Friday, August 2, 2002
17th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jer 26:1-9
Gospel:
Mt 13:54-58
Jesus went to his hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They
were amazed and said, "Where did he get this wisdom and these special
powers? Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary his mother and aren't
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? Aren't all his sisters living
here? How did he get all this?" And so they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them, "The only place where prophets are not welcome
is their hometown and in their own family." And he did not perform
many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Commentary
To believe in miracles is to see the person who is behind them, God. We all have the capacity to "see" wonders in the creation, in people and also in events, but we fail to connect them to their origin, a loving Father, God creator. Though Jesus was well known by his town mates he was not able to make miracles in Nazareth because they were not looking at the "person of God" behind him. They knew his name, his parents, his relatives, his work, they got lost in details; they had an external and superficial knowledge. When we affirm to know "too many things" about someone, we are not usually referring to a true friendship or personal relationship. Often we have eyes to see but no heart to believe, and so we prevent miracles to happen.