REFLECTIONS TODAY

The reproaches of Jesus to unrepentant towns follow the sending of the 72 disciples. They will repay “peaceful” people who will receive them with the healing of the sick in their village. But for others who will not receive them, a severe judgment awaits (Lk 10:6-11).
A similar judgment, Jesus warns, awaits the cities where he had done mighty deeds but had not repented. He has called for a change of mind and heart as the Kingdom of God is at hand.
But while the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum feel privileged in the fact that Jesus has taught and done mighty deeds there, they remain in their old ways, preferring their quarrels, their way of dealing with God and their neighbors, their pride in having Abraham as their father. The Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon would have been more welcoming of Jesus and his message just as inhabitants of the wicked city of Nineveh listened to the prophet Jonah and turned from their evil way (Jon 3:10).
Gospel • Luke 10:13-16
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.