In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Friday 2 August 2019

Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Word for today
The Gospel of Matthew 13:54-58

God’s will

Jesus never lived someone else's life. Jesus was never guided by the expectations of others, regardless if they were enemies, friends, family or relatives. Jesus never attempted to meet the expectations that others might have had on him, nor did he modify his steps or actions to achieve others' aspirations.  Cheered by the multitudes but violently rejected by the powerful of His time, Jesus never lived the life of someone else, and he was never afraid.  Jesus always obeyed Himself because he always obeyed the will of God the Father for Him.
When a man entirely dedicates himself to the plan that God has drawn in/on his heart for the good of everyone, that man feels no psychological or emotional need to meet the expectations of others. It is the state of rebellion and defiance against God and His will that forces men, although unaware, to transform their entire lives, from childhood to old age, into a race with the powerful objective of meeting the expectations of other people. This also takes place when people, for whatever reason,  decisively oppose meeting the expectations of others and decide to follow their individual path but with a spirit of opposition and challenge towards others. Even in this case they are not following the divine plan, but they are following the plan of others.out of rebellion
The only way to avoid suffering from the unjust burden and oppressive blackmail of other people's expectations upon us is complete obedience to the divine plan that God has drawn in us, without reservations, questions, doubts, uncertainties, calculations, perspectives. Complying with other people's will is the way to ignoring the real needs and necessities of humanity. To be truly useful to others, it is paradoxically important to never listen to anyone, but only to God’s will in us without any claims or expectations. To be truly useful to others, a child of God must never, absolutely never pay attention to what others may think of him, but should only worry about what God may think of him and his actions. Jesus never lived somebody's else life because He never, at any time, surrendered His life to the power of other people's will, but always and only the power of the will of his heavenly Father.