Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

Woe to you, Chorazin,…Bethsaida,… Capernaum….

We rarely have examples of Jesus cursing those who refused to listen to his message. What struck me about these sayings of Jesus after visiting Israel was that nothing was left of these three cities. We’re not even sure exactly where they were located. The exception, of course, is for Capernaum. This city was the base for Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. It was a cosmopolitan town in Jesus’ day. It had a customs post, even a Roman outpost, situated on the main road from Egypt to Damascus (Syria). All we have now are excavations of what it once was.

I believe we have a parable here. Perhaps we have examples of the final line in today’s gospel passage: “Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Rejecting the grace of God when it comes to us, we have no real foundation for our lives. We see the same thing today. Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist. We are there fed by his word and at the table of his flesh and blood. Yet, in our country, fewer than half of Catholics consider Mass necessary, rarely go, and consider celebrating a relationship with Jesus, with God, that is genuinely life-giving to be only a needless bother.

We would be wrong, I think, to read passages like this as if Jesus were speaking in anger. He talked in sorrow and could see what would happen to these barren cities. He could see even his best efforts were falling on a wasteland. As he wept over Jerusalem, so did he grieve that his efforts bore so little fruit.

Do I ever sorrow the one willing to give up his life for me?

Let Us Pray:

O Jesus, may I always hunger for your word. May I live so everyone knows I am your disciple.