Meditation

Today, God's word deals with the outstanding matter of the resurrection from the dead. It is peculiar that, as the Sadducees did, we keep on asking useless and pointless questions. We try to explain the substance of afterlife with world criteria, when in the world to come everything is different...

Today, Jesus' gesture is prophetic. As the old prophets used to do, He makes a symbolic action, full of future implications. By casting out of the temple the merchants who were selling their offerings to their victims and evoking that “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56, 7)...
 

Today, the image presented by the Gospel is that of Jesus who “wept over” (Lk 19, 41) for the fate of the chosen city that did not recognize the time and visitation of its Savior. Knowing, as we do, the latest news about this city, it would be easy to apply this lamentation to the city which —is both— holy and a source of separation.
 

spel proposes to us the parable of the pounds: an amount of money that a noble man gives out to his servants, before leaving for a far country. First, let us pay attention to the occasion provoking Jesus' parable. He was “getting near” Jerusalem, where He was to face his Passion and his subsequent resurrection.

Today, I'll be Zacchaeus. This personage was a wealthy man and the chief of the Publicans; I have more than I need and, perhaps too often, I behave like a Publican and forget about Jesus Christ. Amidst the crowd, Jesus seeks Zacchaeus; today, amidst our world, He is precisely looking for me: “come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house” (Lk 19, 5).
 

Today, the blind beggar Bartimaeus (cf. Mk 10, 46) gives us a complete lesson about faith, expressed with total simplicity in front of Christ. It would be good for us to repeat, every now and then, Bartimaeus' prayer: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” (Lk 18, 37). 
 

Today, Jesus tells us another parable of judgment. We are approaching the Advent season, and therefore, the end of the liturgical year is near.
 

Today, when the last days of the liturgical year are getting near, Jesus exhorts us to pray, to open ourselves to God. We may think as the family parents who —every day!— are expecting to receive from their sons some words showing their loving affection.
 

Today, in the Gospel text, the end times as well as the uncertainty of life is highlighted, not to frighten us, but to keep us fore-armed and focused, ready to meet our Creator. The sacrificial nature of the Gospel is seen in its Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as He leads us by example, to be ever ready to seek and do the Will of God. 
 

Today, the Pharisees ask Jesus, with a mixture of interest, curiosity, fear... something that has always been of interest for all of us: when will the Kingdom of God come? When will it be the last day, the end of the world, Christ's return to judge the living and the dead in the day of the Last Judgment?
 

Today, Jesus passes by close to us so that we can actually relive the above mentioned passage in the shape of so many people relegated to an outer edge by our society, and who look at us Christians as their only possibility to find Jesus' love and goodness.

For those who believe, everything is a sign, for those who love, everything is a gift. Working for God's Kingdom is already a great reward; hence, the expression “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do” (Lk 17, 10) should not be interpreted with dejection or sadness, but with the joy of one who knows that he has been called to spread the knowledge of the Gospel.
 

Faith: more than mind wealth (in a strictly human meaning), is a “mood”, the outcome of God's experience, is to be able to act by leaning on his confidence. St. Ignatius of Antioch says: “Faith is the beginning of true life”. 

Today, we are invited to mull over the purpose of our existence; it is a warning from the Good God about our ultimate end; let's not, therefore, play with life. "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom” (Mt 25, 1). 
 

Today, Jesus speaks again with authority: He uses the «so I tell you», that has a particular force, as if dealing with a new doctrine. God wants everyone to be saved and to come to keep knowledge of the truth (cf. 1Tim 2, 4); God wants us to be saints and today He points out necessary traits which will help us to reach holiness and have the “true goods”: faithfulness to small things, authenticity and never to forget God knows our hearts.
 

What is our life’s treasure? We should examine our desires so that we may find out where we keep our treasure... Saint Augustine tells us: “Your continuous yearning is your continuous voice. If you stop loving, your yearning will be silent.”
 

