EVANGELIO DEL DÍA

miércoles, 17 de noviembre de 2010

"If this day, Jerusalem, you only knew what makes for peace!"

DAILY GOSPEL: 18/11/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday of the Thirty-third week in Ordinary Time

Book of Revelation 5:1-10.
I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to examine it.
I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it.
One of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals."
Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the (seven) spirits of God sent out into the whole world.
He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.
They sang a new hymn: "Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open its seals, for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth."

Psalms 149(148):1-2.3-4.5-6.9.
Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, a hymn in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker, the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in festive dance, make music with tambourine and lyre.
For the LORD takes delight in his people, honors the poor with victory.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, cry out for joy at their banquet,
With the praise of God in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands,
To execute the judgments decreed for them-- such is the glory of all God's faithful. Hallelujah!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19:41-44.
As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it,
saying, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." 
Lc 19,41-44
Commentary of the day 
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Discourses on the Psalms, Ps 121[122]1, §3,12
"If this day, Jerusalem, you only knew what makes for peace!"
«I rejoiced because they said to me, 'We will go up to the house of the Lord.' And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem» (Ps 122[121],1-2). What Jerusalem is this? On earth there is a city of this name but it is a mere shadow of that other Jerusalem. What kind of happiness is there in standing in a Jerusalem here below unable to stand of itself but which fell to the ground in ruins?... It is not of the Jerusalem here below that someone speaks who has such great love, such great longing, such great desire to come to the Jerusalem, «our mother», of which Saint Paul says that it is «eternal in the heavens» (Gal 4,26; 2Cor 5,1)...

«O Jerusalem, may your peace be in your strength» (Ps 122[121],7). That is to say, may your peace be in your love, for your love is your strength. Hear the Song of Songs: «Love is strong as death» (8,6)... And indeed, love destroys what we have been so that we might become, through a sort of death, what we were not... This was the sort of death that was working in him who said: «The world is crucified to me and I to the world» (Gal 6,14). It was of this death that the same apostle was speaking when he said: «You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God» (Col 3,3). Yes, «love is strong as death». If love is strong then it is powerful; it has great strength; it is strength itself... So may your peace be in your strength, O Jerusalem. May your peace be in your love.


Thursday, 18 November 2010

St. Odo of Cluny († 942)



SAINT ODO OF CLUNY
(† 942)
        On Christmas-eve, 877, a noble of Aquitaine implored Our Lady to grant him a son. His prayer was heard; Odo was born, and his grateful father offered him to St. Martin. Odo grew in wisdom and in virtue, and his father longed to see him shine at court. But the attraction of grace was too strong. Odo's heart was sad and his health failed, until he forsook the world and sought refuge under the shadow of St. Martin at Tours.
        Later on he took the habit of St. Benedict at Baume, and was compelled to become abbot of the great abbey of Cluny, which was then building. He ruled it with the hand of a master and the winningness of a Saint.
        The Pope sent for him often to act as peacemaker between contending princes, and it was on one of those missions of mercy that he was taken ill at Rome. At his urgent entreaty he was borne back to Tours, where he died at the feet of «his own St. Martin," in 942.

No hay comentarios: