Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mt 11: 20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you.”
WOE TO THE HARD HEARTED: The birth of Moses is the starting point of God’s rescue mission for his people the Israelites. This will be followed by many other manifestations of God’s power that will lead to the freedom of God’s people against the hardheartedness of Pharaoh. In the Gospel Jesus dishes out woes to certain cities that had the privilege of witnessing his miracles but their hardheartedness had not allowed them to change. They were indifferent to the signs by which they were invited to take their place in the Kingdom that Christ was establishing. Are we enthusiastic about the presence of the reign of God in our midst? How much of a response have we made to the invitation of Christ which requires us to leave our old ways and embrace the path to conversion?
PRAYER: Let us pray today, that we may neither be indifferent nor be deterred by being hard hearted.
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OPPORTUNE TIME: Jesus feels for the chosen people as a mother does for her wayward son. Jesus desires that the chosen people give ear to the call for conversion and become the children of God’s Kingdom. Despite his efforts many Jews fail to listen; two thousand years after Jesus, these privileged people of God, fail to recognize that they were the first to be called to the Kingdom. The same case applies to Christians today. We fail to recognize the privileges being received through the Church: The Sacraments and the opportunities for entering the Kingdom of God. We are preoccupied with concerns of daily life that we ignore God’s offers. To be in the Kingdom is more of a personal choice rather than a birthright privilege. Give ear to it for time and opportunities wait for no one. Great was the appreciation of the gift of vocation for St. Tekakwitha that she said, “I have deliberated enough. For a long time, my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife.”
Prayer: We pray for all Catholics that they may remain faithful and value the gift of faith they received.
DAILY GOSPEL 