Faith Daily | February 1 2023

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p533

O Lord,

you have taught us

that all our doings without love are worth nothing:

send your Holy Spirit,

and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,

the true bond of peace and all virtues,

without which whoever lives is counted dead before you;

Grant this for your Son Jesus Christ’s sake.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: Mark 6: 1-6

He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching.

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Meredith Scott-McMahon

What would your reaction be today if you witnessed a miracle such as those Jesus was performing in Nazareth? I’d like to think I’d be completely blown away. But the amazement of the ‘many’ who acknowledged Jesus’ wisdom and miracles was not followed by awe and wonder, but by suspicion and offence. The apparent cause was their familiarity with Him. They knew His family; had grown up with him. They thought they knew all there was to know about him.

But did they really know him? Had they witnessed the many hours Jesus had spent learning at the feet of his teachers? Had they known of the nights Jesus spent in prayer alone on the hillsides? Did they listen with more than cursory attention to his teaching? Had they applied his teaching to their own lives? Obviously not, judging by the very few who had faith enough for Jesus’ healing power to be effective.

But I also have to think, how am I blind to the teachings of Jesus? All those well-known passages and parables - am I also too familiar with them to plumb their depths and keep growing in wisdom and understanding?

Living the gospels is a challenge to get past the familiar, and to know that however many times we hear them or read them, a new perspective, a revelation and a deeper relationship with the risen Christ is available to us through time spent absorbing and reliving these wise and powerful stories.

FINAL PRAYER

Lord, open my eyes and ears to the truth and wisdom of your word, and let not my familiarity, pride and arrogance create a barrier to a deeper relationship with you.

Amen.