The Cities That Saw Too Much and Changed Too Little

July 15, 2025 - Tuesday, Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Matthew 11:20–24

Some places are full of stories. You walk their streets, and the past seems to whisper from every corner. The towns that Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel—Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum—were like that. These weren’t random names. These were places that had front-row seats to some of the most astonishing moments in Jesus’ ministry.

In Bethsaida, Jesus gave sight to a blind man and fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish. This was the hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Philip—people who left everything to follow Him. Chorazin, perched above the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, was close enough to witness many of Jesus’ works, though the Gospels don't record them specifically. And Capernaum? That was Jesus’ home base. He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, drove out demons, forgave sins, and even had a paralytic lowered through a roof just to reach Him there.

These cities saw miracles. Real ones. But they didn’t change.

Jesus doesn’t rage against them. He laments them. “Woe to you,” He says—not in anger, but in grief. Because even though they saw the signs, they didn’t turn their hearts. Meanwhile, Jesus says that Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom—cities infamous for their paganism and sin—would have repented had they seen what Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum saw.

It’s a shocking reversal. The “insiders,” who should have recognized God in their midst, remained indifferent. The “outsiders,” written off as hopeless, are imagined as more open to God’s grace.

It’s uncomfortable. And that’s the point.

Jesus’ words are not curses carved in stone—they’re meant to stir us, to awaken something within. The “woe” is a wake-up call, not a final sentence. History tells us about one outsider who did respond—the Syrophoenician woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon. She begged Jesus to heal her daughter, and her faith moved Him (Matthew 15:21–28). She didn’t need a thousand miracles. Just one was enough for her to believe.

So we’re left with a question:

Are we more like Capernaum or like that woman?

We have access to Scripture, sacraments, stories of saints, the beauty of nature, moments of grace—signs of God’s presence all around us. But signs are not enough if they don’t lead to change. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum didn’t lack evidence. They lacked conversion.

Jesus still walks into cities, towns, and lives. Still heals. Still calls. Still invites.

But will we respond?

Or will we, too, be cities that saw too much—and changed too little?