The native place.

What if it IS True? Blog

Discovering, wrestling with, and trying like crazy to live Gospel virtue.

03/31/14

John 4:43-54

At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.

Isn't this a great illustration? It kind of reminds me of the judge and the widow, or the story about the man who knocks late at night on his neighbor’s door for a loaf of bread. It's almost as if there's a degree of annoyance in Jesus's tone here. At least a little scolding it seems. But the royal official isn't seeking a sign, he's seeking a miracle. Sometimes we may be just the opposite and actually fall into the trap that Jesus seems to be referring to. We can hope for signs before we're willing to risk trusting in a miracle.

I see the obvious virtue here as abandonment. This abandonment is a total trust, not a wait and see. Now it's true that the official began to follow Christ only after the miraculous healing of his son, but he trusted enough at first to seek Him wholeheartedly. Are we willing to do this? Will we go out on a limb? I like that this passages starts with the reference to the prophet in his hometown. It's almost like we're those Galileans at times. After all, we've gotten used to Jesus. Maybe taken him for granted, or worse, given up on him altogether.

There's disturbing numbers that say only 30% of Catholics in the pews believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. There are other numbers that ay 75% of our faithful leave the Church at some point in their adulthood. Is this honoring Jesus in his native place? What if we sought him out? What if we availed ourselves to the sacraments like reconciliation more regularly or maybe Eucharistic adoration? What if we actually cracked open a bible, or our smart phones for that matter and read the readings for the mass on a daily basis? What would happen?

Try abandonment. You might find that simply opening yourself to it will bring about new wine as we hear about in the passage as well. Or a healing of your family as we see intimated here. It's at least worth the try, right? Or, will we choose to continue to play the skeptic, waiting for the sign before we seek? St. Augustine said understanding is the gift of faith. We want it the other way around. It is possible to get it right though, but it all starts with abandonment. Just like the royal official.

Good luck and God Bless,

Leo Brown