Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 456
Lectionary: 456
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
There shall yet come peoples,
the inhabitants of many cities;
and the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another,
and say, "Come! let us go to implore the favor of the LORD";
and, "I too will go to seek the LORD."
Many peoples and strong nations shall come
to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem
and to implore the favor of the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
In those days ten men of every nationality,
speaking different tongues, shall take hold,
yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say,
"Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
There shall yet come peoples,
the inhabitants of many cities;
and the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another,
and say, "Come! let us go to implore the favor of the LORD";
and, "I too will go to seek the LORD."
Many peoples and strong nations shall come
to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem
and to implore the favor of the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
In those days ten men of every nationality,
speaking different tongues, shall take hold,
yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say,
"Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."
Responsorial
PsalmPS 87:1B-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (Zec 8:23) God is
with us.
His foundation upon the holy mountains
the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,
more than any dwelling of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!
R. God is with us.
I tell of Egypt and Babylon
among those that know the LORD;
Of Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia:
"This man was born there."
And of Zion they shall say:
"One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD."
R. God is with us.
They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
"This man was born there."
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
"My home is within you."
R. God is with us.
His foundation upon the holy mountains
the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,
more than any dwelling of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!
R. God is with us.
I tell of Egypt and Babylon
among those that know the LORD;
Of Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia:
"This man was born there."
And of Zion they shall say:
"One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD."
R. God is with us.
They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
"This man was born there."
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
"My home is within you."
R. God is with us.
AlleluiaMK 10:45
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 9:51-56
When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?"
Jesus turned and rebuked them,
and they journeyed to another village.
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?"
Jesus turned and rebuked them,
and they journeyed to another village.
Meditation: "Jesus' face was set
toward Jerusalem"
Are you surprised to see two of Jesus' disciples praying for
the destruction of a Samaritan village? The Jews and Samaritans had been
divided for centuries. Jewish pilgrims who passed through Samaritan territory
were often treated badly and even assaulted. Jesus did the unthinkable for a
Jew. He not only decided to travel through Samaritan territory at personal
risk, but he also asked for hospitality in one of their villages!
Jesus faced rejection and abuse in order to reconcile
us with God and one another
Jesus' offer of friendship was rebuffed. Is there any wonder that the disciples were indignant and felt justified in wanting to see retribution done to this village? Wouldn't you respond the same way? Jesus, however, rebukes his disciples for their lack of toleration. Jesus had "set his face toward Jerusalem" to die on a cross that Jew, Samaritan and Gentile might be reconciled with God and be united as one people in Christ.
Jesus' offer of friendship was rebuffed. Is there any wonder that the disciples were indignant and felt justified in wanting to see retribution done to this village? Wouldn't you respond the same way? Jesus, however, rebukes his disciples for their lack of toleration. Jesus had "set his face toward Jerusalem" to die on a cross that Jew, Samaritan and Gentile might be reconciled with God and be united as one people in Christ.
Jesus seeks our highest good - friend and enemy alike
Tolerance is a much needed virtue today. But aren't we often tolerant for the wrong thing or for the wrong motive? Christian love seeks the highest good of both one's neighbor and one's enemy. When Abraham Lincoln was criticized for his courtesy and tolerance towards his enemies during the American Civil War, he responded: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" How do you treat those who cross you and cause you trouble? Do you seek their good rather than their harm?
Tolerance is a much needed virtue today. But aren't we often tolerant for the wrong thing or for the wrong motive? Christian love seeks the highest good of both one's neighbor and one's enemy. When Abraham Lincoln was criticized for his courtesy and tolerance towards his enemies during the American Civil War, he responded: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" How do you treat those who cross you and cause you trouble? Do you seek their good rather than their harm?
