Meditation

St. John Bosco used to say: "The good is the enemy of the best". It is there, where the Master's Word reaches us, inviting us to be righteous in a “much broader” way (cf. Mt 5, 20) that starts from a different attitude. Bigger things that, paradoxically, look lesser and smaller. 

In today's Gospel, Jesus teaches us that the Old Testament is part of the Divine Revelation: First, God made himself known to men through the prophets. The chosen People gathered on Saturdays in the synagogue to listen to God's Word. And just as a good Jew knew the Scriptures and put them into practice, we Christians should frequently meditate —if possible,...
 

Today, St. Matthew reminds us of those words Jesus said regarding our mission as Christians: to be the salt and the light of the world. On the one hand, the salt is a necessary seasoning to make foods taste good: without salt, most dishes are almost worthless! Throughout centuries, on the other hand, salt has been a fundamental element to keep victuals from corruption.
 

The Beatitudes are intended for everybody. The Master is not only teaching his disciples around him, nor does He exclude any kind of persons, but He delivers a Universal message. However, He emphasizes the disposition we must have and the moral behaviour He expects from us. 
 

Today the one and only message that we must listen to and live is contained in “the bread”. Chapter 6 of St. John's Gospel refers to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, which is followed by a Jesus’ great “bread of life” discourse, a fragment of which we hear today. 
 

Today, as in Jesus' times, some pious persons —and even more so, some religious “professionals”— may be tempted by a kind of spiritual hypocrisy. This is evidenced through self-conceited attitudes, which we try to justify by our feeling better than all the rest: after all, we are the believers, the ones who practice..., 
 

The title of “Son of David” applied to Jesus Christ forms part of the backbone of the Gospel. In the Annunciation, the Virgin received this message: "And the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1,32-33). 
 

The Lord's answer takes to pieces the spirituality of that “master of the Law” And the attitude of the disciple of Jesus with respect to God can be summed up in two points: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Mk 12, 30) and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12, 31). 
 

Far from doubting of the Holy Scriptures and of God's merciful love and power, we shall adhere with all our mind and heart to this hopeful truth, while rejoicing for not being thwarted in our thirst of life, full and eternal, which the same God assures us, in its glory and happiness. Before this divine invitation we have nothing to do but to foment our anxious wish to see God,...
 

Today, we marvel again at Christ's wit and wisdom. With his masterly response, He directly points out to the fair autonomy of the worldly realities: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar” (Mk 12, 17).
 

What kind of tenants are we? Those who work hard or those who get annoyed when the master sends his servants to collect the rent from us? We may oppose those in charge of helping us give the fruits God expects. 

Today, it does us good to hear John's Gospel reminding us again that "God so loved the world..." (Jn 3, 16) because in the festivity of the Blessed Trinity, God is worshipped, loved and served, because God is Love. In God we find an association with Love, and whatever He actively does He does it for Love. God loves. He loves us. 
 

Faith and prayer go together. Saint Augustine tells us “if faith is lacking, prayer is impossible. So, when we pray, let us believe and pray so faith is not lacking us. Faith produces prayer, and prayer, in turn, produces the strengthening of the faith.” If our intentions are good, and we turn to Jesus, we shall discover who is 
 

There are people that almost never pray and, when they do it, it is with the hope God will solve problems they do not know how to handle themselves. And they justify it with the words from Jesus we have just heard: “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours” (Mk 11, 24). 
 

Today, Christ comes out to meet us. We are all just like Bartimaeus: the blind beggar, by whose side Jesus passed by, and who started to call him out until the Lord stopped and called him. We may have a more advantaged name... but our human weaknesses (moral) resemble the beggar's blindness. 

The salutation of the Mother of God prompted the infant Elizabeth carried in her womb to leap with joy. God's Mother, who also carried Jesus in her womb, is a cause for joy. Families are happy when the arrival of a new life is announced. Christ's birth is certainly “good news of great joy” (Lk 2, 10).
 

