Today's Gospel

Can People Really Change?

What is it that jumps out at you today? I think the first thing that's interesting is the very opening line, "At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, 'Get away from here. Herod wants to kill you.'" So not the Pharisees. Often, it's referred to as the Pharisees. Some Pharisees. So what do we see here? We see the shifting of the human heart. It's like some Pharisees are coming to their senses. Some Pharisees are like, "Okay, we might not agree with this guy. He might be a pain in the butt to us, but Herod's looking to kill him. And that isn't good, because clearly he is some prophet of some type. Clearly he's sent by God in some way, and we've got a pretty good track record of killing prophets and stoning those who are sent to us from God." So these Pharisees, some Pharisees, come to Jesus and warn him. And I think that's a really beautiful thing for us to reflect upon today because it does demonstrate the human heart's ability to change, human heart's ability to change. And I would say, all my time traveling on the road, the most common question I would say is-- people asked over and over and again for 25 years is like, "Really? Can people really change?" And of course I've seen people, endless number, change radically. And when people ask, "Can people really change? What they're really asking is, can I change?" And the answer is yes. Yeah, you can change. And here we have some of those who were most against Jesus, some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Get away from here. Herod wants to kill you." It's a beautiful thing. It really is, my estimation. And if you've ever been in a tough spot and someone has gone out of their way to warn you and say, "Hey, you better watch out. This person's out to get you," or, "This group of people's out to get you." I think it's really-- it's crucial. Absolutely crucial that we recognize that the human heart can change. The other thing that really struck me is this line, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you," and ask myself, "Who is God sending to me today?" Encourage you to ask, "Who is God sending to you today?" He could be sending them to you in all sorts of different ways. Yeah, he might send someone with a message to you, and you might criticize that person. You might be angry at that person. You might stone that person. There's a lot of ways to stone a person without picking up a physical stone. But he might send other people to you. He might send someone to you in need, and you might stone them with your indifference, or you might stone them with your stinginess or your impatience. So a lot of ways to stone people. But who is God sending into our lives today, and how will we respond to them? Or will we just react and not really recognize the import of the situation? Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.