St. Therese of the Child Jesus, virgin & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Baruch 1:15-22

You will say:

May everyone recognize the justice of our God but, on this day, shame and confusion befit the men of Judah and the inhab­itants of Jerusalem –   our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, and our fathers,   because we have sinned before the Lord.   

We have disobeyed him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, nor have we followed the com­mandments which the Lord had put before us. From the day that the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until this day, we have disobeyed the Lord our God and we have rebelled against him instead of listening to his voice.

Because of this, from the day on which the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, so as to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the evils and the curse which the Lord pronounced by Moses, his servant, have dogged our footsteps right down to the present day.   

We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God speaking through the words of the prophets whom he sent to us,   but each one of us followed his perverted heart, serving false gods and doing what displeases the Lord our God.

 

Ps 79:1b-2,3-5, 8, 9

For the glory of your name, O Lord deliver us.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Luke 10:13-16

Alas for you Chorazin! Alas for you Bethsaida! So many miracles have been worked in you! If the same miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would already be sitting in ashes and wear­ing the sackcloth of repentance.

 Surely for Tyre and Sidon it will be better than for you on the Judgment Day. And what of you, city of Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead.

 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

There is sorrow that you just have to accept because you are helpless to change it. This makes it more painful because as much as you want to prevent it, those who will bear the brunt of sorrow are uncooperative.

This is the reason why Jesus laments what will happen to the three Jewish towns where He performed many signs. He contrasts these with three Gentile cities known for such extraordinary wickedness as to deserve God’s destruction.

But the latter will have it better because on the Day of Judgment the former will be judged more harshly, because of their greater unwillingness to repent. They have Jesus’ words and preaching. He backed His words with miraculous signs and wonders to no avail.

The Jewish towns are simply stubborn and hard-headed. That is why Jesus could only cry at their future fate.