"And without faith it is impossible to please God,"

faith is essential for a relationship with God.

A person who doubts shouldn’t expect to receive anything from God.

 

    “I believe; help my unbelief!”

   

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17

The king said to Joab and the commanders

Of the army who were with him, "Go through all the tribes of Israel

from Dan to Beersheba and count the people that I may know how many they are." 

Joab gave the total count of the people to the king:

eight hundred thousand sword-wielding warriors in Israel and five hundred thousand men in Judah.

 

But after he had the people counted, David felt remorse and said to Yahweh,

"I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, O Yahweh,

I ask you to forgive my sin for I have acted foolishly."

 

The following day, before David awoke, Yahweh's word had come to the prophet Gad, David's seer,

"Go, and give David this message: I offer you three things and I will let one of them

befall you according to your own choice." So Gad went to David and asked him,

"Do you want three years of famine in your land? Or do you want to be pursued for three months

by your foes while you flee from them? Or do you want three days' pestilence in your land?

Now, think and decide what answer I shall give him who sent me."

 

David answered Gad, "I am greatly troubled. Let me fall into the hands of Yahweh

whose mercy is abundant; but let me not fall into human hands."

So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel from morning until the appointed time,

causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan to Beersheba.

 

When the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,

Yahweh would punish no more and said to the angel who was causing destruction among the people,

"It is enough, hold back your hand."

The angel of Yahweh was already at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel striking the people, he spoke to Yahweh and said,

"I have sinned and acted wickedly, but these are only the sheep;

what have they done? Let your hand strike me and my father's family."

 

Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Mark 6:1-6

Leaving that place, Jesus returned to his own country, and his disciples followed him.

When the Sabbath came, began to teach in the synagogue, and most of those who heard him were astonished.

But they said, "How did this come to him? What kind of wisdom has been given to him,

that he also performs such miracles? Who is he but the carpenter, the Son of Mary,

and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? His sisters, too,

are they not here among us?" So they took offense at him.

And Jesus said to them, "Prophets are despised only in their own country, among their relatives,

and in their own family." And he could work no miracles there,

but only healed a few sick people, by laying his hands on them. Jesus himself was astounded at their unbelief.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

Let us be sensitive to the Lord and his message.

Today, we witness the disbelief of the fellow citizens in the Lord.

Their shared knowledge of Him has clouded their perception of His actions and words.

Consequently, they were unable to receive God's blessings.

Like the Jews, we can also be deceived by our way of thinking. We can be like fools who,

instead of watching the Moon, watch the finger that points to the moon.

 

We stop only at the external appearance of the Church and to whoever speaks the Gospel.

Instead of listening to the good news with amazement, we let ourselves

be upset by the inevitable inconsistencies that sometimes accompany the proclamation.

Let us not allow ourselves to get bogged down by the externals and miss the Lord Himself.

The Lord's message can be hidden in the ordinariness of the events or the simplicity of the messenger.

Let us be sensitive to the Lord and his message

because our limited human mind and imagination cannot completely box God and the way He deals with us.