Do you live the Good News? Carlos Martinez-Vela, SJ, says our response to the Gospel is best expressed by deeds rather than words. Based on the readings from the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
How do you respond to the Good News?
Hi, I am Carlos Martinez-Vela, and this is my one-minute reflection.
In today’s Gospel, at his native place, Jesus finds his own kin in his own house, taking offense at him.
How do we respond to the Good News in our lives? Do we respond like those in the Gospel, being “hard of face and obstinate of heart?” Or, do we respond with an open heart and an open mind, with a desire to imitate Jesus?
We imitate Christ when we pray in silence, when we love our neighbor, when we bring “glad tidings to the poor,” when we live a faith that does justice. We imitate Christ when, as St. Ignatius tells us, we show our love in deeds more than in words.
Remember that imitating Christ comes without honor. Following that humble carpenter, the son of Mary, the prophet who walks among the poor, is counter-cultural. So, let us pray for the grace to be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of Christ.
