My two nephews from Savannah, Andrew 22 and Nico 19, remarkably, had not being in my sisters’ native country of Colombia until two weeks ago. The reason for this is that they have strong food allergies, and my sister did not want them to have a bad reaction away from their usual doctors. For Andrew and Nico, being there and meeting their close relatives was exciting and my close relatives there were delighted to finally meet Andrew and Nico in person.

We arrived in Bogota where my oldest sister Cecilia lives. My nephews were amazed at the city traffic and the way people drive there. There they met a couple of aunts and their families.

Before going to our hometown, we took a four-day trip to Cartagena, the most beautiful city in Colombia, located on the Caribbean Sea. In Cartagena we met with my two brothers and their families who had traveled to meet us there. We, the five siblings, were there with their children. That alone was the reason for the trip.

In Cartagena we enjoyed the beach, and the city with its history and architecture. I enjoyed walking around downtown Cartagena. The history of Cartagena is the history of Colombia. Before my nephews from the United States met my nieces and nephews from Colombia, I taught them some basic facts about the city’s history. And later when I asked my Colombian nieces and nephews about names and places pertaining to the city and they could not answer, I would ask my American nephews who were happy to share the answers.

My sister and two nephews did not finish the second leg of the trip, which was visiting my hometown. Andrew, who suffers from an illness of the colon, became sick and my sister decided to return to the States after the first week with both Andrew and Nico. I went alone to visit my native place.

Today’s gospel talks about the first time the Lord goes back to his native place of Nazareth. One expects that the Lord would be welcomed with warmth by the people from his village. However, the opposite is what he finds. As it was his custom, on the Sabbath he went to the synagogue to teach. The people’s response was astonishment at his wisdom. But their astonishment was different from the people’s response from the other towns he had visited earlier.

His hometown citizens were astonished by what was out of place for them. In their minds, the Lord was someone they had known all their lives. They asked the right questions about the Lord and his wisdom. But they asked them with the wrong attitude. Their minds concluded that that wisdom came from God. However, they were not open to accepting this truth.

Their problem was that they thought that they knew all there is to know about the Lord. Their preconceived ideas became an obstacle to faith. The Lord’s answer to the people’s comments reminded them of a proverb about a prophet not being honored by those who were close to him. The Lord introduces himself as a prophet to fellow Nazoreans. In doing so, he is aware of the typical prophet’s fate ̶rejection. Today’s gospel is fittingly paired with a reading from the prophet Ezekiel where this rejection is plainly foretold by God.

Each Sunday the Lord comes to the churches throughout the world to teach. He comes to us today in word and in sacrament. Like the people of his native place, we run the risk of also welcoming the Lord with unbelief. We run the risk of thinking that we know all there is to know about him. And our preconceived ideas about the Lord may become obstacles to faith. We run the risk of becoming too familiar with the Lord’s words and actions in the gospels that they may lose the power to astonish us in the right way.

Let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us his grace to always be open to him and truly believe in him each time we hear his words.