We often have trouble accepting the truth, don't we? The truth can be disturbing, dangerous, even harsh. We prefer amusements, or wonderful positive experiences like miracles. In some ways that's the human condition. We see that on display in today's Gospel (Lk 4: 16-30) where Jesus returns to His home of Nazareth, and is initially greeted very favorably when He announces that the prophesy of Isaiah-- that liberty will be brought to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, the oppressed will go free and there will be a year acceptable to the Lord-- is being fulfilled by Jesus in their presence. It seems like they are expecting those things to happen right away, and Jesus senses that, saying they are going to ask for miracles, rather than just believing in the truth of His words of prophesy. That's when things start to turn, and when Jesus drives His point home by citing to the examples of the times of Elijah and Elisha, the crowd literally sets off to kill Jesus-- He has made them that mad. The truth can hurt, can't it. They're not interested in the reality of what Jesus is saying. They want miracles, and they want them now. They seem not to believe Jesus' essential message-- that He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies-- or else they wouldn't be thinking about killing Him. Later in Matthew's Gospel we will read of another visit by Jesus to Nazareth where He does not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith (Mt 13: 59 which seems to confirm what we read today about what is going on in their heads. So what goes on with us? Are we believers because we hope for a miracle? Do we accept the real truth of Jesus-- that He came to bring us eternal life-- or do our worldly cares get in the way? If Jesus told us, like He told the folks in Nazareth, that we'll not be receiving any miracles, how would we react? Is our faith a faith in the Son of God who came to fulfill all the prophets had said, or is it in a miracle-worker? What if there are no miracles?