Seventeenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, "This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him."

Our words and works determine who we will be compared with in our lives. Jesus was compared with St. John the Baptist during his life and although we know Jesus is greater than him many of his contemporaries didn’t recognize this. In a similar way, we are all called to remind others of Jesus during our lives. Instead of being prophets of his first coming, as John was, we are the prophets of his second coming. Whenever we speak or act like Christ, we proclaim the Good News and the promise of Jesus’ return, a return we should be anticipating and preparing ourselves for. The greatest compliment anyone could give us during our lives on earth would be, “This man (or woman) is Jesus. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him (or her).”

Do our words echo the words of Jesus? Do our works mirror the works of Jesus? How can we make ourselves living reminders of Christ, our Savior King?

O Lord, may your mighty powers work through us.

Amen.