Daily Gospel Reflection for February 3, 2015

Today's Gospel: Mark 6, 1-6

Today we see Jesus going back to his home town; he couldn´t work any miracles, because his people didn´t believe in him, didn´t believe that a person born and raised in their town could have such power. I can imagine Jesus' sadness! Precisely in the place that he had a special bond, where he had lived for so many years and with the people that he was closest to, he couldn´t use his power because of their lack of faith.

Many times, we too suffer because we can't work "miracles" in our home, with our own family. We would like that those who we love could also follow Jesus' teachings, but they don´t accept our words. We are able to evangelize others, outsiders, bring strangers back to the Church, but we can do little with our family members.

I believe that this experience of Jesus is told in the Gospel so we are not discouraged. The servant isn´t greater than his Lord. If not even Jesus managed to convince his relatives, we can´t be discouraged if we don´t manage to convince ours. We can´t give up on evangelization saying, "If I can´t bring my family to Church, how can I bring others?" We should trust that if we can´t, by ourselves, touch the heart of our own people, someone from the outside certainly one day will.

Another aspect of this Gospel is related to the Faith: Jesus can only work miracles if we have faith in him. But what does it mean to have faith? It means to believe that God is Father, God is good and everything he does or permits is good. Everything God allows in our lives has a single goal: our salvation. The Faith makes us see behind daily events and see the loving hand of the Father leading everything to our own good.

Ponder:

Have I ever felt anguish because I couldn´t take Jesus' message to the ones I love? Can I see the loving hands of the Father behind everything that happens in my life? What has God provided or permitted for me today?

Pray:

Dear Jesus, help me take the Gospel´s message to everyone, and if the ones I most love doesn´t accept it, please take care that they can one day be touched by your love through someone else. Dear Mother, I want to have a faith simple as yours! Help me believe that for those who love God all things work together for good. Amen.

This reflection was translated from the original, written in Portuguese.
Copyright 2016 Flávia Ghelardi