FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—C

(Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19     1 Corinthians 12: 31—13: 13      Luke 4: 21-30)

To be faithful to the Gospel, we may often time place ourselves at a very sensitive and dangerous situation in life. Yet the power of God abides with us in witnessing to the Gospel, even when we are persecuted because of the Gospel. We are the vessel to spread the Gospel; nothing, not even death, can stop us from carrying out this mission.

No heavenly or angelic creature will come to the earth to announce the Good News; we have been chosen for that purpose. We must trust ourselves as capable of carrying out the duties entailed in following Jesus. Faith, Hope, and Love spur us on to live the Gospel Message even when the rest of the world is against us. By our perseverance in giving witness to Christ, those in darkness shall come to the threshold of the Kingdom of Light.

We may not necessarily be loved by those we assume will love us on an account of the Gospel. But we must remember that we are not giving witness to the Good News because of any human praise; rather we do so because of the hope, faith, and love of the world to come. The obvious desire to behold the face of God makes us go to all lengths to be holy as we live and spread the Gospel Truths.

The world today with all the technological advancements is hampered in declaring and accepting the Good News in its entirety. This is due to false teachings and the effect of raw materialism. Since the Gospel cannot be compromised or obscured by any excessive carnal desires, some of us have been given special favors to be martyrs on an account of spreading the Gospel. Trusting in the power of God, we can garner our individual and collective capabilities with modern technology to make the Good News of Salvation affordable and meaningful to all we meet.  We must do the best we can in this process, and God shall do the rest to complement our efforts.