Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 9, 2026
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
When working with enterprising families, the phrase “no prophet is accepted in his home” comes up often. When Jesus speaks in the town where he grew up—where people should have known and trusted him—he is rejected so completely that they “drove him out of the town.” The same dynamic shows up in families who work together. As outside advisors, it’s often easier to see the solution and gain more followership than any “insider” ever can.
In terms of faith, then, is God an insider or an outsider? And do I resist when God challenges me to change?
Recently, I needed an outsider’s perspective and engaged in a conversation with ChatGPT about a personal challenge I was trying to process. The answer was obvious from the journal entries and responses I submitted, and yet, I still wrestled. The next day, an Instagram story reminded me to bring my questions to God, not AI. So I handwrote a letter to God. What came to mind in response was simple: “Be still and know that I am God.”
This wasn’t my first letter on the topic. Flipping back, I realized how many more data points I now had—and how many times I had already asked God for guidance. The signs were ostensibly obvious, yet I resisted. I wanted a different outcome. I wanted to will my way through it, instead of doing as Jesus did: “he passed through the midst of them and went away.”
Sometimes we reject the truth not because it’s wrong, but because it’s uncomfortable, especially when it comes from the insiders who know us as deeply as God does. Inertia is real, and change management isn’t just for consultants to keep themselves busy. There are many reasons we may turn from God, resist change, or get stuck in our own narratives.
Today’s gospel reminds us that God continues to invite us in. We need the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the humility to surrender to God’s timing and plan.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, in your hometown synagogue, you told your neighbors that no prophet is accepted in his native place and that prophets tell people what they don’t want to hear. They turned on you! Lord Jesus, give me the strength to speak your word even in the face of rejection. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Though he died when he was just 15 years old, St. Dominic Savio displayed a remarkable depth of humanity and holiness. He is one of the youngest non-martyr saints to be canonized by the Church.
He was born in Italy in 1842 to a peasant family and, even as a young boy, had a desire to become a priest. St. John Bosco was fostering vocations among young men who might one day become priests to help him in his work with wayward boys. He took Dominic, aged 12, into his care and training at an oratory that John founded in Turin.
Dominic had clear sight of what was right and wrong and acted decisively. When he received his first Communion, he adopted a personal motto: "Death, but not sin!" He would often slip away from the playground during a recess to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
One time, he broke up a fight between two boys who were ready to beat each other with stones by holding up a crucifix between them. “Before you fight, look at this,” he said. “Say, ‘Jesus Christ was sinless and he died forgiving his executioners. I am a sinner, and I am going to outrage him by being deliberately revengeful.’ Then you can start, and throw your first stone at me.”
Though he was strictly observant of rules, Dominic was also quick to laugh, which sometimes got him into trouble with his superiors. He was also a great storyteller, which endeared him to younger boys especially.
John Bosco led the boys in a healthy and balanced spirituality, insisting on cheerfulness, playfulness, and attentiveness to duties. Dominic followed his lead—he would often say, “I can’t do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God.”
John Bosco wrote the biography of Dominic himself and took special care to write only what he had observed himself. He recorded Dominic’s spiritual gifts judiciously, including his supernatural knowledge of people in need or his insight into the future. For example, one time Dominic asked John to follow him into the city. Dominic led the priest to an apartment building, rang on a door, and promptly left. The door was answered by a man who was dying and had just been asking for a priest so he could make his last confession.
Dominic would often get caught up in rapturous prayer—to the point that he would lose track of time or get lost in the experience. On one occasion, he was found standing in the same position in prayer for six hours, thinking that the Mass he had been at had not yet ended. He called them his “distractions,” saying, “It seems as though heaven is opening just above me. I am afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh.”
Dominic was in poor health, and he was sent home from the oratory in Turin for some fresh air. Doctors diagnosed him with inflammation of the lungs and bled him, according to the practice of the time. Dominic's health slowly declined and received the anointing of the sick before dying on this date in 1857. Just before he died, he sat up and said these last words, “I am seeing the most wonderful things!”
Though many objected to such a young person being held up as a saint, Pope St. Pius X, who began the canonization process for Dominic, said, “A teenager such as Dominic, who bravely struggled to keep his innocence from Baptism to the end of his life, is really a saint.” St. Dominic’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Dominic Savio, young teenage saint and visionary—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Dominic Savio is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
