The story in today’s gospel is a sad
one. Jesus has returned to Nazareth and
the people there do not have faith in Him.
They have known Him since He was a boy.
They know His family. They knew
Him as the carpenter who worked with Joseph and then was especially solicitous
of Mary, His mother, after Joseph’s death.
They had heard reports of His preaching and healing and deliverance
ministry and His many followers, but they would not accept Him. As a result, since they had no faith in Him,
He could do little for them.
The same is true for us. We need to have faith in Jesus. We need to trust Him and have a relationship with
Him in order for Him to be able to work in our lives. If we don’t work to get to know Jesus through
the Scriptures and prayer and especially in the sacraments, we are the same as
those in Nazareth who knew Him, but did not believe or trust what He had to say
or offer. We need to have a personal relationship
with Jesus based on an abiding trust in Him in order to have Him work in our
lives. The poor example of those from
the Lord’s hometown reminds us not to make the same mistake.
We can also learn from the other mistake
they made, especially in our dealings with others. Those in Nazareth did not have faith in Him because
they thought they knew Him. That false
sense of familiarity led to a lack of freedom they needed to get to know Him as
the Christ, the Anointed of God. He
couldn’t be who He said He was because they mistakenly believed they already
knew Him.
Don’t we do the same thing at times when
we presume to know someone and make a judgment based on what we see? We judge people based on where they are from
or what they look like or how they act, especially in our interactions with
them. We don’t take the time to get to
know them in any real way because we have already made up our mind and too often
we are wrong in our assessment. We don’t give others the benefit of the doubt
or put a good interpretation on what we see or hear. We are too quick to dismiss others. And like those in Nazareth who did that to
Jesus, it is a loss for us. We ought to be open to others, especially to the
possibility that there is more than what meets the eye.
A third lesson today’s Scriptures offer
is from St. Paul who learned that God uses our weakness and will give us the
grace we need to do God’s will, even in the suffering and struggle that comes
from our weakness. We don’t know exactly
what Paul was struggling with, but the Lord’s message in response to his prayer
was clear. God would give the grace
needed to do what had to be done, but the weakness would remain to show Paul
that the strength was from the Lord and not himself. Paul learned the hard way, which is often the
best way, that when he was weak, God would give him strength. He expressed the same sentiment later in
Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” God works the same way in our lives as
well. Weakness can be a good thing when
and if we are open to God’s strength, rather than thinking we can do it
ourselves.
God’s word today assures us that we will
be better disciples if we put our faith in Jesus and refuse to judge others,
especially when we base such a judgment on our limited knowledge of
others. And learning that weakness is
something God can use will help us to follow the Lord more faithfully as well. Rather than disappoint the Lord as did those
in Nazareth, we can give Him joy by our trusting Him, even we are weak. When we have faith, the Lord will supply the
grace.
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