“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” – Matthew 13:57

       I love being home. There, I can be my truest self. I don’t need to dress up. I can be in my favorite cotton shirt filled with holes. At home, I can bare everything, including my flaws and weaknesses, and still be loved unconditionally. But because our home has known us with all our flaws, our family might also find it hard to believe in us. So while we find our greatest acceptance at home, sometimes we can also find our greatest rejection in it. 

      Jesus experienced the same thing. People from His hometown couldn’t believe that the carpenter’s little son they used to know had grown to be a man of wisdom. Sadly, they weren’t able to experience mighty deeds from Jesus because of this. It’s not that Jesus didn’t want to do miracles. He could have but they just failed to recognize them because of their unbelief.

         How about you? Do you believe in the people in your home? Many of us take for granted the spouse, child, parent or friend God has given us. Who knows? Greatness might be in your midst. Start seeing beyond their flaws. Believe in them.

       Make your home a little less unwelcoming. And you will begin to receive the miracles your family needs. Velden Lim (veldenlim@gmail.com)

Today we pray for priests as it is the feast day of St. John Mary Vianney. He was renowned for the way he administered the sacrament of reconciliation. People would travel hundreds of kilometers on foot just to confess to him. He was committed to a life of prayer and penance. He constantly battled the devil who sought to destroy his faith and trust in God.

1 The Lord said to Moses, 4 “These are the festivals of the Lord which you shall celebrate at their proper time with a sacred assembly. 5 The Passover of the Lord falls on the fourteenth day of the first month, at the evening twilight. 6 The fifteenth day of this month is the Lord’s feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first of these days you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work. 8 On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the Lord. Then on the seventh day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work.” 9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap your harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 who shall wave the sheaf before the Lord that it may be acceptable for you. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall do this. 15 “Beginning with the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the wave-offering sheaf, you shall count seven full weeks, 16 and then on the day after the seventh week, the fiftieth day, you shall present the new cereal offering to the Lord. 27 “The tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement, when you shall hold a sacred assembly and mortify yourselves and offer an oblation to the Lord. 34 “The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Lord’s feast of Booths, which shall continue for seven days. 35 On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly, and you shall do no sort of work. 36 For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the Lord, and on the eighth day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and offer an oblation to the Lord. On that solemn closing you shall do no sort of work. 37 “These, therefore, are the festivals of the Lord on which you shall proclaim a sacred assembly, and offer as an oblation to the Lord burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day.”

R: Sing with joy to God our help.

2 [3] Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel, the pleasant harp and the lyre. 3 [4] Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast. (R) 4 [5] For it is a statute in Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, 5 [6] who made it a decree for Joseph when he came forth from the land of Egypt. (R) 9 [10] There shall be no strange god among you nor shall you worship any alien god. 10 [11] I, the Lord, am your God who led you forth from the land of Egypt. (R)

In one sense, it is irrelevant where Jesus got His wisdom. What is important is that He has it in the first place. This challenges us to recognize the gifting of a person irrespective of his background and heritage. God can use whoever He wills to bring about the Kingdom of God. It is important to trust that God will give us what we need, to do whatever it is He asks of us.

The word of the Lord remains forever; this is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

54 Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? 55 Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” 58 And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.

think: Do you judge someone’s gifting because of his past and poor background?

Read the Bible in one year 1 Maccabees 9-10

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

NOT WITHOUT HONOR

It was not the best of times for the Lord when He came to His native place. It was, in fact, an experience of disappointment. More than welcome, He heard hostile whisperings in the synagogue. Again, questions of pedigree came to the fore. “Is he not the carpenter’s son?” Then, as now, unless you come from a certain town or live in a particular posh place, or can boast of some lineage that links you to big names, you will not be taken seriously.

       This is the way of the world. The world follows logic and that logic begins and ends with the question: “Who are you to be teaching us and preaching to us?” Doubts, more often than not, are the measuring rods with which your worth and your credibility will be measured.

       This definitely is not the logic of God, and definitely not the logic used on David, on Jeremiah, on Mary the handmaiden, and on the little child used as a teaching aid of the Lord one day. For God, lowliness is greatness. Simplicity is uppermost in His list of values and virtues, and He is the quintessential defender of the poor, the lowly, the orphan, the widow and those who have no one and nothing else to rely on but God.

        Ars was a tiny village of no more than 200 souls. The young Fr. Vianney was assigned to Ars. He went there pushing a cart that contained all his earthly belongings. He was sent there as chaplain, as Ars was too poor to be made into a parish. For one who was not among the well-schooled, Ars was just about good enough for Fr. Vianney.

       “A prophet,” says the Lord, “is not without honor except in his own native place.” The honor He was speaking of is the kind that mortals like us can give anyone, deserving or not. The rest of the story should be enough to convince us that God does know how to give honor to those whom He loves, for being what they are: poor, lowly, powerless, and position-less in earthly life. St. Jean Marie Vianney, Cure d’Ars, is one such example. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

How has God “honored” you as you serve Him?

Lord God, the wordly honor sought by many cannot compare to the honor You bestow on your faithful servants. May I seek to be honored by You. Amen.