God gives us more second chances than we will ever need. In our relationship with God, we are not judged based on what we have done, who we are, who our family members are or how we do or don’t respond to God’s call. God loves us and is always present. It seems that the people Jesus was teaching in the synagogue judged him. They looked at his family’s economic means; we know Mary and
Joseph were poor. We can see the similarities between the society back then and the current treatment of poor people.
We look down on poor people and sometimes expect them to honour us because we help them. We do not treat them with the same dignity as our friends. Sometimes, we blame poor people for their lack, especially if we know them or their background. We assume they are intellectually challenged if they are unable to uplift
themselves. We feel they cannot have opinions about our lives, but we have many about theirs and express them freely.
Perhaps this was the situation with Jesus. What do you think might have been the reason for Jesus’ rejection? We are no different from those who rejected him. There have been many times in our lives when we have rejected Jesus when we have rejected his teaching to love our neighbour, to forgive, and to embrace those
different from ourselves. Sometimes, our self-centeredness leads us to reject Jesus.
Spend some time today reflecting on your relationship with Jesus. If you feel that you reject Jesus’ teachings, what leads to this? Ask for the grace to identify the areas where the Lord calls you to hear his teaching.
Reflections by Morongoa Selepe
