A misleading familiarity
A prophet is not without honour except in his own town and in his own home. (Matthew 13: 57)
Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town and in his own home.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13: 54-58)
For those who are willing to honestly evaluate the facts, we only need to verify them a few times to believe in Jesus. Indeed, in hindsight, one piece of evidence is already sufficient: Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. We might think, compared to us, that those who knew Jesus directly, from his childhood and throughout his adult like, had an advantage in believing in Him. However, even having known Him so intimately, without serious humility, these circumstances by themselves are not enough to believe in Him. On the contrary, such familiarity creates obstacles to faith. Therefore, those who were humanly close to Jesus, like his relatives and fellow citizens, were not as blessed as those who, having believed in him, listen to the Will of the Father, and then put it into practice. We should make sure that being in contact with Jesus in the Eucharist does not make us lose our enthusiasm for having God with us every day.
