Word of the day

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
ACTS 22:3-16

Paul addressed the people in these words:
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

"On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
I replied, 'Who are you, sir?'
And he said to me,
'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, 'What shall I do, sir?'
The Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.'
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

"A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
'Saul, my brother, regain your sight.'
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said,
'The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.'"

From the Gospel according to Mark
MK 16:15-18

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
"Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

You cannot think of a stationary Christian: a Christian who is standing still is sick in his Christian identity, and his identity is suffering from some disease. Go. Walk. This is the first attitude that a Christian must have: to walk, walk and even if there are difficulties, go beyond the difficulties. As lambs ... Do not become wolves... Because, sometimes, temptation makes us think: ' But this is difficult, these wolves are smart and I will be even more cunning than them, no?' Lambs… Not a fool, but a lamb. …Lamb. …With astuteness of a Christian, but always a lamb. A lamb…because if you are a Lamb, He will defend you. Those Christians who have a habit of constant complaining and lamenting are of no help to the Lord or to His Church. They always live, complaining about everything; sad ... This is not the style of the disciple. St. Augustine tells Christians: 'Go, go ahead, sing and walk with joy: This is the style of the Christian. …Proclaiming the Gospel with joy and the Lord does everything else. Instead, too much sadness, this extreme unhappiness, even bitterness, leads us to live a so-called Christianity without Christ: the Cross empties the Christians who are in front of the tomb crying, like Mary Magdalene, but without the joy of having found the Risen Lord. (Santa Marta, 14 February 2014)