Today, in this universal festivity of the Church we remember that, even though no building in this world is big enough to contain God's immensity, historically human beings have felt the need to reserve certain locations for their personal and collective meetings with God. 
 

Today, we can contemplate Jesus on his way towards Jerusalem. There, He will offer his life for the salvation of our world. “Great crowds were traveling with Jesus” (Lk 14, 25): the disciples, walking with Jesus, who precedes them, must learn to become new men. This is the final purpose of the instructions the Lord, in his ascent to the “City of peace”, exposes and proposes to those following him.
 

Today, the Lord offers us an image of eternity represented by a banquet. The banquet denotes the place where the family and friends gather together to celebrate and enjoy the company, the conversation and the friendship, sitting around the same table. This image speaks of our intimacy with God as Trinity and the joy we will find in the Promised Land. 

Today, the Lord teaches us the true meaning of Christian generosity: to learn how to devote ourselves to others. "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.” (Lk 14, 12).
 

Today, the Lord paints us a picture of the prominent figures of Israel during his time (Pharisees, teachers of the Law, etc.). These men lived a superficial and shallow existence: “All their works are performed to be seen” (Mt 23, 5). Moreover, they are hypocrites, “for they preach but they do not practice” (Mt 23, 3), and become slaves of their own deceit by seeking only the approval or admiration of men. 

Today, did you notice the beginning of this Gospel? The Pharisees were carefully watching Jesus. Jesus also watched them and noticed how they tried to take the places of honor (cf. Lk 14,1.7). But... what a different way to watch!
 

Today, we will center our attention on the piercing question Jesus asked the Pharisees: “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” (Lk 14, 4), and in their very significant silence, as per St. Luke: “But they kept silent” (Lk 14, 4).
 

Today, the Gospel calls forth Christianity’s most significant deed: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today, we also make the Good Thief's plea: “Jesus, remember me” (Lk 23, 42). “At the Lord's Table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us that we may follow in their footsteps” —St. Augustine said in one of his Sermons. 

Today, we celebrate the reality of the Mystery of Salvation. A reality that we evince in the “Creed” and which is very comforting: “I believe in the communion of saints.” All saints, who have already passed from death into eternal life, from the Virgin Mary on, form a unity; they represent the Church of the Blessed, whom Jesus congratulates: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God” (Mt 5, 8).
 

Today, the liturgical texts, through these two parables, place before our eyes one of the characteristics of the Kingdom of God: it is something that flourishes slowly —as a mustard seed— but, eventually, grows to offer shelter to the birds in its trees. Church Father Tertullian said it like this: “We come from yesterday and we fill everything.” With this parable, Our Lord encourages us in patience, fortitude and hope. 

Today, we can see how Jesus carries out an action that loudly proclaims his interpretation of messianic fulfillment. And how, in front of it, the ruler of the synagogue becomes outraged and scolds people for coming to be healed on a Saturday: “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the Sabbath day” (Lk 13, 14).
 

Today, the Church reminds us of our “attitude before life”: “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments" (Mt 22, 40). St. Matthew and St. Mark put these words upon Jesus Christ's lips, while St. Luke ascribes them to a Pharisee. Regardless, they always appear in the context of a dialogue. Jesus Christ had probably been asked similar questions several times. 
 

Today, we may contemplate a full day in the life of Jesus. A life with two clear complimentary forces: prayer and action. If, as Christians, we are to imitate Jesus' life, we cannot miss either of these two dimensions. All Christians have certain moments for praying and certain others for action, even those who are consecrated to a contemplative life. 

We are not living in a world of wickedness, though there may be plenty of it. But God has not forsaken His world. As St. John of the Cross reminds us, we live in a world in which the very God trod on and made beautiful. Saint Teresa of Calcutta saw the signs of the times, and the times have understood Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Let her invigorate us. Let us keep on looking upwards without losing sight of our earth.