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Word of the day

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Date14/12/2023
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Reading of the day

A reading from the Book of the prohet Isaiah
Is 41:13-20

I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, "Fear not,
I will help you."
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Gospel of the day

From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 11:11-15

Jesus said to the crowds:
"Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

Words of the Holy Father

Right here is “the greatness of John, a great man, the last of that group of believers that began with Abraham, the one who preaches repentance; who does not mince words in condemning the proud, who at life’s end permits himself to doubt”. This is a beautiful programme of Christian life.

In fact, John boldly said “harsh things to the Pharisees, to the doctors and teachers of the law. He didn’t say to them: ‘Gentlemen, behave yourselves’. No. He simply called them a ‘brood of vipers’”. With those who came to him, “but never with an open heart”, John never minced his words: he was always forthright: “Brood of vipers”! This meant “he was risking his life, yes, but he was faithful”. (…) Let us ask “John for the grace of apostolic courage to always say things truthfully”; that of “pastoral love”. This means “to receive people with what little one can give, the first step”; and “even the grace to doubt”. It is important, then, that “the great John, who is the least in the kingdom of heaven — for this he is great —, may he help us on this road in the Lord’s footsteps ”. (Santa Marta, 15 December 2016)