Word of the day

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians
EPH 6:10-20

Brothers and sisters:
Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm
against the tactics of the Devil.
For our struggle is not with flesh and blood
but with the principalities, with the powers,
with the world rulers of this present darkness,
with the evil spirits in the heavens.
Therefore, put on the armor of God,
that you may be able to resist on the evil day
and, having done everything, to hold your ground.
So stand fast with your loins girded in truth,
clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,
and your feet shod in readiness for the Gospel of peace.
In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield,
to quench all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.

With all prayer and supplication,
pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.
To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication
for all the holy ones and also for me,
that speech may be given me to open my mouth,
to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel
for which I am an ambassador in chains,
so that I may have the courage to speak as I must.

From the Gospel according to Luke
LK 13:31-35

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,
“Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go and tell that fox,
‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,
and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.
Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,
for it is impossible that a prophet should die
outside of Jerusalem.’

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Behold, your house will be abandoned.
But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Someone said that God was made man in order to be able to mourn for what had been done to his children. Thus, the “tears before the tomb of Lazarus are the tears of a friend”. However, the tears recounted in the passage from Luke’s Gospel are the “tears of the Father”. Even today, faced with disasters, wars which are conducted out of the worship of the god of money, of many innocent people murdered by bombs which are launched by worshippers of the idol of money. Thus, “even today the Father weeps, and even today says: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, my children, what are you doing?”. And “he says this to the poor victims, as well as to arms traffickers, and all those who sell the lives of people”. Think about how God was made man in order to be able to weep. And we would do well to think that God our Father today weeps: he weeps for this humanity which does not end, to understand the peace which he offers us, the peace of love. (Santa Marta, 27 October 2016)