The Gospel of the Lord

In the Face of Indifference or Rejection: Give Yourself

In this Gospel passage, we see how the Samaritans refused to receive the Lord because of His appearance. Faced with this rejection, James and John wanted vengeance—they felt offended. But what does Jesus do? He rebukes them and shows compassion towards those who, “seeing, do not see,” because their hearts were still closed to Him.
The Lord is constantly seeking us, longing to dwell with us. Yet if we do not welcome Him, He simply continues on—He never forces love, but waits with infinite patience until He is received.
And so it must be with us as spouses: even when we fail to see our husband or wife with the dignity of a child of God, even when we feel unloved or unacknowledged, we are still called to love—without anger, without offence—continuing along the path and waiting for another moment when our spouse’s heart may be ready to receive us.
To live like this, we need daily time with the Lord in prayer: to fall in love with Him, to grow more like Him, and, ultimately, to love as He loves.

Applied to Married Life

Andrew: Congratulations, my love—today is such a special day! Nineteen years of marriage. Do you know something? This morning in prayer, Jesus showed me that from the very beginning He has wanted to reign in our marriage and make us truly happy… but because of the hardness of our hearts, we often didn’t let Him. How patient He has been with us! Today I just want to thank Him for His mercy.
Natalie: Congratulations to you too, my dear husband! Yes, it’s so striking how He never grows tired of waiting and keeps seeking us out with all kinds of means. He has sent us family members who shared with us the miracles of the Rosary, priests who accompanied and advised us, and friends who encouraged us to attend a “Marital Love Project” retreat and join catechesis groups. Truly, He has always been by our side, even when we didn’t recognise Him.
Andrew: Now it all makes so much sense—the wonderful gifts He has given us, but also the trials that caused us such pain. They were necessary to purify our hearts. Without them, in our pride, we would never have opened ourselves to Him. All of it was part of His plan.
Natalie: How great is the Lord, who allows us to bear witness that by His mercy it is possible to make the old new again—to transform a broken marriage into one that has discovered the treasure of its vocation!

Mother,

we thank you for coming to the aid of so many marriages in difficulty, so they do not feel alone.
Glory to the Lord, who makes all things new!

At that time: Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, “I saw you under the fig tree”, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’

How must Christ have looked at Nathanael for him to burst out with such joy? Jesus looked straight into Nathanael’s heart, beyond appearances. Christian marriage is called to be an alliance where spouses feel seen, understood, and loved—even in their weaknesses. We are invited to experience unconditional love: to be received and cherished in our entirety.
And if we live this way, Jesus promises us that we will see heaven opened—a life where heaven touches earth. Our spousal love must be open to heaven by placing God at the centre: every gesture of forgiveness, tenderness, and service within marriage is already a foretaste of those “greater things” God has promised.
Let us resolve to let heaven touch our marriage by loving and giving ourselves, so that in the daily life of our home, we may glimpse God’s promise of greater things.

Applied to Married Life

Joseph: Darling, I think I love you more—and better—every day.
Alice: Oh! What a beautiful declaration of love. But why are you saying that now?
Joseph: Because I’m sure that before, when you made that comment this morning, I would have taken offence. Yet this time, I thought perhaps you were just tired or struggling with some temptation. And I also saw it as an opportunity for me to grow in humility.
Alice: You really have changed. You know how quickly I speak sometimes, without even realising what I’m saying—and then I can’t even remember afterwards. So if I wasn’t very affectionate this morning, forgive me. And thank you for not looking at me harshly. I really do love my “new Joseph.”
Joseph: And I love my “new Alice” just as much. [laughs]

Mother,

Help me to look at my spouse through the eyes of Your Son, who does not judge or condemn, but loves me in my weakness and invites me to do the same in my marriage. Praise be to the Lord.

At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not do so, and none may cross from there to us.” And he said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” ’

The indifference of the rich man is the fruit of a shallow life, one without depth, focused only on pleasure and fleeting sensations. A gluttony not only of food but also of emotions, gossip, and criticism… labelling reality and stripping it of hope: “Lazarus is just lazy,” “our marriage has no future,” “there’s nothing to be done with my son”… Such labelling distances me from true understanding, from wisdom, and from conscience. Ultimately, it distances me from the Holy Spirit, who dwells at the very centre of my soul, leaving me to live instead on the shallow periphery of feelings and desires.

