Right in front of us

Why couldn't you see them, when they were right in front of you? Maybe you have the same problem as the people in this week's Gospel (Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21). They had Jesus right in front of them and didn't know He was God!

Jesus went to the temple -- like a church -- in His town and read from the Torah, the Jewish Bible. "The Spirit of the Lord is in me," He read. "He has sent me to make the poor happy, make the blind see, and tell you it's time for God to save His people." Jesus looked at the people and said, "Today, this reading has come true right in front of you."

The people Jesus met had a problem like that. At that time, a whole bunch of people were running around saying that they were sent by God to save the world. With so many "pretend Gods," people stopped paying attention when the real one -- Jesus -- came along!

When you're having trouble finding something, the best thing to do is slow down. It's hard to see one small pair of shoes if you're running around the room, throwing things out of the way! Slowing down helps you to really see what you're looking at.

That's what Jesus tried to get people to do. He read to them the part of the Torah that talked about God coming and then told people right out loud, "This has come true today." Jesus wanted them to slow down, pay attention and see who they were looking at: God!

Finding your sneakers might make you happy because you want to wear them. But finding out who Jesus really was made people happy in a different way: Jesus promised to help the poor, do miracles like healing blind people, and even save the whole world!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, teach me to slow down and really look around when I want to find something -- even you! Amen.