The Holy Martyr Hyacinth
Read
Romans 11:2-12; Matthew 11:20-26
The Lord upbraids the cities where he spent the most time: Chora′zin, Beth-sa′ida and Capernaum. Most of the people in the cities heard him and either rejected him or became indifferent to Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, our Lord gives a saying, “Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required” (Luke 12:48). The Lord had greatly invested his time, effort and care into the people of these cities and much was expected from them. For it was not an angel or a prophet who had come to them, but the Son of God himself. It is interesting that he states, ‘it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon’ who could not follow their conscience and ‘Sodom’, who was unable to even follow natural law, then for those who claim to follow God’s Law, but who do so on their own terms without true repentance.
The question for personal reflection today is how much time has the Lord invested in me? Striving to stimulate growth by digging around and placing nutrients to stimulate repentance (Luke 13:6-9). The Lord’s patient work is present in each of our lives especially when we gather with him through the Most Holy Eucharist. In a way we are more privileged then Chora’zin, Beth-sai’ida and Capernaum for they never intimately received the Lord into their lives and hearts like we do. They never heard the whole Gospel message from start to end as we have. They never received the shining cloud of witnesses of the saints who allowed the power of the Gospel to transform their lives. We have been given much, the Lord has invested in us greatly, and so he requires much from us also.
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