He was amazed at their lack of faith

Wednesday 1 FEBRUARY (Mk 6,1-6)

What happened in the synagogue of Nazareth is told in detail in the Gospel of Luke:
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” (Lk 4,14-27). It is a very delicate moment.At this juncture Jesus is also in danger of being precipitated from the cliff from which the city was located. When fantasy, imagination, and the desires of the heart seize the Word of God, they are not only able to transform it, but also to make it unrecognizable. This is the religious drama of all time: on the one hand there is the Word of the Lord and on the other the sinful heart of man that reads,interprets, thwarts, annuls, and fills it with meanings it never contained, and never might it contain.

He departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

Those of Nazareth commit a fundamental, primary error nobody must ever commit if he wants to walk with God: the Lord, in order to carry out his works of salvation, does not need high, educated, learned, wise, powerful, and rich people, with an elevated social status; people that matter in society. God always takes the void of nothingness, the humblest and poorest of men and constitutes him his instrument of salvation and redemption. The nobility of who is chosen is never comes from the earth; it will always come from Heaven, from God. All power of liberation does not come from men. It is his gift of love. Jesus is committed to show this throughout the Gospel: he is constantly from the Father, in the works, in the words, in decisions, in his behavior, in the presence in a place rather than another. Jesus is amazed at their unbelief precisely because of this knowledge of God that they ought to have possessed, but that they do not yetpossess. Is it possible to read continuously the Scriptures and not having understood the first principle which regulates the action of Godtoward us? This is possible when the heart is polluted, soiled with evil and sin.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, teach us the ways of God.

 

Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord

Thursday 2 FEBRUARY (Lk 2,22-40)

Giving the law on the first-born, the Lord wanted they were redeemed through the sacrifice of an animal: “When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every first-born in the land of Egypt, every first-born of man and of beast. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord everything of the male sex that opens the womb, and why I redeem every first-born of my sons.’ (Ex 13,15). With Jesus theransom is only momentary, then he must be sacrificed to the Lord in ransom for the sins of the world, as a true “sacrificial Lamb”. The Lord takes him instead of us all. This is the vicarious atonement carried out by Jesus. He dies in our place, in our stead, carrying on his shoulders the iniquity of us all.

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

The mystery of Jesus is great. He must reveal the world how big, high, powerful, saving, redeeming, and universal the Father’s mercy is. Who does not know Jesus Christ, never might he know God, his Lord. Never might he know man, his brother. He cannot because he lacks the principles of the science and intelligence of the heavenly things. It is as if one wanted to study the depth of mathematical analysis and does not even know what a number is. This man is lacking the pillars of the science which are precisely the numbers and their interrelationships. The same applies to the religious world. Who does not know Jesus Christ is without the basic, fundamental, and initial rule for the knowledge of God. He lacks the ladder to go up to him. Simeon, in his prophecy, states it with sublime clarity: Jesus Christ is the light by which in the essence, the substance, the work, the word, and the heart; the life of God is revealed on our earth. That is why Jesus Christ is also a sign of contradiction: because the thoughts of many hearts are revealed. Whoever welcomes Christ, attests his desire to know and to love in truth his God and Lord. Whoever rejects him, who opposes him manifests the hardness and wickedness of his heart. He attests that he is not a seeker of truth, but one closed in his idolatry and impiety. The simple, pure, and free heart is always looking for the greatest truth as a substance and essence of life.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the taste of Christ Jesus.

I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist

Friday 3 FEBRUARY (Mk 6,14-29)

Today’s Gospel tells us that between the reality of a person and its real understanding there is always an abyss. The person is one thing, what people say of it is another thing, whether good or bad. This happens when everything is not seen in God and through his eyes. We can all be deceived and deceive. The prophets are sometimes also fooled by appearances. Then the Lord comes to their rescue and the truth of the person is revealed to them in all its truth: “But the Lord said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart»” (1Sam 16,7). Jesus became a famous man. However, his truth is hidden to the hearts of many. Nevertheless, one thing appears with utmost clarity: He comes from God, even if his perfect identity is not known. He is from God, but what God really made of him is not known. For Christ to be known, the word of revelation is necessary, and this can only be given by him alone and by no one else. He alone can tell us his truth.

King Herod heard about it, for his fame had become widespread, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.” Others were saying, “He is Elijah”; still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.” But when Herod learned of it, he said, “It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.” Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harboured a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’s own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” He even swore (many things) to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

John the Baptist is the witness of the truth of God, of his will. He reminds Herod the sacredness and sanctity of marriage. This is inviolable. The loyalty is to the death. Only the latter can dissolve it. This testimony creates him the hatred and resentment of that adulterous woman that is Herodias. However, the evil of one person is always able to do little harm. When it is united and is transformed into a combination of causes of which the one gives strength to the other; then there is no chance of escaping it. Herodias alone can do nothing. Not even Herod alone can do anything. If to these two you add the daughter of Herodias, Salome, and a multitude of guests; then evil becomes bodied, a structure, and a rock and it becomes invincible. Salome conquers the king with her lustful dance. The king makes a foolish and ignorant oath. The diners are witnesses of this foolishness and somehow guarantors. Salome does not think by herself, she lets be advised by her mother, full of resentment and hatred against John the Baptist and she calls for his head on a platter. The king full of human respect, orders that John the Baptist is beheaded. A truth that we must put in our hearts is this: we must always put great care not to commit the first sin. Committed the first sin, what comes afterwards remains completely unknown to us and never will we know what will its development be. Who wants to guard against any future evil, he must be especially mindful to guard against the evil of the present. It is the present that generates the future.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the perfect purity.

They were like sheep without a shepherd

Saturday 4 FEBRUARY (Mk 6,30-34)

One is the real problem of God: finding true shepherds for his flock. Despite his constant commitment, here is what the situation of his flock was: “All you wild beasts of the field, come and eat, all you beasts in the forest! My watchmen are blind, all of them unaware; They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; Dreaming as they lie there, loving their sleep. They are relentless dogs, they know not when they have enough. These are the shepherds who know no discretion; Each of them goes his own way, every one of them to his own gain: “Come, I will fetch some wine; let us carouse with strong drink, And tomorrow will be like today, or even greater»” (Is 56,9-12). The herd is in disarray. Everyone kills it at will.

Jeremiah also has words of fire against the bad shepherds: “A people from the north advances against her to turn her land into a desert, So that no one shall live there, because man and beast have fled away. In those days, at that time, says the Lord, the men of Israel and of Judah shall come, Weeping as they come, to seek the Lord, their God; to their goal in Zion they shall ask the way. “Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord with covenant everlasting, never to be forgotten.” Lost sheep were my people, their shepherds misled them, straggling on the mountains; From mountain to hill they wandered, losing the way to their fold. Whoever came upon them devoured them, and their enemies said, “We incur no guilt, Because they sinned against the Lord, the hope of their fathers, their abode of justice.” (Jer 50,3-7).