Applied to Married Life

Peter: It really hurts that Luke and Mary organised a dinner without inviting us.
Victoria: I can understand it. Lately we’ve been very focused on our marriage and on the children.
Peter: But we used to be so close…
Victoria: Perhaps more in the sense of shared hobbies and distractions than real intimacy.
Peter: True. With our couples’ group, there’s a far deeper connection.
Victoria: And with our children too. Just today, Paul thanked me for yesterday. He said he felt truly welcomed and listened to in his pain after breaking up with Claire.
Victoria (after a pause): Shall we pray? We need to thank God for keeping us grounded in the truth and for helping us to recognise the suffering of those closest to us.

Mother,

Teacher of suffering at the foot of your Son’s Cross, pray for us. Praise be to the Lord!

In this Gospel the Lord speaks to us plainly: I am to be handed over. He knows it, accepts it, and willingly gives Himself up to die on the cross out of Love — to redeem me, to redeem my marriage. Jesus tells us that the greatest demonstration of love is to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, to give oneself for the beloved. And today He says this to us, spouses:  “Pay attention to what I am telling you”: the way of marriage consists in loving your spouse, and that love is shown through self-giving. A total, voluntary giving that demands nothing in return. It’s as if He says: listen to what I have to tell you, pay attention — the path of love is a path of giving. Get this into your head: love is giving, and giving even unto the cross. It is a clear and firm message. What part of it seems ambiguous?

Do I want to hear the message, or would I rather close my ears and pretend I do not understand? Which corners of my life do I resist handing over? Do I dare to ask the Lord to show me where and how to give myself more to my husband? Or am I afraid to ask Him, in case I do not like the answer?

Anna: Dad, James has asked me to marry him, and I’ve said yes.
John: How wonderful, my dear. Are you sure James is your vocation?
Anna: What a strange question! I don’t understand you, Dad.
John: Why do you want to get married?
Anna: To be happy. I know James loves me and he will make me happy.
John: But marriage is not about having someone make you happy; it’s about you giving yourself for the salvation and eternal happiness of your husband.
Anna: I will make him happy too!
John: Marriage is not a matter of pleasures; it is the acceptance of a vocation to give yourself.
Anna: I don’t understand anything of what you are saying.
John: If James is your vocation, by marrying him you say yes to the Lord, and you then willingly accept to give yourself to James — for better and for worse. Until death. Even giving your life for him, no matter the circumstances.
Anna: Dad, you’re old-fashioned. Give yourself… until death… That’s not done any more.
John: My daughter, that is what true marriage is. The kind your mother and I have tried to live since we discovered marriage as God intended it — the kind that leads to eternal happiness. Why don’t you both go on a couples’ retreat with the Marital Love Project and deepen your understanding of your vocation before taking that step? We’ll invite you both to go.
Anna: Actually, I would like my marriage to be like the one you and mum have been living these last years. You seem very united and happy, even when things don’t look so good. I’ll suggest the retreat to James.

Mother,

No one knows the importance of prayer and contemplation like You do. Take us by the hand, so we may learn to give ourselves as You did — with joy, generosity and without limits — that we might love with a Love like Yours. Blessed are You, Mother! Praised be the Lord, who gave Himself for us!

From the Gospel according to Luke
9:18-22

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

One of the most important lessons the Lord taught His disciples was the value of prayer — and He did so by leading through example. Faith and prayer are two sides of the same coin, and if we long for our faith to grow, there is no better method than daily prayer, cultivating a relationship of intimacy with the One who loves us and has given His life for us.

(After leaving Mass)
Michael: Laura, the Lord spoke powerfully to me in today’s Gospel. He asks me, “But who do you say that I am?”
Laura: How wonderful, Michael! You must take this into prayer tonight.
Michael: I cannot wait…
(That evening during their couple’s prayer)
Michael: Lord, I want to ask Your forgiveness for all the times I have failed to witness who You are to me. For the times I have kept silent out of shame or shyness when asked why I go to Mass or why I believe. For the times my actions have not reflected Your love. Forgive me, Lord. I know You are the Messiah, the Son of God, and I want to proclaim it to the whole world.
Laura: I, too, want to ask for Your forgiveness, Lord. I have spent so long asking You to increase my faith, yet I have done little on my part. Time and again in the Gospel You remind us of the importance of prayer. Today I wish to make the firm decision to increase my daily time of prayer — that will be the way my faith will grow.
Michael: What a beautiful resolution. I stand with you, and I too make the firm decision to grow in prayer.
Together: Help us, Lord, to persevere!

Mother,

No one knows better than You the importance of prayer and contemplation. Hand in hand with You, we long to grow in intimacy with Your Son and to enter into His Sacred Heart. Blessed be He forever!