Tuesday of the
Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
(Zechariah 8:21-23; Luke 9:51-56)
Today’s gospel makes for an interesting contrast with one
which will be read next week. Here
Samaritans discriminate against Jesus and his followers as they head toward
Jerusalem. They want nothing to do with
Jewish pilgrims. Next Monday the parable of the Good Samaritan will be read at
Mass. In it the Samaritan goes out of
his way to help an accosted Jew returning from Jerusalem.
There are good and bad people everywhere. Perhaps some nations are characteristically
helpful to strangers, but no nation has all the helpful people in the world. Jesus is not disturbed by the rejection of
the Samaritan town. He knows that there
are good Samaritans. But he is upset by
the reaction of his disciples. They
should know by now that following Jesus will incur rejection at times and even
persecution. They should also know that he expects them to be tolerant of
others’ blindness and to respond to hostility with a prayer for conversion.
As Christians, we are called to bring about
reconciliation in a fractured world.
People’s ideas differ more widely than many thought ten years ago. We do well to respect everyone and to dialogue
to effect mutual understanding.