The Lord's promise is very generous: “you will receive a hundred times more now in this present age (…) and eternal life in the age to come” (cf Mk 10, 30). He cannot be surpassed as far as generosity. But He adds: “with persecutions.” Jesus is very realistic and He does not want to deceive anybody.
 

The Second Vatican Council adds that Mary is "truly the mother of the members of Christ for having cooperated with her love for the faithful, who are members of that Head (Jesus), to be born into the Church." Furthermore, while remaining in the midst of the Apostles in the Upper Room, Mary —Mother of the Church— recalls the presence, gift and action of the Holy Spirit...
 

The Holy Spirit is the intimate and personal Master who guides the disciple towards the truth, who motivates him to do good, who consoles him in the pain, who transforms him intimately, while giving him a new strength and capacity.
 

The figure of the beloved disciple is central in this fragment and even in the totality of St. John's Gospel. It may refer to a concrete person —the disciple John— or, it can be a figure, behind which, any disciple loved by the Master can be placed. Whatever its meaning, the text helps to give an element of continuity to the Apostles' experience. 
 

Today, Gospel tells us another story of Jesus’ appearance to His disciples. Intensely, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter illustrates God's mercy as a great love for the disciples and the world. This is not a common dialog between Jesus and His disciple, Peter. Both Jesus and Peter talk about love according to their perspectives.

Today, we find a solid basis for trust in the Gospel: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word...” (Jn 17, 20). It is Jesus' heart, which, in the intimacy of Jesus with his disciples, opens up the inexhaustible treasures of His Love. He wants to strengthen their hearts overwhelmed by the sense of farewell that, during the Last Supper,...

Today, we live in a world which does not know how to be truly happy with the happiness of Jesus, a world which seeks the happiness of Jesus in all the wrong places and in the wrong ways. Seeking happiness without Jesus only leads to deeper unhappiness. Just look at the soaps on TV, there is always somebody in trouble. The soaps on TV show us the misery of a godless life.
 

Today, St. John's Gospel —that we have been reading for days now— begins by speaking of “the hour”: "Father, the hour has come" (Jn 17, 1). The crowning moment, the clarification of everything, the utmost donation of Christ who delivers himself to all... But “the hour” still is a hidden reality to men; it will be revealed as the scheme of Jesus' life will open the perspective of the Cross.
 

Jesus' words inspire confidence: “Take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn 16, 33), that is, through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, He has attained the eternal life, life with nothing to stop it, a limitless life because it has overcome all limits and all difficulties.
 

Today we contemplate hands that bless - the Lord's final earthly gesture (cf. Luke 24, 51). Or footprints marked on a mount - the last visible sign of God's passage through our land. At times, that mount is depicted as a rock, and the imprint of His steps is not engraved on the earth but on the rock.

For those who claim to know everything about God, but question Jesus' Divine filiations, today's Gospel has an important thing they should remember: “He, who” the Jews name God is who sent Jesus to us; He is, therefore, the Father to those who believe. With this we are clearly told that God can only and truly be known by those who accept Jesus' Father is God.
 

Today we begin the Decade of the Holy Spirit. Reliving the memory of the Cenacle, we see the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Mother of Good Counsel, talking with the Apostles. What a warm and abounding conversation! Recalling all the joys they shared with their Master: The Paschal days, the Ascension and Jesus' promises. 

We, Christians of the 21st century, feel the same urge as those of the 1st century. We also want to see Jesus, to experience his presence amongst us, to reinforce the virtues of faith, hope and charity. This is why we feel sad if we think He is not among us, or if we may not feel and detect his presence, or hear and listen to his words.
 

Today is a special day! Imagine the typical day when you are with your family or friends, and you have many things to tell them. Maybe you haven't seen them for a long time or you've come from a great trip or, simply, you've had a day full of experiences. You want to explain everything, but you don't have enough time. Well, this is what happened to Jesus.