At midday on 8 July 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus with faithful gathered in the inner courtyard of the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo. He commented on the reading from St. Mark's Gospel (Mark 6: 1-6a) concerning the refusal of the people of Nazareth to recognise the divinity of Jesus, and the scandal provoked by the fact that "the carpenter, the son of Mary" who had lived among them, should preach like a prophet.
In this context, the Holy Father mentioned the phrase "Nemo propheta in patria", meaning no one is a prophet in his own land. This, he said, "is understandable because their human familiarity made it hard for them to go further and open themselves to the divine dimension. It was difficult for them to believe that this son of a carpenter was the Son of God", while Jesus Himself drew on the example of the prophets of Israel who were likewise disdained. Because of this spiritual closure in Nazareth, "Jesus 'could do no deeds of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them'. Indeed, the miracles of Christ were not a show of power, but signs of God's love, which is realised wherever it finds reciprocity in the faith of man".
"The astonishment and scandal of His fellow citizens was met with amazement on the part of Jesus. In a certain sense, He too was scandalised. Although He knew that no prophet is accepted in his own land, yet His own people's closure of heart was something obscure and impenetrable to Him. How was it possible that they did not recognise the light of Truth? Why did they not open to the goodness of God Who chose to share our humanity?. The man Jesus of Nazareth is the transparency of God, God dwells in Him fully and, while we always seek other signs, other prodigies, we do not realise that the true sign is Him, God made flesh. He is the greatest miracle of the universe: all the love of God contained in a human heart and a human face".
For more information, please visit:
http://www.news.va/en/news/miracles-are-not-a-show-of-power-but-signs-of-godshttp://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/webcam/index?cam=webcam6&testo=Castel%20Gandolfo
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Do we recognize “the light of Truth”?
Are we always open to the power and “the goodness of God”?
Let us give thanks and praise for “the greatest miracle of the universe: all the love of God contained in a human heart and a human face”.
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