Reflect, today, upon whether the rebuke Jesus issues toward these towns is also issued toward you. Have you been fortunate to receive a strong faith foundation? If so, have you actively nurtured and grown in your love for God? Or have you allowed your faith to diminish, become lukewarm, and gradually fade away? If you have been given much, raised in the faith, and surrounded by positive examples, remember that God expects much from you. Answer this divine call and respond to God with wholehearted devotion.

Reflect, today, upon true love. Love is only true love when it is grounded and centered in God and every moral law He has set forth. Consider your relationships, especially with family and close companions. Do you love them with the pure love of God, firmly grounded in His will? Or do you occasionally compromise the truths of faith and morality to appease misguided expectations? While kindness, gentleness, and compassion are crucial, moral truth must also be the foundation of every virtue in our relationships. Do not fear to love others exclusively with God's mind and heart. It is the only path to true love for everyone in your life, helping to guide their souls to salvation.

Reflect, today, upon these important questions and strive to answer them honestly. If you find that your faith is not growing year after year and you are not becoming enriched by God's grace, then it is evident that a change is necessary. Stagnation and lukewarmness are detrimental to our spiritual well-being, ultimately leading to loss. Take this opportunity to recommit yourself to a fervent embrace of the Gospel, allowing your soul to become fertile ground that consistently yields an abundance of spiritual fruit.

Reflect, today, upon this twofold action commanded by our Lord. First listen to Him. Listen to Him in the “darkness of faith.” Let Him draw you into the deepest and most certain convictions about His love and mercy and His very Self. Then, as you savor these hidden and holy communications from our Lord, look for ways by which He wants to speak to others through you. You do not have to initiate this proclamation, you only need to respond when He directs you. By building a deep level of prayer in this way, you will not only come to know our Lord in ways that are beyond words, you will also know how and when He wants to speak to others through you.

Reflect, today, upon this teaching of our Lord. Consider how you react when someone condemns or judges you. How do you respond to such persecutions? Begin with silence, turn your eyes to the other out of love for them, and then listen and wait on the Lord. Wait until He gives you the words to say. Doing so is not only good for the persecutor, it is also exceptionally good for your own soul and holiness of life.

Reflect, today, upon your being present in one of these towns. Consider the many ways that you have been closed to all that God wants to speak to you. Open your heart wide, listen with the utmost attentiveness, be humble before the message of the Gospel and be ready to receive it and to change your life as you do. Commit to being a member of the Kingdom of God so that all that God speaks to you will have a transforming effect upon your life.

Reflect, today, upon the invitation Jesus gives to you to be His evangelist. First, look at your own life and do all you can to allow the Gospel to transform you into a fervent follower of Christ. From there, be open to the many ways that God wants to use you every day to inspire others to become followers of our Lord. Start with your family. Pray for them. Be attentive to the promptings of grace God gives to reach out to them. Then turn your eyes, also, to the wider community. Allow the Lord to lead, follow His voice, and He will use you in many ways to help others come to know His burning love for them.

Reflect, today, upon the zeal that Jesus has for your own eternal salvation and holiness of life. You cannot make it through this world without Him. Let Jesus seek you out, come to you, speak to you and invite you to allow Him to shepherd you. He wants to do so with every fiber of His being; let Jesus fulfill His mission in you.

Reflect, today, upon the gentle Voice of God as He speaks to you in the depths of your heart. Do you hear Him? What is He inviting you to do? What healing does He want to bestow? As you ponder God’s Voice, try to respond only to Him. Set aside all of your own preferences and ideas of what God should do and seek only what He is speaking to you. Say “Yes” to Him, do so with certitude and conviction, and trust that whatever He speaks to you, if you have faith in what He says, He will do it.

Reflect, today, upon Jesus’ gentle invitation to you to embrace the “yoke” of perfection. Do not see it as too much. Rather, see it as a joyous invitation from our Lord. Ponder the fact that God not only calls you to the heights of holiness, He also provides you with the means to obtain it. Have faith in His almighty power and open yourself to it more fully so that You will be able to do anything and everything our Lord asks of you with ease and joy.