Resolutely On His Mission

 

 Lk 9:51-56

Samaritan Opposition

⁵¹ As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.

Jesus knew what was coming: more opposition, rejection, and death, but that did not hold him back. No, even more resolutely, he headed for Jerusalem to fulfill his mission, as painful as it was going to be. 

Today we celebrate the memorial of St Therese of Lisieux, whose short life ended with her confinement to the convent infirmary and her painful suffering from tuberculosis. There was no penicillin in her day. She offered her suffering for missionaries and promised to do good from heaven after her death in 1897, so much so that she was canonized in 1925, only 28 years later. Her miracles and popularity continue to this day as she lives up to her promise. From her convent infirmary,she followed in the resolute footsteps of the suffering Jesus and stands as a model for us as we deal with disappointment and pain. How blessed are we to have her as our patroness!

Bro. Rene

St. Therese, pray for us that we might offer our sufferings and disappointments as prayers for others. Amen.