Memory of the Saints and the Prophets

Today the Armenian Church remembers Metz Yeghern, "the "great Evil." It is the memorial of the massacre suffered during the First World War in which more than one million Armenians were killed.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 12,44-50

Jesus declared publicly: Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world: anyone who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken of my own accord; but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to speak, and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jesus presents himself not only as the Father's envoy, but he is one with him. He came into the world as the true light that reveals the mystery of love hidden in God. Finally, the Son has revealed it to us: Jesus, God's "exegete," explains and shows us the Father's love. So, whoever hears the words of the Son will be saved, while whoever does not hear them or rejects them will be condemned. It is a matter of listening and keeping the Gospel word, that is, of welcoming it and putting it into practice, as Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus speaks to save, not to condemn. He does not despise either the wick that barely smokes and is in danger of being shut off by a small puff or the cracked reed that is in danger of breaking at any moment. The real condemnation, in fact, does not come from the Word of God, but from the little faith we place in it: we do not believe that it can change hearts, that it can generate new feelings and actions. In fact, if we do not welcome the Word of God and make it life, how can it guide us, heal us, make us happy? We will be condemned to listen only to ourselves and remain prisoners of our own little horizon. Whereas if we listen to the Gospel of Christ, we are introduced into the very mystery of God: "What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me." There is like a descending chain of love: the Father communicates the truth of his love to the Son, and the Son in turn communicates it to us. Every time we listen to the Word of God and approach the Eucharist we are welcomed into the mystery of communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord lowers himself down to us to make us like him.