Hand him your cloak as well-- Matthew 5:38-42.

Second Letter to the Corinthians 6:1-10. 

Brothers and sisters: As your fellow workers, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says: "In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
We cause no one to stumble in anything, in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love,
in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;
through glory and dishonor, insult and praise. We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death;
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

Psalms 98(97):1.2-3ab.3cd-4. 

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:38-42. 

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."

"Hand him your cloak as well"

Living on Love is giving without limit
Without claiming any wages here below.
Ah! I give without counting, truly sure
That when one loves, one does not keep count!...
Overflowing with tenderness, I have given everything,
To his Divine Heart... lightly I run.
I have nothing left but my only wealth:
Living on Love.

Living on Love is banishing every fear,
Every memory of past faults.
I see no imprint of my sins.
In a moment, Love has burned everything...
Divine Flame, O sweetest Blaze!
I make my home in your hearth.
In your fire I gladly sing: (cf Dn 3,51)
I live on Love!...”

“Living on Love – what strange folly!”
The world says to me, “Ah! stop your singing,
Don't waste your perfumes, your life.
Learn to use them well...”
Loving you, Jesus, is such fruitful loss!...
All my perfumes are yours forever.
I want to sing on leaving this world:
“I die of Love!”

To love is to give everything. It's to give oneself.

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son

Acts of the Apostles 5:17-26. 

The high priest rose up and all his companions, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and, filled with jealousy,
laid hands upon the apostles and put them in the public jail.
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said,
"Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life."
When they heard this, they went to the temple early in the morning and taught. When the high priest and his companions arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full senate of the Israelites, and sent to the jail to have them brought in.
But the court officers who went did not find them in the prison, so they came back and reported,
"We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."
When they heard this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss about them, as to what this would come to.
Then someone came in and reported to them, "The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area and are teaching the people."
Then the captain and the court officers went and brought them in, but without force, because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Psalms 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9. 

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 3:16-21. 

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

"So that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life"

What else, then, does the cross of Christ say to us, the cross that in a sense is the final word of His messianic message and mission? And yet this is not yet the word of the God of the covenant: that will be pronounced at the dawn when first the women and then the Apostles come to the tomb of the crucified Christ, see the tomb empty and for the first time hear the message: "He is risen." They will repeat this message to the others and will be witnesses to the risen Christ.

Yet, even in this glorification of the Son of God, the cross remains, that cross which-through all the messianic testimony of the Man the Son, who suffered death upon it - speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man, since He "so loved the world" - therefore man in the world-that "he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Believing in the crucified Son means "seeing the Father» (Jn 14,9), means believing that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any kind of evil in which individuals, humanity, or the world are involved. Believing in this love means believing in mercy. For mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is as it were love's second name and, at the same time, the specific manner in which love is revealed and effected vis-a-vis the reality of the evil that is in the world, affecting and besieging man, insinuating itself even into his heart and capable of causing him to "perish in Gehenna" (Mt 10,28).

He rebuked them for their unbelief

Acts of the Apostles 4:13-21. 

Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.
Then when they saw the man who had been cured standing there with them, they could say nothing in reply.
So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, and conferred with one another, saying,
"What are we to do with these men? Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign was done through them, and we cannot deny it.
But so that it may not be spread any further among the people, let us give them a stern warning never again to speak to anyone in this name."
So they called them back and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John, however, said to them in reply, "Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.
It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard."
After threatening them further, they released them, finding no way to punish them, on account of the people who were all praising God for what had happened.

Psalms 118(117):1.14-15.16ab-18.19-21. 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:

"The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power."
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
Though the LORD has indeed chastised me,
yet he has not delivered me to death.

Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 16:9-15. 

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.
She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country.
They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either.
(But) later, as the eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised.
He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature."

"He rebuked them for their unbelief "

Where signs and testimonies abound, there is less merit in believing. God never works marvels except when they are a necessity for belief. Lest his disciples go without merit by having sensible proof of his resurrection, he did many things to further their belief before they saw him.
     
Mary Magdalene was first shown the empty sepulcher, and afterward the angels told her about the resurrection so she would, by hearing, believe before seeing. As St. Paul says: “Faith comes through hearing” (Rom10,17) . And though she beheld him, he seemed only an ordinary man, so by the warmth of his presence he could finish instructing her in the belief she was lacking

      And the women were sent to tell the disciples first... And journeying incognito to Emmaus with two of his followers, he inflamed their hearts in faith before allowing them to see him. Finally he reproved all his disciples for refusing to believe those who had told them of his resurrection. And announcing to Thomas that they are blessed who believe without seeing (Jn 20,29), he reprimanded him for desiring to experience the sight and touch of his wounds.

