A prophet is not without honor except in his native place...

 

The scripture readings for today can be found at Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

Today's gospel reminds me of the old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." People  that have known Jesus his whole life found it hard to accept the fact that he was more than just the carpenter, the son of Mary. They knew him growing up and saw him grow and mature into manhood. To them he was just one of them. To them, he was nothing special. They couldn't understand how someone they consider so ordinary could be in fact a prophet, or even the Messiah!! To them, he was "just Jesus, the carpenter!"

How many of us can relate to this rejection of Jesus by the people who thought they knew him so well? Many of us, while growing up, may have lived just ordinary lives and were never really living a God centered life. We weren't leading lives that were "bad," but God just wasn't that important to us. We were just living out our lives without any thought of having God in the center of who we are. We were just "ordinary!" Once we came to realize that God should be the center of who we are, our family and friends started to say, "Who does he/she think he/she is?" And thus reject our sincere efforts in living a Godly life. After all, these people that may have known us for our whole life, or at least a long time, can think that our developing relationship with God is "not real."

Jesus would go on to continue His ministry to those open to the fact that He was indeed not only a prophet, but the Messiah. I'm sure our Lord prayed for those that had rejected him, but that didn't stop from bringing the love of God to others that were open to hear His message of love and forgiveness. 

We, too, are called to continue to develop our relationship with God in a way that is good for us in order to gain salvation. Further, we are called to share the love of God with everyone we meet, whether they accept the message or not. And, if by chance, they reject our message, just pray for them that they too one day know the loving presence of God in their lives.