Catholic lectionary for 3 October 2023

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Zechariah, Chapter 8, verses 20-23

¹⁸ Joy and enlargement are promised

²⁰Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

²¹And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.

²²Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

²³Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Read more:Zechariah, Chapter 9

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8 A promise that Jerusalem shall be restored, Zec 8:1-8.
That the whole church shall be established and increased, Zec 8:9-23.

8:20 People - Multitudes.

8:21 I will go also - The invited, shall with as much zeal embrace the motion, as others made it.

8:22 In Jerusalem - Literally understood, you have the first fruits of them mentioned, Act 2:10-12. Mystically, Jerusalem is the church of Christ. To pray - To perform all gospel - worship.

8:23 Ten men - That is, many men. All languages - No nation is any longer excluded. A Jew - To whom the gospel was first preached.We have heard - And now see, and are assured. That God - The true God, the only true God, whom to know is life eternal.

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End of the World

Luke, Chapter 9, verses 51-56

⁵¹ biddeth them to show mildness towards all without desire of revenge

⁵¹And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

⁵²And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

⁵³And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

⁵⁵But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

⁵⁶For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Read more:Luke, Chapter 9

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9

9:51 The days are fulfilled that he should be received up - That is, the time of his passion was now at hand. St. Luke looks through this, to the glory which was to follow. He steadfastly set his face - Without fear of his enemies, or shame of the cross, Heb 12:2.

9:52 He sent messengers to make ready - A lodging and needful entertainment for him and those with him.

9:53 His face was as though he would go to Jerusalem - It plainly appeared, he was going to worship at the temple, and thereby, in effect, to condemn the Samaritan worship at Mount Gerizim.

9:54 As Elisha did - At or near this very place, which might put it into the minds of the apostles to make the motion now, rather than at any other time or place, where Christ had received the like affront.

9:55 Ye know not what manner of spirit - The spirit of Christianity is. It is not a spirit of wrath and vengeance, but of peace, and gentleness, and love.

NOTES

Jesus says these words in response to the disciples' strange proposal to call down fire from heaven and destroy those who had refused to receive them. “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of,” the Savior exclaims bitterly. And these words contain...

These words are addressed not only to those who are just setting out to follow Jesus, but also to the disciples themselves—and to us. Does the thought never “occur” to us as to which...

As can be seen, Jesus keeps explaining to His disciples, through different examples, what the life of the Kingdom is and what it is like. And the Evangelist gathers these examples together, making a kind of digest that contains short descriptions of them...

As can be seen, Jesus keeps explaining to His disciples, through different examples, what the life of the Kingdom is and what it is like. And the Evangelist gathers these examples together, making a kind of digest that contains short descriptions of them. Here are the disciples arguing over who is the greatest in the Kingdom. Well, after the Teacher, of course. Here are the same disciples eager to call thunder down on a Samaritan village where they are not received. Not for their own sake, of course, but for the Teacher's sake. And for the truth, naturally.

And here are people they meet along the road. One is ready to go, but Jesus tells him: I have nowhere to invite you. To another Jesus Himself says: Follow Me, and that man asks permission to bury his father, and receives an answer that sounds merciless. As does another one: the answer is softer outwardly, but in substance it says: leave it, forget everyone, or else you will have to forget the Kingdom.

What is this: a particular kind of selectiveness? Yes, of course: Jesus sees every person's heart; it is as transparent to Him as it is to His heavenly Father. But there is also something common here. The Kingdom is open to everyone. But on one condition: it must be first in the life of the one who wants to reach it. In the Kingdom people do not live out their remaining days; they live. And those who refuse to go, in one way or another, want to live out what remains. To stay with those who are living out what remains. They do not understand that one can go on living out what remains, alone or with others, endlessly. In the fallen world there is no real life; here there are only its remnants. And one has to choose: either gather up these remnants and try to squeeze the last out of them, or go where there is life in abundance. Without trying to drag along the remains of that imitation of life that can be found in the fallen world.

But there, in the Kingdom, the laws are different. There are no bosses and subordinates there; there are ministries that must be carried, and whoever knows how to do this better is the greatest. The one who is greatest in the Kingdom does not receive the best places, but the more responsible ministries. And there is no need there to prove anything to anyone. In this world too, the Kingdom does not need to be proved to anyone.

It can be shown, of course. But proving it is pointless. For proof, especially with heavenly thunder involved, always presupposes a desire to persuade by force. To make someone accept, to make someone believe. And then it no longer matters what the irresistible arguments will be: in any case they presuppose that a person yields before the inevitable, whether it is a force from which there is no escape or an obviousness that cannot be evaded. The Kingdom, of course, is both force and obviousness. But it is a force one can walk away from, and an obviousness one can choose not to notice. God does not impose Himself, and the person is free. To the free, freedom; to the saved, paradise.

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