1 February 2017

When Jesus returns to Nazareth, the people of his hometown are amazed at what he has been doing and teaching. They do not see the person whom his deeds and teaching manifest, but only the person whom they think they fully know and comprehend already. “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary…?” ( Mark 6:3) This is a habit that the Lord encounters among us not infrequently. Rather than seeing Jesus as Lord of our lives, we see His gentleness and kindness and then presume that because He is patient with us that we are on par with Him.

     When this is our view of the situation, however, then we will not consider any trials in our lives as opportunities to grow in patience and holiness offered to us by the Father who loves us. Instead, we will see the difficulties of life as mere annoyances which are not taken out of our life by the God who could remove them, and with whom we can be annoyed because he does not make our life easier. Rather than striving for peace with everyone, ( Heb 12:14) we may simply seek to get our own way, even at the cost of peace. Such is not God’s way, but rather resistance to it. Instead, let us return to the prayer of the Church. Let us honor God with our whole mind through humility which accepts trials.  Let us love even our enemies with the love which reasonably expects the peace that God offers through endurance.