Decide Well What You Believe
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.”Ps. 96
If you could see it tangibly, you wouldn’t need faith. We talk about believing when we refer to something we cannot see. Therefore, faith is a decision we make—whether it concerns believing in people, what they tell us, their perspectives, or believing in God. You decide what you believe, and we need to believe because we lack the ability to directly know the vast majority of things.
If you don’t believe that creation is the work of a Creator, you decide to believe that it came into existence out of nothing, by itself, without anyone willing it. Thus, the decision isn’t between believing or not believing, but rather between believing one thing or another.
This decision, however, has tremendous consequences in your life. We have free will to decide what we believe, but we must face the consequences if we choose to believe something that does not align with truth and revelation. For example, if someone believes that behind a curtain lies a room, but it is actually the void of a tenth floor, they might choose to believe wrongly, walk in, and inevitably fall into the void. Similarly, a person who chooses to think ill of another will suffer from letting that seed of falsehood enter their mind and will make the other person suffer, possibly leading to a rupture in their relationship and causing pain.
Worse still is the one who decides to believe that there is no God; by doing so, they also decide to think that Jesus Christ was a liar, that the apostles endured martyrdom and gave their lives to defend a lie, and that the entire Church continues to preach falsehoods. There is no valid reason for such thinking; it is simply a chosen belief. They decide to believe that everything came into existence without anyone planning or willing it, that we are here by chance -which is even scientifically impossible.
Thus, one can choose to believe there is no God and that Jesus was a fraud, but they will not escape the truth and will face the consequences of rejecting, in faith, the divine revelation brought by Christ about His plan for salvation. Your beliefs shape your path and your destiny.
You only receive what you believe. If someone tells you they love you, and you don’t believe it, you don’t receive that love. If you hear good news and don’t believe it, it doesn’t bring you any joy. But if you do believe it, you leap with joy, as truths require faith to be received. Only those who love the truth seek it and find it.
“For this I was born and for this I have come into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”John 18:37
“This was the first of the signs that Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee; thus He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”John 2:11
St. Paul the Apostle
St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was the most prolific Christian missionary of all time. Due to a miraculous experience that he had on the road to Damascus, he went from persecuting early Christians to traveling all over the region preaching the Gospel of Jesus.
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Is 62:1-5/Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10 (3)/1 Cor 12:4-11/Jn 2:1-11
Monday: Heb 5:1-10/Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4/Mk 2:18-22
Tuesday: Heb 6:10-20/Ps 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c/Mk 2:23-28
Wednesday: Heb 7:1-3, 15-17/Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4/Mk 3:1-6
Thursday: Heb 7:25-8:6/Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17/Mk 3:7-12
Friday: Heb 8:6-13/Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14/Mk 3:13-19
Saturday: Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22/Ps 117:1bc, 2/Mk 16:15-18
Next Sunday: Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10/Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15 (see Jn 6:63c)
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday: St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr; St. Sebastian, Martyr; Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday: St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
Wednesday: Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Thursday: St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr; St. Marianne Cope, Virgin
Friday: St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Saturday: The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle
Next Sunday: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time; Celebrate Catholic Schools Week
