The townspeople were quite amazed to hear the local carpenter’s son speaking as he did:

Where did he get his wisdom and his miraculous powers?

The rejection of Jesus even in his hometown of Nazareth.

Assumptions and prejudices can blind us to truth.

Behind of Jesus was the life of the Trinity, and the mission of his Father.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊      

Genesis 1:26b-2:3

God said, "Let us

Make man in our image, to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground." So God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground."

 

God said, "I have given you every seed-bearing plant which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food. To every wild animal, to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food." So it was.

 

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day

That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array. By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done.

 

Ps 90:2, 3-4, 12-13, 14, 16 Lord, give success to the work of our hands.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Matthew 13:54-58

He 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? Where did he get all these things?" And so they took offense at him.

 

Jesus said to them, "The only place where a prophet is not welcome is his hometown and in his own family." And he did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Our God Saves"

We begin our faith journey this May by honoring St. Joseph the Worker. At the same time, we also honor all the workers of the world in commemoration of Labor Day. St. Joseph is Jesus' foster father. The Gospel tradition identifies Jesus as the carpenter's son (cf. Mt. 13:55; Lk. 4:22). A carpenter at that time was commonly referred to as a "wood-craftsman" (téktön).

 

Furthermore, the wisdom tradition identifies God as the master craftsman who always works for the good and welfare of his divine family (cf. Prov. 8:31). Now then, we may reflect not only on the role of St. Joseph as the dignified provider for Mary and Jesus but also as a man who kept a deep relationship with God. There are only few appearances of St. Joseph in the Gospel accounts (cf. Mt. 1:16-24; 2:13; Lk. 1:27; 2:4- 43; 3:23; 4:22; Jn. 1:45; 6:42) but these few occurrences clearly depict him as a man of God. St. Joseph must have been fully aware of the fact that without God he could be like a withered branch.