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Gospel: Matthew 11:20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“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 in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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A few years ago, the average cost of raising a child in America rose to nearly a quarter of a million dollars. If you had two children, half a million. Four? Over a million. Today it’s even higher. That’s excluding luxuries like beach vacations, private schools, and college tuition.
It’s nearly impossible – and ludicrous – for a child to imagine repaying their parents for every penny and dollar spent. Not to mention the “intangibles” parents give: love, peace, security, hope, and wisdom.
While we cannot repay our parents in dollars and cents for our childhood blessings, we can do two things: Say, “Thank you.” And pay it forward.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus chastises several towns he visited after performing miracles of healing and forgiveness.
While he wasn’t expecting to be repaid in terms of dollars and cents – he couldn’t be – Jesus did expect the townspeople to repent, to be thankful, and to pay his goodness forward.
But to his chagrin, they take him for granted by returning to their old ways of life as if the Lord was never there.
“Woe to you!” he says.
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Like the townspeople of Chorazin and Bethsaida, Jesus has done good things for us – both as individuals and as a community of faith.
Perhaps the Lord is prompting us to consider: In what ways do we pay it forward?
Maybe we extend his forgiveness to a neighbor after being forgiven ourselves… We feed the hungry after being fed by Christ… We intercede on another person’s behalf knowing both the Spirit and this community of faith intercede on our behalf.
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Much like children who cannot repay their parents, we cannot repay the Lord for his goodness to us. But we can pay it forward.
How might we do that today?
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Image credits: (1) Jesus Follower (2) USDA Institute for Family Studies, 2017 (3) Impact 100 Cincinnati, Pay it Forward