Gospel
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
We have seen what miracles Jesus performed when only one person had faith. The woman was healed. The daughter of Jairus was healed. All for the faith of one.
Faith can change lives. The faithful who put their will and actions and thoughts into aligning that faith to transform their lives finds the life we were born for.
Those who live with faith. True faith built on bringing Jesus Christ into their heart and opening themselves up to his blessings and love find a wonder in life others miss. The people in the Gospel who were familiar with Jesus and his family could not take the step into faith and did not place their hearts in his hand but closed themselves off from even his miracles to heal.
A person who allows the world or fear or pride, and often it really is pride and self reliance to choose “not God,” that person loses their way, their mind and eternal life.
We see it among others where a choice is not made for something that might be good… in order to choose against something that doesn’t align with our view of the world.
That was what happened in his native place. They would not break through their predisposed image of the world around them and of Jesus. They chose “not God.”
We are called to discern and choose the smart choice. The choice that reflects the will of God. If we hear someone speak the truth of Christ, they are aligned with Jesus. We should listen to them.
Today Jesus comes to our home. We know him. Those of us who grew up in western civilization know him whether we practice the faith or not.
So he comes to our home and is prepared to bless us with truth and love and joy and peace. We can hold on to some image others gave us of him. Maybe a nice Christmas babe or a judge to be feared or maybe a nice story.
But Jesus is bigger than that. He is the creator of everything. And everything comes from him. His truth and love for us is limitless and life giving.
He is with us now. Waiting for each of us to decide how we will live today. Will it be a life striving to have more faith and live the life children of God were born for? Or we will we continue to chase one disappointment after another that tells us happiness can be found here or there. In this person or that product.
Sit with Jesus today and tell him you want to know him better. Ask for his graces and forgiveness. Ask for the miracle to open our hearts to his word.
There is a not-so-secret short cut that is available to us too. It’s our mother in heaven, Mary. Ask Mary his mother to pray for you and help you grow in faith. Mary is the direct route to Jesus. The shortcut. The fast train.
I know we think, I can just pray to Jesus myself, and that is true. But just as Jesus came into this world through Mary, we can reach Jesus through her too. In the paths of growing our faith and relationship with God, Mary is a life saver. A mother who seeks the best for us. She is in our corner. Ask Mary to help today. If your mother on earth was a nurturer and always in your corner no matter what the world threw at you, just think about how much more it makes sense to have a mother in heaven who is also Jesus mother talk to him for you.
We are called today to have faith and break through the façade the world has built around us so we can find truth and love and the way to Jesus Christ who is beside us now waiting for us to say hello Jesus, help me grow in faith.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
Leave a comment