July 31, 2015 Friday, 17th Week in Ordinary
Time St. Ignatius of
Loyola 1st Reading: Lv 23:
1, 4-11,15-16,27,34b-37
Gospel: Mt 13:54–58
Jesus went to his hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did he get this wisdom and these special powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living here? How did he get all this?” And so they took offense at him.Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And he did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”, wrote Alexander Pope in his “An Essay on Criticism”. The same can be said of the knowledge of Jesus’ neighbors about his human origins. Jesus was the guy next door. Because they knew where he came from, they found him too human to be the Messiah foretold by the prophets. Those who weren’t his neighbors, on the other hand, reacted differently. They were amazed at his teachings for he spoke with authority. What a waste of precious opportunity! The neighbors of Jesus ended up rejecting a Messiah for a very shallow reason. That’s how dangerous a little knowledge is! It can even be fatal to one’s salvation.
That little knowledge about Jesus’ background diluted their amazement at Jesus’ extraordinary works. “Where did he get this wisdom and these special powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son?” Their initial reaction of amazement at Jesus’ wonderful works could have led them to true faith, for Jesus’ activities were the same Messianic activities foretold by the prophets. Jesus’ healing activities and his exorcisms would have been enough indications that Jesus was no ordinary guy next door. But they preferred to drown in the shallow pool of information they had of Jesus. This made it impossible for Jesus to perform any miracle in their midst. That’s how fatal to salvation a little knowledge of God is.
Just as their skin-deep knowledge of Jesus’ background prevented them from believing in him, so will our shallow knowledge of Jesus prevent us from appreciating God’s providential works. When Alexander Pope wrote about knowledge as a dangerous thing, he wanted people not to stop until they have drunk from a deeper fountain. “Drink deep,” Alexander Pope continued, “or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again”.- Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website:www.frdan.org.
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