Lectionary: 457
Reading 1
jb 9:1-12, 14-16
Job answered his friends and said:
I know well that it is so;
but how can a man be justified before God?
Should one wish to contend with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has withstood him and remained unscathed?
He removes the mountains before they know it;
he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth out of its place,
and the pillars beneath it tremble.
He commands the sun, and it rises not;
he seals up the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the crests of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
He does great things past finding out,
marvelous things beyond reckoning.
Should he come near me, I see him not;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
How much less shall I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
If I appealed to him and he answered my call,
I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
Responsorial Psalm
ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Gospel
lk 9:57-62
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: Passionist
Today is the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, ranked with St. Francis of Assisi as the most popular saint in history. Therese led a quiet, cloistered life in the Carmel monastery of Lisieux, having entered the convent at the age of 15. She was bright but never went to a university. She barely traveled from her home, except for a brief pilgrimage to Rome where she boldly asked Pope Leo XIII permission to enter the Carmelites at such a young age (he told her to obey her superiors!). Yet Therese has been declared the patron of missions and was named as a "Doctor of the Church" by Pope John Paul II!
Although her life was lived in a small circle, Therese's spirit enveloped the world. She had a profound sense of God's love for her and was filled with the awe of God's majesty that embraced the universe. She desired with all her heart to be a missionary of God's love to the world through her life of prayer and dedication. Although surrounded by the sentimental piety of late 19th century France, Therese was eminently practical and genuine. Her famous "little way" emphasized that even the humble and ordinary tasks of life, done out of love, can be pleasing to God, a spirituality rooted in the gospel and the best of Catholic tradition.
The readings today were not selected specifically for the feast of St. Therese but their themes harmonize well with her spirituality. The first reading is from one of the soliloquies of Job. His friend Bildad has urged Job to ask God's forgiveness since the calamities he is enduring must be a result of some evil done by Job. The entire message of the book of Job is a rejection of this kind of theology. Job knows that even the innocent suffer, a challenging mystery for faith. In this passage from chapter 9, Job affirms his great respect for God's majesty and power-the one who can "remove the mountains before they know it" and who "stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea". Yet this transcendent and all-powerful God is the very one that St. Therese knew also as a God of tender mercy and infinite love.
The reading from the Gospel of Luke underscores another dimension of Therese's sanctity. As Jesus and his disciples were on their journey to Jerusalem, several would-be disciples come forward. One seems unaware that because of his mission the itinerant Jesus "has nowhere to rest his head." Jesus summons another man to "follow me" but this would-be disciple wants first to bury his father-certainly a solemn obligation in Judaism but Jesus makes the point that no priority can come before the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Yet another candidate for discipleship declares he will follow Jesus but must first say farewell to his family. Jesus again places commitment to the gospel above every other commitment, no matter how compelling. "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."
St. Therese embodied the profound commitment to following Jesus revealed in today's Gospel. The beauty of her life and teaching is that she showed how fidelity in everyday things done out of love can lead us to the Kingdom of God. St. Therese, Little Flower, pray for us.
The Reflection was written by Fr. Donald Senior, C.P., President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union. He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Happy 54th Independence Anniversary to Nigeria and Nigerians.
Be an inspiration, kindly Share.
No comments:
Post a Comment