When I first read through this weekend’s Gospel Passage, my eyes stopped on the following sentence: Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Get down!!! Being “in the power of the Holy Spirit” is a stunning statement and the best part of it is that the same is true of us! Because we have been baptized and confirmed, we also move from day to day with the Holy Spirit within our hearts, ready to encourage and sustain us. The catch is…we can choose to ignore the Spirit and His gifts. Why would we do that? I guess because we think we can “take care of business” on our own! When this happens we are left with nothing but our natural abilities and we will be unable to be used as instruments to perform the miracles God expects from us. That’s right…miracles! Miracles can occur every day through us, weak human instruments as we are. They may be less spectacular than the ones Jesus performed, but they are miracles all the same. People whose minds are ravaged by fear and hatred can be miraculously filled with peace and kindness because we reached out in some way. Those whose hearts are crippled with bitterness and anger can be made gentle and peaceful because we said or did something quite simple. These are examples of true miracles, performed by the power of God, through the Holy Spirit, often making use of human instruments. Let us be ready to become Spirit-filled instruments of Christ’s saving freedom. Perform a miracle (or two) today!!! Are you are familiar with the 2% concept? It is based on the findings of sociologist and educator Robert Bellah, author of the best-selling book, Habits of the Heart (1985). Bellah was for a long time a sociologist at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University. While there he came to this conclusion: “We should not underestimate the significance of a small group of people who have a vision of a just and gentle world. The governing values of a whole culture may be changed when 2% of its people have a new vision.” Think of that! All you need is 2% of the people, according to Bellah, and you can change an entire culture. I wonder if we realize just how powerful we potentially could be. But first we need to define our mission. Jesus called his followers salt . . . He spoke of the kingdom as leaven. What he was saying is that we should be having an impact on our surrounding culture. A vital church understands its mission and goes for the gold!!! Gospel Question of the Week: Do you believe that you can change the lives of others by your mercy and kindness?