St. Thérèse wrote once, 'You know well enough that

Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions,

nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them."

 

 

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin & doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23

At length it was Job who spoke,

Cursing the day of his birth. This is what he said:

Cursed be the day I was born, and the night which whispered: A boy has been conceived.

 

Why didn't I die at birth, or come from the womb without breath?

Why the knees that received me, why the breasts that suckled me?

 

For then I should have lain down asleep and been at rest with kings and rulers of the earth who built for themselves lonely tombs; or with princes who had gold to spare and houses stuffed with silver.

Why was I not stillborn, like others who did not see the light of morn?

 

There, the trouble of the wicked ceases, there, the weary find repose. 

Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the embittered?

 

To those who long for death more than for hidden treasure?

They rejoice at the sight of their end, they are happy upon reaching the grave.

Why give light to a man whose path has vanished, whose ways God blocks at every side?

 

Ps 88:2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8 Let my prayer come before you, Lord

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 9:51-56

As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem. He sent ahead of him some messengers, who entered a Samaritan village to prepare a lodging for him. But the people would not receive him, because he was on his way to Jerusalem. Seeing this, James and John, his disciples, said, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to reduce them to ashes?" Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Sense of Inclusivity."

At this point of our journey, we are already expected to have a more inclusive understanding of salvation, which in turn should already guide our attitude and action appropriate for Jesus' followers. However, the sense of inclusivity that is expected of us lies not only in terms of accepting into our fold the people who are different from us.

 

The kind of inclusive attitude expected of us as Jesus' followers is an attitude that is also characterized by our ability to keep calm when we are the ones who are rejected by others because we are different from them. Today's Gospel narrates Jesus' decision to proceed to Jerusalem in order to fulfill his mission.

 

He sent some messengers ahead of him to prepare a place for his lodging. The messengers entered a Samaritan village. The people did not accept Jesus because he was heading toward Jerusalem. The Samaritans and the Jews were not on good terms. James and John had a violent reaction, asking if Jesus would want them to call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. Jesus rebuked them. Jesus summons us now to practice non-violence.