True patience is to suffer the wrongs done to us by others in an unruffled spirit and without feeling resentment. Patience bears with others because it loves them; to bear with them and yet to hate them is not the virtue of patience but a smokescreen for anger.
- Gregory the Great
(Where do you need to practice patience more in your life these days? Ask God for the grace to do so, and in your imagination, see yourself acting so.)
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Zec 8:20-23; Psalm 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7
Lk 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 on the Scriptures
Jesus was resolute. His enemies, like hornets, were in motion. Those who preach the beatitudes stir up authority. The apostles wanted him safe. Jesus did not know what lay ahead, only that the road to Jerusalem is not for those who cling to safety.
Faced with attack or insults, we often strike back. The Samaritans closed their town to Jesus and the apostles wanted revenge. “Call down fire from heaven. Let them burn. Let’s get even. We’ll show them.” And another cycle of destruction is unleashed.
“Jesus rebuked them.” To seek revenge is venom. It does not secure justice or nurture peace. What grips us in the moment can lead to years of violence. God, show us the way forward. Give us wisdom to escape the sinkhole of revenge.
We share this planet with all creatures. I can’t fix things on my own. We are in this together. God, heal old wounds. Please send your spirit. Gather us together in prayer and the work of salvation. Show us where solidarity lies.
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three
Article 8: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
IV. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME
John, precursor, prophet, and baptist
717 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."89 John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb"90 by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.91
718 John is "Elijah [who] must come."92 The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the precursor, the Holy Spirit completes the work of "[making] ready a people prepared for the Lord."93
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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