Something new and good<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The first writer who put together the recollection of Jesus\u2019 actions and message summed it all up by saying that Jesus proclaimed the \u201cGood News of God.<\/b>\u201d\u00a0 Later on, the other evangelists would use the same Greek word (euanggelion) and voice the same conviction:\u00a0 the people found in the God proclaimed by Jesus something \u201cnew\u201d and \u201cgood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is there still in this Gospel something that may be read, in the midst of our indifferent and unbelieving society, as something\u00a0new and good for the man and the woman of our days?\u00a0 Something that can be found in the God proclaimed by Jesus and which science, technology or progress does not easily provide?\u00a0 How can faith in God be lived nowadays?<\/b><\/p>\n
In Jesus\u2019 Gospel, we believers meet a God who can make us feel and live life as a gift that has its origin in the ultimate mystery of reality that is Love.\u00a0 For me, it is good not to feel alone and lost in life, not to be in the hands of fate or chance.\u00a0 I have Someone I can be thankful to for my life.<\/b><\/p>\n
In Jesus\u2019 Gospel, we meet a God who, in spite of our stupidity, gives us the strength to defend our freedom, so we may not end up being enslaved by any idol, so we may live fully and not go through life \u201cliving it up,\u201d so we may keep learning new and more human ways to work, to enjoy life, to suffer and to love.\u00a0 For me, it is good to be able to count on the strength of my little faith in this God.<\/b><\/p>\n
In Jesus\u2019 Gospel, we meet a God who awakens our responsibility, lest we ignore others. \u00a0We will not be able to accomplish great things, but we know that we have to contribute our share so that everybody may have a more dignified and happier life, with the neediest and the most helpless in mind above all. \u00a0For me, it is good to believe in a God who frequently asks me about what is it that I do for my brothers and sisters.<\/b><\/p>\n
In Jesus\u2019 Gospel we meet a God who helps us to see that evil, injustice and death do not have the last word. \u00a0One day all that has not been possible here, what has been left half-done, our greatest longings and our deepest desires\u2014all \u00a0these will reach their fullness in God. \u00a0To live my life and to await my death with such confidence is something good for me<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Certainly, each one of us needs to decide how we want to live and how we want to die. \u00a0Each one has to listen to his or her own truth.\u00a0 For me, it is one thing to believe in God and quite another not to believe in God. \u00a0It does me good to be able to go about this world feeling welcomed, strengthened, forgiven and saved by the God who is revealed in Jesus.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Antonio Pagola<\/b><\/p>\n
January 26, 2014
\n3 Ordinary Time (A)
\nMatthew 4, 12-23<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"