https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13?54
Praise God. Praise be to Jesus Christ. Amen.
We live our life in this little bubble of who we are. We see the same things. We speak to the same people. We know our friends. We know our family. We know what to expect from them, how they act, and can anticipate what they will do in certain situations.
In that bubble of our existence, we can be blinded by the same old – same old.
The people in Jesus’ hometown encountered him that day in the synagogue. They were astonished at what they encountered. They were astonished; but, blinded by the same old, same old.
Paul touches on this phenomenon in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians. “The people’s minds were blinded, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read a veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. This veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.”(2 Corinthian 3:14)
Those people looked at a man many had known since his childhood and saw the carpenter’s son. They saw the son of Mary. They remember him as a young boy associated with his relatives, cousins and kin people.
All the people in Jesus’ hometown encountered Jesus; but, they were blinded by the same old – same old. They looked at him with the same old eyes. They tried to understand him with the same old heart. Instead of being in awe and wonder of Jesus. They wondered where all his wisdom and mighty works had come from.
Blinded by the same old - same old; their opinion of Jesus remained the same. They could not believe. They did not encounter Jesus, the Christ. They had no faith. They did not honor him. Blinded by the same old – same old things – these people from Jesus’s hometown could not even accept his miracles.
People are blinded in the same way today.
We go to encounter Jesus in prayer. But, it is the same old same old. We go to Jesus with the same old habits and same old thoughts. It is habits, situations, and repeated behaviors that we are comfortable with that blind us.
A veil covers minds and hearts so people are afraid to grow in faith. They close themselves to the change that the truth of Christ can bring. Let me challenge you –do not to be blinded by the same old – same old.
Look around you at the same things you see every day and see them again for the first time.
Pray the prayers you pray every day and open your heart to God’s truth.
See what is around you for the first time.
Encounter Jesus more deeply in prayer.
Truly look for Christ in the face of others not just your family or your friends, but strangers, the poor.
See the miracles around us.
See the beauty of God’s creation.
May every prayer, every bible scripture, every holy moment be a new encounter with Jesus. Let every new encounter with Jesus deepen our acceptance and belief.
So that we are not the same old same old.
Be good, be holy and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by the way we live or life and love one another.
Praise God. Praise be to Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.
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