FRIDAY of 14th WEEK, uneven numbered year
“Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in thier synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles.”
The Gospel underlines the difficulties and contradictions we shall have to undergo because of Jesus and his Gospel, and how we shall have tor resist and perservere until the end.’I am with you until the end of time,’ said Jesus,but Jeus didn’t promise an easy way for his disciples and friends - on the contrary, He told them ’I am sending you out like sheep among wolves! You will be hated because of my name.’ So we must let Jesus convert us so that we become Christ’s sheep. The ministry with the ’Louvettes’ has us think of this Gospel. It is the converted wolf of St Francis that inspires the mob’s pennants. That is representive of the daily reality to constant coversion : ’Be as cunning as serpents and candid as doves.’ Our discernement needs to be a permanent one! How do we serve God, Jesus, the Prince of Peace? It is in remaining constantly in Love. Never let myself be transformed into a wolf, otherwise it will be another wolf in the Sheepfold! Unhappy are they who lean on men, says the psalm. Blessed is the one who counts on the Lord, it will be a lovely testimony of love.
“But when you are handed over, do not be worried about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, because it is not you who will be speaking, but the Sprit of your Father wil be speaking in you.”
The Church and the world are two hard realities to conciliate. The world, that the Church is to convert to Jesus,is not a neutral reality, as if it acted like a new candle waiting for the seal to give it its shape. It wouldn’t be like this if there hadn’t been a story between the creation of man and his redemption. The world, as a structure far from God,obeys another world, that St John’s Gospel designs as ’the
prince of this world, the ennemy of human nature to which the Christian, on the day of his Christening , vowed to disobey.He agreed to belong only to Jesus Christ in whom the Church engendered. “Jesus came to his own and his own did not recieve him.” We give thanks to God for the links given by the Holy Spirit who gives an unction to the community. It is an expression of links that exist whan areound Jesus and they give the necessary comfort so that we can move forward again. We know that the adversary is not very far off : ’ When they deliver you do not be worried.“How many sleepless, nights, full of anguish, do we have to go through at times so as to know how to act, how to reply, or what to do in hard situations! We have to have recourse in the Word of God who enlightens our daily life.”You will be universally hated on my account; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.If they persecute you in one town,take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another.In truth I tell you, you will not have gone the round of towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.It is not you who will be speaking but the Spirit of the Father who is in you.“The person who is baptised continues to live in this world; he doesn’t give up on being a citizen, nor does he refuse his honest contribution to support and improve the world. Jesus said that his disciples are in the world but not of the world. We belong completely to Jesus Christ and to His Church,a true spiritual homeland, here on earth but also one that crosses the barriers of space and time so as to lead us to the definitive homeland of heaven. It is when Jesus is Risen that the sending of the Apostles takes place.From now, on he dwells on the human heart.He will always be at the heart of our lives,especially during moments of trials. ’Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents.”The only remedy we have is to offer our lives with Jesus in a sacrifice of thanksgiving. The Eucharist renews all things, every day it brings Life to the community, and we need to live deeply form the Gospel message and its Life.What is important is to be found truly alive; our wish is to remain in the Holy Spirit who will always be our guide.