Mt 11:20-24
‘Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent. ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Mt 10:34-11:1
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law; a person’s enemies will be the members of his own household. ‘No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. Read More
Mt 13:1-23
That same day, Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the shore, and he told them many things in parables. He said, ‘Listen, a sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Read More
Eph 3:14-19
‘This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every fatherhood, in heaven or on earth, takes its name.
NOTE: In the traditional calendar, St. Bonaventure is celebrated today. We will therefore listen to the reading of his memorial:
2 Tim 4:1-8
Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I charge you, in the name of his appearing and of his kingdom: proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it.
NOTE: Since in recent years I have already meditated on most of the biblical texts of the liturgical calendar, I sometimes have recourse to the readings of the traditional calendar when it comes to passages that are very important to me. The Gospel I have chosen today, taken from the Votive Mass for the Propagation of the Faith, is one of them, since it deals with a very topical theme, as I will point out towards the end of this meditation.
Mt 10:1-7
‘Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was also his betrayer.
Pr 2:1-9
Reading for the memorial of Saint Benedict the Abbot
My child, if you take my words to heart, if you set store by my commandments, tuning your ear to wisdom, tuning your heart to understanding, yes, if your plea is for clear perception, if you cry out for understanding, if you look for it as though for silver, search for it as though for buried treasure, then you will understand what the fear of Yahweh is, and discover the knowledge of God.
Mt 9:18-26
‘While Jesus was speaking to them, suddenly one of the officials came up, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.
NOTE: We will listen today to the reading scheduled for this Sunday in the traditional calendar.
Rom 6:3-11
You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life.
