Three matters of interest in the 1st reading of today’s Mass invite consideration. 1. God sends trials to his chosen ones. 2. Coming to a personal knowledge of God often involves suffering. 3. This suffering, supported by courage, gives one a deeper insight into what the author of the Book of Sirach states: “Compassionate and merciful is the Lord.” Now, how do these three points fit into the Gospel?
1. Jesus announces his Passion and Death. The disciples could not accept it. 2. It took time and anxieties for them to learn that the salvation of the world would come about through his suffering and death. 3. Eventually they became like him, compassionate and merciful, and this encouraged them to spread the Gospel to others throughout the world.
Resolve: Today I shall say some special prayers for parents of children and for educators, particularly in our Catholic schools, that they be given the same graces that inspired the apostles to be like Christ, men and women for others.