Tuesday, September 30, 2014

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: 

The going gets tough for all of us at some point.  We each experience rejection in any of its forms: from our family, our friends, our co-workers, even from members of our own church community.   Rejection is not a pleasant thing to confront.  It can cause us to feel anger and resentment.   This feeling of rejection happened to Jesus too, as we see in today's  reading from Luke.  He was not welcome in the Samaritan village even though he was going to share his Good News with them.  Instead of being upset, Jesus does not get angry with the Samaritans.  Instead he chastises his disciples who would rather have gotten back at the Samaritans for not allowing Jesus to enter the village.   The message for us is to respond with respect whenever we are rejected or someone does not want to hear what we are trying to say, especially if we are trying to spread the word of God by our words or actions.  Jesus shows us how to deal with rejection in a way that is successful.  This is a lesson that we can apply to many different aspects of our lives.  

Prayer: 

Loving God, all of us face rejection in our daily lives.  Give us the grace to see this as an opportunity to  learn to love and serve you better.  Let me always trust you enough to let you lead me through all the days, especially the ones where everything seems to go wrong.  Amen.