September 30, 2025
Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 456
Reading 1
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."
Responsorial Psalm
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/093025.cfm
Commentary on
Zechariah 8:20-23
This passage is the last of our three selected readings from
Zechariah. It is also the final section of the first part of the book and is
another look forward to a time of messianic salvation. There are more words of
encouragement from Zechariah for the Jews who have returned from exile and who
are still trying to re-establish their homes in Jerusalem. Things do not look
too good right now, but Yahweh promises that the time is soon coming when
people from even Gentile cities all over will come flocking to Jerusalem, drawn
there as if by some magnetic power:
Peoples shall yet come, the inhabitants of many cities;
the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Come, let us go to
entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am
going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in
Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.
This prediction anticipates fulfilment of the promise of
gentile blessing in Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham:
…all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Gen
12:3)
Isaiah also has Yahweh say:
…my house [the Temple in Jerusalem] shall
be called a house of prayer for all peoples. (Is 56:7)
This is a saying quoted in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus drove
the money-changers from the Temple:
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the
nations…But you have made it a den of robbers. (Mark 11:17)
Zechariah continues:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from
nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and
saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’
True godliness in a person will attract others to the Lord.
‘Ten’ indicates a large or complete number in Hebrew. Incidentally, the word
‘Jew’, for the people of the kingdom of Judah after the exile, first appears in
Jeremiah. Most of the Old Testament speaks of ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Israelites’.
We, as Christians, belong now to what we call the “New
Jerusalem”, the People of God. Are people flocking to be part of our ‘city’?
Are they saying, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you”?
Is that what they see in us—people truly infused with the spirit of God
and Jesus Christ? Are we the salt of the earth, leading people to praise God
because of what they see in us?
Certainly, there are people every year who are applying to
join our communities, people who are received through Baptism every Easter.
There are also, alas, those who are leaving our ‘city’ and not coming back. Is
it that they no longer can see that God is with us? If that is the case, what
changes are needed in our way of living the gospel?
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Commentary on Luke
9:51-56
We come today to a distinct turning point in Luke’s Gospel.
It is marked by the opening words of today’s passage:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set
his face to go to Jerusalem.
The ‘taking up’ or the ‘assumption’ of Jesus refers to his
passion and death leading to resurrection and ascension. It corresponds to the
‘glory’ that John speaks of and for whom the crucifixion is a ‘lifting up’ into
‘glory’.
At this point we have now come to the end of Jesus’ ministry
in Galilee and we move on to a new section—the journey to Jerusalem, which ends
at chapter 19:27 where we find Jesus in Jerusalem. The opening corresponds to
Mark 10:1 where Jesus is seen entering Judea to preach there and which John
more specifically describes as a journey to Jerusalem during the time of the
Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1-10).
But Luke diverges from Mark’s story with very different
material. He now follows Matthew’s source as well as using material of his own.
The section consists almost entirely of teachings of Jesus to his disciples. It
is all loosely organised within the framework of Jesus’ making his way to
Jerusalem. The section we are entering is a time of preparation for the
disciples for their future role as Messengers of the Kingdom.
Jerusalem is the place where it is all going to happen—the
‘exodus’ of Jesus, including his suffering, death, resurrection, and
ascension—leading to the passing on of his mission to his disciples with the
coming down of the Spirit of the Father and Jesus on the disciples. And it will
be from Jerusalem that the new Church will be established and from Jerusalem it
will spread gradually throughout the whole Mediterranean area until it reaches
the empire’s capital in Rome, and from there to the ends of the earth.
As he set out, Jesus sent some messengers ahead to announce
his coming. In order to go directly from Galilee to Judea, where the city of
Jerusalem was situated, they would have had to pass through Samaria. Samaritans
were particularly hostile to Jews, especially when they were on their way to a
Jewish festival in Jerusalem (as Jesus and his disciples seem to be doing). It
would take at least three days to cross Samaria and the Samaritans were
refusing the disciples overnight shelter. Because of this situation, Jewish
pilgrims and travellers often avoided confrontation by going down the east bank
of the Jordan River. There is an irony here that, when the first Christians
were persecuted in Jerusalem, they took refuge in Samaria, which became one of
the first places to accept the Gospel. It is very likely that the evangelist is
aware of the irony when telling this story.
Faced with this hostility, the brothers James and John, whom
we described yesterday as hotheads (Sons of Thunder), suggested that fire from
heaven be called down to burn them up. Their threat is reminiscent of the fire
that Elijah brought down on the emissaries of an idolatrous king (1 Kings
18:38). They were indignant that their Master, the Messiah, should be treated
in this way. There is a parallel here between Jesus’ negative reception in his
home town of Galilee and his rejection by the people of Samaria.
But Jesus distances himself from those disciples and gives
them a scolding. This was not Jesus’ way. Instead, they went off to another
village where they hoped to find a better welcome. As we see in other parts of
the Gospel, Jesus does not normally go out of his way to court trouble. On the
other hand, he will not hesitate to speak his mind or do what he believes is
right, even if certain kinds of people take offence at it.
It is never Jesus’ way to destroy his enemies. We will see
that clearly after he reaches Jerusalem where far worse things are done to him.
Jesus’ purpose always is to change people who are against him, to defuse their
hostility and help them to see things in a better way. It is something we could
try to do more often. It is not at all the “softy’s” approach. On the contrary,
it requires great inner strength and security.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1263g/
Tuesday,
September 30, 2025
Ordinary Time
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.
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.
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 of 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 the symbol, at the same time, 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
itself. It also symbolizes the conversion which each one of us has to carry
out, trying to follow Jesus. During the journey, the disciples try to follow Jesus,
without returning; but they do not always succeed. Jesus dedicates much time to
instruct 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 in order that they may 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). In using these expressions Luke suggests that while they were walking
toward Jerusalem, the most open opposition of Jesus began against the project
of the official ideology of the Temple of Jerusalem. The ideology of the Temple
wanted a glorious and nationalistic Messiah. Jesus wants to be a Messiah
Servant. During the long journey, this opposition will increase and finally, it
will end in the getting hold 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 the face toward Jerusalem.” The official
propaganda of the glorious and nationalistic Messiah prevented them from
perceiving... The disciples did not understand the openness of Jesus and the
mission failed!
•
Luke 9: 54-55: Jesus does not accept the request of vengeance. James and John do
not want to take home the defeat. They do not accept that someone is not in
agreement with their ideas. They want to imitate Elijah and use fire to 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 not to follow the path of the Messiah Servant, Jesus turns to Peter
calling him Satan (Mk 8: 33). Satan is the evil spirit who wants to change the
course or route 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 through 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), something is known concerning the place where
Jesus was going by. This refers to the communities of Luke and also for all of
us. The only thing that is sure is that we have to continue to walk. We cannot
stop. But it is not always clear and definite the place where we have to pass
by. What is sure, certain, is the objective: Jerusalem.
Personal Questions
•
Which 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 revenge of the Samaritans?
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)
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