GOSPEL POWER | JULY 13, 2021 | TUESDAY | St. Henry, King | 15th Week in Ordinary Time 

Gospel: Mt 11: 20 - 24

Jesus began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Reflection

Jesus’ primary strategy in proclaiming the Kingdom of God  is to call people to metanoia — a change of mindset that  will also bring about behavioral change. For the Kingdom,  whose domain is the human heart, is like new wine that requires  new wineskins. So, whenever people are blocked from engaging in  the interior work of metanoia due to their exterior circumstances,  like sickness and demonic bondage, Jesus frees them by performing  mighty deeds. Miracles, therefore, are at the service of metanoia.  However, the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum  — the towns that benefited most from Jesus’ miracles — missed  the point. They focused only on the miraculous experience but  remained bound to their habitual ways of thinking and acting — the  old wineskins that could not contain the new wine of the Kingdom.  “Woe” is an expression of the deep sadness Jesus felt at the people’s  failure to repent

Prayer

Lord Jesus, let not our experience of divine favors leave us unchanged  and stubbornly attached to our selfish ways. Amen