Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
What of our own cities, where Jesus has taught and performed mighty deeds through his body, the Church? In our own towns and cities souls have been brought back to life through baptism. Bread and wine have been transformed into the very body and blood of our Lord, on which, each day, we are invited to feast. The Holy Spirit himself condescends to fall upon and fill the hearts of his people. And this this is somehow only the baseline, to say nothing of other more charismatic graces of wisdom, prophecy, healing, and the rest, that accompany the proclamation of the Gospel in every age.
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.
Our continual exposure to the mighty deeds of Jesus is meant to facilitate and fuel our growth in holiness. We are grow in recognition of the limitations of life apart from Jesus and to surrender to him an increasingly large percentage of our hearts. For although we sometimes say to him that we wish for him to take it all, we seldom will our surrender so completely. But responding to his "mighty deeds" we can at least be sure of heading in the right direction, to the place where the "God may be all in all" (see First Corinthians 15:28).
And as for you, Capernaum:
Capernaum especially calls us to account. For if the home base of Jesus, privileged witness of so much, was nevertheless unresponsive and hardened of heart, could it not happen to us as well? Being near to Jesus but remaining unresponsive is dangerous. It does not bestow a de facto mercy because of good attendance. It rather steeps and stores up judgment, making us those who knew the will of the master but did not act on it, those entrusted with much and therefore those from whom much was expected (see Luke 12:47-48).
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
The mighty deeds of Jesus in our midst are meant for our growth. We are called to respond to them actively and consciously, participating fully. That in turn is meant to lead to genuine thanksgiving rather than forgetful lethargy. Thanksgiving can then grow into the firm resolve to respond with love to the love we have first been shown. Let us remind one another of all that the Lord is doing in our midst, lest any of us take it for granted, that we might receive for the day of judgment the mercy that Jesus himself desires to give.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!
We are sometimes tempted to make alliances with the powers of this world to ensure our survival, health, or happiness. We do this in spite of prophets proclaiming in our midst the very word of God. We continue in spite of knowing the mighty deeds he has already done in our midst. Instead, when we meet a new challenge we are meant to be able to draw strength from the Lord's victories that we have already seen and known, his mighty deeds in our midst. What challenges do we face in our own lives? Are we tempted to turn everywhere first but the Lord, to continue as though we had not seen his mighty deeds? If this is a live option for us let us try to turn back to the Lord and ask him to open our hearts to see what he has done, is doing, and desires to do in our midst, he who was, who is, and who is to come, glorious forever. Amen.
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