With Ezekiel the condition of the flock of God seems to be getting worse: “Thus the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, in these words prophesy to them (to the shepherds): Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep? You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured. You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered and wandered over all the mountains and high hills; my sheep were scattered over the whole earth, with no one to look after them or to search for them” (Ez 34,1-6).

Jesus comes to our earth. What he says to his people? That it is a flock without a shepherd. They are all lost sheep. Each walks following his heart. Since no one gives them the true God, every sheep makes its own God and does it according to his own imaginations and fantasies. Jesus cannot leave them adrift. He abandons every other project previously made and gets to starts to teach them manythings.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

The sheep need good shepherds. The shepherd is all for the sheep. He is the one that must lead them with justice and truth. It is he who must form them in the most pure and holy knowledge of revelation. It is he who must teach them what is good and what is bad. It is always he who has to correct defects, faults, errors, heresies, false understandings of God, false beliefs, wrong ways of worship.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give the sheep good shepherds.

 

He went off to a deserted place, where he prayed

Sunday 5 FEBRUARY (Mk 1,29-39)

Prayer is a real fight with the Lord. We overcome God with it. The fight of Jacob with his God is famous, first in the prayer and after also physically: “Then he prayed: “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac! You told me, O Lord, ‘Go back to the land of your birth, and I will be good to you.’ I am unworthy of all the acts of kindness that you have loyally performed for your servant: although I crossed the Jordan here with nothing but my staff, I have now grown into two companies. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau! Otherwise I fear that when he comes he will strike me down and slay the mothers and children. You yourself said, ‘I will be very good to you, and I will make your descendants like the sands of the sea, which are too numerous to count'”. Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He answered, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed.” Jacob then asked him, “Do tell me your name, please.” He answered, “Why should you want to know my name?” With that, he bade him farewell. Jacob named the place Peniel, “Because I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared»” (Cf. Gen 32,10-33). That is how Saint Paul writes to the Romans: “I urge you, (brothers,) by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea, and that my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the holy ones, so that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and be refreshed together with you. The God of peace be with all of you. Amen” (Rm 15,30-33). With the prayer, the heart of Godhands itself entirely over to the one that invokes it.

Jesus is a true fighter in the prayer. He can do nothing without his Father. That is why every night, alone, he retreats to secluded places, invisible to human eyes, and starts the fight with God. He draws from it all grace and blessing, all truth and wisdom, all intelligence and prudence: all necessary things to operate what the father commands him. Without prayer, man is abandoned to hisweakness, misery, wretchedness, and nothingness. Without prayer, one is deprived of every heavenly gift.

On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

It is in prayer that one knows the will of God and in it he draws all the strength to carry it out with determination, firmness and Holy Spirit fortitude. Jesus prays, and his life is always from and in the will of the Father. Whoever does not pray has a life from his will and in his will, which often is the will of the tempter. Praying and teaching how to pray is the true way for the perfect realization of God’s will. Where there is a lack of prayer, there is also the absence of truth, justice, charity, mercy, compassion, piety, holiness, and trueobedience, there.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, teach us how to pray.

They begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak

Monday 6 FEBRUARY (Mk 6,53-56)

If, for a moment, we make the difference of the miracles narrated in the Old Testament and those operated by Lord Jesus, it is immediately apparent to the eye that there is an abysmal distance of holiness. We read in the First Book of Kings: “Some time later the son of the mistress of the house fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, O man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah said to her. Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. He called out to the Lord: “O Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and called out to the Lord: “O Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he revived. Taking the child, Elijah brought him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “See!” Elijah said to her, “your son is alive.” “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God,” the woman replied to Elijah. “The word of the Lord comes truly from your mouth.” When Elisha reached the house, he found the boy lying dead. He went in, closed the door on them both, and prayed to the Lord. Then he lay upon the child on the bed, placing his mouth upon the child’s mouth, his eyes upon the eyes, and his hands upon the hands. As Elisha stretched himself over the child, the body became warm. He arose, paced up and down the room, and then once more lay down upon the boy, who now sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” She came at his call, and Elisha said to her, “Take your son.” She came in and fell at his feet in gratitude; then she took her son and left the room”(2Kings, 4,32-37). For Elijah and Elisha, the miracle is almost a fatigue, a real fight with the Lord. It is the result of a prayer and some fulfilled gestures. They must draw it out of the Lord.

However, none of all this with Jesus. With him, the miracle takes place by simple contact, without any prayer on his part, only with the faith of those who approached him and threw themselves upon him. This ease of the miracle attests to the greatness of the holiness of Christ the Lord. We can illustrate the difference with two examples: a match and a high oven. The match – the Old Testament – to shed some light it must be scrubbed. Its light is soft, little. Its warmth is almost nonexistent. However, it can burn and cause damage. All the action of a man is necessary. A high oven form with a warmth that surpasses two thousand degrees, as soon as one thing approaches it, it is quickly melted. Jesus is the high oven of holiness, truth, justice, charity, mercy, love, and goodness. Who draws near him is dissolved and liquefied, changed in nature and substance healed from all evil, purified from all sin. Sanctified in his soul, his spirit, and in his body.

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

Even the Christian, since he is called to imitate Christ Jesus, he must become in Him, with Him, for Him a blast furnace of truth, justice, holiness, mercy, peace, and grace. The world must make the difference between a religion of matches and the other of blast furnaces. It is neither the description of the grace nor of the truth that makes us be influential in history. Instead, it is our transformation into blast furnaces of truth, grace, justice and peace. The world needs to melt as soon as they touch us. That is what happened with Christ Jesus. This must happen with every one of his disciples. This is accomplished by becoming one with Lord Jesus.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, make us fire that consumes.

  

You nullify the word of God in favour of your tradition that you have handed on Tuesday 7 FEBRUARY (Mk 7,1-13)

We can all be of a pure and holy religion, vain religion, but also and above all of a sinful religion. That is how a pure religion is describedby St. James: “Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, his religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1,19-27).

On the contrary, the vain religion is announced by Isaiah in these words: “What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you? Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon and Sabbath, calling of assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load. When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow» (Is 1,11-17).

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die.’ Yet you say, ‘If a person says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”‘ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favour of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.”

The sinful religion is the one practiced and lived by the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time. With great shrewdness these abolished thelaw of the Lord, taught how to dodge it, set it aside, and turn it into their benefit. They clung to moral prescriptions without any moralincidence, while they transgressed the most serious things of the law. theirs was a sinful religion, because it was made against the law of God. This is the religion of the impious, wicked, and idolatrous heart, without God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the true religion.

 

What comes out of a person, that is what defiles

Wednesday 8 FEBRUARY (Mk 7,14-23)

The human heart is polluted by all sorts of sins. Never might it be cleaned. It must only be changed. Only the Lord can change it, through His Holy Spirit, that yesterday was made to flow from Christ Jesus’ pierced side on the cross; and today from the side of his pierced mystical body. That is how the prophecy of Ezekiel proclaims the event of such change of heart: “I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart, so that they will live according to my statutes, and observe and carry out my ordinances; thus they shall be my people and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their detestable abominations, I will bring down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God. Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways, says the Lord God” (Ez 11,19-21). “Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God. Return and live! ” (Ez 18,30-32).  