"Lord Jesus, you are gracious, merciful, and kind. Set
me free from my prejudice and intolerance towards those I find disagreeable,
and widen my heart to love and to do good even to those who wish me harm or
evil."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus
gave power and authority to his apostles, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444
AD)
"It would be false to affirm that our Savior did not
know what was about to happen, because he knows all things. He knew, of course,
that the Samaritans would not receive his messengers. There can be no doubt of
this. Why then did he command them to go before him? It was his custom to
benefit diligently the holy apostles in every possible way, and because of
this, it was his practice sometimes to test them... What was the purpose of
this occurrence? He was going up to Jerusalem, as the time of his passion was
already drawing near. He was about to endure the scorn of the Jews. He was
about to be destroyed by the scribes and Pharisees and to suffer those things
that they inflicted upon him when they went to accomplish all of violence and
wicked boldness. He did not want them to be offended when they saw him
suffering. He also wanted them to be patient and not to complain greatly,
although people would treat them rudely. He, so to speak, made the Samaritans’
hatred a preparatory exercise in the matter. They had not received the
messengers... For their benefit, he rebuked the disciples and gently restrained
the sharpness of their wrath, not permitting them to grumble violently against
those who sinned. He rather persuaded them to be patient and to cherish a mind
that is unmovable by anything like this." (excerpt from COMMENTARY
ON LUKE, HOMILY 56)
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 3, LUKE 9:51-56
Weekday
(Zechariah 8:20-23; Psalm 87)
Weekday
(Zechariah 8:20-23; Psalm 87)
KEY VERSE: "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (v 54).
TO KNOW: The hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans arose in the eighth century BC when the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Samaria and deported most of the citizens. The land was resettled with pagan foreigners who intermarried with the remaining Jews (2 Kings 17:6, 24). This mixed ethnic and religious group was looked down upon by the Jews. When Jesus began his journey to Jerusalem where he would face suffering and death, he sent messengers ahead to prepare for his arrival at a Samaritan village. Samaritans often refused hospitality to Jews who were on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and they refused to welcome Jesus. James and John responded angrily, such as Elijah did to the prophets of Baal to "call down fire from heaven to consume them" (v. 54; 1 Kgs 18:38). Jesus reprimanded his disciples for their narrow-mindedness. He had come to save all people, regardless of race or religion.
TO LOVE: Do I support racial and religious tolerance?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, open my mind and heart to all your people.
Tuesday 3
October 2017
St Francis Borgia.
Zechariah
8:20-23. Psalm 86(87). Luke 9:51 56.
God is
with us — Psalm 86(87).
‘The
people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem.’
Jesus, you are always going to be
misunderstood. In today’s gospel, we see you as an ordinary wanderer, suffering
the human disappointment of being turned away from a village because of racial
prejudice. And you do nothing about it. Your friends expect something more, but
they don’t understand you either. The last thing you want is aimless one
upmanship.
Luke draws attention to the fact
that from this moment on you begin making your way to Jerusalem. Gentle.
Accepting. But resolute.
You are utterly committed to your
Father’s will. In Jerusalem. On the cross. For me. With no guarantee that you
won’t be misunderstood.
ST. MOTHER THéODORE GUéRIN
St. Théodore Guérin, SP, was born Anne-Therese
Guerin at Etables, Brittany in France on October 2, 1798.
As she was growing up, the French government was virulently anti-clerical, closing down seminaries and churches and arresting priests and religious. Her cousin was a seminarian who lived in hiding in her parents’ devout Catholic home. He instructed her thoroughly in the faith and she displayed an advanced knowledge of theology, even at a young age.
Anne-Thérèse entered the Sisters of Providence at 26 and devoted herself to religious education. Her intellectual capacities were formidable, and she was even recognized by the French Academy for her acheivements.
In 1840 Mother Théodore Guérin was sent to Indiana, in the USA to found a convent of the Sisters of Providence in the diocese of Vincennes. There she pioneered Catholic education, opened the first girls’ boarding school in Indiana, and fought against the anti-Catholicism prevalent in the day.
She was well known for her heroic witness to faith, her hope, and her love of God. The fledgling years of the convent of Our Lady of the Woods were difficult, with the ever present danger of it being burned down by anti- Catholics. The persecution also came from within the Church, from her own bishop, who, on not being allowed to tamper with the order’s rule, excommunicated her. The excommunication was eventually lifted by his successor.
