The wisdom of Jesus is—Extraordinary. Life-changing. Victorious. Redemptive.

Do you want to see miracles in your life? All right. Let's find out how. Welcome to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the enduring wisdom of Jesus' teachings in the Gospels. In today's scripture, from the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, we hear the Magnificat, Mary's canticle of joy, gratitude, and praise. And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. For He has regarded the lowest state of His handmaiden. For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation, and He has shown strength with His arm. He has scattered the [proud?] and the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those who are lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich, he has sent empty away. He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his [prosperity?] forever." And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

The word today is lowliness. There is profound humility at work in Mary's soul. Lowly is unimportant and obscure. This staggering humility allows God to shine through Mary in a monumental way. Today's phrase is, "For the mighty one has done great things for me." If we take a few moments to reflect today, I think we will discover this is true for every single one of us. The Mighty One has done great things for you. The Mighty One has done great things for me. When we are mindful of all the Mighty One has done for us, we live in a perpetual state of humility and gratitude. Today's virtue is gratitude. The Hebrew word for gratitude means recognizing the good. We live in a world where lots of people are constantly on the lookout for all that isn't good. We live in a world where so many people are discontented. But as people of faith, God sends us into the world to recognize the good and praise the good, just as Mary did in her canticle today.

I heard a story once about an old man who used to wrap up his old shoes before he threw them away, even though they were full of holes and had lost their color. His grandson asked him once, "Why? Why do you do that?" And the old man replied, "These shoes have been good to me, and I want to show them my gratitude at the end of our journey together." There is a stark difference between this approach and our throwaway culture. The old man's awareness is alive and brilliant compared to our thoughtless, unconscious, disposable disposition and today's idea, God is always at work in our lives and in the world.

With God, we should expect the unexpected. With God, we should expect the impossible. For thousands of years, that is how God has worked. He has taken the lowly and made them great. He has collaborated with people. Others would never have chosen for great roles in God's plan, and he has worked through them in mighty and powerful ways. Now, he wants to be at work in your life, in your neighborhood, in your parish, and in your soul. He wants to know if you will make yourself available to him and his plans to do his work. Do you want to see miracles? You want to see miracles, because if you want to see miracles, make yourself available to God. Turn to God and pray a prayer of availability. Tell him you make yourself 100% available to him today. Then hold on. Then get ready because that is a prayer God answers every single time. Never in the history of the world did God not answer that prayer. The gospel of Jesus Christ is radical. It wants to have a radical impact on our lives. And it is as relevant today as ever before. Go out into the world today and astonish people by making yourself radically available to God and His plans. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself. All that God created you to be.

Thank you, Ambassadors. You are changing the world. Have a great day. Bye. Bye. Simon, come sit. I love you.

Have a great day!