Word to the Wise
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 26th Tuesday in Ordinary Time
[Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23 and Luke 9:51-56]"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?" Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village."
A little zeal can be a dangerous thing. A lot of zeal can be very dangerous! There are those who don't stop to ask permission before executing what they think is righteous punishment on those who don't believe! We see it here in James and John - two of Jesus' closest collaborators! It almost sounds like they'd like nothing better than to toast those Samaritans! How dare they reject Jesus' ambassadors! But this is no quaint moment in the gospel story. This is a very dangerous present moment in our own religious history (and God knows it has happened enough in the past!) The philosopher, Rene Girard, and many others have shown that faith and violence have too often been in league with each other. It requires a special intention and awareness to avoid violence in matters of the sacred. The willingness of two of the apostles to "call down fire from heaven" shows the infamous attitude that "God is on our side and you folks better join up or else!" What we all too often fail to notice is Jesus' reaction to those two apostles. He turns and rebukes them. Their attitude is the exact opposite of what he is teaching! Why can't we get that into our own heads? AMEN
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