Daily Gospel Reflection

The Critics in Your Life

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of Catholicism, the genius of the Gospels, and how to apply them to our lives. Today's reading again comes from John 1: 43-51. The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Nathaniel said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Peter said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to Him and said to him, "Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile." Nathaniel said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathaniel answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." And Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

The phrase I picked today is, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" It's a criticism. It's a detraction. It's one of those things we all experience. People think that about you. People think that about me. People underestimate us. They overestimate us. People rarely see us for who we are, experience us for who we are. And most people's first impressions of us are developed not by actually encountering us or experiencing us but because of what somebody else said about us before they ever met us, before they even knew us, maybe. And so we think today about, okay, what are the roles critics are playing in your life? And how consistent is the message of the critics to you with the message of God to you? And why do we listen more to the critics very often than we do to anybody else in our lives?

If you get 10 compliments today and one criticism today, most people will go to bed thinking about the criticism. Why is that? Why do we allow that to be? And how do we begin to reverse that? The virtue of the day is steadfastness, because in the face of critics, in the face of detractors, we just need to press on. We just need to do the next right thing. We just need to take the next step toward God, toward our destiny, toward what God is calling us to do, whatever that next step is in the will of God, steadfastness in taking that next step and not letting the detractors, the critics, slow us down, or worse than that, stop us. Because the devil loves inaction. The devil wants to shut you down. He wants you to do nothing. He wants you to sit around thinking about what the critics said. Take the next step. Keep moving forward. Have steadfastness in your journey toward God. Have a great day, and remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be