PRI Reflections on Scripture • 10-1-24 - Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church

Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel

Luke 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.

Reflection

Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem, so we know this is the end of his ministry. And he watches his disciples have a reaction to something that's so foreign to what he's been trying to teach them. If people don't do what you want, you destroy them. And we see in Jesus a little bit of impatience, a little bit of disappointment.

He just turns and rebukes them and says look, we're going on. We're not interested in judgment or condemnation. I'm interested in the journey. We're moving toward a truth, toward the kingdom of God.

Closing Prayer

Father, we are prone to judgment and condemnation. Two things that Jesus knows that are so opposite of the kingdom that he wants to establish. Free us from that habit of judging and condemning so that we can enter more fully into the light and the truth of the Kingdom. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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