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A team of 200 priests comment on daily Gospel

200 priests comment on daily Gospel

Contemplating today's Gospel

Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)

View saints: Our Lady of Ransom

Friday 25th in Ordinary Time

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View 1^st Reading and Psalm

1^st Reading (Hag 2:1-9): In the second year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: Tell this to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people: Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes? But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the Lord, and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak, and take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work! For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts. This is the pact that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, and my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear! For thus says the Lord of hosts: One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. Mine is the silver and mine the gold, says the Lord of hosts. Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give you peace, says the Lord of hosts!

Responsorial Psalm: 42

R/. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Feu-me justícia, defenseu la meva causa contra la gent que no estima; allibereu-me, Déu meu, d'aquests homes perversos i traïdors.

Déu meu, la muralla que em salva sou vós. Per què m'abandoneu? Per què he d'anar de dol pertot arreu, seguit de prop per l'enemic?

Envieu-me la llum i la veritat; que elles em guiïn, que em duguin a la muntanya sagrada, al lloc on residiu.

M'acostaré a l'altar de Déu, a Déu, que és la meva alegria; ho celebraré i us lloaré amb la cítara, Senyor, Déu meu.

Versicle before the Gospel (Mk 10:45): Alleluia. The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Alleluia.

Gospel text (Lk 9,18-22): One day when Jesus was praying alone, not far from his disciples, He asked them, «What do people say about me?». And they answered, «Some say that you are John the Baptist; others say that you are Elijah, and still others that you are one of the former prophets risen from the dead». Again Jesus asked them, «Who then do you say I am?». Peter answered, «The Messiah of God». Then Jesus spoke to them, giving them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. And he added, «The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and put to death. Then after three days he will be raised to life».

«What do people say about me? (...). Who do you say I am?»

Fr. Pere OLIVA i March (Sant Feliu de Torelló, Barcelona, Spain)

Today, in the Gospel we find two questions that our Master is asking to all of us. The first one requires an approximate statistical reply: «What do people say about me?» (Lk 9:18). This forces us to look around and see how others answer this question: our neighbours, our work mates, our friends, our closest relatives... We look about ourselves and we feel more or less responsible or close —depending upon the cases— for some of the replies given by those who have some connection with our environment, and us “the people”... And, their answers say a lot, inform us, position us and make us realize what those who live next to us are looking for, what they need, what they desire. It helps us to tune in, to discover a meeting point with the other party, to grow closer...

But, there is a second question for us: «Who then do you say I am?» (Lk 9:20). This becomes a fundamental question knocking at our door; a question demanding from each one of us: adhesion or denial; veneration or aloofness; to walk along with him and in him or just end up a relationship of simple sympathy... This is a delicate and determining question, because it affects us. What do our lips and attitude say? Do we want to be faithful to Him who is and gives a meaning to our life? Is there to be found a sincere disposition in us to follow him in our journey through life? Are we ready to go with him to the Jerusalem of the Cross and the Glory?

«It is a path of Cross and Resurrection (...). The Cross is the Exaltation of Christ. He said it too: ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Me’. It is evident, therefore, that the Cross is the Glory and exaltation of Christ» (St. Andrew of Crete). Are we then ready to move on to Jerusalem? Only with him and in him, is this not so?