February 4: Ordinary Kindness / Amabilidad Ordinaria

According to Mark 6, 1-6, the people in Nazareth were slow to recognize the implications of the wisdom of Jesus and His power for good towards the sick and suffering. They ask, how can He have more wisdom than the rest of us? They were unable to see that God was working through Him in a special way. In response, they showed Him little respect. He was too familiar to them – too ordinary. They supposedly “knew” His mother and His family … how could He be all that different from everyone else in Nazareth?

The old adage is so true: familiarity breeds contempt. And ordinary kindness fosters growth. We can be slow to recognize God’s grace and presence in the ordinary and the familiar. We want to go on distant pilgrimages or have fantastic experiences so that we might encounter the presence of God. But His presence is all around us – in the familiar, the humdrum, and in the ordinary. 

Mark 6, 1-6 invites us to look on those who surround us with new eyes and with a new respect. Recognizing the Lord in them gives Him a proper welcome to bless our lives and theirs. By contrast, the failure of the Nazarenes to see in this way inhibited what Jesus could do for them. What a sad day it would be for us if we followed suit.

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Un hombre o una mujer como nosotros, de a pie, cuyos padres conocemos, ¿cómo se atreve, él o ella, a hablarnos palabra de Dios – si es que es palabra de Dios? Según Marcos 6, 1-6, Jesús, el carpintero del pueblo, a quien todo el mundo conocía, ¿cómo podría hacer milagros y de dónde sacaba ese extraño mensaje que proclamaba? 

La Iglesia, con todos sus defectos, y el sacerdote, que no es mejor que nosotros, ¿cómo se atreven a hablarnos en el nombre de Dios? Pero … Dios habla por medio de gente ordinaria. Los vecinos de Nazaret, sus paisanos, no aceptaron a Jesús. ¿Aceptamos nosotros a los que hablan fuerte y claro en favor de lo que es justo, verdadero, y bueno? 

Que la Palabra Santa de Dios no caiga en oídos sordos. Y que no la guardemos sólo para nosotros mismos, sino que la compartamos con los demás como un reto para crear todos juntos una comunidad en la que imperen la justicia, la fraternidad, y el amor.