Tuesday in the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle I
Zec 8, 20; Lk 9, 51-56.
We all face a turning point in our life at some time or other. Very often the turning point occurs at a time and a place when we least expect it to happen. It is the moment when we recognise who we really are and embrace ourselves, with all that we like and dislike in ourselves, with all our past, no matter how shattered and with all our future no matter how frightening and daunting.
Today's Gospel recalls that very moment in the life of Jesus. We read, "He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem." Of course Jesus is in charge here. He knows who he is and what he came for. Jerusalem means salvation, it means union with God the Father, both for him and for us. But for Jesus it also means facing his own death. Only then can Jerusalem finally mean His - and our resurrection - and union with the Father.
He knows it and he turns in that direction "resolutely." There is no place for mixed feelings in Jesus' heart, for to be able to do so he must be ready to renounce himself completely as from that very moment. That moment of "resolutely determining to journey to Jerusalem" is as important as what he is going to do in Jerusalem, for there cannot be one without the other.
In stark contrast with Him we see the disciples, who mirror our own feelings and fears. They, like us, are not in control, but they want to be in control by showing power and might. Like them, we struggle to embrace our whole selves, with our strengths and weaknesses, and with our shattered pasts and frightful futures. We walk with Jesus to Jerusalem but we are out of step with him. We want the glory without the cross. Ultimately, we realise that we are still on a journey of growth. That journey will take a leap forward when we decide to truly become one with Christ as his disciples.
At one point in the Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius of Loyola suggests that we ask for the following grace, that we may know Jesus more intimately, to love him more intensely, and to follow him more closely. May this be our prayer today.
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