“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955: German-born theoretical physicist)

Gospel Text: (MT 13:54-58)

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.

They were astonished and said,

“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?

Is he not the carpenter’s son?

Is not his mother named Mary

and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

Are not his sisters all with us?

Where did this man get all this?”

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.

Today’s Gospel works well with the feast of St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus and a most remarkable man. In the Gospel, people in the crowd begin to question Jesus’ credentials. Who is he to tell them what to do? Where does he, a carpenter’s son, get off preaching in the synagogue? Jesus’ response: “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” This fits with St. Ignatius because if you knew him as a young man, you would not have figured him for a saint. A nobleman, a soldier. — he seemed destined for a different life. The road he eventually chose wasn’t always easy.

Things don’t work out always as we have planned. Even Jesus had to preach to some pretty tough crowds. Ignatius turned away from a very different life to find what fulfilled him on deeper level.

What about you?