Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
These were towns in Galilee that did not respond the mighty deeds done in their midst, mighty deeds so great and evident that even the Gentile towns of Tyre and Sidon would have recognized them and repented. Just being residents of a town of Israel who heard Jesus speak and saw him do miracles was no guarantee of salvation. Jesus' own town of Galilee was especially culpable for their lack of response. The people of Galilee especially had abundant opportunities to see and hear him that would have been sufficient for others. But for them, they treated healing miracles as mere entertainment, and chose to be scandalized by his teaching rather than letting themselves be cut to the heart and convert.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
We too are exposed to the teaching of the truth and mighty deeds. In addition to any charismatic miracles we may be privileged to witness, all of our parishes are places where the great miracles of the sacraments take place. People dead in their sins come to life again in baptism and confession. Bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. Young adults are filled with the Holy Spirit at confirmation. People around us are changed from selfish to loving, from vicious to virtuous, in a way that admits no other explanation but God himself at work. Because of all of these mighty deeds, woe to us for our half-hearted repentance, our weak and insincere commitment.
And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.’
Jesus desires that we recognize and be grateful for the gift we have in dwelling in these new towns within the Israel of God that are our parishes in his Church. He does not speak these woes so that we dwell on the bad decisions and missed opportunities of our past. Rather, he desires us to recognize what we have in him, present in the midst of his people, so that we can truly respond accordingly, sincerely, from the depths of our spirits.
Whoever listens to you listens to me.
Whoever rejects you rejects me.
And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.
The Church today speaks with this same voice, and with it, she calls us to a higher and more exalted destiny than we typically realize. We are content with too little, just being present where Jesus passes by, without really connecting with him at the level of our hearts. We are content to remain unchanged in spite of all he does and is willing to do in our midst. We are called to holiness, the same holiness that defined the lives of the saints, but, are content with mediocrity.
For we did not heed the voice of the Lord, our God,
in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us,
but each one of us went off
after the devices of his own wicked heart,
served other gods,
and did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.
Today our call is to heed the voice of the Lord and to tear down any idols that have usurped his place in our lives. The Little Flower teaches us that this does not necessarily have to happen in ways that the world would consider dramatic or impressive. We can have victory over our idols in the small choices we make to prefer love of others to ourselves. God does not speak only of doctrine and generalities. His voice calls us to take the next step before us, and to take it toward him. It is in a life of such small and hidden fidelities that true holiness consists.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.
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