Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest
So what should I pray for as I reflect on what Jesus tells me in today’s Gospel?
The people of Nazareth were astonished by what he said. Hadn’t he lived with them, undistinguished from them for 30 years? Now he is teaching with authority and working miracles. What gives! Such is the realism of the Incarnation: nothing distinguishing in God made man; nothing apparent in him that singles him out from others.
Jesus allows this incomprehension on the part of his one-time neighbors. He worked no miracles in Nazareth. It was enough for him to have lived in hidden simplicity with them for 30 years.
Faith allows me to see beyond appearances; to recognize and welcome the Lord who comes to me in them each day. They give discrete witness, more convincing than words or actions of his hidden presence in each of them.