Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Lk 10:13-16
September 30, 2022 | Friday
Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! So many miracles have been worked in you! If the same miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would already be sitting in ashes and wearing the sack cloth of repentance. Surely for Tyre and Sidon it will be better on the Day of Judgment than for you. And what of you, city of Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead.
Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.”
Today’s Reflection:
The Gospel today begins with a denunciation of the willful disbelief of the people in the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. They are ungrateful and unrepentant. Jesus expressed disappointment when his preaching failed to bring about a conversion of the people whom he visited. Do I reject Christ’s preaching and his commandments? In the Gospel, we hear Jesus reproach the people for not recognizing and listening to him.
Like the prophets in the Old Testament, Jesus warned them that neglect of God’s ways brings about destructive and negative consequences. Do we discern our actions to see whether they are pleasing to Him and his holy will? To pray as Jesus did creates in us a discerning heart so that we can hear His voice speak to us in the challenges and circumstances that confront us.
Jesus speaks as well through his disciples whom he sent. Listening to them is like listening to Him who commissioned them. May we recognize the continuous call for conversion coming from Church leaders, God’s Word, and the sacraments. Despite the struggles along the way, when we trust in His mercy and love we are led back to Christ. He tells us today, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). /Vulnerasti, 2022