And more: “For I will take you away from among the nations, gather you from all the foreign lands, and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your impurities; I will order the grain to be abundant, and I will not send famine against you. I will increase the fruit on your trees and the crops in your fields; thus you shall no longer bear among the nations the reproach of famine. Then you shall remember your evil conduct, and that your deeds were not good; you shall loathe yourselves for your sins and your abominations. Not for your sakes do I act, says the Lord God – let this be known to you! Be ashamed and abashed because of your conduct, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God: When I purify you from all your crimes, I will repeople the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt; the desolate land shall be tilled, which was formerly a wasteland exposed to the gaze of every passer-by. “This desolate land has been made into a garden of Eden,” they shall say. “The cities that were in ruins, laid waste, and destroyed are now repeopled and fortified.” Thus the neighboring nations that remain shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have promised, and I will do it” (Ez 36,24-36).

This is why Jesus comes to our earth: to pour forth the Holy Spirit from the side of his together real and mystical body fir all the days of man’s history. Therefore, the abysmal difference with the doctrine of the Pharisees made ​​of miserable, poor, petty things can be understood. Jesus did not even come to wash the old heart. He came to give us one in all similar to his: pure, holy, new, immaculate, chaste, and holy.

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”  When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,  since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us a new heart.

Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps Thursday

 9 FEBRUARY (Mk 7,24-30)

Jesus is of all. The particularity does not belong to him. His is the universality. Every man must be able to say: Christ is mine. He is the gift the Father gave me for my eternal redemption. St. Paul had this consciousness: “I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2,19-20).

The Prophecy confirms this truth. The Messiah of the Lord is not only for the children of Israel, he is for the whole world. He is of all thenations that are on our earth: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smouldering wick he shall not quench, Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. I am the Lord, this is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the earlier things have come to pass, new ones I now foretell; Before they spring into being, I announce them to you»” (Is 42,1-9). “Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God. For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth»” (Is 49,1-6).

Today, a stranger presents herself to Jesus and asks him for the healing for her daughter. Jesus seems to want not to listen to her. He must feed the children, not the dogs. She asks that the law of the dogs is to be applied to her, that eat the crumbs that fall to the puppies. As those have a right, so does she. It cannot be denied her. The miracle must be done to her out of justice. The woman is submitted by Jesus to a test of great faith. She passes it with great wisdom and intelligence.

From that place he went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Before Jesus the woman is more than a dog. She is his very life. Even for her, he will die on the cross, in order to give her grace and truth, in order to give her the Holy Spirit without measure. However, faith will always be tested and it is wisdom overcoming every trial.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the truth of Jesus Christ.

He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak

Friday 10 FEBRUARY (Mk 7,31-37)

God contemplates his work and sees that everything is very good: “Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.” God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.” God also said: “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food.” And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed – the sixth day” (Gen 1,26-31).

He contemplates the work of his God in the Old Testament and confesses that it is really amazing: “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my saviour. He is my God, I praise him; the God of my father, I extol him. The Lord is a warrior, Lord is his name! Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea; the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea. The flood waters covered them, they sank into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, magnificent in power, your right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemy. In your great majesty you overthrew your adversaries; you loosed your wrath to consume them like stubble. At a breath of your anger the waters piled up, the flowing waters stood like a mound, the flood waters congealed in the midst of the sea. The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them; I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them; I will draw my sword; my hand shall despoil them!” When your wind blew, the sea covered them; like lead they sank in the mighty waters. Who is like to you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like to you, magnificent in holiness? O terrible in renown, worker of wonders, when you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them! In your mercy you led the people you redeemed; in your strength you guided them to your holy dwelling. The nations heard and quaked; anguish gripped the dwellers in Philistia. Then were the princes of Edom dismayed; trembling seized the chieftains of Moab; All the dwellers in Canaan melted away; terror and dread fell upon them. By the might of your arm they were frozen like stone, while your people, O Lord, passed over, while the people you had made your own passed over. And you brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance –  the place where you made your seat, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever!»” (Ex 15,1-18). In the New TestamentGod works through Jesus the Lord. What is the result of the who observes and contemplates the work of Jesus? The same affirmation of great goodness and perfection that was of God and men before the great works of the Word.

Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And (immediately) the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak.”

We are made in the image and likeness of God. Those  that see our actions must always be able to shout that they are very good. They will be it if they are produced by the Holy Spirit of Jesus that works in us, with us, and for us.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, make us operators of good works

My heart is moved with pity for the crowd

Saturday 11 FEBRUARY (Mk 8,1-10)

We know God’s compassion for his people. It is infinite, without measure, always ready to pardon, acceptance, and mercy: “When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me, Sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer. He shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be his king; The sword shall begin with his cities and end by consuming his solitudes. Because they refused to repent, their own counsels shall devour them. His people are in suspense about returning to him; and God, though in unison they cry out to him, shall not raise them up. How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver you up, O Israel? How could I treat you as Admah, or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you. They shall follow the Lord, who roars like a lion; When he roars, his sons shall come frightened from the west, Out of Egypt they shall come trembling, like sparrows, from the land of Assyria, like doves; And I will resettle them in their homes, says the Lord” (Hos 11,1-11).

Even stronger is what the prophet Isaiah announces us: “Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name; your walls are ever before me. Your rebuilders make haste, as those who tore you down and laid you waste go forth from you; Look about and see, they are all gathering and coming to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall be arrayed with them all as with adornments, like a bride you shall fasten them on you»“ (Is 49,13-25).

Now, all the mercy of God is really, actually, visibly, operationally, and through the flesh of Jesus Christ; manifested us: Jesus is the mercy of God made ​​flesh, history, work miracle, teaching, and great hope.

In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied. He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over – seven baskets. There were about four thousand people. He dismissed them and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

When the heart is filled with mercy, piety, compassion, and kindness; it always knows how to find God in a concrete way in order to love. Being the mercy of the Lord omnipotent, it is not omnipotent in Him and not us. It is omnipotent in Him and in us that are in Him, that form with Him a single life. As it is almighty in the flesh of Christ, intimately, essentially tied to his divine person; so it is also in us when we are spiritually, by conformation bound to Christ the Lord. His omnipotence of love becomes our omnipotence. This is the secretof the saints.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, make us rich in mercy and love.

If you wish, you can make me clean

Sunday 12 FEBRUARY (Mk 1,40-45)

The condition of the lepers was very miserable in the past. In Israel, they had a special status: “The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp” (Lev 13,45-46).

