Reading 1
Col 1:1-8
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Timothy our brother,
to the holy ones and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:
grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for you,
for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus
and the love that you have for all the holy ones
because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.
Of this you have already heard
through the word of truth, the Gospel, that has come to you.
Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing,
so also among you,
from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth,
as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave,
who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf
and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 52:10, 11R. (10)
I trust in the mercy of God for ever.
I, like a green olive tree
in the house of God,
Trust in the mercy of God
forever and ever.
R. I trust in the mercy of God for ever.
I will thank you always for what you have done,
and proclaim the goodness of your name
before your faithful ones.
R. I trust in the mercy of God for ever.
Gospel
Lk 4:38-44
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Meditation: Colossians 1:1-8
We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3)
What confidence Paul exudes as he begins his letter to the believers in Colossae! He knows that God will continue to work in their lives, and he tells them as much—even if he must later give them some strong corrections. Paul knows that this church has its troubles, but he has more confidence in the Holy Spirit’s power to transform than in the power of sin to distort. In the end, Paul knows that God will work through their weakness and confusion to bring them closer to Christ and to make them more fruitful for the gospel.
We can take a cue from Paul’s optimistic opening here. It is easy to dwell on our weaknesses and shortcomings and think that we will never do much for the Lord. But God wants us to be confident, even in the face of our failings, that he will work through us. He wants to remind us that he also called an impetuous tradesman named Peter and a proud intellectual named Paul. So surely he can use us!
It can be even easier to look at the weaknesses or faults of other people and conclude that they will never amount to much in God’s kingdom. How surprising it can be, then, to see God using them—sometimes in very dramatic ways! Remember how he used a poor, sickly girl like Bernadette Soubirous in nineteenth- century France. Remember, too, how he used a party-boy, Francis Bernadone, in twelfth-century Assisi. Elsewhere, Paul writes how God chooses the weak, lowly, and despised things of the world to shame the strong and wise (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). It seems to be his standard way of operating!
We should never think that our weaknesses or those of others pose insurmountable obstacles to God. We can always be confident, like Paul, that God can fill every single person—rich or poor, strong or weak, healthy or frail—with his goodness and grace. He is our loving Father, and nothing can get in the way of his plans, his love, and his power.
“Lord, give me a bigger vision of you and your power to transform. I want to help spread your kingdom in this world!”
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