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Today's Gospel: Mt. 13:54-58

It's actually the next day when you will read this, but you can't rush these things! Anyway, I could hardly keep from jumping to conclusions, which means for me, cross-references. I didn't flip there, no; I did recall that in another place, Jesus is said to have added, "But blessed is he who takes no offense at me." That was the thing that jumped out: "And they took offense at him."

In the prologue of John's Gospel, we read, "He came to his own, but his own did not receive him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God..." There's something about Jesus.

He mentions that God's prophets have a rough time among their friends and family; it is incongruous, really: We've known you since you first breathed, and you now lecture us? But it's more than just human pride; God seems to use the mundane to do the extraordinary, and we're still not used to it. And not only this, but Jesus was no common sinner. Better still, he is the hope of Israel, her prophet, priest, and king par excellence, and so the Savior of us all.

"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus is asking us this without asking here. "And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith." He never did signs and wonders to prove anything; faith is its own miracle, and it sees beyond the common. It reaches out to touch the unseen God.

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