I.
This week we watch Jesus travel to his hometown. We see him enter the synagogue, probably the same one Mary and Joseph took him to when he was a child, a boy, a young man before he left their home to travel the countryside. Probably people were there who saw him grow up in that town.

We watch him as he goes to read the sacred scripture. We hear him as he reads. We watch the people as they react to him. We hear the people as they react to his teaching.

Why don’t we go to the synagogue with Jesus?

There is a spiritual practice sometimes called Ignatian Contemplation, Gospel Contemplation, or Entering the Narrative. It is a method of using our imagination to put ourselves in the scene.

We are there (in our minds) with the folk. We see Jesus, we hear Jesus, we see the synagogue attendant unroll the scroll, we see Jesus lean forward, is he praying for a moment, then he begins to read. Then he sits down to teach. We look around and see all the people in the room. Which of the disciples that travel with him are there? Is Mary there? Can you hear what the people are saying? Can you see the expressions on their faces? What is the feeling in the room?

You get the idea? Right?

Let’s do it this week.

Before you read the Scripture and absorb it into our consciousness and imagination, take a few moments to still yourself, move away from any worries or preoccupations that crowd your mind and give yourself time to travel to that synagogue in Nazareth, then look, watch, listen.

II.
Mark 6:1-6 (NRSV)

He left that place and 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 offense* at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching.

* Mark 6:3 Or stumbled

III.
What did you see?

How do the people look at Jesus when he begins to read from the scroll? What expressions are on their faces. Can you get a feel for how they are reacting.

Did any of them speak to you? Did you speak to any of them?

Could you hear Jesus clearly? Could you see him from where you were sitting or standing? Were you sitting or standing? Why?

Take time to go back on the experience of being there. What stands out to you the most?

Some folk take to this practice easily, for others it is a stretch or maybe even just falls flat. Some even come to the scene and “leave early.”

However it went for you is fine, but do notice how it went and what you experienced.

Let’s get back together later and talk it over.

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}