Memory of Jesus crucified
Remembrance of Modesta, a homeless woman who was refused medical assistance because she was dirty and was left to die in the Termini train station in Rome in 1983. Along with her we remember all those who die without a home and succour.
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
Hebrews 10,32-39
Remember the great challenge of the sufferings that you had to meet after you received the light, in earlier days; sometimes by being yourselves publicly exposed to humiliations and violence, and sometimes as associates of others who were treated in the same way. For you not only shared in the sufferings of those who were in prison, but you accepted with joy being stripped of your belongings, knowing that you owned something that was better and lasting. Do not lose your fearlessness now, then, since the reward is so great. You will need perseverance if you are to do God's will and gain what he has promised. Only a little while now, a very little while, for come he certainly will before too long. My upright person will live through faith but if he draws back, my soul will take no pleasure in him. We are not the sort of people who draw back, and are lost by it; we are the sort who keep faith until our souls are saved.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The third part of the Letter to the Hebrews starts. The author wants to encourage Christians to constancy and perseverance in Gospel life. It was a particularly difficult time for the communities of that era, as they were beset by not few hostilities. Evidently there had been some who had given up, or had become slow to give witness because, perhaps, they were living their Christian faith in a more individualistic, and therefore less meaningful and less prophetic way. The author reminds these Christians of the fervour they had at the time of their conversion, when they courageously faced every sacrifice to witness to the Gospel: not only did they not retreat before difficulties and dangers, but they faced them together "cheerfully." The author reminds them of when they were "exposed to abuse and persecution" and lived in deep solidarity with each other: "you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions." The reason for this courage was their conviction that they "possessed something better and more lasting." The author urges us to rediscover the virtue of constancy, that is, to persevere in following the Gospel and to not abandon the "parrhesia", that trust in God that represents the true strength of believers and allows them to stand firm even in a world that is hostile to the Gospel. Laziness and tiredness risk closing us in on the present and dampening our anticipation of the Lord's coming. Without the expectation of a new future, the need to pray and commit ourselves is diminished, while we easily succumb to individualism and the world's resigned and saddened mentality.