Peoples will come to Jerusalem

 

The loss of the Lord’s favour gives way for damnation. 

Reflection on Today’s Readings, Tuesday of 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, October 3rd, 2023 and the Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus  
Texts: Zechariah 8:20-23; Psalm 87:1-7; Luke 9:51-56 

Today’s first reading tells us of a time that peoples will come to Jerusalem to seek God. That should be peoples who have known the futility and emptiness of human wisdom and power. They must have known the damnation in following other gods. “What is this search for?” Is it for security or self-empowerment?  

It is not for security, for he says, “Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities”. The emphasis on inhabitants of cities sounds the note that even those who live in secured places will come. Cities are places of safety. 

Prophet Zechariah shows that the search is to seek the favour of the Lord. In his words: “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the  Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of the  Lord.” This is the acknowledgement of the supremacy of the Lord over all; it is universal acceptance of God as the Lord and Saviour of all. This reminds us of the primacy of the favour of God in human life. The loss of the Lord’s favour gives way for damnation.  

Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you

What does the prophecy means for the people of God? It is to reenergise and refocus us. It reassures us that we are on the right path, serving the Lord. It will be a time of salvation which will be a glory for us, the people of God, and a light to the Gentiles (Luke 2:30-32). Hence, prophet Zechariah says, “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’"  

Jesus Christ, in today’s gospel reading, is going to Jerusalem to fulfil the prophecy. We read, “When the days drew near for  Jesus to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Receiving up, here, is His death, and He once said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32).  

The gospel reading also relates that before the death of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem was an object of rejection. We read, “The people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.” It was on account of Jerusalem that the people did not receive Jesus Christ. 

The memorial of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus

Today is the memorial of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus. She left with us that love is a vocation. She said, “I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed their blood no more. I saw and realised that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place. In one word, that love is everlasting” (Universalis). She discovered this after unfulfilled desire to be a martyr. 

Prayer  

O God, who open your Kingdom to those who are humble and to little ones, lead us to follow trustingly in the little way of Saint Thérèse, so that through her intercession we may see your eternal glory revealed. Amen (Collect) 

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke