July 31
Rejection at Nazareth
Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58
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Today's Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58
(Rejection at Nazareth)
"and coming to his own country he
taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, 'Where
did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the
carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James
and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then
did this man get all this?' And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to
them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own
house.' And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their
unbelief."
Reflection:
This one stings a little every time I read
it. The people of Nazareth had Jesus right in front of them, the actual Son of
God, and all they could see was a neighbor's son who worked with his father in
the carpenter's shop. Familiarity blinded them. They thought they already knew
the whole story, so they never bothered to look closer.
Isn't that so much like us sometimes? We can
hear the Gospel so many times it stops sounding like good news and starts
sounding like background noise. We can walk past a crucifix a thousand times
and forget Who's actually hanging there for us. Unbelief doesn't always look
dramatic. Most of the time it just looks like not paying attention anymore.
Notice something else tucked right into this
passage: they name her. "Is not his mother called Mary?" Even the
people who rejected Jesus couldn't tell His story without mentioning her. She
was there for His hidden years in Nazareth, present for all of it, present for
the silence and the waiting long before anyone recognized what was standing in
front of them. She never stopped believing, not for one single day.
That's exactly why I enjoy making and giving
away rosaries. I want to share Mary, who in turn will share Jesus with them
through the rosary. She already knows what it is to watch her Son get
overlooked, misunderstood, and rejected by people who should have known better.
She doesn't judge us for the times we've done the same. She just wants to lead
us back to Him, one Hail Mary at a time, until we finally start seeing Jesus
clearly again.
So don't let Jesus become background noise
in your own life. Don't let Him be just "the carpenter's son" to you.
Ask Mary to open your eyes the way only a mother can.
Are you still amazed by Him, or have you
stopped looking?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
