Look beyond the surface

 

My reflection today is on the account in Matthew’s gospel when the people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth took offense at Him, which led Jesus to say, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.”  It’s somewhat surprising that they took offense at Jesus after witnessing His wisdom and mighty deeds.  Jesus was very familiar to the townspeople, and it seems that that familiarity led them to doubt that Jesus was someone special (Matthew 13:54-58).

In many ways, the people who knew Jesus for many years should have been the first people to see His greatness.  And most likely there were some from His hometown who did.  They would have known Jesus’ mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and she would have given daily witness to incredible virtues. They would have known Joseph as a truly righteous and just man.  And Jesus would have exuded every human virtue to perfection as He grew, and, again, that should have been easily noticeable.  But many failed to see the holiness of Jesus and the Holy Family.

This experience of our Lord should remind us that it’s easy to miss the presence of God all around us.  If those who were closest to Jesus didn’t recognize Him as a man of exceptional virtue and holiness, then how much more might we fail to see the presence of God in the lives of those we encounter every day?  For some reason, perhaps because of our struggles with pride and anger, it’s easier to look at the faults of another than at their virtues.  It’s easy to be critical of them and to dwell upon their perceived weaknesses and sins.  I’m reminded of the recent events surrounding Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.  In many of the stories and comments about their space travels, there seemed to be more anger and resentment about how they choose to spend their money than is warranted, in my opinion.  The biggest complaints are that the money they spent (not to mention the money others spent) on a “frivolous” endeavor could have been more wisely spent to improve the lives of many who are not as well-off.  Still others judge the billionaires’ pursuits as greedy and uncaring. 

But this Gospel story should encourage us to do all we can to look beyond the surface and to see God present in every life we encounter.  I think of all of the people that the billionaires employed in their space programs that might otherwise not have had jobs.  I think of the technology that may arise from these programs that could very well end a lot of the suffering in the world.  On a more transcendental level, I think of the hope that is spurred on with the successes of these programs and others like them.

On the most fundamental level, God dwells within each and every person He has created.  Even those who remain in a state of persistent mortal sin are still made in the image of God and reflect God by their very nature.  And we must see this.  And those who are in a state of grace carry the presence of God, not only within themselves by nature but also through God’s action in their lives.  Every virtue that every person has is there because God is at work in them.  And we must work to see this divine activity in their lives.

We can begin by thinking about the people with whom we are closest.  When thinking about them, what comes to mind?  Over the years, we can build habits of dwelling upon others’ faults.  And those habits are hard to break.  But they can only be broken by intentionally seeking out the presence of God in their lives.  As I wrote earlier, if Jesus’ own townspeople had a difficult time doing this with Him Who was perfect, then this should tell us that it will be even harder for us to do with those who lack perfection. But it must be done and is a very holy endeavor.

Today is a good day to start.