READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of Exodus EX 17:8-13
In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses'hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Second reading from the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 2 TM 3:14-4:2
Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Luke LK 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER The parable ends with a question: “when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (v. 8). And with this question we are all warned: we must not cease to pray, even if left unanswered. It is prayer that conserves the faith, with out it faith falters! Let us ask the Lord for a faith that is incessant prayer, persevering, like that of the widow in the parable, a faith that nourishes our desire for his coming. And in prayer let us experience that compassion of God, who like a Father comes to encounter his children, full of merciful love. (General audience, 25 May 2016)
FAUSTI - You must always pray, because every moment is that of His coming. Salvation happens in this our profane time, in which we eat, we drink, etc. for this reason Paul says "whether you eat, whether you drink, or do anything else, do everything for the glory of God" The final decision is anticipated in history. The final destiny is built now. There is no time other than this present. The past is no longer, the future is not yet. One can always pray, because prayer does not lay upon any other action. It enlightens them all and directs them to their aim. The heart can and must always be intent to God and present to Him, because it is made for Him. The action that is not born from prayer is as an arrow shot at random by a loose bow. Without purpose and without strength, it cannot reach its target. Prayer is important because it is desire for God. And the desire of God is the greatest gift that has been given to us. No action can produce or reach the One who cannot escape from the desire. God, being Love, desires nothing more than being desired. But the emptiness is immediately filled with the ghosts and fears of the heart, which often make a wall between us and God. Our sin, absence and distance from Him, is more evident in prayer than elsewhere. While normally we fight with flies and mosquitoes, when we pray we fight with lions and dragons, or rather, with God Himself, on whom we project our wickedness. That is why prayer is a struggle. It keeps alive in the night the expectation of light. It is the desire for the return of the Lord, necessary to the believer as water to fish. But He seems insensitive even to the most annoying insistence; He seems to yield only with difficulty and not to be disturbed beyond, as the unjust judge. In reality, the Lord acts as a deaf person, only because He wishes that we cry out to Him, He wishes to hear our voice: "Let me hear your voice, because your voice is sweet", says the Bridegroom to the woman who feels herself widowed (Ct 2:14). The widow has no gifts. She is poor, like the desire. She can only count on insistence and intensity, which dig her even deeper. But it is precisely in this way that she becomes capable of welcoming the desired One. If His coming is certain, in the meantime we must "importune Him". Faith consists in this: an insistent request for His return, which keeps our desire for Him awake and preserves us from falling into the radical temptation of no longer waiting for Him. Salvation does not come because it is not invoked. The Savior is delayed in coming only because He is not desired. He wants that we raise our eyes from what His hand offers to us, to His sight that wants to meet us. For this we must pray without feeling tired. The prayer must be continuous. Its purpose is not to change God in our regard, but to change us in His regard, making us pass from the interested desire of His gifts that do not come, to the pure desire of Him who wants to come. Only in this way can we welcome Him. For this reason, the infallible fruit of persevering prayer is not His gifts, but He Himself as a Gift: the Holy Spirit. The Lord Himself orders us to disturb Him, seeking, knocking. But He does not listen to each of us except for what is necessary because we do not stop bothering Him. The long silence of God fills up at the end of His Word, so different from all our other words. The Kingdom, already present among us, will be seen only by those who have a pure heart (Mt 5:8). For this reason, every chat must first be extinguished before His Silence. When He comes, the widowhood ceases, which, more than of the bride, is of the Bridegroom. For not He has left us, but we have left Him. He who will come at the end in His Glory, already comes now every day, in patience towards us (2Pt 3,8s).
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of Exodus
EX 17:8-13
In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel.
Moses, therefore, said to Joshua,
"Pick out certain men,
and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle.
I will be standing on top of the hill
with the staff of God in my hand."
So Joshua did as Moses told him:
he engaged Amalek in battle
after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur.