Famous is the story of four lepers of Samaria in the times of Elisha: “Elisha said: “Hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord, ‘At this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the market of Samaria.'” But the adjutant on whose arm the king leaned, answered the man of God, “Even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, how could this happen?” “You shall see it with your own eyes,” Elisha said, “but you shall not eat of it.” At the city gate were four lepers who were deliberating, “Why should we sit here until we die? If we decide to go into the city, we shall die there, for there is famine in the city. If we remain here, we shall die too. Come, let us desert to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, we die.” At twilight they left for the Arameans; but when they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there. The Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses, the din of a large army, and they had reasoned among themselves, “The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the borderlands to fight us.” Then in the twilight they fled, abandoning their tents, their horses, and their asses, the whole camp just as it was, and fleeing for their lives. After the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went first into one tent, ate and drank, and took silver, gold, and clothing from it, and went out and hid them. Back they came into another tent, took things from it, and again went out and hid them. Then they said to one another: “We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. If we wait until morning breaks, we shall be blamed. Come, let us go and inform the palace.” They came and summoned the city gatekeepers. “We went to the camp of the Arameans,” they said, “but no one was there – not a human voice, only the horses and asses tethered, and the tents just as they were left.” The gatekeepers announced this and it was reported within the palace” (2Kings 7,1-11). The ways of God to carry out the word of his prophets are alwaysmysterious, arcane, beyond all human logic.

A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Today, a leper comes to Jesus. He asks him for his healing. Jesus is not afraid of being contaminated. He is the one that contaminates of truth the flesh of that man and heals it. He is the one that infects it with the power of his grace and gives life to all his members. If we also had as much wealth of grace and truth as Jesus has, we could certainly bring so much life into this world. Our poverty is not so much material, but rather spiritual; and it is a serious, very serious poverty. Wanting in true spiritual wealth, every day we become poorer even materially. We do not bring benefit to the world. We do not bring salvation. We do not bring the real wealth because we do not possess it. Yet we could make everybody rich with the wealth of God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints, give us the true richness of God.

 

No sign will be given to this generation

Monday 13 FEBRUARY (Mk 8,11-13)

Faith is built on the Word of God, which in itself is powerful, creative, renovating of all life. Asking for a special sign in order to open to the faith, is great poverty and spiritual misery. Sometimes it also betrays a hard heart, that will hardly, then, open to the faith. That is how, in the Gospel according to John, this theme of the signs is developed: “Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen (me), you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him (on) the last day.”” (Jn 6,26-40). We know that after these words many of his disciples and all the Jews, left Jesus. His language was too hard.

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.

Today, the Pharisees do not ask Jesus for the sign in order to open to the faith. They had seen plenty of signs, yet their hearts have remained as hard as stone. They ask for a sign in order to embarrass Jesus. They want an unmistakable sign, which goes beyond any healing, any miracle carried out so far. The sign they ask for must be so striking as to leave them stunned and breathless. They want a true work of magic and furthermore off of all wisdom and divine intelligence. We know that God performs signs and wonders only due to his eternal mercy, out of piety for his creature. Never God made miracles to show his greatness. He did not even make them to reveal his omnipotence. Moreover, we know that the signs of God have been made with an uttered, spoken, and shouted word. God always works in the greatest simplicity. Even the ten plagues of Egypt were made only on the basis of a word spoken by Moses. To force the Pharaoh, not to convince him, the Lord has had to engage a real cosmic battle with him. He had to field all his creation without any results as to the faith of that one.

When the heart is of stone, the mind is proud and envious, foolish and ignorant, feelings hostile and contrary, one does not look for the sign to open to the faith. He seeks it to certify the nullity of the opponent. For this reason Jesus does not give them any sign. It would be a vain work and never might God act in vain. Not only Jesus does not give the sign, he even leaves and abandons them to their pride and envy. It is as if he already saw them damned in hell. They are spiritually dead, though apparently alive. Their body is so. Their soul is already lost without remedy.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, free us from all foolishness.

T he harvest is abundant but the labourers are few

Tuesday 14 FEBRUARY (Lk 10,1-9)

The larger and universal the mission that was entrusted us is and the more the sharing of tasks and responsibilities proves to be necessary. However, everything must be lived as one, under the direction and hierarchical responsibility of those who are lower to those who are placed high up, so that we all come to him from which everything ultimately depends. We are taught this law by Jethro in Exodus: “The next day Moses sat in judgment for the people, who waited about him from morning until evening. When his father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he inquired, “What sort of thing is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone while all the people have to stand about you from morning till evening?” Moses answered his father-in-law, “The people come to me to consult God. Whenever they have a disagreement, they come to me to have me settle the matter between them and make known to them God’s decisions and regulations.” “You are not acting wisely,” his father-in-law replied. “You will surely wear yourself out, and not only yourself but also these people with you. The task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. Now, listen to me, and I will give you some advice, that God may be with you. Act as the people’s representative before God, bringing to him whatever they have to say. Enlighten them in regard to the decisions and regulations, showing them how they are to live and what they are to do. But you should also look among all the people for able and God-fearing men, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, and set them as officers over groups of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Let these men render decisions for the people in all ordinary cases. More important cases they should refer to you, but all the lesser cases they can settle themselves. Thus, your burden will be lightened, since they will bear it with you. If you do this, when God gives you orders you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” Moses followed the advice of his father-in-law and did all that he had suggested. He picked out able men from all Israel and put them in charge of the people as officers over groups of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. They rendered decisions for the people in all ordinary cases. The more difficult cases they referred to Moses, but all the lesser cases they settled themselves. Then Moses bade farewell to his father-in-law, who went off to his own country” (Ex 18,13-27). Moses is no longer alone. They  can work well.

After this the Lord appointed seventy (-two) others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the labourers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the labourer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’

Jesus is the Redeemer and Saviour of the world. Since the grace and truth are the fruit and gift of God that is matured, donated, and offered through the committed, suffered, and obedient participation of the human body; Jesus, in that, true man and true body, he is also limited. He cannot be in every place on earth. He cannot embrace physically, with his body of flesh, the whole history of mankind.How to overcome this limit? How to be present always, everywhere, at any time, to give the fruit of his salvation and redemption?Adding countless other bodies to his. Making of his and of their bodies a single body of redemption and salvation. This law of Christ, is a law of every other body called to give salvation. Every body is responsible for the whole world. For this he must add other bodies.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, teach us this truth.

 

Do not even go into the village

Wednesday 15 FEBRUARY (Mk 8,22-26)

Jesus comes to free man from all blindness, both physical and spiritual. He comes to give us the sight so that we can see God and the brothers. In the Old Testament we find an example of this spiritual and also physical blindness with the prophet Elisha: “When the king of Aram was waging war on Israel, he would make plans with his servants to attack a particular place. But the man of God would send word to the king of Israel, “Be careful! Do not pass by this place, for Aram will attack there.” So the king of Israel would send word to the place which the man of God had indicated, and alert it; then they would be on guard. This happened several times. Greatly disturbed over this, the king of Aram called together his officers. “Will you not tell me,” he asked them, “who among us is for the king of Israel?” “No one, my lord king,” answered one of the officers. “The Israelite prophet Elisha can tell the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” “Go, find out where he is,” he said, “so that I may take him captive.” Informed that Elisha was in Dothan, he sent there a strong force with horses and chariots. They arrived by night and surrounded the city. Early the next morning, when the attendant of the man of God arose and went out, he saw the force with its horses and chariots surrounding the city. “Alas!” he said to Elisha. “What shall we do, my lord?” “Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered. “Our side outnumbers theirs.” Then he prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes, that he may see.” And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, so that he saw the mountainside filled with horses and fiery chariots around Elisha. When the Arameans came down to get him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this people blind, I pray you.” And in answer to the prophet’s prayer the Lord struck them blind. Then Elisha said to them: “This is the wrong road, and this is the wrong city. Follow me! I will take you to the man you want.” And he led them to Samaria. When they entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open their eyes that they may see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.” (2Kings 6,8-20).

