The curse of familiarity

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 13:54-58), familiarity proved to be an obstacle to faith for the people of Nazareth.

Familiarity is possibly one of the common mental blocks for the human mind: our closeness to a particular person or thing or event can sometimes blind us – at least temporarily - to the full significance of that person, thing or event.

In a movie about the U.S. space program, on the night when a man first walked on the moon, one of the other astronauts goes outside with his wife to look up at the sky. It is only then that he realizes that his close friend and coworker now belongs to the pantheon of history: “Christopher Columbus, Charles Lindbergh, and Neil Armstrong.” He chuckles. “Neil Armstrong!”

It was hard to believe that someone so familiar could turn out to be a person of such monumental consequence.

Likewise, as the comedian Bill Cosby observed, George Washington’s father did not realize that his son was THE George Washington.

It was hard to believe that someone so familiar could turn out to be a person of such monumental consequence.

So it is in today’s Gospel, the people of his town could not believe that someone so familiar could be the one with such “wisdom and mighty deeds....”

And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor
except in his native place
and in his own house.”

And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

Familiarity can likewise be an obstacle for us: in how we perceive others and in how others perceive us.

May the Lord grant us his wisdom: that his grace and power may always be recognized, even in people and things that are familiar.