Rejection seems to be dominant in today's Scripture readings. Prophet Ezekiel suffered rejection. In the land of exile together with his disaffected, disillusioned and rebellious fellow Israelites, he was to exhort them. And God's message through him was not what they wanted to hear. Yet, Ezekiel persistently proclaimed God's Word of hope to the people - 'whether they listen or not' (Ezekiel 2:5).

Conflict with those who rebel and ridicule is inevitable. Though faced with resistance, the psalmist fixed his eyes only on the Lord: "Our eyes are on the Lord till He shows us His mercy."

St. Paul too faced rejection. Yet, St. Paul gave us his profound motivation: "grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness... and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecution, and the agonies I go through for Christ's sake" (2 Cor:12:9-10).

Jesus faced rejection from His fellow town folks. Would Jesus have in mind the Prophet Ezekiel when faced with resistance to His prophetic work in Nazareth? Indeed. Jesus shrugged off the people's rejection. They were too slow to learn.

Today's readings call on us to open our whole being to the challenging and often surprising presence of God among us: in the events of our lives. God does speak to us, but we have to listen. Our eyes must be fixed on the Lord always.