Today, we live such a great, such a universal spiritual blindness, as to no longer distinguished a man from a woman, a man from ananimal, a just from an unjust person, a saint from a non saint, the true God from the false, the true religion from the non true. We livein a great war of spiritual ignorance that leads to all sorts of idolatries. We believe that some non-negotiable ethical principles aresufficient to save humanity from the moral and spiritual decay in which it has fallen. If he wants to operate effectively the world’ssalvation, every Christian must clothe himself with the powers of Jesus Christ conferred to him and living them in the great faith; beginto heal, cure, free the spirit from all those scales that prevent a righteous and holy vision of reality. We are all called to imitate Jesus Christ, the true giver of sight to the blind.

When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, “Do you see anything?” Looking up he replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”

The world today needs true healers. Surely those disciples of Jesus that live themselves in the great confusion, in a truth relativism, in the ethical subjectivism, in the great conduction of Jesus Christ himself, by now reduced to the role of one among the many founders ofreligion, one among many, one like the others. Nothing more. If we do not get out of this spiritual catastrophe in which we made thepurity of our faith in Jesus Christ: the one, the only Saviour and Redeemer of the world, plunge; what sight can we give to the blind andwhat light to those that lie in the region and shadow of death? A blind man cannot guide anther blind.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, free us from our blindness.

You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do Thursday 16 FEBRUARY (Mk 8,27-33)

There is an abysmal difference between God’s thoughts and those of men. Historical witness of this abyss is the prophet Jonah: But this was greatly displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. “I beseech you, Lord,” he prayed, “is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish. And now, Lord, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the Lord asked, “Have you reason to be angry?” Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. And when the Lord God provided a gourd plant, that grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was very happy over the plant. But the next morning at dawn God sent a worm which attacked the plant, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint. Then he asked for death, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.” But God said to Jonah, “Have you reason to be angry over the plant?” “I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labour and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?” ” (Jonah 4,1-11). Jonah wanted God to intervene and destroy the sinful city of Nineveh. But God does not want the death of the sinner, but that he gets converted and lives. The difference is really big. But man does not always understand his God.

Jesus comes. He reveals to Peter and the other disciples what his end will be: he will died in Jerusalem killed. This is the way for the redemption of Israel and the whole world. What does Peter do? He takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. He must not think such a thing and not even say it. He must forget about Jerusalem, forever.

Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man ⁷ must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Jesus does not walk with the thoughts of men, the result of folly, impiety, idolatry, false hopes, and expectations without any truth. He walks, and always proceeds with the thoughts of his Father. Knowing the will of the Father, he rejects the temptation of Peter, calling him Satan and inviting him to take his place, the one of disciple and not of teacher. One is the true master of men: his Father in heaven. His ways are an unfathomable mystery. One must only obey to God. Only after a perfect obedience it is possible to understand something and, never all, of the mystery that surrounds us. Acting this way Jesus teaches us that the temptation can be overcome in one only way: knowing the will that the Father has for each of us. Who does not know the divine will of God on him, will never overcome a single temptation. Every man will act as Satan to him and he will succumb under their thoughts which are never of God. One puts himself in prayer, he asks the Lord to reveal us his thoughts; they are carried out, and the temptation is overcome.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the thoughts of our God.

The Son of Man will be ashamed of him

Friday 17 FEBRUARY (Mk 8,34-9,1)

Showing your faith was once an honor, a path to martyrdom, in order to be entirely in conformity with Jesus Christ. Today, however, one not only is ashamed to be a Christian, but even to profess any moral idea. He is immediately ridiculed if a person were to claim to believe in this or that other commandment in the Law of the Lord, or not to want to break any other moral law.

The Psalm reveals us that it is always possible to be ashamed of the Law of the Lord. For this prayer to get rid of all shame is taught:“Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfil your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness preserve my life. May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees” (Psalm 119 (118) 33-48). This prayer must be made every day, for it is easy to fall into shame and out of human respect disobey to the holy Law of our God and Lord.

What does not being ashamed of Him mean for us disciples of Jesus? It means that with firmness of mind and heart, with deep conviction of our spirit, with the full truth that dwells deep within us, we must proclaim before the whole world that He is the one, the only, and the true Redeemer, Saviour of humanity. There are no others. He alone was constituted by the only true God, His one and only Mediator of truth and grace. Only in Him true God is known and only through Him the true God comes and makes his dwelling in our hearts. Where Christ is absent, the true God is also absent and we are in our idolatry and impiety which consumes and destroys our lives.

He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.”

Recognizing Jesus Christ before men also means that his is the only word of eternal life. All the others: philosophical, theological, psychological, anthropological, ritual, occasional, temporary are all words that must find the truth in the one of Lord Jesus. Jesus asks us to always choose his Word, without any shame or human respect. If we are ashamed of Him on earth, because we have not witnessed him as our one and only Redeemer and Savior, He will also be ashamed of us before his Father in heaven; and for us there will be no place in his Paradise. We will be condemned to eternal death. However, if will have witnessed and will have always chosen his Word as a norm of life, Heaven will be ours.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, make us witnesses of Jesus.

How is it written regarding the Son of Man?

Saturday 18 FEBRUARY (Mk 9,2-13)

The Old Testament contains within its pages all the life of Jesus the Lord. Here is how the Psalm speaks of his end: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen” (Cf Psalm 22 (21) 1-32). Everything that is written of Him, Jesus must accomplish it in his flesh, in all its parts. Nothing must be left out.Everything must be brought to completion.

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them. As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant. Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He told them, “Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things, yet how is it written regarding the Son of Man that he must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

The cross is a scandal for a Jew like Peter who was waiting for the kingdom of God to come with overwhelming power. Today, Moses,Elijah, the same Heavenly Father say to Peter that the truth of the Messiah is that proclaimed by Jesus Christ. He will have to get converted to this truth. The life of the whole world is in this truth. However, Peter is hard of hearing. He does not hear at the moment. He will understand later, when the Holy Spirit will be laid upon him. Even if he does not understand, one thing is right that he knowsimmediately: the thoughts of the world, are not thoughts of the Scripture and not even those of God. God and the Revelation are with Jesus, not with him. This science that Jesus gives him on the mountain must make him meditate, think, and reflect. The gift of the full truth is the first and fundamental way for the salvation of a person. If the truth is unspoken, hidden, unrevealed, what salvation might there ever be? None. Never.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the purest truth.

