Word of the day

From the first letter of St Paul the Apostle to Timothy
1Tm 3:14-16

Beloved:
I am writing you,
although I hope to visit you soon.
But if I should be delayed,
you should know how to behave in the household of God,
which is the Church of the living God,
the pillar and foundation of truth.
Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion,

Who was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated in the spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the Gentiles,
believed in throughout the world,
taken up in glory.

From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,

'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.'

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

It is actually the ruling class to close the doors to the way that God wants to save us. In this sense “the powerful dialogues between Jesus and the ruling class of his time are understandable: they argue, they put him to the test, they lay traps to see if he falls”, because they have “resistance to being saved”. In confronting this attitude Jesus says to them: “I don’t understand you! You are like those children: we played the flute for you and you didn’t dance; we sang a sad song for you and you didn’t weep. What do you want?”. The answer is again: “We want salvation to be done our way”. It comes back to this “closure” to God’s modus operandi. (…) It is “a tragedy” which “even each one of us has inside”. For this reason he offered several questions for examining the conscience: “How do I want to be saved? My way? According to a spirituality that is good, that is good for me, but that is set, having everything defined and no risks? Or in a divine manner, that is, on the path of Jesus, who always surprises us, who always opens the doors for us to that mystery of the almighty power of God, which is mercy and forgiveness?”. (Santa Marta, 3 October 2014)