Faith

Horrors not Honours- Friday, 26th week in ordinary time – Lk 10:13-16

The Gospel passage of today stands smack in between the sending out of the seventy into mission and the return of the seventy from mission.  It almost seems like an interlude of sorts to create the impression that a certain time has lapsed between the two events.

The passage in Luke is also found in the Gospel of Matthew (11:20-24) and draws attention to three predominantly Jewish cities in Galilee. The first two of the three Jewish cities mentioned are Chorazin and Bethsaida; towns situated near the Sea of Galilee and which today lie in ruin. However a good portion of the synagogue of Chorazin is still standing. The third Jewish city of Capernaum which is mentioned by Jesus in the text is the place that Jesus made his own headquarters for ministry. The cities of Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities in Phoenicia which were doomed by the prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The Galilean cities and the Gentile cities had a long standing feud and the very mention of the two in the same breath was enough to start a riot.  

Ironically, Jesus pronounces a woe against the Galilean cities, followed by an explanation for the word of doom and then a comparison is made with a Gentile city. So what has got Jesus so riled up? The seventy who were sent out in mission were warned that there would be towns (9:10) that would not welcome them. In the face of such hostility, the disciples were to shake the dust off their sandals ‘as a sign of protest against the town’ (9:11). Jesus knew that his disciples would face rejection; He knew that the message of the kingdom would be mocked at and He knew this because of His own experience.

The synagogue at Chorazin
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Opinion

 Get outside the bubble 

People have a right to be different and have different opinions.
Because they are different.

But I don’t need to be shown every time how wrong I am.
I can learn, I am open to it but every time is a little too much.

Instead a little empathy and curiousness about that persons point of view and life is important.

At times, empathy and kindness are more important than intelligence and knowledge
Love is the most important.
Everything has its place in its right time.

We must sometimes step beyond our knowledge and be open to getting to know people who are nothing like us.
Hear what they have to say without judging them.

Get outside the bubble.

Show me love and I’ll be more open to your knowledge.
I mean true love
The kind where I know a hundred percent that you care about me.

Visit me
Call me
Hug me
Stay in touch with me
Be there for me

Not always but at least sometimes.

I’m different.
I am not you.
You must love me and accept me for what I am.

– Cherida Fernandez

The author of this text is my sister. I was deeply moved by her reflection and thought of sharing it on my blog. Proud of you Cheri.

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Faith

Unencumbered by baggage – Thursday, 3rd week in ordinary time – Lk 10:1-9

This is Luke’s longest meditation on mission and follows immediately after Jesus has laid down the cost of discipleship. In yesterday’s reading, three candidates, two of whom wished to follow Jesus and one whom Jesus hoped he would follow Him, were all turned down. Why? Because the condition of discipleship demanded a sense of urgency; work in the Kingdom of God had to be done immediately (and not after retirement as so many bargain with the Lord).

Interestingly the Lord now appointed seventy (other ancient manuscripts read seventy two) and sent them on ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He himself intended to go.  After the rejection of the three would be candidates in 9:57-62 Jesus now seems to have finalised the list of candidates who wished to follow Him and He has handpicked seventy of them.

It thus becomes clear that not all those who desire to serve the Lord are chosen by Him. For the Lord, it seems, certain criteria need to be fulfilled before one is and chosen and ‘sent out’ (made apostle) into the harvest. It would make poor sense to only ‘appoint’ people who are filled with desire but with no dedication to the task.

The Gospel also tells us that Jesus sent them out in pairs ‘ahead of Him to every town and place where he intended to go’. Cleary Jesus had a plan in His mind. The promotion of the Kingdom of God cannot be some haphazard job. The Lord clearly had a winning strategy in mind for the seventy were to cure the sick and proclaim that the kingdom of God had come near to them. After the people were sufficiently mesmerised by the ‘trailer’ He would come in as the ‘main show’.

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Faith

My way or the Highway – Wednesday, 26th Week in ordinary time – Lk 9:57-62

The journey to Jerusalem will not be free of trials either for Jesus or the Christian. We are told that Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem” and since the Samaritans and Jews could never know a day without hatred for each other, Jesus who in this Gospel has come for all also faces rejection from all. Yet to the wrathful thoughts of revenge that pass by the lips of the ‘sons of thunder’ against the Samaritans, James and John find themselves rebuked by Jesus for their behaviour.  (References to the text preceding today’s)

Jesus sets upon himself to teach the twelve what the cost of discipleship entails. He does this with the help of three hyperbolic proverbs (Chreiae or brief sayings in Greek).  The function of a proverb is to help people make sense out of life, to show how the world coheres, e.g., spare the rod and spoil the child. In this pericope Jesus uses HYPERBOLE or EXAGGERATION to jolt the listeners out of their staid ways of ordering their universe and to view existence from an entirely new angle, that of discipleship in response to the kingdom of God as preached by Jesus. (JBC)

Many have tried to understand these three proverbs literally and treated them as though they must be lived exactly as said by Jesus. To do that would be foolishness, to say the least, for the intention of Jesus is clear; to stress that nothing should come in the way of a disciple once he or she has said her yes to the kingdom.

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Faith

Introduction to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem in the Gospel of Luke

In order to help you understand the readings of the Gospel in the days to come, I am offering you a brief but helpful introductory explanation. The explanations are not meant to be some ‘reflection’ but to help you STUDY the Word of God. Hence you need to read the exegesis in the ‘faith section’ of this blog with your BIBLE OPEN.

The Galilean ministry of Jesus now comes to a close in the Gospel according to Luke and from Luke 9:51- 19:27 Jesus will journey to Jerusalem. In this section, Luke will make at least fifteen references to Jesus traveling and while Jesus makes this journey He will be the supreme teacher of His disciples who will be His witnesses of ‘the way’. This is the name in the Acts of the Apostles, also written by Luke, that is given to the early Christians.

In obedience to God’s will (9:22,44) Jesus goes on His way to Jerusalem the city that symbolizes the continuity between the old and the new in God’s plan. In Jerusalem, Jesus will complete His exodus(9:31) to God and from Jerusalem the Christian mission will travel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1-2). During this journey, Jesus instructs His disciples  about missionary travels (10:1-24) about the use of possessions (16:1-31) about prayer (11:1-13) and delivers challenging parables like those of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37) and the Prodigal Son (15:11-32).

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