LIVE IT TODAY: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 | Optional Memorial of Saint John de Britto, Priest and Martyr
Do not let familiarity blind you to who I am or what I am doing; believe, and my power will be at work among you.
LIVE IT TODAY: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 | Optional Memorial of Saint John de Britto, Priest and Martyr
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GOD’S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
Do not let familiarity blind you to who I am or what I am doing; believe, and my power will be at work among you.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | Mark 6:1–6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
Familiarity can quietly harden the heart until faith gives way to offense.
The people of Nazareth are not hostile at first; they are astonished. But astonishment quickly curdles into dismissal. They reduce Jesus to what they think they already know: his trade, his family, his ordinariness. The Greek word skandalizō—“they took offense”—means to stumble or be tripped up. What blocks them is not Jesus’ lack of power, but their refusal to receive Him as more than they expected.
Jesus’ saying about the prophet cuts close to home. Revelation is often hardest to receive where it is most familiar. When God speaks too close to our own lives—through family, routine, or the ordinary—it threatens our sense of control. Faith requires humility, the willingness to let God surprise us even in what we think we have mastered.
Mark’s line is sobering: Jesus “was not able” to perform mighty deeds there. This is not a limit on divine power, but a revelation of how God chooses to work. Grace does not force itself. Unbelief closes doors that God longs to open. Miracles are not withheld as punishment; they are made impossible by hearts that refuse trust.
This Gospel strikes directly at the heart of the domestic church. Homes can become places where faith is assumed rather than practiced, where prayer becomes routine words rather than living expectation. Parents and children alike can slip into treating Jesus as familiar background rather than present Lord.
Today’s optional memorial sharpens the contrast. Saint John de Britto was rejected not only by strangers, but by those closest to him. He left privilege and comfort to preach Christ in India, embracing misunderstanding, opposition, and ultimately martyrdom. Where Nazareth refused the familiar Christ, John de Britto proclaimed Him boldly among those who had never known His name.
Here is the line to carry today: unbelief often wears the disguise of knowing too much already. Faith begins again when we allow Jesus to be more than comfortable.
Parents, build saint-forming homes by refusing to let faith become casual. Pray over your children by name, asking for hearts that remain open and expectant. Act in the power of the Holy Spirit, inviting Jesus to do mighty works in your home through humble, living faith.
“Faith is a personal adherence of the whole man to God who reveals himself.” (CCC 176)
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
In My Heart: Where might familiarity be dulling my openness to Jesus’ work in my life?
In My Home: How can our family move from assumed faith to lived, expectant faith?
In My World: Where am I tempted to dismiss God because He shows up in ordinary ways?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, share one way Jesus feels familiar in your life—and one way you want to encounter Him more deeply.
Then pray aloud together. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew wonder and trust. Pray over each person by name, asking that they know God’s personal love, be freed from the Enemy’s lie that faith is routine or unnecessary, receive strength to overcome doubt and temptation, and live the Gospel with openness and courage.
Daily Challenge: Invite Jesus intentionally into one ordinary moment today—mealtime, chores, conversation—and ask Him to act there.
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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Powerful reflection on how familiarity can actualy become the obstacle. That line about astonishment curdling into dismissal really landed, especially in daily family life where routines can quietly replace attentivenes to grace. I've noticed this in my own prayer sometimes where words become automatic instead of engaged. The Gospel passage showing Jesus limited by unbelief is pretty striking when you think about it.