Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Remembrance of the Virgin Mary, venerated as Our Lady of Lujàn in Argentina.
Memorial of the blessed martyrs of Algeria. Among them we remember Father Christian de Chergé. prior of the Trappist monastery of Noter Dame de l'Atlas, in Tibhrine in Algeria, who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists together with his fellow brothers in 1996.
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 16,12-15
I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now. However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel does not require sages; neither does Jesus seek powerful or strong people to entrust his mission to. Rather, he seems to do the opposite. His word, in fact, is not a doctrine or a complex ideology that only a few are able to understand or deepen. From his teaching, a simple and strong energy emerges, an energy that fills the heart and transforms life. Everyone can welcome and live it. It is the energy of love. The disciples are asked only to allow it to operate, neither stop it nor pose obstacles in its way. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will "guide you into the whole truth." It will make us discover the limits and the banalities of the dimensions in which we often enclose ourselves. Let's allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit and we will discover future things, we will dream of a different tomorrow. The Spirit, which is the source of life and inspiration, helps us to be creators with Him of that common future for all peoples and therefore also for us. In this sense, there is a growth in the understanding of the Gospel. Father Alexander Men,' a priest who was killed in Moscow at the beginning of the 90's used to say that we are still at the beginning of our understanding of the Gospel; there are many words we still have to understand in all of their depth. Saint John XXIII, years before, shortly before his death said, "It is not the Gospel which changes, it is we who understand it better." This is the work of the Spirit, today and throughout all generations.