Reflection by Colleen Rooney Today's Gospel: Mark 6:1-6 I always feel a great sadness for Our Lord. Here He is in the synagogue where He was educated as a young boy in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is in this synagogue where He would have observed the Sabbath week after week until He began His public ministry and now, He returns to reveal His Mission. His kinsmen can not accept that He is anyone other than who they think He is. How sad for Our Lord! And I wonder, would I have been open to seeing Jesus any differently, had I been a cousin of His in Nazareth? Sometimes we are so sure that we have understood who a person is that we are not open to another side of them, perhaps a depth or a talent that is in them but that we had never seen before. We restrict that person, at least as they relate to us, by our limited view of them. Christ’s relatives did just that. There can be the reaction of jealousy when one sees for the first time the depth or the talent another person has. Rather than acknowledging it, we wish it was ours, or we wish they didn’t have it, and we certainly don’t feel like thanking God for the gift they possess. Our Lord’s relatives questioned, “Where did this man get all this?” After all they knew who He was, and they were offended by His wisdom. Why were they offended? Was it because He had lived among them for thirty years and had not fully revealed to them who He was? Their unwillingness to acknowledge Jesus in the synagogue, and to accept His earlier life among them in Nazareth as a mystery, limited what He could do for them.

Ponder:

Would I have been open to seeing Jesus any differently had I been a cousin of His in Nazareth?

Pray:

Lord, keep my smallness from limiting Your power in my life. Strengthen my faith in You so that You may work in me as You will.
Copyright 2020 Colleen Rooney Colleen Rooney has a M.A. in Theology from St. John’s University, NY. She has taught the faith in schools and parish religious education programs. She presents a yearly workshop at the Arlington, Virginia, Diocesan Catechetical Conference: Introducing Your Students to Jesus as a Young Boy. She is the author of Celebrating Advent and Christmas with Children. Receive CatholicMom.com newsletters in your inbox, including the Daily Gospel Reflection each morning! * indicates required
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