6.1-6

​Jesus came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him.

Then Jesus said to them, “A Prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”

And Jesus could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And Jesus was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

(This reflection was originally published on 2 July 2021.)

This passage causes me to wonder, “Why could Jesus do no deed of power? Is it really possible to stop God from doing good things for us?”
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Matthew Henry says this in his commentary on this scripture: “By unbelief and contempt of Christ, men stop the current of His favors to them and put a bar in their own door.”

God created us to love and be loved. He also created us with free will, because without it, there can be no genuine love. Love that is forced upon us, against our will, is not really love at all, is it? So it stands to reason that God won’t override our free will in order to do good things for us because that would negate the love that we were made for. If we put a bar in our own door then God won’t come in. No matter how much we are suffering and no matter how much God wants to take that suffering away, if the door to our hearts is barred then it can’t happen. God’s grace, mercy, and healing are stopped in their tracks.
    
So what do the bars that block your door look like? I have an independent nature. God created me that way so I could serve Him and His people in the ways He is calling me to. But sometimes I forget that He is in control and He has a plan far greater than mine. I block the wisdom and grace He wants to give me with bars of self-reliance. There have been times when the bars that block my door have been made from shame and guilt over past and present sins that I’ve committed. Instead of allowing God’s mercy to heal me, I allow the shame to hold me captive.
    
How can we remove the bars that are keeping the doors to our hearts closed to God? The first step, and it’s one that I have to take on a regular basis, is to pray a prayer of surrender. Here is a simple one we can say everyday:

“O Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything.” – Servant of God, Don Dolindo Ruotolo



Maxine Brown

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