Category: Inspiration Daily

The Pharisees react understandably to Jesus in our Gospel. As He is teaching, Jesus sees a man being brought down through the roof on a stretcher, and He immediately forgives his sins. It must have been a shock to hear Jesus claim divinity. After all, as the Pharisees point out, only God can forgive sins.

But of course, as we know, Jesus is God. The Pharisees are correct in thinking that any mere man claiming divine powers of His own authority is blaspheming, but they did not realize that Jesus, the Son of Man, truly does have this authority. Those he healed did realize this, and they returned home glorifying God.

Though it is easier to see in hindsight, it was often difficult for Jesus’ listeners to understand that the Messiah was to be divine and human. If they never understood it, they resisted Jesus as a blasphemer, as one who deeply offends God by claiming His authority and powers. They plotted His death, because in their mind He was sacrilegious, and was quickly leading the multitudes to worship a man. If they did understand who the Messiah was to be, they fell down and worshiped Jesus as God incarnate. 

This is important for us to reflect on, because although we know that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, true God and true man, we do not often treat Him as seriously as did the Pharisees and disciples. Jesus claimed to be God, and was right. That changes everything. Isaiah has this note of significance in His description of the Messiah’s reign in our First Reading: “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you” (Isa. 35:4).

The coming of God into the world is something of the greatest significance, bringing with it both natural and supernatural wonders, as Isaiah says. And as Jesus shows in His ministry, the Messiah truly sets the captives free and works miracle after miracle. God has visited His people.

He has done this as the God-man. Bringing God and man together in His very Person, Jesus Christ is holiness. Holiness is union with God, and in His very being Jesus Christ is the intimate union of God and man. If we want to be made fit for heaven, where we experience the joy of this union eternally, we need only to become incorporated into that same union.

Christ, in His Person, shows us the way to finally be free from sin, to be saved, and to lead a holy life, achieving the purpose for which we were made. Nothing else could have achieved this in so perfect and glorious a manner as God Himself taking on our flesh. 

Not only this, but He adopts us into that same relationship using means which we can understand and physically connect to. In the sacraments, Christ’s grace comes to us and incorporates us into His hypostatic union of God and man. We are initiated into His New Covenant and perfected along the way so that we can be with God in heaven. Let us realize the significance of Jesus Christ’s divinity and of His hypostatic union, looking forward with great anticipation to the day when He first graced the earth with His infinite presence.

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Every now and again, we hear something in Scripture, as in our Gospel today, that reminds us to not just listen, but act. We need to be doers of the Word, not just hearers, as St. James says (James 1:22). Easy, right? It seems that way, but we have to recognize that this is something Jesus thought was worth emphasizing to His own listeners. It would be worthwhile to look at exactly how we can carry out this admonition.

We first need to listen. Notice that Christ praises the one who “listens to these words of mine and acts on them” (Matt. 7:24). There is a difference between listening and merely hearing. I noticed this recently in my own life. I had been preventing myself from listening. While engaged in conversation, I found myself either passively doing something else, like listening to a podcast, or paying just enough attention to be able to repeat what the other person said, but no more. I heard what was being said, but I did not internalize, process, or integrate it.

For me, this was because I was not paying enough attention, dropping both my external and internal distractions in order to be a true listener. As part of this process, I have begun to return to conversations in my down time, reflecting on what was asked of me and how I can implement it. For example, if my spouse or friend expresses a desire to go camping soon, how can I take concrete steps to make it a reality, rather than simply agreeing before moving on with my own concerns?

Christ asks us to listen. That means during Mass and while meditating on the Word, we must eliminate those distractions within our power: our thoughts of errands, our cell phones, noise. With distractions minimized, we can be receptive and attentive, which takes its own kind of energy. Then, we ought to return to the Word throughout the day, perhaps during the time that we’d normally be scrolling social media or letting our mind wander. What does it really mean, and how can we carry it out in our lives?

This will help us to listen, but then we need to act. How do we do God’s will? It’s a good step to do our own reflection on the readings at Mass and read Scripture consistently. Things like the Homily and the lives and writings of the saints can be helpful here as well. It’s good to see how others are making God’s Word practical, especially when those others are now praising Him in heaven.

Once we have listened to and reflected upon the meaning of the Word, we should actually do it. Understanding what to do is not quite doing God’s will; we need to make a practical plan. What concrete things will we do, today or this week, to make Christ’s words a reality? How will we turn the most significant resolutions into consistent, lasting practices? Who can help us do this?

The only thing left, then, is to start doing. Let us pray that the Lord will give us the grace to listen, understand, and act.

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