St Agatha

Readings

Hebrew 12:4-7, 11-15
Mark 6:1-6

Reflection

Today, as we celebrate the memory of St. Agatha, a 3rd-century Christian martyr, our Gospel presents us with Jesus being rejected by his own community at Nazareth.

Often, when we hear of the persecution of Christians in the past or in the present, we think of the persecutors as acting out of evil intent, but usually, there is some other issue at play. Christians were persecuted in the early church because their religious practices were foreign to pagan society, and they rejected the ‘gods’ and religious practices of the dominant religions of that time and culture. As such, they were seen as a threat to the cohesion of society. Jesus, too, was seen as a threat to the orthodoxy of the Jewish faith and its hierarchical structure of authority. St. Thomas Aquinas said that no one intentionally does evil, they have to explain it to themselves as good. Eliminating a threat to orthodoxy, stability, the status quo, would all have been perceived as good. How much evil has been committed in this world in the name of God? What better way to veil vengeance than to call it justice?

Fr. Ray Sanchez CP is the leader of the Oxley community and is responsible for Parish Missions and Retreats throughout Australia and NZ.