27th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Jl 4:12–21
Gospel: Lk 11:27–28
As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to him, “Blessed is the one who bore you and nursed you!” Jesus replied, “Surely blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it as well.”

Commentary
Many people think faith and belief are the same thing, but this is wrong. We can believe something and not have faith in it. Let’s imagine that a man staggers up to us, dying of starvation. When we put food in front of him, he just looks at it. You tell him that this food will nourish him and keep him alive “Do you believe that?” we ask. “Yes!” he replies. But, the man looks at it until he dies. Why did he die? Because he didn’t eat the food. The eating of the food is like faith. Faith is acting on what we believe.
Many Christians today believe God’s promises. If, however, they don’t have faith and act on the word of God they will not receive all that He wants them to have, all that He has promised. We have to do more than just believe; we have to act on what we believe. We have to act on God’s word! And that action is what faith is. The word of God only works when we do what it says. If we believe God’s word, but don’t act upon it, God’s word will never do us any good.

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