Child, your sins are forgiven

Sunday 19 FEBRUARY (Mk 2,1-12)

The forgiveness of sins in the Old Testament involved a heavy ritual: “If a private person commits a sin inadvertently by doing one of the things which are forbidden by the commandments of the Lord, and thus becomes guilty, should he later on learn of the sin he committed, he shall bring an unblemished she-goat as the offering for his sin. Having laid his hand on the head of the sin offering, he shall slaughter it at the place of the holocausts. The priest shall then take some of its blood on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of holocausts. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. All the fat shall be removed, just as the fat is removed from the peace offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for an odor pleasing to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. “If, however, for his sin offering he presents a lamb, he shall bring an unblemished female. Having laid his hand on its head, he shall slaughter this sin offering in the place where the holocausts are slaughtered. The priest shall then take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of holocausts. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. All the fat shall be removed, just as the fat is removed from the peace-offering lamb, and the priest shall burn it on the altar with the other oblations of the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement for the man’s sin, and it will be forgiven” (Lev 4,27-35). Jesus abolishes all that ancient world and with a single word gives back to man the forgiveness and the remittance of sins. A new religious world is born with him, made of simplicity, truth, great charity and compassion, and infinite mercy and love. However, you get converted to this world, abandoning the ancient world, which no longer has any value before God. Now Jesus is the High Priest who atones and erases the sins, washing them in his blood and declaring them forgiven with the word that comes out of his mouth.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” –  he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

The world of the scribes is in turmoil. Jesus cannot forgive sins. Only God can forgive them. But Jesus is the true prophet of God. The true prophet has always on his lips the true Word of the true God. If the Word that heals the sick from his paralysis is God’s; the Wordthat heals him in his spirit and soul, with the forgiveness of his sins is also of God. Faith is also logic, wisdom, intelligence, sounddiscernment, wisdom of the mind and heart. Since the Pharisees are mindless and heartless, because in their place there are granite stones, never might they understand the actions of Jesus; and that is why, they will live with Him a contrast of pride, arrogance, envy, that pushes them to kill the Saviour and Redeemer, the High Priest of God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, give us the wisdom of the faith.

‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith

Monday 20 FEBRUARY (Mk 9,14-29)

Jesus is doubly omnipotent: because he is God in his divine person, because he is full of faith as a true man. What the Book of Wisdom teaches, applies to him as true God: “For with you great strength abides always; who can resist the might of your arm? Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls” (Wis 11,21-26). The disciples of Jesus are not omnipotent by nature. They are by grace, by powers granted to them by Lord Jesus. However, when omnipotence is not by nature but by grace, it must be asked from time to time to God with an uninterrupted prayer. On the contrary, the disciples think that everything happens as if they were omnipotent by nature and therefore they fail to pray.

When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” He said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, ” ‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

Jesus works miracles through the mediation of his human nature and that is why he is always in prayer to ask the Father for every grace, every virtue, all wisdom, and all discernment. He utters a single command and the unclean spirit must leave the child forever. The disciples are amazed by this and ask why the spirit did not obey them. Simply because they have not prayed. They did not ask God for strength to be able to drive him out. They believed themselves omnipotent by nature, whereas they can only be it by grace. Every disciple of Jesus is omnipotent by grace, by donation of celestial powers made by the Lord ​​. If we had faith, believed in what Christ has made of us and prayed to our heavenly Father, without interruption, the Father would always give us his strength and no devil couldresist us. Faith and prayer are the arms of a Christian. Used well, the world can be renewed with them. Today, our poverty consistsprecisely in this: in the lack of faith and in the absence of prayer. We believe little. We pray little. What devil can we turn away fromthis world? No one. We are without any power of salvation, redemption, and sanctification.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, fill us to the brim with faith and prayer.

If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all

Tuesday 21 FEBRUARY (Mk 9,30-37)

Humility is a virtue dear to God. It has always been recommended, and suggested. Here is how the Book of Sirach speaks of it: “My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favour with God. For great is the power of God; by the humble he is glorified. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not. What is committed to you, attend to; for what is hidden is not your concern. With what is too much for you meddle not, when shown things beyond human understanding. Their own opinion has misled many, and false reasoning unbalanced their judgment. Where the pupil of the eye is missing, there is no light, and where there is no knowledge, there is no wisdom. A stubborn man will fare badly in the end, and he who loves danger will perish in it. A stubborn man will be burdened with sorrow; a sinner will heap sin upon sin. For the affliction of the proud man there is no cure; he is the offshoot of an evil plant. The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the wise man’s joy. Water quenches a flaming fire, and alms atone for sins. He who does a kindness is remembered afterward; when he falls, he finds a support” (Sir 3,17-31). Who possesses this virtue is a true man. Who does not possess it, never might he be called a true man. He lacks the essence of humanity which is just humility.

Jesus comes among us. What virtue does he present himself with? Which of his virtues does he want us to imitate? Meekness and humility. He presents himself like the meek and humble at heart. But what do exactly the meekness and humility of Jesus Christ consist in? In the delivery of his entire life to God, moment by moment, so that only the Father’s will be done through Him. What does the Father ask Jesus? To love man, giving his life as a ransom, taking the place of man, on the cross.

They left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me.”

The disciples, all suffering from pride, vainglory, envy, and jealousy do not understand the words of Lord Jesus. However, they argue about who among them was the greatest. Jesus does not want those that follow him, to think according to the world. He wishes they see themselves in God, according to his divine will. What is the will of God on every man? That he becomes the smallest, not the biggest. That he is the servant of all, not the head. That he humbles, not exalt himself. That he becomes the last, not first. That he loves until his wasting away, his holocaust, his full self-sacrifice, without sparing himself in anything. The disciples must not aspire to great things, to be in the courts of kings, in the palaces of emperors, in places where they are revered, praised, and celebrated. They must learn to serve the small, simple, poor, those who are neglected by all. They must always start from the bottom, never from the top. This is their mission. Serving a king gives glory and honor. Nursing a baby, welcoming him, does not give any earthly honor. However, it confers an eternal glory, because it helps us conquer our true humanity that is humility and meekness, free service to the weak and the poor. The disciples of Jesus are still too inhuman. The Lord has not yet washed them with his blood and made them new creatures with the gift of his Holy Spirit. True humanity is the gift that only Christ can give us.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, Saints, obtain for us the true humanity.

Your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you

Wednesday 22 FEBRUARY (Mt 6,1-6.16-18)

Almsgiving is a virtue dear to God. Is not He, perhaps, the eternal almoner that always floods us with divine and heavenly gifts? Almsgiving is a true shield of defense against all material and spiritual weather: “Many refuse to lend, not out of meanness, but from fear of being cheated. To a poor man, however, be generous; keep him not waiting for your alms; Because of the precept, help the needy, and in their want, do not send them away empty-handed. Spend your money for your brother and friend, and hide it not under a stone to perish; Dispose of your treasure as the Most High commands, for that will profit you more than the gold. Store up almsgiving in your treasure house, and it will save you from every evil; Better than a stout shield and a sturdy spear it will fight for you against the foe” (Sir 29,713).

