Knowing the Grace of God in Truth (Colossians 1: 1-8)

In  today's first reading,  Colossians 1: 1-8, Paul says to the Colossians, "...we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven....Just as in the whole world it [the Gospel] is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you  heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth..."  You and I have come
"to know the grace of God in truth" because that truth is/was spoken to us through our parents, teachers, pastors, associate pastors, friends, counselors, co-workers; through our very selves, through creation itself, through the goodness in our lives and the good you and I have and are doing each day and will do today, as well as the good others do.

Like Jesus, in today's Gospel, Luke 4: 38-44, we, too, leave our places of worship and encounter issues that need to be addressed, that need our compassionate responses, our healing touch (a smile, a listening ear, an errand run or a good deed done on their behalf, a service rendered). We may confront "demons" today, as Jesus did in the people that others brought to Him or which are within ourselves (pride, deceit, lust, abuse of power and control, jealousy, envy, avarice, impatience, imprudence, and so on).   We may also be pressured by the crowd to give in to demands that we know are not the will of God for us. Jesus says to the crowd: "No, I have been sent to proclaim the good news of the reign of God to other lands, to other peoples. I cannot stay here."    We may not be called to other lands but to another task that is beckoning us.  Sometimes, we may find it hard to "depart" for that to which we are called--what will others think if I leave this conversation, this crowd; if I don't continue to join in or go where the crowd insist on going?

Jesus very clearly states the reason He has been sent to this world. Am I as clear as Jesus was in terms of what my mission is--why I am where I am today?  Did I, today, prepare myself to address the issues that will come by way today by taking time to pray, as Jesus did?  Am I faithful to "the grace of God in truth" that I have come to know and which is stretching to bear fruit and grow within me?