Word of the day

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews
Heb 10:19-25

Brothers and sisters,

Since through the Blood of Jesus
we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary
by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil,
that is, his flesh,
and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,”
let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust,
with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed in pure water.
Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope,
for he who made the promise is trustworthy.
We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.
We should not stay away from our assembly,
as is the custom of some, but encourage one another,
and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.

From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 4:21-25

Jesus said to his disciples,

“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket
or under a bed,
and not to be placed on a lampstand?
For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible;
nothing is secret except to come to light.
Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.”
He also told them, “Take care what you hear.
The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,
and still more will be given to you.
To the one who has, more will be given;
from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

By what measure do I measure others? By what measure do I measure myself? Is it a generous measure, full of God's love, or is it a lowly measure? And by this measure I will be judged, not by another: that one, the very one I make. What is the level at which I set my bar? At a high level? We have to think about that. And we see this not only, not so much in the good things that we do or the bad things that we do but in the ongoing style of life. (...) And as a Christian I ask myself what is the touchstone, the touchstone to know if I am on a Christian level, a level that Jesus wants? It is the ability to humble myself, it is the ability to suffer humiliation. A Christian who is not capable of bearing the humiliations of life is lacking something. (…) This is the model. By the measure with which you measure will be measured to you', the same measure. If it is a Christian measure, following Jesus, in his way, with the same I will be judged, with much pity, with much compassion, with much mercy. But if my measure is worldly and I only use the Christian faith - yes, I do, I go to Mass, but I live as worldly - I will be measured by that measure. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to live Christianly and above all not to be afraid of the cross, of humiliation, because this is the way he has chosen to save us and this is what guarantees that my measure is Christian: the ability to bear the cross, the ability to suffer some humiliation. (Santa Marta, 30 January 2020)