Daily Gospel Reflection for August 4, 2017 - St. John Vianney

Today's Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58 - St. John Vianney

The people from Jesus' hometown have a certain list of criteria for the Messiah, their God who would be coming to save them. This list would be met in someone who would dazzle them...someone very different from anyone familiar to them. They just can't marry this hometown boy with the great "I Am". He's too much like them. He's too plain, (except maybe for His wisdom in speaking). His preaching does make them entertain the thought for a moment, only to dismiss it completely at remembrance of Him in the carpenter's shop with Joseph and carrying the water jug back from the well for Mary.

We are capable of the same blind perceptions. We think that the answers to prayer and the gifts God will give us will come all neatly wrapped in a bow. It will be complete with clear cut instructions. Every "i" will be dotted and every "t" crossed. But as Pope Francis says, "God is a God of surprises." And God has a plan and purpose for everything He wills to do...including sending His only Son to earth in a human body just like ours. The great humility of our God, whose condescension makes Him so approachable, is the greatest act of Divine Mercy imaginable. This act culminates in the death of this same God as a criminal on a cross. God's unfathomable Mercy comes disguised in unpredictable signs and wonders. He may lead us in ways we never thought possible, but time teaches us to trust in His ways.

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Ponder:

How can you be open to the familiar today as a possible place for God's revealing Himself to you?

Pray:

Lord, I want to see You in the unique and unexpected ways You might come to me. Open my heart, open my eyes. Jesus, I trust in You!

Copyright 2017 Cindy Costello