Along with almsgiving God welcomes the offering for the worship: “To keep the law is a great oblation, and he who observes the commandments sacrifices a peace offering. In works of charity one offers fine flour, and when he gives alms he presents his sacrifice of praise. To refrain from evil pleases the Lord, and to avoid injustice is an atonement. Appear not before the Lord empty-handed, for all that you offer is in fulfilment of the precepts. The just man’s offering enriches the altar and rises as a sweet odour before the Most High. The just man’s sacrifice is most pleasing, nor will it ever be forgotten. In generous spirit pay homage to the Lord, be not sparing of freewill gifts. With each contribution show a cheerful countenance, and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy. Give to the Most High as he has given to you, generously, according to your means. For the Lord is one who always repays, and he will give back to you sevenfold. But offer no bribes, these he does not accept! Trust not in sacrifice of the fruits of extortion, For he is a God of justice, who knows no favourites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed” (Sir 35, 1-13). Even the worship needs our charity, the result of our good heart.

What does Jesus teach his disciples, that had not already been taught in the Old Testament? Everything you do and say to God and the neighbor, any offer that is presented to God and the brothers, must be done in secret. Never must it be work and word, prayer and action for our glory. Jesus wants us to act like men, with real humanity; never like false men, with inhumanity. Pride together with the search of our worldly, earthly, futile, and vain glory always make us inhuman.

(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

Jesus asks us to serve the Lord alone. He tells us not to serve ourselves, and not even the brothers because he is the brother to be served. We serve Him and He will pay us with an eternal reward. If instead we serve ourselves by serving God and humanity, because we do everything for our ephemeral and fleeting glory; He will not pay, will not reward us and we will have lost our work. We are merely foolish.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints, give us the wisdom of the heart.

Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words

Thursday 23 FEBRUARY (Lk 9,22-27)

Today, Jesus offers himself as the only model and example to be followed. St. Paul had so well understood this teaching of Jesus as to translate it in these terms to the Philippians: “Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the holy ones in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and ministers: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right that I should think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, you who are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1,1-11).

Today St. Peter understands little of the discourse of Jesus. Tomorrow, he will understand it and so he will also present it to the Christians of his time: “Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse. For whenever anyone bears the pain of unjust suffering because of consciousness of God, that is a grace. But what credit is there if you are patient when beaten for doing wrong? But if you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls” (1Pt 2,18-25). A true teaching of very high Christian morality. The disciple of Jesus is called to imitate his Master, offering his life for his persecutors.

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?  Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Losing your life is handing it over to God so that he makes of it an instrument of redemption and salvation for all his lost children. The Lord wants all men to come to the knowledge of the truth. A way for this to happen is the total gift, without reservation that the Christian gives to God in Christ and the Holy Spirit. This wholly given life, apparently lost, will be returned by God wrapped in eternal glory in his Paradise. If instead, we have held it for us, we will have lived in a way so as to be always able to dispose us of it; then, it will be lost for eternity. We are ashamed of Christ when we do not confess him like our one and only Redeemer, Saviour, Mediator between us and the living and true God. When we do not witness his truth. Only Christ is the incarnate God. He alone is the true Revealer of the Father. He alone is our life and our blessing. He alone is the Good Shepherd of our souls. He is everything for us.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints, make us true gift of salvation.

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them

Friday 24 FEBRUARY (Mt 9,14-15)

God loves only one fast: that of both the venial and mortal sins, both against him and against our neighbor. Another fast that the Lordwants is this: to deprive us of the superfluous in order to help the wretched of this world. Here is what the Lord makes us hear through his prophet: “Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God. “Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your labourers. Yes, your fast ends in quarrelling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the Sabbath a delight, and the Lord ‘S holy day honourable; If you honour it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice –  Then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Cf Is 58,1-14). The fasting that the Lord asks of us is a commitment by us to have relationships with the neighbour of high and perfect charity.

Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast (much), but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

The disciples of John still belong to the regime of the Old Testament. They have not listened to the great law of Christ on the Christian fasting, which is deeply rejuvenating all of the existing morality. Here it is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” (Mt 5,3-12). Who follows these rules to perfection, every day will offer a holy fast to the heavenly Father, pleasing to him, because he will offer him his whole body as a sacrifice and holocaust. This fast lasts from the day of baptism to the one of the death of the disciple ofJesus.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints; teach us this fast.

I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners

Sabato 25 FEBRUARY (Lk 5,27-32)

The Book of Wisdom reveals us the depths of the mercy of God and the paths he uses for the conversion of sinners: “For with you great strength abides always; who can resist the might of your arm? Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord! For truly, the ancient inhabitants of your holy land, whom you hated for deeds most odious –  Works of witchcraft and impious sacrifices; a cannibal feast of human flesh and of blood, from the midst of. . . –  These merciless murderers of children, and parents who took with their own hands defenceless lives, You willed to destroy by the hands of our fathers, that the land that is dearest of all to you might receive a worthy colony of God’s children. But even these, as they were men, you spared, and sent wasps as forerunners of your army that they might exterminate them by degrees. Not that you were without power to have the wicked vanquished in battle by the just, or wiped out at once by terrible beasts or by one decisive word; But condemning them bit by bit, you gave them space for repentance. You were not unaware that their race was wicked and their malice ingrained, And that their dispositions would never change; for they were a race accursed from the beginning. Neither out of fear for anyone did you grant amnesty for their sins. For who can say to you, “What have you done?” or who can oppose your decree? Or when peoples perish, who can challenge you, their maker; or who can come into your presence as vindicator of unjust men? For neither is there any god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned; Nor can any king or prince confront you on behalf of those you have punished. But as you are just, you govern all things justly; you regard it as unworthy of your power to punish one who has incurred no blame. For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all. For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity. But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; And you gave your sons good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins” (Cf. Wisdom 11,21-12,19). In God, everything is designed to conversion and sanctification of man. Heis the true Father of hope.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

Jesus Christ is the true door of hope, conversion, forgiveness, mercy and infinite charity. He came to our earth right for this: to openthis door to every heart, no one excluded. Everybody might repent, get converted, return to God, and all come back to their truehumanity. From now on, all might knock at the heart of the Father and obtain his mercy, his forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints; make us a true door of hope.

He remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan

Sunday 26 FEBRUARY (Mk 1,12-15)

Satan will never leave a single man living on our earth alone, for a single moment. His is an unusual, devious, and deceitful war. The snares of the past are nothing compared to those of today and the ones of tomorrow will be even more subtle and pernicious. Let who wants to serve the Lord know that he will always be tempted. Here is the teaching of the Book of Sirach: “My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him. You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy, turn not away lest you fall. You who fear the Lord, trust him, and your reward will not be lost. You who fear the Lord, hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy. Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is the Lord; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble(Sir 2,1-11). Today, Satan has all the youth in hand. He destroyed in their hearts and their minds every responsibility, every duty, and every commitment. Above all, he removed from their minds the thought of the future that is prepared in this day of grace. He made of their lives an eternal moment to be lived in the troubled search of what is ephemeral. To this temptation one opposes himself with the proclamation of the truth of Lord Jesus, who dayafter day grew in wisdom and grace before God and men.

