Daily Reflection Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

The bitterness between the Jewish people and the Samaritan people was nothing new to James and John. When the Samaritans would not welcome Jesus James and John’s first reaction was vengeance. Calling down fire from heaven would not have been an unfamiliar thing for them. Elijah had done this very thing to the army that was sent from Samaria many years before. But this was not what Jesus wanted them to do. He knew where he was going and what lay ahead of him. His path was to save humanity, not destroy it, and he certainly was not going to let James and John do that. Jesus rebuked them for wanting to destroy the Samaritan village and he continued on his journey to Jerusalem. I am sure Jesus was saddened that the Samaritans would miss out on hearing about the Kingdom of God and especially about God’s love. 

    I was listening to a radio show that was discussing the border crisis. People were going back and forth discussing ways to improve our immigration system and ways to help deal with what is becoming a humanitarian crisis right here in our own back yards. At one point a gentleman called in and said all we had to do to solve this crisis was relocate several hundred alligators from the Florida Everglades to the 

Rio Grande. I was horrified when I heard this and deeply saddened. How could someone be so cruel. He had no regard for the human beings he was condemning to die in a horrific way. Whether we agree or disagree with the current policies we should never forget that we are talking about human beings.  Everyday children of God are in those waters seeking a better life. Yes, there will be exceptions to the rule, sadly not everyone wants to be here for the all the right reasons, but we must be very careful in devaluing life. What this man wanted to do was no different than what James and John wanted. They all wanted a form of vengeance. They all wanted to solve the problems of the day with violence. Shortly before his passion, Jesus proclaimed to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment: love on another. As I have loved you, so you also should love on another” (Jn 13:34). 

    The month of October is Respect Life Month. Below is an excerpt for a reflection on the USCCB’s website called Radical Solidarity. Below I will attach a link for the entire reflection. 

The Church’s entire social doctrine is guided by the fundamental principle that every human life has innate dignity and incomparable value: “Every human being is the object of God’s infinite tenderness, and he himself is present in their lives.”1 As disciples of Christ, we are called to make a sacrificial gift of ourselves for the sake of our neighbor, for “to love someone is to desire that person’s good and to take effective steps to secure it.”2

    As we enter the month of October let us pray for the intercession of our Blessed Mother. Let us pray that we see her in all the mothers looking for a better life for their children. Let us pray we see the Christ child in each of those children. Let us pray we see the crucified Jesus in all who are suffering and lost in this world. Let us pray we call on our better angels to help us change this world. 

Click here for the reflection Radical Solidarity.