Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 12,1-7

Meanwhile the people had gathered in their thousands so that they were treading on one another. And he began to speak, first of all to his disciples. 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees -- their hypocrisy. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed from the housetops. 'To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, he is the one to fear. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God's sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Gospel passage reports that thousands of people flocked and crowded around Jesus, so "that they trampled on one another." They were men and women needing comfort and looking for a better life. Jesus, truly the good shepherd, immediately put them on guard from false shepherds or better from the hypocrisy that made the Pharisees' guide insupportable and dangerous. Jesus said solemnly that the moment would come in which all would be brought to light and in which all the emptiness and sadness of those who built up their own existence with a loveless and merciless heart, showing only pride and love for themselves, will appear. The attitude of the disciples who hear and follow the true shepherd and master must be different.* Here Jesus introduces a precious distinction. The body can die but there is an "afterwards" on which the disciple is called upon to reflect. Jesus suggests that the "afterwards" is connected to the "heart", that is to the interior life, the "place" where we encounter God or - and it would be a tragic choice - where we meet the one who can "cast into hell." There is no scorn for the body in Jesus' words; for indeed how many healings he did! Yet there is no doubt that the kind of care that we give to converting our hearts is very little in comparison to the care we give to our bodies and our individual well-being. Jesus reminds us that the Father in heaven takes care of us better than the sparrows and knows every hair on our head. Let us take care of our heart and of making it grow in love. It is an urgency all Christians need to live even for their own salvation. It is a very precious witness to show forth in our world that puts the individual and material well-being over everything else.