James Cardinal Gibbons said of her in 1904, that she was “a woman of uncommon valour, one of those religious athletes whose life and teachings effect a spiritual fecundity that secures vast conquests to Christ and His holy Church.”
She died on May 14, 1856 after a period of sickness, and her feast day is celebrated on October 3.
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 25, 1998, and canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic church on October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI.
As she was growing up, the French government was virulently anti-clerical, closing down seminaries and churches and arresting priests and religious. Her cousin was a seminarian who lived in hiding in her parents’ devout Catholic home. He instructed her thoroughly in the faith and she displayed an advanced knowledge of theology, even at a young age.
Anne-Thérèse entered the Sisters of Providence at 26 and devoted herself to religious education. Her intellectual capacities were formidable, and she was even recognized by the French Academy for her acheivements.
In 1840 Mother Théodore Guérin was sent to Indiana, in the USA to found a convent of the Sisters of Providence in the diocese of Vincennes. There she pioneered Catholic education, opened the first girls’ boarding school in Indiana, and fought against the anti-Catholicism prevalent in the day.
She was well known for her heroic witness to faith, her hope, and her love of God. The fledgling years of the convent of Our Lady of the Woods were difficult, with the ever present danger of it being burned down by anti- Catholics. The persecution also came from within the Church, from her own bishop, who, on not being allowed to tamper with the order’s rule, excommunicated her. The excommunication was eventually lifted by his successor.
James Cardinal Gibbons said of her in 1904, that she was “a woman of uncommon valour, one of those religious athletes whose life and teachings effect a spiritual fecundity that secures vast conquests to Christ and His holy Church.”
She died on May 14, 1856 after a period of sickness, and her feast day is celebrated on October 3.
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 25, 1998, and canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic church on October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI.
LECTIO DIVINA: LUKE 9,51-56
Lectio Divina:
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
you show your almighty power
in your mercy and forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards the eternal life your promise
and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
you show your almighty power
in your mercy and forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards the eternal life your promise
and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 9,51-56
It happened that as the time drew near
for Him to be taken up, He resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem and
sent messengers ahead of him.
These set out, and they went into a
Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not
receive Him because He was making for Jerusalem.Seeing this, the disciples
James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to
burn them up?’ But He turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another
village.
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today narrates and tells us
how Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem. It also describes the first difficulties
which He finds along this road. He presents us the beginning of the long and
hard way of the periphery toward the capital city. Jesus leaves Galilee and
goes toward Jerusalem. Not all can understand him. Many abandon him, because
the demands are enormous. Today, the same thing happens. Along the way in our
community there are misunderstandings and abandonment.
• “Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem”. This decision marks the hard and long way of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, from the periphery to the capital city. This journey occupies more than one third part of the Gospel of Luke (Lk 9, 51 to 19, 28). This is a sign that the voyage to Jerusalem was of great importance in the life of Jesus. The long walk is also the symbol of the journey that the community is making. They seek to go through a difficult passage from the Jewish world toward the world of the Greek culture. This also symbolized the tension between the new and the ancient which was closing more and more in on itself. It also symbolizes the conversion which each one of us has to carry out in trying to follow Jesus. During the journey, the disciples try to follow Jesus, without returning back; but they do not always succeed. Jesus dedicates much time instructing those who follow Him closely. We have a concrete example of this instruction in today’s Gospel. At the beginning of the journey, Jesus leaves Galilee and takes with Him the disciples to the territory of the Samaritans. He tries to form them so that they will be ready to understand the openness to the New, toward the other, toward what is different.
