"God's Representatives"

"God's Representatives"

By: Jonathan Gonzalez Junior I 18

The gospel last January 24, 2016 talks about how God chose us and gave us gifts in order to spread the gospel. But this gospel is special as it shows that people tend to turn away from God as his expectations may seem far too extravagant and unreachable. This results in us neglecting the gifts of God and only reflecting on what harm has been done to us, thus separating us from God even more. Why is this the case though? Why do people often remember what bad has happened rather than the good that they have received? Even if we know our faith alone is enough to lead us to the right path, people still choose to neglect it as it seems impossible and unreliable in today's life. But this is not the case, as God has planned everything for us and if followed, will assure us a spot beside him.

First of all, let us start with why people tend to neglect what is good. Well, with relation to this, it can be proven people tend to remember fears and bad time more because it activates the amygdala and other parts of the brain, which are used for emotional processing. This alone explains why people are always so negative about life, and how they are not stepping up from what bad has happened to them. I am an example of one of these people, as I suffer from minor anxiety problems, which results into the worst nights of my life when I try to reflect on what has happened through out the day. being a Catholic, this sometimes results in me blaming God for making me for who I am and what has happened to me, which makes me neglect prayer, fall asleep during masses, and alike. This is because human emotion has a great impact on how you react to stimuli, which results into how you grow as a person, spiritually, emotionally and physically. On the contrary, let me tell you this, God has never abandoned us, nor planned bad things for us. Think about it, when you experience something bad, in most cases, people are there to comfort you, to help you and to cheer you up. This is what God's work is, and is like a reward for believing in him, even if it is a tiny amount, as a person's faith will save them from all injustices in the world. This also applies to me, because as a sickly child, it is always worst after worse when it comes to sicknesses, but there are always my parents, and my brother there to treat me when I am sick, people who represent God in their own likely ways. In the gospel last 24th, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” means that simply being there when God calls you, will bring you closer to him, as you tried even a little to go back to him, no matter how hard it is. Even after all the hardships, you still found the courage to step back in his doorstep and ask for forgiveness, and slowly, our hearts will start remembering everything good that happened to us, which will overpower all the bad times we have experienced.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." is a message of service to others and to be an image of God to others. This gospel talks about how we can be an image of him to others, and how others can also be an image of him to us. Again, remembering, we are simply 1 in 7,000,000,000 other people in the world, but the ONE good thing that you do, can lead others to turn away from what is bad, and start to do what is good.