WANDER WITH WONDER
Today,
Jesus is presented as moving towards Jerusalem, referred to in
Christian tradition as the city of destiny. It is in Jerusalem where
Jesus will make His final stop as a Messiah. It is also in Jerusalem
where Jesus will make plain the kind of Messiah that He is: not the
political liberator that the Apostles were expecting, but the Suffering
Servant who will redeem God’s people as an expiation for their sins.
To get to Jerusalem, Jesus and company had to pass by Samaria. When the
Samaritans got wind of this, they would not welcome Him (v.53) for Jews
look down on Samaritans as half-breeds — products of intermarriage with
foreigners. When James and John saw this, they asked Jesus to rain down
fire from heaven to consume the town as a little sample of His power
(v.54). This power-tripping attitude confirmed that the Apostles have
yet to understand the nature of Jesus’ messianic mission and the kind of
Kingdom He was to establish. The Apostles were just moving around with
Jesus, oblivious of the deep meaning of their journey.
We can say that the Apostles, up until that time, were merely
wanderers — moving about in compulsion, without direction and
discernment. They wander without wonder. They were mere wanderlusts.
Though they were able to understand snippets of the mystery of Jesus’
person and mission, its full realization will only dawn on them after
the resurrection.
We are not called to merely wander in life. To wander with a deep sense
of wonder is to journey, to be a pilgrim. To be a pilgrim is to walk
through life with intentionality and purpose, sensitive to the many
divine road signs God has put along the way. Fr. Joel Jason
REFLECTION QUESTION: Have you transitioned from being a wanderer to being a pilgrim here on earth?
Lord,
clear my eyes and sharpen my ears that I may perceive the many
signposts of Your presence here on earth, that I may journey joyfully
and fruitfully to the Kingdom. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment