From the responsorial psalm: “O LORD, my God, by day I cry out; at night I clamor in your presence. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my call for help. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 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.
Luke tells us that Jesus was resolutely determined to go to Jerusalem by passing through a Samaritan village. When Jesus learned that they would not welcome him, he goes another way. James and John seem to seek vengeance, but that is not a place where the grace and peace of Christ dwells. After rebuking them, Jesus and the disciples go to another village as they make their way toward Jerusalem, the place where he would ultimately undergo his passion and death. As close to Jesus as the disciples were, they struggle to follow him in his mission, one rooted in mercy, not vengeance.
God, help me understand the way to hold on to the Holy Spirit even as I encounter conflict and rejection. Jesus is not wishy-washy in his plans. Jerusalem was his destination, and he let nothing prevent him from reaching it, where he carried out your will through his passion, death, and resurrection. Give me the grace to stay off of the many paths that lead away from you and instead keep my eyes on my ultimate destination. And what is that destination? As Saint Thérèse said, “I leave myself in the Arms of Our Lord. We must abandon the future into the hands of God.” Saint Thérèse, pray for us!
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.