January 30, 2022- The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

So, what do we do with our own family members and friends who do not share our commitment to Christ and his Church?  How are we to be prophets for Christ in our own household if all we find there is indifference or disinterest or cynicism or even hostility about our Catholic habits?  Jeremiah and the Lord Jesus teach us to speak the truth in love, to be patient in the midst of trials, to pray for spiritual resilience when there is a lack of support among the very people whose support we crave the most in everything we do.  The most important lesson of all is to bear faithful witness to Christ, in season and out, in good times and in bad times.  When we persist in prayer and in virtue no matter what the circumstances in life, our own family members and friends can’t help but notice and wonder. It may be true that no prophet is accepted in his own native place… but it is also true that every native place needs a prophet, and each of us needs to be a prophet some place… this is our common call as the baptized of the Lord.

At every Mass, we first listen to God’s Word and we offer our prayers and gifts of bread and wine.  Then after the Eucharistic Prayer, we receive the Body of Christ, real food for those who aspire to be prophets of Christ in their native place.