Memory of the Church
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Hebrews 3,7-14
That is why, as the Holy Spirit says: If only you would listen to him today! Do not harden your hearts, as at the rebellion, as at the time of testing in the desert, when your ancestors challenged me, and put me to the test, and saw what I could do for forty years. That was why that generation sickened me and I said, 'Always fickle hearts, that cannot grasp my ways!' And then in my anger I swore that they would never enter my place of rest. Take care, brothers, that none of you ever has a wicked heart, so unbelieving as to turn away from the living God. Every day, as long as this today lasts, keep encouraging one another so that none of you is hardened by the lure of sin, because we have been granted a share with Christ only if we keep the grasp of our first confidence firm to the end.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The author of the letter asks us not only to continue listening to his Word - but he asks us to exhort one another "every day, as long as it is called 'today', so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." There is great pastoral wisdom in this instruction: only an effective and daily fraternity, hence not casual or extemporary, guarantees believers to be faithful disciples. The author addresses the entire community: all "brothers and sisters" have a responsibility to pay attention to each other, especially those who no longer listen to the voice of God. Each disciple is called to keep his/her eyes open on the brother and sister so that they do not get lost. This is why each disciple is entrusted with the 'paraclesis', that is, the power to console in order to prevent the 'sclerosis' of the heart, that hardening that makes man bitter, discontented and self-centred. It is not possible, in fact, to be a disciple of Jesus on one's own account or separated from one's brothers and sisters: one is a disciple only if one listens together to the Word of God. In listening to the Scripture together, in fact, the same Holy Spirit speaks and builds those who listen to him into one body. Continuity in listening makes disciples of those who welcome in their hearts the Word that is sown in them. And the "today" that the letter invokes is daily life enlightened by the Gospel. Thus, we enter the rest that the Lord grants to his disciples. Exhorting one another, supporting one another and praying together for one another builds the community as God's family where mutual love becomes the rule.