As long as Moses kept his hands raised up,
Israel had the better of the fight,
but when he let his hands rest,
Amalek had the better of the fight.
Moses'hands, however, grew tired;
so they put a rock in place for him to sit on.
Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
one on one side and one on the other,
so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people
with the edge of the sword.
Second reading from the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy
2 TM 3:14-4:2
Beloved:
Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God
and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
LK 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, "There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.'
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'"
The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
The parable ends with a question: “when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (v. 8). And with this question we are all warned: we must not cease to pray, even if left unanswered. It is prayer that conserves the faith, with out it faith falters! Let us ask the Lord for a faith that is incessant prayer, persevering, like that of the widow in the parable, a faith that nourishes our desire for his coming. And in prayer let us experience that compassion of God, who like a Father comes to encounter his children, full of merciful love. (General audience, 25 May 2016)
FAUSTI - You must always pray, because every moment is that of His coming. Salvation happens in this our profane time, in which we eat, we drink, etc. for this reason Paul says "whether you eat, whether you drink, or do anything else, do everything for the glory of God" The final decision is anticipated in history. The final destiny is built now. There is no time other than this present.
RispondiEliminaThe past is no longer, the future is not yet.
One can always pray, because prayer does not lay upon any other action. It enlightens them all and directs them to their aim. The heart can and must always be intent to God and present to Him, because it is made for Him.
The action that is not born from prayer is as an arrow shot at random by a loose bow. Without purpose and without strength, it cannot reach its target.
Prayer is important because it is desire for God. And the desire of God is the greatest gift that has been given to us.
No action can produce or reach the One who cannot escape from the desire. God, being Love, desires nothing more than being desired.
But the emptiness is immediately filled with the ghosts and fears of the heart, which often make a wall between us and God.
Our sin, absence and distance from Him, is more evident in prayer than elsewhere.
While normally we fight with flies and mosquitoes, when we pray we fight with lions and dragons, or rather, with God Himself, on whom we project our wickedness.
That is why prayer is a struggle.
It keeps alive in the night the expectation of light. It is the desire for the return of the Lord, necessary to the believer as water to fish.
But He seems insensitive even to the most annoying insistence; He seems to yield only with difficulty and not to be disturbed beyond, as the unjust judge.
In reality, the Lord acts as a deaf person, only because He wishes that we cry out to Him, He wishes to hear our voice: "Let me hear your voice, because your voice is sweet", says the Bridegroom to the woman who feels herself widowed (Ct 2:14).
The widow has no gifts.
She is poor, like the desire.
She can only count on insistence and intensity, which dig her even deeper. But it is precisely in this way that she becomes capable of welcoming the desired One.
If His coming is certain, in the meantime we must "importune Him".
Faith consists in this: an insistent request for His return, which keeps our desire for Him awake and preserves us from falling into the radical temptation of no longer waiting for Him.
Salvation does not come because it is not invoked.
The Savior is delayed in coming only because He is not desired.
He wants that we raise our eyes from what His hand offers to us, to His sight that wants to meet us.
For this we must pray without feeling tired.
The prayer must be continuous.
Its purpose is not to change God in our regard, but to change us in His regard, making us pass from the interested desire of His gifts that do not come, to the pure desire of Him who wants to come.
Only in this way can we welcome Him.
For this reason, the infallible fruit of persevering prayer is not His gifts, but He Himself as a Gift: the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Himself orders us to disturb Him, seeking, knocking.
But He does not listen to each of us except for what is necessary because we do not stop bothering Him.
The long silence of God fills up at the end of His Word, so different from all our other words.
The Kingdom, already present among us, will be seen only by those who have a pure heart (Mt 5:8).
For this reason, every chat must first be extinguished before His Silence.
When He comes, the widowhood ceases, which, more than of the bride, is of the Bridegroom.
For not He has left us, but we have left Him.
He who will come at the end in His Glory, already comes now every day, in patience towards us (2Pt 3,8s).