READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of Ezekiel EZ 34:11-12, 15-17
Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.
As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 1 COR 15:20-26, 28
Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Matthew MT 25:31-46
Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER I remember as a child, when we went to catechism we were taught four things: death, judgement, hell or glory. After the judgement comes this possibility. “But Father, this is to frighten us…” No, this is the truth because if you do not take care of your heart, because the Lord is with you and (if) you always live estranged from the Lord, perhaps there is the danger, the danger of continuing to live estranged in this way from the Lord for eternity. And this is a terrible thing! (Santa Marta, 22 November 2016)
FAUSTI - "What you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me", the Lord will answer to those who will ask, in the end, when they have ever seen Him. And the sign of His coming is that of the "least of these my brothers" with whom He is always present among us. The judgment that the King will make of us "then" is the same judgment that we now make of the poor. In reality we are the ones who judge Him, welcoming Him or rejecting Him. He will only see what we do. In the end He will read what we have freely written. He tells us in advance, with an efficient representation, to open our eyes to what we are doing now. The piece, splendid and unique, is a synthesis of Matthew's theology, we are judged according to what we do to the other. Every other is always the Other! In fact, the first commandment is the same as the second,(22,39) because the Lord Himself has made Himself our neighbor and is always with us (28,20) under the sign of the Son of Man: that of the Crucified One, who has the face of all the poor of the earth. The narrative places at the center of the story the Son of Man, Who identifies Himself with the last.To welcome Him or not means to welcome salvation or not. The universal message that can be derived from this is that every man is judged on the basis of his love for the poor and the weak. To isolate the command of love for the last from the experience of God's love that has become the last, is to make it a meaningless principle, an ideology incapable of generating positive behavior. The command to love the least is certainly the broadest possible foundation of an action that leads to communion among men. Jesus effectively sets a criterion for action that goes beyond any religious/ideological fence. Mother Teresa's love for the dispossessed of the earth has been the most universal and comprehensible language she has spoken to the world today about the mystery of God and man. In the smallest of brethren, the Christian reader sees his King. In them, in fact, the Lord's Passion for the salvation of the world continues. (Col,24). The poor are the "bankers" who make our talent fruitful (v 27). The love we have for one another is towards God. I realize myself as a son by living as a brother. In fact, the whole law is reduced to loving the Lord and neighbor with the same act of love, because He has made Himself my neighbor and brother in the Son. Whoever does not love God and His Word, does not love the children of God (1 Jn 5:2). In conclusion, we can say that the final judgment, like all eschatological discourse, sends us back from the future to the present. Ethics is based on eschatology. Man is such because he acts reasonably, for a purpose he desires. The purpose of man is to become like God. Adam's error is not to want to become like Him, but not to know the One who He is. One becomes like God by loving, because He is Love! Jesus is always with us, like the poor, like the smallest of the brothers. The Church, in her love for the last, loves Her Lord, and knows that it is not She who saves the poor, but the poor who saves Her.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of Ezekiel
EZ 34:11-12, 15-17
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
As a shepherd tends his flock
when he finds himself among his scattered sheep,
so will I tend my sheep.
I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered
when it was cloudy and dark.
I myself will pasture my sheep;
I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD.
The lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,
shepherding them rightly.
As for you, my sheep, says the Lord GOD,
I will judge between one sheep and another,
between rams and goats.
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
1 COR 15:20-26, 28
Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
When everything is subjected to him,
then the Son himself will also be subjected
to the one who subjected everything to him,
so that God may be all in all.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFrom the Gospel according to Matthew
MT 25:31-46
Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
I remember as a child, when we went to catechism we were taught four things: death, judgement, hell or glory. After the judgement comes this possibility. “But Father, this is to frighten us…” No, this is the truth because if you do not take care of your heart, because the Lord is with you and (if) you always live estranged from the Lord, perhaps there is the danger, the danger of continuing to live estranged in this way from the Lord for eternity. And this is a terrible thing! (Santa Marta, 22 November 2016)
FAUSTI - "What you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me", the Lord will answer to those who will ask, in the end, when they have ever seen Him. And the sign of His coming is that of the "least of these my brothers" with whom He is always present among us.
RispondiEliminaThe judgment that the King will make of us "then" is the same judgment that we now make of the poor. In reality we are the ones who judge Him, welcoming Him or rejecting Him.
He will only see what we do. In the end He will read what we have freely written. He tells us in advance, with an efficient representation, to open our eyes to what we are doing now.
The piece, splendid and unique, is a synthesis of Matthew's theology, we are judged according to what we do to the other. Every other is always the Other! In fact, the first commandment is the same as the second,(22,39) because the Lord Himself has made Himself our neighbor and is always with us (28,20) under the sign of the Son of Man: that of the Crucified One, who has the face of all the poor of the earth.
The narrative places at the center of the story the Son of Man, Who identifies Himself with the last.To welcome Him or not means to welcome salvation or not.
The universal message that can be derived from this is that every man is judged on the basis of his love for the poor and the weak. To isolate the command of love for the last from the experience of God's love that has become the last, is to make it a meaningless principle, an ideology incapable of generating positive behavior.
The command to love the least is certainly the broadest possible foundation of an action that leads to communion among men. Jesus effectively sets a criterion for action that goes beyond any religious/ideological fence.
Mother Teresa's love for the dispossessed of the earth has been the most universal and comprehensible language she has spoken to the world today about the mystery of God and man.
In the smallest of brethren, the Christian reader sees his King.
In them, in fact, the Lord's Passion for the salvation of the world continues. (Col,24).
The poor are the "bankers" who make our talent fruitful (v 27).
The love we have for one another is towards God.
I realize myself as a son by living as a brother.
In fact, the whole law is reduced to loving the Lord and neighbor with the same act of love, because He has made Himself my neighbor and brother in the Son.
Whoever does not love God and His Word, does not love the children of God (1 Jn 5:2).
In conclusion, we can say that the final judgment, like all eschatological discourse, sends us back from the future to the present. Ethics is based on eschatology.
Man is such because he acts reasonably, for a purpose he desires.
The purpose of man is to become like God.
Adam's error is not to want to become like Him, but not to know the One who He is.
One becomes like God by loving, because He is Love!
Jesus is always with us, like the poor, like the smallest of the brothers.
The Church, in her love for the last, loves Her Lord, and knows that it is not She who saves the poor, but the poor who saves Her.