Recognizing Jesus in the Ordinary

On this bonus Leap Year day, we reflect on the admonition Jesus gives to the people of Nazareth:  "Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place."  (Lk 4:24).  It seems we are blinded by our expectation of seeing someone or something spectacular, but when there is no glitter, just something plain and ordinary, we refuse to accept or listen to it. People refused to listen to Elijah, and even the foreigner from Syria, Naaman, at first refused Elisha's simple suggestion to wash in the Jordan to cure his leprosy.  It was too simple a solution, he protested. But when followed, it worked.
In the currently playing film, RISEN, again we witness skepticism, and as in the cases above, we see the compelling power of God in the simple presence of  the God-man Jesus very at home in the ordinary, allowing his genuine warmth, his personal interest, his kindness, his acceptance of people as they are, overcoming and melting a battle-hardened heart.  This is how Jesus works, this is what he does; we need to pray that our eyes be opened to see him in the ordinary. And,  it is through the ordinary that we in turn will touch and heal others.
Bro. Rene