evangeli.net

A team of 200 priests comment on daily Gospel

200 priests comment on daily Gospel

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Today's Gospel + short theological explanation

Wednesday 33rd in Ordinary Time

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Gospel text (Lk 19,11-28): Jesus was now near Jerusalem and the people with him thought that God's reign was about to appear. So as they were listening to him, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He said, «A man of noble birth went to a distant place to have himself appointed king of his own people, after which he would return. Before he left, he summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds. He said: ‘Put this money to work until I get back’. But his compatriots who disliked him sent a delegation after him with this message: ‘We do not want this man to be our king’.

»He returned, however, appointed as king. At once he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made (…). Then the master said to those standing by: (…) ‘I tell you: everyone who has will be given more; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (…)».

Final states of man (I): "Hell"

EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)

Today —while avoiding speculation about his "triumph"— Jesus Christ asks us to "negotiate" the gift of our life. With death, our life-choice becomes definitive; at this point, nothing can be hidden or changed: our life stands before the judge. Our choice, which in the course of an entire life takes on a certain shape, can have a variety of forms, even the ultimate self-destruction.

There can be people who have totally destroyed their desire for truth and readiness to love, people for whom everything has become a lie, people who have lived for hatred and have suppressed all love within themselves. This is a terrifying thought, but alarming profiles of this type can be seen in certain figures of our own history. In such people all would be beyond remedy and the destruction of good would be irrevocable: this is what we mean by the word "Hell".

—Jesus, I wish your "triumph" in my freedom: which is completely and always at your service.