A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:13-16)
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus addresses Jews and Gentiles of unrepentant towns he visits. As the Son of God, his judgment on the people though severe, is just. “And whoever rejects me,” Jesus says to the people of Capernaum, “rejects the one who sent me.” These people, whose towns Jesus had visited and had witnessed his miracles, were not incapable of hearing and following the Lord. In the first reading from Baruch, we hear, “From the time the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and only too ready to disregard his voice.” Similarly, from today’s Psalm, “Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low.” Yet, rejecting God results from original sin, a loss of the original image of goodness in which God formed us. Jesus restores us to the original image in Baptism through his death and resurrection.
Father in heaven, help me understand and take to heart today the words of your Son. Give me the grace to do spiritual battle today so I can be free to choose you. I want to hear you and do your will, and to do it I need the strength of your presence to turn to you. As the Catechism states: “Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.” Help me recall today the moments of life you kept me from harm and in your care. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver me.
From the responsorial psalm: “Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.” Stay with me, Lord, to show me your will!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.