Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 1, 2025
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.
In high school, I had the opportunity to travel from my small hometown in Ohio to the winding cobblestone streets of Paris. Our tour guide gave us a piece of advice: “Keep looking up!” She explained how easy it is to train our eyes to look down and miss everything, from an intricate frescoed ceiling to a church spire reaching towards the heavens. At the time, this felt self-evident. In such a new and beautiful place, how could I not pay attention to its precious details?
However, her instruction to look up becomes more difficult in our most familiar spaces and relationships. My office is a far cry from Paris, with its fluorescent lighting not exactly inspiring me to mentally photograph the posters and people that surround me daily. On a much more profound scale, my tendency to “look down” also applies to my faith. From Sunday school in my childhood to my studies in theology, I have heard the gospel time and again. After a while, even the most miraculous stories can lose their awe-inspiring glimmer when I think to myself, “I know this one.”
In today’s gospel, Christ is rejected by the very people who know him best—the ones who call his brothers and sisters by name. They are so close to Jesus in his humanity that they are blinded to his divinity. Just as Jesus does not work miracles there due to their lack of faith, I oftentimes “look down” and become ignorant of God’s grace when my faith becomes a common fact of my life rather than its centerpiece.
For me, receiving the sacraments is the way of “looking up.” By participation in the Eucharistic mystery, we encounter not only the carpenter’s son but Jesus’ full divinity. In light of this, every moment of our lives is resurrected as a true miracle.
Prayer
Lord, we know that the people of Jesus’ day were not the only ones to reject him and his gospel. Even though we bear the name of Christian, we, too, all too easily seek to write and live our own gospels, rather than the one preached by your Son, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Make Jesus and his gospel the true cornerstone of our lives so that built on the rock who is Christ, we may be your church, your living presence in this world. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Alphonsus Liguori was born in 1696 in Naples, Italy, the oldest of seven children. He was soon known as a child prodigy—he earned a doctorate in law by the age of 16. At 21, he had his legal practice and soon became a leading lawyer in Naples.
His law practice immersed him in the world, and he found escape in music and in visiting the sick. While visiting people suffering from terminal illnesses, he felt a distinct call to leave the world and to give himself entirely to God. He began to study theology, even though his family protested, and was ordained a priest when he was 29.
He became known for his clear, direct, and simple preaching, and he would travel to parishes around Naples giving missions. He became a sought-after theologian and writer and founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in 1750.
He was appointed bishop of an area near Naples, which was marked by uneducated parishioners and apathetic priests. He worked tirelessly to educate the laity and reform seminaries.
As he aged, he suffered from severe rheumatism. Often, he could barely move or even raise his chin off his chest. He spent several years only drinking from tubes because his head was so bent forward.
He endured turmoil within the government and even his own religious order, but persevered through it all. He vowed never to waste a moment of his life and lived that way for more than 90 years. He died in 1787, and nearly 100 years later, he was declared a doctor of the Church, a title given to 38 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example.
Much of what marks St. Alphonsus’ holiness has to do with his use of time. On the one hand, he vowed never to waste a moment of his life and was profoundly productive. On the other hand, it was in performing a profoundly non-productive work of mercy that he heard God’s call to deepen his life of faith. As a leading lawyer, he must have had many claims on his time, yet he made time in his day to visit those suffering from terminal illnesses. Those visits opened a different horizon to his life.
As the patron of the work of lay people, we can call upon St. Alphonsus’ example and prayer to assist us in using our time well. May we find the balance he achieved between productivity and the “unproductive” works of mercy, where we hear the voice of God.
St. Alphonsus Liguori’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Alphonsus Liguori, patron saint of the work of laypeople, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Alphonsus Liguori is in the public domain. Last accessed March 28, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
