When questioned about fasting, Jesus responds with an insight: there is a time to feast and a time to fast. As the Lord’s disciples we are guided by our faith in Christ to discern the appropriate times when we need to adjust our behaviors for the specific needs of a particular situation.
The call of Matthew in the Gospel reminds us that God calls all of us – regardless of our weaknesses, failures or past history – and invites us to offer our lives. In other words, God does not call the perfect; rather, the Lord chooses us (warts and all) and blesses us with what we need to accomplish our task. Like Matthew, may we accept the invitation and follow Christ!
The Lord’s healing of the paralytic in the Gospel today invites us to consider both what needs to be healed in our lives and how we might bring others to Jesus for the healing they require.
St. Thomas is known for his doubts about the resurrection of Jesus. However, once he saw the Risen Lord he boldly proclaimed “My God and my Lord!” This very real portrait of Thomas inspires us in the midst of our doubts to draw near to Christ and proclaim the Good News in our daily lives.
Often in life we experience the need for healing, both in our lives and in the lives of those around us. As we grow in faith we acknowledge the Lord’s power to bring this healing to our hearts…and as his disciples we become agents for the healing grace of Christ to work through us in the world.
The faith of the Roman centurion reveals his complete trust in the authority and power of Jesus. His example inspires us to turn to the Lord with open hearts and allow God’s grace to work in and through our lives.
These two heavy hitter saints were far from perfect, and yet God worked in and through them to accomplish marvelous deeds. Their example serves as our inspiration: God patiently works with us! As we look to Sts. Peter & Paul may we embrace the gifts of life and faith as we follow Jesus Christ.
More practical advice from Jesus: his words are good, but when they are turned into actions we create a foundation for our lives that no storm can destroy.
Jesus offers practical insight into how we deal with others. By looking at the fruitfulness of one’s life we can get a good sense of what is going on down deep in the heart.