Daily Gospel Reflection – Memorial of saint John Vianney, priest
August 4, 2023
Memorial of saint John Vianney, priest
Gospel: Mt 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
"Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter's son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?"
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house."
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, on his return to Nazareth, the Lord identifies himself as a prophet. Jesus is not just one more in a long line of prophets but rather the personal and perfect embodiment of the transformative speech of God. As Pope Benedict XVI puts it in Verbum Domini, “Now the word is not simply audible; not only does it have a voice, now the word has a face, one which we can see: that of Jesus of Nazareth.”
Therefore, we are not surprised that the Gospels consistently portray Jesus’ words as irresistibly powerful. At the tomb of his friend, “he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” and “the dead man came out.” Precisely because Jesus is the divine Word, what he says is. Origen of Alexandria said that just as all of Jesus’ acts were like words, so all his words were like acts.
The Church, which is Jesus’ Mystical Body, is the privileged bearer of his Word to the world down through the ages until the Lord returns. This is why the Church continues to unleash transformative power.
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