PRI Reflections on Scripture | Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Gospel Matthew 13:54-58 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? Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?" 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." And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. Reflection The kingdom of God invites us to let go of so many limitations in our minds, in terms of how things work. And here we're seeing the resistance to something they might call, the scandal of ordinariness. Who would have ever dreamt that the Messiah of the world would not come from the temple? Would not come from one of the great Pharisees? Instead came from a nobody in a small town that wasn't a very important place. What is all this saying? I think it's saying very simply that when we have faith, real faith, we let it override our minds, our logic. We realize that we're living in a world that is beyond our imagining and what God can do is more than we could ever imagine. That's entering the kingdom. That's what we're called to do. Closing Prayer Father, Jesus was powerful, but he didn't come from a system of great power. The temple was known for its power over people, the laws that they had to follow. But what Jesus, I think teaching us is that there is a way in which power is not what we think it is. It is infusing one with wisdom, not burdening them with something that they must do or be punished. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices