“We are our choices.”

God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him……"Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts. - 1730 Catechism of the Catholic Church

Gospel Text: (LK 10:13-16)
Jesus said to them,
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.’
Whoever listens to you listens to me.
Whoever rejects you rejects me.
And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

Today, we contemplate Jesus addressing his speech to some towns of Galilee where He had preached and carried out the works by his Father and that had been the cause of his preoccupation. Nowhere had He preached and made miracles as He did in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. The sowing had been plentiful, but the harvest had been meager. Not even Jesus could persuade them...!

What a mystery human freedom is! We can say “no” to God... The evangelic message is not imposed upon us by force: it is offered to us but we can refuse it; we can accept it or reject it. Our Lord's respect for our freedom is total. What a responsibility!

«Whoever listens to you listens to me» (Lk 10:16). These words ending today's Gospel are a call to conversion and are bearers of hope. If we listen to Jesus' voice, we still have time. Conversion happens when love banishes selfishness from our life, which is a permanent unfinished task.

Let us consciously reflect on our own choices today. What informs our daily decisions? Do we seek to inform the exercise of our freedom with the truth? Are we aware of the effect of sin in our daily lives? Are we struggling against it and taking advantage of every opportunity to receive God's grace?

What are we choosing and who are we becoming as a result?