In the Gospel today, people picked up stones to throw at Jesus. Why? Not because He did evil—but because they refused to believe in Him. They could not accept His message, His identity, and the way He revealed God.
And so Jesus tells them: “If you do not believe me, believe the works.”
Look at what I do. Look at how I live. Look at how I treat people.
And when we look at the works of Jesus, one thing becomes very clear: Jesus never lives for Himself. He always lives for others.
Let us connect the Gospel to our situation today.
Because of the economic crisis, many of us are worried:
- “Will what I have be enough?”
- “What if things get worse?”
And because of this fear, some people begin to close their hands:
- buying more than they need
- keeping everything for themselves
- hoarding, just to feel secure
But my dear friends, when we look at Jesus—His “works”—we see the opposite. Jesus always opens His hands.
Even when people were hungry, He did not say, “Save what we have.”
He said, “Give them something to eat.”
The Gospel challenges us today: Are our hands closed… or open?
The people in the Gospel judged Jesus wrongly. They acted out of hardness of heart.
And today, something similar happens.
Because of the crisis, some people begin to justify wrong actions:
- raising prices unfairly
- taking advantage of demand
- thinking only of profit, not of people
We hear thoughts like:
“Everyone is doing it.”
“This is my chance.”
But if we “believe the works” of Jesus, we will see this clearly: Jesus never takes advantage of people’s weakness. He responds with compassion.
So the Gospel asks us today: In this time of crisis, are we becoming more like Christ… or less?
At the end of the Gospel, many began to believe in Jesus—not just because of His words, but because of His life.
My dear brothers and sisters, this is the same challenge for us.
In this economic crisis, people may not listen to long talks about faith.
But they will notice:
- if we are honest
- if we are fair
- if we are generous
- if we think of others
This is how faith becomes visible. Not in what we say… but in what we do.
My dear friends, today, Jesus is not only asking us to believe in Him. He is asking us to imitate Him.
So in this time of difficulty:
- Let us open our hands, not close them
- Let us refuse to take advantage, even if others do
- Let us live our faith through concrete acts of love
Because the truth is this: The crisis will pass…but the kind of person we become during the crisis—that will remain.
And may people see in us, not fear and selfishness…but the very works of Christ—works of justice, compassion, and love.