Ordination at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Ordination at St. Patrick's Cathedral
June 19, 2010

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Whoever listens to you listens to me.

 


For the scripture readings for this reflection, go to: Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today Jesus is expressing frustration at those people around him that find it hard to accept him and his teachings. They were present for all his various miracles and healings, and yet they find it hard to accept him for who he is: the long-awaited Messiah.

Our Lord says, “For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have long ago repented…” I often wonder why it was so hard for people, who witnessed the great things Jesus had done, would not have become his followers? Were they so comfortable with their sinful lives that they were unwilling to turn to the Lord in repentance and accept him as Messiah?

Human nature being what it is, people find it easy to just to continue with their familiar ways of living. Putting God first in their lives means work. It means realizing that we need to repent from our sinfulness and to turn to God in love. It means doing some extra work to become a person who loves God with our whole being and to love others as we love ourselves. People tend to find it hard to turn away from their comfortable lives. They find it hard to live a spiritual life with God in the center of who they are. They prefer putting their self-interests ahead of obeying God’s laws of love towards Him and towards others.

Let us not fall into that way of living. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to listen to Jesus through His teachings in Scripture and His teachings as understood in the Catholic Church. Let us repent of any sinfulness we may be guilty of. Let us always keep an open ear, an open mind, and an open heart to where the Lord is calling us to be: people who love God and are willing to serve him in how we live out our lives as Christians.

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