The Catholic Calendar for Friday, September 23, 2005
Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Pio of Petroclina, priest, religious
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Haggai 2;1-9
Psalm 43:1-4
Luke 9:18-22
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
"But Who Do You Say I Am?"
Jesus asks first, "Who do the crowds say I am." The apostles come up with any number of answers, some of which are shared with us. What would our answer to that question be? A nice guru, a cool hippie countercultural sort of guide, a good man, a good teacher, a troublemaker? Who knows? By looking at today's world, it's very difficult to say who the crowds think Jesus is, if they think about Him at all.
But the more important question Jesus asks the apostles, and by extension all of the "children" of the apostles--every living Christian--is "Who do you say that I am?" And that is a very interesting question because we may answer it in two different ways. We might have one answer on our lips and one in our actions.
When people look at what we do and how we conduct ourselves day-to-day, what do they see of Jesus? What does our daily conduct say to the world about what we think of Jesus? Are we gentle, kind, helpful, serene, hopeful, and joyous? Do we open the gates of the kingdom of heaven? Or are we harsh, judgmental, imperious, difficult? Do we paint an image of love or of judgment?
We spread the gospel more by who we are than by what we say. Are we the disciples who sit at Jesus' feet and take in all that He says, serving others from fullness of heart? This is where all service starts. It is in a prayerful life that we begin to tell the world about Who Jesus is.
- JuandelaCruz
(http://floscarmeli.stblogs.org/)
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posted by joachim at 4:28 AM