• Luke 9, 51: Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem. The Greek text says literally: “Now it happened that as the time drew near for Him to be taken up, He resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem”. The expression “assumption” or “being snatched” recalls the Prophet Elijah snatched to heaven (2 K 2, 9-11). The expression “turned his face” recalls the Servant of Yahweh who said: “I have set my face like flint and I know I shall not be put to shame” (Is 50, 7). It also recalls an order which the Prophet Ezekiel received from God: “Turn your face toward Jerusalem!” (Ez 21, 7). To face something is to address it. One can meet someone face-to-face, which implies a gravity to the meeting. It is an expression that means there is seriousness, and not just a casual stroll. In using these expressions Luke suggests that while they were walking toward Jerusalem, the most open opposition to Jesus began with the official expectations and ideology of the Temple of Jerusalem. Those expectations wanted a glorious and nationalistic Messiah. Jesus wants to be a Servant Messiah. During the long journey, this opposition will increase and will finally end in the arrest of Jesus. The snatching of Jesus is his death on the Cross, followed by his Resurrection.
• Luke 9, 52-53: The mission in Samaria failed. During the journey, the horizon of the mission is extended. After the beginning, Jesus goes beyond the frontiers of the territory and of the race. He sends his disciples to go and prepare his arrival in a town of Samaria. But the mission together with the Samaritans fails. Luke says that the Samaritans did not receive Jesus because He was going to Jerusalem. But if the disciples would have said to the Samaritans: “Jesus is going to Jerusalem to criticize the project of the Temple and to demand a greater openness”, Jesus would have been accepted, because the Samaritans were of the same opinion. The failure of the mission is probably due to the disciples. They did not understand why Jesus “turned His face toward Jerusalem”. The official propaganda of the glorious and nationalistic Messiah prevented them from perceiving this. The disciples did not understand the openness of Jesus and therefore mission failed!
• Luke 9, 54-55: Jesus does not accept the request of vengeance.James and John do not want to take home this defeat. They do not accept that someone is not in agreement with their ideas. They want to imitate Elijah and use fire for revenge (2 K 1, 10). Jesus rejects the proposal. He does not want the fire. Some Bibles add: “You do not know what spirit is moving you!” This means that the reaction of the disciples was not according to the Spirit of Jesus. When Peter suggests to Jesus to not follow the path of the Servant Messiah, Jesus turns to Peter calling him Satan (Mk 8, 33). Satan is the evil spirit who wants to change the course of the mission of Jesus. The message of Luke for the communities: those who want to hinder the mission among the pagans are moved by the evil spirit!
• In the ten chapters which describe the journey up to Jerusalem (Lk 9, 51 to 19, 28), Luke constantly reminds us that Jesus is on the way toward Jerusalem (Lk 9, 51.53.57; 10, 1.38; 11, 1; 13, 22.33; 14, 25; 17,11; 18, 31; 18, 37; 19, 1.11.28). He rarely says where Jesus passed. Only at the beginning of the journey (Lk 9, 51), in the middle (Lk 17, 11), and at the end (Lk 18, 35; 19, 1), is something known about the place where Jesus was passing. This refers to the communities of Luke and for all of us. The only thing that is sure is that we have to continue to walk. We cannot stop. But the place where we have to pass by is not always clear and definite. What is sure is the objective: Jerusalem.
• “Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem”. This decision marks the hard and long way of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, from the periphery to the capital city. This journey occupies more than one third part of the Gospel of Luke (Lk 9, 51 to 19, 28). This is a sign that the voyage to Jerusalem was of great importance in the life of Jesus. The long walk is also the symbol of the journey that the community is making. They seek to go through a difficult passage from the Jewish world toward the world of the Greek culture. This also symbolized the tension between the new and the ancient which was closing more and more in on itself. It also symbolizes the conversion which each one of us has to carry out in trying to follow Jesus. During the journey, the disciples try to follow Jesus, without returning back; but they do not always succeed. Jesus dedicates much time instructing those who follow Him closely. We have a concrete example of this instruction in today’s Gospel. At the beginning of the journey, Jesus leaves Galilee and takes with Him the disciples to the territory of the Samaritans. He tries to form them so that they will be ready to understand the openness to the New, toward the other, toward what is different.
