FIRST READING
“Why is light given to him that is in misery?”
A reading from the Book of Job (Job 3:1-3.11- 17. 20-23)
Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said: “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’ Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? For then I should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have been at rest, with kings and counsellors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm88:2-3.4-5a.5b-6.7-8 (R. 3a)
R/. Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord
O Lord and God of my salvation,
I cry before you day and night.
Let my prayer come into your presence.
Incline your ear to my cry. R/.
For my soul is filled with evils;
my life is on the brink of the grave.
I am reckoned as one in the tomb. R/.
R/. Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord
I am like a warrior without strength,
like one roaming among the dead,
like the slain lying in their graves,
like those you remember no more,
cut off, as they are, from your hand. R/.
You have laid me in the depths of the pit,
in regions that are dark and deep.
Your anger weighs down upon me;
I am drowned beneath your waves. R/.
ALLELUIA Mark 10:45
Alleluia. The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“He set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 9:51-56)
When the days drew near for Jesus to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him; but the people would not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Jesus’ mission is not to tear down or attack those who think and act differently but to build up the Kingdom of God. However, His disciples understand neither the mission of Christ nor His message of love. John categorically states Christ’s mission of love when he writes: “…God did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (3:17). The disciples are not ready to accept the cross as it does not suit their ambitions and it is clear from their reactions that they have no space for a dying Messiah in their scheme of things. Jesus is ready for His ultimate baptism. Are we?