Friday August 1, 2025

Matthew 13:54-58

Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him.

This little passage has caused some headaches for some believers. What does it mean that he had brothers (named) and sisters. In fact one of his brothers, St James became the bishop of Jerusalem and he was called in extra biblical literature as James the Just or James the brother of Jesus who was called Messiah. You should read the Epistle of St James, it sounds like Jesus speaking. A very practical piece of scripture for the early Church.

Anyway something changed with Jesus, he grew into his ministry and what a broth it was. He learned to lean into the Spirit and Voice of God. You and I can do that too you know, we can learn to trust the Spirit. Today I want to pray for your spiritual growth and transformation. You can learn to trust the Voice of God within you. This growth is not linear though. Sometimes the growth shows and other times it does not. My growth has been keeping my homilies short. Trust me, they are short