Discipline is a journey

Heb. 12:4-7.11-15, Mk 6:1-6. It is the role of parents and educators to help form the children entrusted to them. They are not to be just “friends,” rather they are meant to be disciplinarians. That does not mean that they seek to punish every single wrongdoing, rather they seek to edify and build up their charges by the use of specific disciplines. Discipline, as the root of the word implies, should be a learning experience. It is not just punishment for wrongdoing, but a means of learning to become a better person. In today’s first reading, the author of the letter to the Hebrews compares the persecution and trials of this life to a form of discipline which a loving parent imposes upon a child. God disciplines us, not as we may think of Him seeking to catch us doing wrong, but rather He desires that we do what is right, even in the most challenging experiences in our life. The more we practice spiritual disciplines, the more we will be able to do the right thing at the right time.

In today's Gospel, Jesus disciplines the people of Nazareth for their narrow-sighted vision of who He is and their lack of faith in Him. The facts on which the Nazarenes grounded their unbelief are really irrefragable proof of Christ’s divinity: “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him?" Born in that humble home, nurtured in that secluded village, shut Him out from the world’s culture, buried, as it were, among an exclusive and abhorred people, how come He is more above all teachers and to sway the world? The character and work of Christ, compared with the circumstances of His origin and environment, are an insoluble riddle, except on one supposition-that He was the word and power of God.

May the Lord teach us to make His name known until the faith that overcomes the world brings us through to our everlasting homeland! Good morning and have a great day!!!