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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