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Jesus was a popular preacher, except in his own hometown, where he was rejected and amazed at the people's lack of faith such that "he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them." Faith is a communal dynamic with an individual component such that even when the majority rejects a particular belief, a few individuals can still choose to believe and be healed.

When the Israelites came back from the Babylonian Exile, they rebuilt the temple and started over, but without a king and welcoming people from every nation to join them. Jesus was also rebooting Judaism, saying that we should put new wine in new wineskins. Where do we need a religious reboot?

St. Paul tells us that all of us are equally citizens of heaven, called to be built into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit one the one foundation of the apostles, with Jesus as the cornerstone. We have to make sure that we are not building our own church on a different foundation.

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Jesus tells us to "enter through the narrow gate" and "do unto others as we would have them do unto us." But these things are not always easy, as we see when King Hezekiah is faced with a siege of Jerusalem by the King of Assyria.

John the Baptist was not named after his father, Zechariah, because he was not to follow in his father's footsteps. Instead, he was the herald of something new, The Reign of God in Christ Jesus. Do we have sufficient faith to say yes to God when asked to break with the past and move in a new direction?

The law says "thou shalt not kill", but Jesus adds that even if we are angry with our brother or sister we are liable to judgement. Even more radically, if our brother or sister has reason to be angry with us, we also need to heal that division before we come to the altar. Relationship is a two way street.

Jesus tells us that he came to fulfil the law, and that we should still follow it, because those that don't will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. But least in the Kingdom is still in the Kingdom.

For 9 June 2024, The Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, based on Genesis 3:9–15