Once upon a time a travelling circus was staying on the outskirts of a village.
One evening shortly before show time, a fire broke out in one of the tents.
The manager sent the clown, who was already dressed up for his act, into the nearby village for help. There was a danger that the fire would spread across the fields of dry stubble and burn the village itself.
The clown hurried into the village.
He asked the people to come out as quickly as possible to help quench the fire.
But the people did not take him seriously.
They thought it was a brilliant piece of advertising on the part of the management, thus ensuring a full house on opening night.
The clown tried as best he could to make them understand that there really was a fire.
However, to no avail, the harder he tried the more the village people laughed at him.
Finally, the fire reached the village and burned it to the ground.
This Sunday’s Gospel from Mark (6:1 -6) has two quite telling phrases.
The first, “They took offence at him.”
The second, “and he could do no deed of power there.”