THEY COULD FIND NO WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR PURPOSE

Rev 10,8-11; Ps 118; Lk 19,45-48
23 NOVEMBER

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah reveals a very high truth. God must do nothing for the ruin of a people or a nation. When sin has occupied every space of the mind, of the heart and of the soul of man, God can no longer send his spirit of wisdom and a people, a nation are lost. Without wisdom, a gift from God, there is disorientation.

Oracolo sull’Egitto. Ecco, il Signore cavalca una nube leggera ed entra in Egitto. Crollano gli idoli dell’Egitto Oracle on Egypt: See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud on his way to Egypt; The idols of Egypt tremble before him, the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them. I will rouse Egypt against Egypt: brother will war against brother, Neighbour against neighbour, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. The courage of the Egyptians ebbs away within them, and I will bring to nought their counsel; They shall consult idols and charmers, ghosts and spirits. I will deliver Egypt into the power of a cruel master, A harsh king who shall rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. The waters shall be drained from the sea, the river shall shrivel and dry up; Its streams shall become foul, and the canals of Egypt shall dwindle and dry up. Reeds and rushes shall wither away, and bulrushes on the bank of the Nile; All the sown land along the Nile shall dry up and blow away, and be no more. The fishermen shall mourn and lament, all who cast hook in the Nile; Those who spread their nets in the water shall pine away. The linen-workers shall be disappointed, the combers and weavers shall turn pale; The spinners shall be crushed, all the hired labourers shall be despondent. Utter fools are the princes of Zoan! the wisest of Pharaoh’s advisers give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a disciple of wise men, of ancient kings”? Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and make known What the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis have been deceived. The chiefs of her tribes have led Egypt astray. The Lord has prepared among them a spirit of dizziness, And they have made Egypt stagger in whatever she does, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit. Egypt shall have no work to do for head or tail, palm branch or reed (Is 19,1-15).

The prophet Hosea reveals instead that wisdom is lacking in the Lord’s people, when it lets itself be led by the spirit of prostitution, which is idolatry. Idolatry, a sin against the first Commandment, drives wisdom away. There is only room for folly.

They consult their piece of wood, and their wand makes pronouncements for them, For the spirit of harlotry has led them astray; they commit harlotry, forsaking their God. On the mountaintops they offer sacrifice and on the hills they burn incense, Beneath oak and poplar and terebinth, because of their pleasant shade (Hos 4,12-13). Their deeds do not allow them to return to their God; For the spirit of harlotry is in them, and they do not recognize the Lord (Hos 5,4).

The Gospel shows us that with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem the Jews are confused. They lack all wisdom and intelligence. They do not know what to do to eliminate him. They can do nothing against Christ the Lord because people hang on his lips.

Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.'” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

The confusion of the mind and heart is born from the truth of Christ Jesus. All the prophecies must be fulfilled. The death of the Lord will have to take place according to what has been foretold by God, not by the will of the Jews, according to their methods of the time. Jesus must not die at the hands of the Jews. They will have to hand him over to the pagans, because He will have to die by crucifixion. He will have to go through the most humiliating death of those times and of all times. Just as Satan submits to Christ, so too his fruits, which are sin, must submit to God. As Satan cannot be destroyed so neither can the sinner be destroyed, but both must always obey God. Satan must always obey God, even when he does evil.

Most Pure Virgin, Angels and Saints ensure that the will of God is always carried out through us.