Home

And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered and said: How came this man by this wisdom and miracles? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude: and his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence therefore hath he all these things? And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he wrought not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:54-58

Prayer

Dear Father it's understandable what Jesus went through in his own hometown, after all they have watched him grow up into adulthood. As humans we see how playful children are, we know them and families know them. We see our young grow and do things that sometimes break our hearts. But as with Jesus they knew him and knew from where he came from. When it was his time to do God's work and fulfill his plan, what people knew about Jesus, now was different, his holiness was more apparent. For those who lived and knew Jesus it was hard to accept that God's hand was upon them, because most likely they would have preferred that Jesus not know their sins and be healed. How about us dear Father when you call each individual by name and especially those who have sinned against you. How hard it is for the townspeople who knew them, and for their families also to accept the healing grace that came upon your call. As with Jesus, those who also have gone before us and knew your call, how they too have undergone the same as Jesus when dealing with family and those of his own hometown. No matter what miracles were performed, their hearts remain guarded lest the sins of their life be revealed. Such is the way of holiness, that when God calls and transforms a life, the change often is more than a family can understand. How often they would like to see the old person back, and sometimes also it is the new person that is accepted. Dear Father, may we come to live the Word and do your will. May those we live and love come to understand, that when you call them, they too will come to change along with those you have touched. May your love shine as it does in your Son and those who have been called.