special powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother and aren’t James,
Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living here? Where did he get
all these things?” And so they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “The only place
where prophets are not welcome is his hometown and in his own family.” And he did not
perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Reflect

“Biases and prejudices.” Jesus went to his hometown and once again taught the
people in the synagogue. The people who heard him were amazed while at the same
time confused. They were having difficulties understanding how this Jesus whom they
thought they knew very well, possessed great wisdom and miraculous power.
They could not put their faith in him because they were blinded by their biases and
prejudices against Jesus. We may reflect on the fact that, often, we fail to relate well with
other people because of our biases and prejudices against them. Consequently, we tend
to close ourselves to the possibility that these people may change and that what we
only need to do is to reach out to them. When we get fixated on certain biases against
other people, we also limit our own capacity to understand them better. Moreover,
we will also fail to entertain the possibility that our perception of other people might be
wrong. Biases and prejudices commonly stifle good relationships. Our lack of capacity
to accept other people in their process of becoming, mirrors our lack of capacity to
welcome the divine mystery as it unfolds.

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