Put the Word into Practice: Commentary by Fr. Jorge Miró

Fr. Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, September 1, 2024, entitled “Put the Word into Practice.”

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Today’s Alleluia verse gives us the key to the Word of this Sunday: On his initiative, the Father brought us forth with the word of truth so that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

God creates the universe through the Word (cf. Gen 1 and Jn 1), and God does in you the work of the new creation, through Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, with the gift of his Spirit.

Your life too can be a disordered, empty, meaningless chaos; or it can be a cosmos ordered by the Holy Spirit. You can live as a vagabond or as a pilgrim.

What does it depend on? The Word has given us the answer: Accept with docility this word, which has been grafted into you and is capable of saving your lives. Put the word into practice and do not be content with hearing it, deceiving yourselves.

A Word of which we are not masters, but servants: Do not add anything to what I command you, nor take anything away; you shall observe the precepts of the Lord… Observe them and fulfill them, for this is your wisdom, and you’re understanding in the eyes of the people.

A Word that is always good news. It is a Word of love, of life and of salvation.

A Word that goes beyond the letter: This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They seek to know and live in the will of God, which is not a law imposed on us from outside, but the intrinsic measure of our nature. That is, the key to our fulfillment as people and to our happiness. For this reason, the Lord invites us to be faithful: Do not add anything to what I command you, nor take anything away.

A Word that, to the extent that it is accepted, changes the heart: Authentic and blameless religiosity in the eyes of God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to remain uncontaminated by the world.

Because what comes from within the heart of man is what makes him impure: evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetousness, malice, fraud, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, frivolity.

Therefore, to the extent that you confidently accept the Word and ask the Lord for the gift of his Spirit to be able to live in his will, you will see a new heart and a new spirit appear in you: a good gift and a perfect gift that comes from above, from the Father who loves you freely and wants you to have life and life in abundance.

Come, Holy Spirit! Let me welcome the Word into my heart!

Happy Sunday, happy Eucharist!