The gospel today finds Jesus back in Nazareth (Mt 13:54-58).  Teaching in the synagogue He elicits amazement, because of His wisdom and miracles, from those who think they know Him and His family well.  Because of this they took offense at Him.  Jesus responds by saying that a prophet has honor everywhere except in his native place.  The headline concludes the passage.  While God can do any good thing, He does not force Himself on us.  Required is our cooperation.  Faith is a gift that is freely given but one which we must accept.  The Catechism tells us that “by faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God” (#143).  We must be right thinkers and right actors.  By conforming ourselves to the truth and God’s plan for us, we indeed will do “mighty deeds” for the Kingdom.  This is an encouragement to us to grow in our faith.  When presented with a particularly difficult teaching, the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith (Lk 17:6).  So too should we pray for ever increasing faith so that nothing, whether word or deed, ever derails our trust in the Lord, but that all things will make it stronger.