Let us listen more to the voice of the Holy Spirit and not to our own voices or those of the world. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to increase our faith so that we do not waver in our arid and stormy times. –Fr. Alberto Villafan, OFM.
As we listen and meditate on the Gospel of this Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we should ask ourselves several questions. Are we spectators, followers, believers, or true disciples of Jesus? Do we see Jesus as a prophet or as the true God? Do we hear the Good News and put it into practice? Unfortunately, many Catholics identify with the audience and congregation to which Jesus addresses during his speech. We believe in Jesus, in His miracles, wonders, and healings, but we do not go any further. Our capacity is very limited, which leads us to be very incredulous people; we say we believe, but our deeds and actions say the opposite.
There are other people from other Christian denominations, who dare to say that Jesus had more biological brothers because they have stayed with the human Jesus and prophet. To these people, and also to us, Jesus invites us to let ourselves be carried away by faith because that faith will lead us to see and accept Jesus as true God. The Catholic Christians who allow themselves to be carried away by their ideologies, human opinions, and beliefs according to what the human spirit inspires them, will never understand who Jesus really is, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
On the other hand, Jesus was simply seen as a prophet, although it left them very puzzled to see his many miracles, wonders and healings. Jesus told them: “’A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own king and in his own house.’ So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.” And he was amazed at their lack of faith. If each of us evaluated our faith in Jesus, surely Jesus would also be very surprised by our lack of faith and disbelief. We have to see, feel, and touch to truly believe in Jesus. How many times does Jesus put us to the test, especially when we go through illnesses and critical moments? It is very easy to believe and have faith in Jesus when everything is going great and rosy in our lives. However, when we experience and live the opposite, we despair, we lose faith and trust in God, and we even protest, and we complain about everything. Let us be constant and persevering Catholic Christians at all times, even when we feel like we are drowning in a glass of water.
Jesus has been, is, and will always be in our midst; it is enough to have a lot of faith and trust in Him. Today Jesus asks us to always trust Him, in the midst of the storm and uncertainty. Although it seems that he is not listening to us and that he is asleep, he is there in our midst. Let us listen more to the voice of the Holy Spirit and not to our own voices or those of the world. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to increase our faith so that we do not waver in our arid and stormy times. The Holy Spirit gives us and will always give us the wisdom to discern what comes from Him and what does not come from Him. Not everything we think, intuit, and imagine comes from Him. May Jesus give us the strength to be faithful in our discipleship as we answer his call. Amen. May it be so.
With love and respect, Father Alberto Villafan, ofm.
Associate Pastor
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