SAINT CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, PRIEST (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

You have been told . . . what the Lord requires of you.

The prophet Micah, writing in the eighth century BC, was able to boil down all of God’s commandments to three simple precepts: “To do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). As far as Micah was concerned, the Israelites knew exactly what God had called them to do; they just weren’t doing it.

Fast-forward to today’s Gospel reading, and you see something very similar. Scribes and Pharisees kept demanding that Jesus show them more and more signs that he had come from God, but Jesus refused. He told them that the people of Nineveh, where Jonah had preached, had far less reason to turn to the Lord than they did—but what little understanding they had was enough to spark citywide repentance (Matthew 12:41). These scribes and Pharisees, on the other hand, had already seen so much but still resisted Jesus’ call. They already knew what God was asking of them; they just weren’t doing it.

Fast-forward again to today, and you see the same thing. One of the most common reasons unbelievers give for not embracing Christianity is the behavior of Christians themselves. They point to the many ways that some believers’ actions do not match the faith they profess. It’s as G. K. Chesterton once observed: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

Each of us is probably a little (or more than a little) guilty in this regard. We’ve all found Christianity difficult in one way or another and have been tempted to leave part of it “untried.” The question is, what can we do about it?

The answer, for Jesus, is as simple as his commands are: repent. Admit our failings and ask for the grace to make a break from sin. Listen to the Spirit as he prompts us to perform acts of kindness and mercy. When you see an opportunity to right a wrong, pursue it. In other words, do the right, love goodness, and walk humbly with your God.

We know what God wants of us. Let’s take one step closer to doing it.

“Jesus, you know where I fall short, and so do I. Help me to do what I know you’re asking of me.”

Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
Matthew 12:38-42