“And it came to pass: when Jesus had finished these parables, he passed from thence. And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered and said: ‘How came this man by this wisdom and miracles? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude, and his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence therefore hath he all these things?’ And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: ‘A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.’ And he wrought not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.”
Divine Love, ever longing to give itself more fully to the world, returns to Nazareth: “And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth” (Matthew 2:23). While Jesus did more miracles in Capernaum, He predominately taught in Nazareth, bringing forward the true meaning of the Law and Prophets: “All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). Now, respect listens: “Hear in silence, and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee” (Ecclesiasticus 32:9), with reverence for the other person due to their beauty as a human being, and listening attentively for what is good, true, and beautiful: “Stand in the multitude of ancients that are wise, and join thyself from thy heart to their wisdom, that thou mayst hear every discourse of God, and the saying of praise may not escape thee” (Ecclesiasticus 6:35), for love has reverent attentiveness, and wisdom takes what is loving and true and holds onto it: “Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water: but a wise man will draw it out” (Proverbs 20:5). Now, Love Incarnate and Wisdom Itself was before the eyes of the Nazarenes, but they did not respect Him, holding rather to His lineage than to who He was as present before them. This was prefigured in the prophet Amos: “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet: but I am a herdsman plucking wild figs” (Amos 7:14), that great wisdom can come from the simple, to the ear that knows how to listen. It should have been a source of wonder, then, that little Jesus, that they had known from childhood, should come forth bringing such wondrous teaching, and realize that at the very least He was a prophet: “The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Rather, they disdained Him on account of His being the son of a carpenter, ah, but think, Theophila, how dignified this occupation is! For even the Father worked with wood, making the trees and all that is, and fashions the beauty of the souls that love Him, even when He needs to work through some knots in the wood: “And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, and citterns and harps for singers” (3 Kings 10:12). It is not the work that makes a man, but the love with which it was done, for Wisdom instructs: “Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). This same carpenter’s Son is the one who says to each of His people: “Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee” (Jeremias 1:5), and if they could simply hear the love and wisdom on the lips of Jesus: “His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh” (Canticle 5:13), they would have run to Him: “I held him: and I will not let him go” (Canticle 3:4). The kindred then named are the children of Mary, the wife of Clopas, who was Jesus’ aunt and was by Him on the cross: “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen” (John 19:25), and herself bore St. James the Less, showing that Jesus desires not to separate, but elevate familial ties into a spiritual bond of divine love. The people, however, in admiration of His doctrine and miracles, are not moved, instead throwing His father’s trade in His face. Now, St. Francis held detraction to be more egregious than theft, for in most cases, theft is out of need or out of vicious passion, but to insult is directly contrary to love, being solely an act of hate: “Whosoever shall say, “Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:22); “Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another” (Ephesians 4:31-32); “Remove from thee a forward mouth, and let detracting lips be far from thee” (Proverbs 4:24). Jesus came with love and was met with insults and rejection, but He does not grow frustrated. Rather, He answers simply and mildly, for this is seen in the lives of the prophets: “Little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: ‘Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head’” (4 Kings 2:23); “I am become a laughing-stock all the day, all scoff at me” (Jeremias 20:7); “But prophesy not again any more in Bethel” (Amos 7:13), and even more so when one’s childhood is in the memory of the people to whom they prophecy, who keep in mind the quirks or stories of childhood, as if the one prophesying had not aged. As is seen in the divine life of the Trinity, love contains both giving and receiving, and while Jesus came with the wondrous gift of Himself, this was not received by the people of Nazareth: “I am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very much to my neighbours; and a fear to my acquaintance” (Psalm 30:12); “Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me” (Psalm 108:4). Because of this unbelief, Jesus did not do many miracles, not because His power is dependent on the faith of the person, but because He did not want to give more reasons for judgment to an unbelieving people, such as was seen in Pharoah’s resistance to Moses: “And Pharoa’s servants said to him: ‘How long shall we endure this scandal? Let the men go to sacrifice to the Lord their God. Dost thou not see that Egypt is undone?’” (Exodus 10:7). He gives His people a small morsel to eat, as an invitation to a greater feast: “And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon” (John 13:26), but they spit it back in His face. Thus, it should come as no surprise, Theophila, when you find your love rejected and spat back at you, for you are the Christ-bearer, seeking to bring His merciful love to all you meet, and His life mirrors your life and yours His, and so He says, “He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me” (Luke 10:16). You are an envoy of Love, Theophila, and whoever despises the divine love you carry in your heart, despises Love Himself.