• Luke 9, 51: Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem. The Greek text says literally: “Now it happened that as the time drew near for Him to be taken up, He resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem”. The expression “assumption” or “being snatched” recalls the Prophet Elijah snatched to heaven (2 K 2, 9-11). The expression “turned his face” recalls the Servant of Yahweh who said: “I have set my face like flint and I know I shall not be put to shame” (Is 50, 7). It also recalls an order which the Prophet Ezekiel received from God: “Turn your face toward Jerusalem!” (Ez 21, 7). To face something is to address it. One can meet someone face-to-face, which implies a gravity to the meeting. It is an expression that means there is seriousness, and not just a casual stroll. In using these expressions Luke suggests that while they were walking toward Jerusalem, the most open opposition to Jesus began with the official expectations and ideology of the Temple of Jerusalem. Those expectations wanted a glorious and nationalistic Messiah. Jesus wants to be a Servant Messiah. During the long journey, this opposition will increase and will finally end in the arrest of Jesus. The snatching of Jesus is his death on the Cross, followed by his Resurrection.
• Luke 9, 52-53: The mission in Samaria failed. During the journey, the horizon of the mission is extended. After the beginning, Jesus goes beyond the frontiers of the territory and of the race. He sends his disciples to go and prepare his arrival in a town of Samaria. But the mission together with the Samaritans fails. Luke says that the Samaritans did not receive Jesus because He was going to Jerusalem. But if the disciples would have said to the Samaritans: “Jesus is going to Jerusalem to criticize the project of the Temple and to demand a greater openness”, Jesus would have been accepted, because the Samaritans were of the same opinion. The failure of the mission is probably due to the disciples. They did not understand why Jesus “turned His face toward Jerusalem”. The official propaganda of the glorious and nationalistic Messiah prevented them from perceiving this. The disciples did not understand the openness of Jesus and therefore mission failed!
• Luke 9, 54-55: Jesus does not accept the request of vengeance.James and John do not want to take home this defeat. They do not accept that someone is not in agreement with their ideas. They want to imitate Elijah and use fire for revenge (2 K 1, 10). Jesus rejects the proposal. He does not want the fire. Some Bibles add: “You do not know what spirit is moving you!” This means that the reaction of the disciples was not according to the Spirit of Jesus. When Peter suggests to Jesus to not follow the path of the Servant Messiah, Jesus turns to Peter calling him Satan (Mk 8, 33). Satan is the evil spirit who wants to change the course of the mission of Jesus. The message of Luke for the communities: those who want to hinder the mission among the pagans are moved by the evil spirit!
• In the ten chapters which describe the journey up to Jerusalem (Lk 9, 51 to 19, 28), Luke constantly reminds us that Jesus is on the way toward Jerusalem (Lk 9, 51.53.57; 10, 1.38; 11, 1; 13, 22.33; 14, 25; 17,11; 18, 31; 18, 37; 19, 1.11.28). He rarely says where Jesus passed. Only at the beginning of the journey (Lk 9, 51), in the middle (Lk 17, 11), and at the end (Lk 18, 35; 19, 1), is something known about the place where Jesus was passing. This refers to the communities of Luke and for all of us. The only thing that is sure is that we have to continue to walk. We cannot stop. But the place where we have to pass by is not always clear and definite. What is sure is the objective: Jerusalem.
4) Personal questions
• What are the problems which you have
to face in your life because of the decision which you have taken to follow
Jesus?
• What can we learn from the pedagogy of Jesus with his disciples who wanted to take revenge on the Samaritans?
• What can we learn from the pedagogy of Jesus with his disciples who wanted to take revenge on the Samaritans?
5) Concluding Prayer
All the kings of the earth give thanks
to you, Yahweh,
when they hear the promises you make;
they sing of Yahweh’s ways,
‘Great is the glory of Yahweh!’ (Ps 138,4-5)
when they hear the promises you make;
they sing of Yahweh’s ways,
‘Great is the glory of Yahweh!’ (Ps 138,4-5)
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