At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfilment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus is a true man. He also owns a real human life to be wholly brought into the present will of his Father. Satan tempts him so that he appropriates himself of his life, disengages from the divine will, and hands himself over to a messianism of subversion and annihilationof the divine plan of salvation. He wants Jesus to let himself be led by his thoughts and no longer by the thoughts of the Father. Jesus responds to Satan with a prompt immediacy placing before him all the will of his Father. Satan retreats only momentarily. Every day he will be at his side to make him fall.

Today, the temptation is rampant because of the abandonment of the armour we no longer wear: “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armour 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 armour 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” (Eph 6,10-20).

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints; give us this armour.

And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life

Monday 27 FEBRUARY (Mt 25,31-46)

Today, the greatest heresy which devours the believing mind is the profession of a faith without morality. This faith opens the door forevery transgression, every violation of the Commandments, all ignorance of the ethical demands that arise from the Gospel. Son of this heresy is the thought that all will be saved, all will go to heaven tomorrow. The Old Testament also declares this rumor false: “She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: “What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our forefathers through Moses. But you, who have contrived every kind of affliction for the Hebrews, will not escape the hands of God. We, indeed, are suffering because of our sins. Though our living Lord treats us harshly for a little while to correct us with chastisements, he will again be reconciled with his servants. But you, wretch, vilest of all men! do not, in your insolence, concern yourself with unfounded hopes, as you raise your hand against the children of Heaven. You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty and all-seeing God. My brothers, after enduring brief pain, have drunk of never-failing life, under God’s covenant, but you, by the judgment of God, shall receive just punishments for your arrogance. Like my brothers, I offer up my body and my life for our ancestral laws, imploring God to show mercy soon to our nation, and by afflictions and blows to make you confess that he alone is God. Through me and my brothers, may there be an end to the wrath of the Almighty that has justly fallen on our whole nation.” (2Mac 7,30-38). The martyrs have found the strength to endure any torture right in virtue of the eternal reward that awaits them in Paradise.The entire work of evangelization of the Church is founded on the need of the salvation of our brothers. If everyone is saved, good and less good, righteous and unrighteous, godly and ungodly, thieves and honest, sober and drunken, vicious and virtuous, religious and idolaters; what is the use of the evangelization, and above all of the conversion to the faith in Christ Jesus? This heresy is underminingthe Church in her every gift of truth, grace, justice, holiness, and eternal hope.

“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 these 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.”

The eternal salvation is given by our love for Jesus Christ to be served in the poor of the earth. It is necessary that all his love lives in us in order to love Christ in them.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints; give us the love of Jesus.

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him

Tuesday 28 FEBRUARY (Mt 6,7-15)

In the Old Testament the term “Father” applied to God is very late. The first time we find it in Deuteronomy: “Give ear, O heavens, while I speak; let the earth hearken to the words of my mouth! May my instruction soak in like the rain, and my discourse permeate like the dew, Like a downpour upon the grass, like a shower upon the crops. For I will sing the Lord’s renown. Oh, proclaim the greatness of our God! The Rock – how faultless are his deeds, how right all his ways! A faithful God, without deceit, how just and upright he is! Yet basely has he been treated by his degenerate children, a perverse and crooked race! Is the Lord to be thus repaid by you, O stupid and foolish people? Is he not your father who created you? Has he not made you and established you? Think back on the days of old, reflect on the years of age upon age. Ask your father and he will inform you, ask your elders and they will tell you: When the Most High assigned the nations their heritage, when he parcelled out the descendants of Adam, He set up the boundaries of the peoples after the number of the sons of God; While the Lord’s own portion was Jacob, His hereditary share was Israel. He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert. He shielded them and cared for them, guarding them as the apple of his eye. As an eagle incites its nestlings forth by hovering over its brood, So he spread his wings to receive them and bore them up on his opinions. The Lord alone was their leader, no strange god was with him. He had them ride triumphant over the summits of the land and live off the products of its fields, Giving them honey to suck from its rocks and olive oil from its hard, stony ground; Butter from its cows and milk from its sheep, with the fat of its lambs and rams; Its Bashan bulls and its goats, with the cream of its finest wheat; and the foaming blood of its grapes you drank” (Dt 32,1-14).

Another time it is with David: “I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And if he does wrong, I will correct him with the rod of men and with human chastisements; but I will not withdraw my favour from him as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul, whom I removed from my presence. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'” (2Sam 7,14-16). “Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, praying in these words: “Blessed may you be, O Lord, God of Israel our father, from eternity to eternity. “Yours, O Lord, are grandeur and power, majesty, splendour, and glory. For all in heaven and on earth is yours; yours, O Lord, is the sovereignty; you are exalted as head over all. “Riches and honour are from you, and you have dominion over all. In your hand are power and might; it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all. Therefore, our God, we give you thanks and we praise the majesty of your name.” (1Cr 29,10-13). Follow: Psalm 88, Wisdom, Sirach,Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malchijah. In truth it is not widely used. The transcendence of God is so high as to prevent the use of this term.

Jesus comes and gives us his very relation he lives with God. God to him is his true Father. He is Father by eternal generation. He is the Only Son of the Father. God is also true Father in his humanity. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He has no fatheraccording to the flesh. Joseph is the foster father.

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

What does Jesus teach us in this prayer, commonly known as “Our Father”? That we live with God a real relation of sonship, fulfilling his every desire. That we live as his true sons, manifesting the beauty of his holiness, handing our lives over to Him, that wants to keep it away from all evil.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints; make us true children of the Father.

 

No sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah

Wednesday 29 FEBRUARY (Lk 11,29-32)

A woman comes from faraway lands because she heard about the wisdom of Solomon: “The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon’s fame, came to test him with subtle questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue, and with camels bearing spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject in which she was interested. King Solomon explained everything she asked about, and there remained nothing hidden from him that he could not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters, his banquet service, and the holocausts he offered in the temple of the Lord, she was breathless. “The report I heard in my country about your deeds and your wisdom is true,” she told the king. “Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes, I have discovered that they were not telling me the half. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard. Happy are your men, happy these servants of yours, who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord, your God, whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel. In his enduring love for Israel, the Lord has made you king to carry out judgment and justice.”” (1Kings 10,1-9). Solomon is a pure, simple, man.

Nineveh gets converted without Jonah working any miracles in it: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: “Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish.” When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out” (Jonah 3,1-10). Jonah is not even a true prophet. He is the person in charge to report a message to the city considered to be the most sinful of the time. Few words are needed, and Nineveh repents.

While still more people gathered in the crowd, he said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.

Jesus is both eternal, embodied, given, accepted, and lived wisdom. He is eternally and divinely beyond Solomon and Jonah. He is God made ​​flesh, who came among us to reveal the Father’s omnipotence, truth, grace, wisdom and all other virtues. Yet his generation does not get converted, does not welcome, does not listen to him, does not return truly to its God and Father. No other generation will have Jesus Christ that personally announces the Word and works wonders. Yet it did not get converted. It remained insensitive to his voice.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints; give us the true faith in Christ.