Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time (2)

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

On September 11, 2001, when the Twin Towers collapsed and took many people's lives. That terrible event shocked the whole world! And people started asking questions like why a great country famous for its security and foundation... let this unfortunate event happen. Pause…..

After a series of questions, one of the most important was raised: "Why does God allow the terrible disaster to happen?"

One resident replied, "I think God is very upset about that because, for many years, we have been asking Him to come out of our schools, society, and even our lives. So, how can we expect God to intervene when we have asked Him to leave us alone?" Pause…..

I think that the biggest sin today is not believing in God or his existence but removing God from our lives. This is not a physical removal but a spiritual one. It is the sin of denying his presence and his miracles in each of us and in the world, and it is the sin of seeing ourselves as gods, placing our own desires and ambitions above God's will.

Some of us may read the Gospel today and think that it does not affect today's situation. The situation is remote, the language of prophetic judgment is foreign, and there seems to be little that fits our contemporary Christian experience. However, this is a serious miscalculation on our part. These verses, while seemingly distant, are directly relevant to the lives of God’s people today. It reveals that Jesus truly speaks to us throughout the ages, addressing our modern-day struggles and challenges.

The lesson is simple: Bring God back to his place in our hearts and recognize his mighty deeds in our lives. Jesus denounced the Galilean cities, including Bethsaida and Capernaum, with harsh words because they were among the people who had the most privilege to see, hear, and touch Jesus in person. These cities were blessed with the physical presence of Jesus, a privilege that many others did not have. Yet, they failed to recognize and respond to this privilege with the appropriate faith and responsibility.

What about us? Jesus has entrusted the Church with the fullness of Christian truth and grace. I am always proud that we Catholics have the full truth of salvation. We have so many privileges of being Christ’s disciples. But the question is, have we responded to these privileges with faith and responsibility? If we are honest with ourselves, we will surely find areas in our lives that are not fully surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. Yet if Christ is truly present among us—in His Word, Eucharist, and Church—then we are in a situation much like that of ancient Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum as they witnessed his ministry.

Let us take comfort in the fact that Christ is always present among us. The same Christ who walked the streets of Galilean cities two thousand years ago is speaking to each of us here today. His words echo through time, reminding us, "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

May God bless us all.