(July 09, 2012) The rejection of Jesus by the folks of his home town Nazareth highlights
the need for people to have an open and trusting disposition towards God in order
to receive the grace of miracles, Pope Benedict XVI said on Sunday. “In today’s
Gospel Jesus reminds us that if we live with an open and simple heart, nourished by
true faith, we can recognize the presence of God in our lives and follow his holy
will,” said the Pope during his weekly midday ‘Angelus’ address at the summer papal
residence of Castel Gandolfo, just south-east of Rome, where he is on vacation. Speaking
to a large crowd of pilgrims in the residence courtyard the Pope dwelt upon the Gospel
passage of St. Mark, where Jesus is not accepted by his hometown. The Pontiff said
this attitude was understandable,” as “familiarity at the human level makes it difficult
to go beyond and be open to the divine dimension.” Because of the hostile reaction
in Nazareth, Jesus did not work mighty work there, except that he healed a few people.
This is because “the miracles of Christ are not a display of power, but signs of the
love of God, which is made present where it encounters the faith of man,” Pope Benedict
said. Jesus’ town folks were not open to the goodness of God because they did not
recognize the great miracle of God's incarnation in Jesus Christ, a reality to which,
the Pope said, modern society can also be blind. “While we too always seek other signs,
other wonders, we do not realize that God made flesh is the greatest miracle of the
universe.