Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading presents us with a familiar scene. Zechariah tells us that there will be a day when folks from all over will seek God. We’re told they’ll search far and wide to find God in Jerusalem to seek His favor. It’s a familiar image, and in many ways, a comforting image. Zechariah tells us, plain as day, that eventually everyone is going to want to follow God. It’s comforting to be reminded that our God is God, and that everyone around is going to come to us, seeking God. In many ways, this first reading serves as a helpful reminder that, through troubles and doubts and a world that would tell us differently, God is worth seeking. There is a desire in the “ten men of every nationality,” who do not know God, to seek Him out. We can find, through the desire in their hearts, some evidence that we have what everyone will seek.
Now fast-forward about six hundred years to the Gospel. Because He was traveling to Jerusalem, Jesus is rejected from a Samaritan village. This is a far cry from the image Zechariah gave us. It’s been six hundred years, and the Samaritans aren’t begging to come meet God in Jerusalem – instead, they’re rejecting God on His way to Jerusalem. What do we make of the fact that, even with Jesus’ coming, Zechariah’s prophecy didn’t come true? And what about the fact that two thousand years after that, we still don’t see folks from all over, begging to meet God?
The truth is, we do, it’s just hard to see. Every person needs God, and in our own ways, we are all seeking God. The people in the first reading are seeking God’s favor and are eventually fortunate enough to discover Jews who will lead them to God. We aren’t told about all of the other ways that they try to find God. We only see the success story at the end, not the journey that leads them there. But we all know that when we look for something, we usually don’t find it on the first try. When I look at the world we inhabit, I see it full of people who are trying to find God and haven’t yet. If we aren’t careful, we can find ourselves like the Samaritan village in the Gospel, turning God away when He’s right in front of us. Division, hate, inequality, and injustice are what we find and produce when we are apart from God.
Fortunately, God knows this. God knows that we seek Him, and that those of us who haven’t found Him may yet come to know Him. In the face of the disciples’ suggestion to burn down the village, Jesus shows mercy, giving the people of the village time to grow. In doing this, we are charged to do the same. When we are rejected or frustrated by those around us, it is easy to feel the desire to strike them down. But we are called to give them time, to continue to show them God’s mercy, and to teach about God. We are all in need of God’s mercy, and frequently need that time ourselves. Zechariah’s image will come to pass, and in many ways already has. We just need to recognize what it looks like, and remember that for all of us, it takes time to get there.
-Marty Bagatti