To gather into one the dispersed children of God

Book of Ezekiel 37:21-28. 

Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have come, and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land. 

I will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one prince for them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. 

No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that they may be my people and I may be their God. 

My servant David shall be prince over them, and there shall be one shepherd for them all; they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees. 

They shall live on the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their fathers lived; they shall live on it forever, they, and their children, and their children's children, with my servant David their prince forever. 

I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. 

My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever. 

Book of Jeremiah 31:10.11-12ab.13. 

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, 

Proclaim it on distant isles, and say: 

He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, 

He guards them as a shepherd his flock. 

The LORD shall ransom Jacob, 

he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. 

Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, 

they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings: 

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, 

and young men and old as well. 

I will turn their mourning into joy, 

I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 11:45-56. 

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. 

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 

So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. 

If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation."

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing,

nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish." 

He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 

So from that day on they planned to kill him. 

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves.

They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?" 

"To gather into one the dispersed children of God"

It is written that: “We, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Rom 12,5), for Christ gathers us into a unity by bonds of love: “He made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity... abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims that he might create in himself one new person in place of two” (Eph 2,14-15). Therefore we ought to have the same feelings towards each other: “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy” (1Cor 12,26). Hence, as Saint Paul again says: “Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom 15,7). Let us welcome each other if we would share these same feelings. “Let us bear one another's burdens; striving to preserve unity of Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4,2-3). This is how God has welcomed us in Christ. For that man spoke truly when he said: “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son” (Jn 3,16). For indeed the Son was given as a ransom for the lives of all of us and we have been liberated from death, set free from death and sin.

      

Saint Paul illuminates the outline of this plan of salvation when he says that: “Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God's truthfulness” (Rom 15,8). For God had promised the patriarchs, fathers to the Jews, that he would bless their descendants, who would also become as numerous as the stars of heaven. And this is the reason why the Word, who is God, was manifested in the flesh and became man. He upholds all creation in being and maintains the well-being of all that exists because he is God. But he came into this world when he became incarnate “not to be served” but, as he himself said: “to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10,45).

Abraham saw my day

Book of Genesis 17:3-9. 

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: 

"My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. 

No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations. 

I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you. 

I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 

I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God." 

God also said to Abraham: "On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. 

Psalms 105(104):4-5.6-7.8-9. 

Look to the LORD in his strength; 

seek to serve him constantly. 

Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought, 

his portents, and the judgments he has uttered. 

You descendants of Abraham, his servants, 

sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! 

He, the LORD, is our God; 

throughout the earth his judgments prevail. 

He remembers forever his covenant 

which he made binding for a thousand generations. 

Which he entered into with Abraham 

and by his oath to Isaac. 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:51-59. 

Jesus said to the Jews: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." 

(So) the Jews said to him, "Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.' 

Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?"

Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' 

You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. 

Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.

So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?" 

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."

So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

"Abraham saw my day"

Let us consider the reward Abraham wished to have from the Lord. He did not ask for wealth like a miser, nor a long life like someone who fears death, nor power, but he asked for an inheritance worthy of his work. “What good will your gifts be, he said, I keep on being childless” (Gn 15:2)… Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael, but God said to him: “That one shall not be your heir but one of your own issue” (Gn 15:4). What other one is he talking about? He is not referring to Ishmael but to holy Isaac… In Isaac, the legitimate son, we can see the truly legitimate son, our Lord Jesus Christ who, at the beginning of Saint Matthew’s gospel, is called son of Abraham (Mt 1:1). He showed himself to be a true son of Abraham when he made his ancestor’s posterity shine out; it was thanks to him that Abraham looked at the heavens and could see his posterity shine like the stars (Gn 15:5). The apostle Paul says: “Star differs from star in brightness; so also is the resurrection of the dead” (1Cor 15:41-42). When he associated with his resurrection those whom death guarded in the earth, Christ gave them a share in the kingdom of heaven. 

Affiliation with Abraham is passed on exclusively through the inheritance of faith, which prepares us for heaven, draws us close to the angels, raises us to the stars. “ ‘Just so, God said, shall your descendants be,’ and Abraham believed in the Lord” (Gn 15:6). He believed Christ would be his heir through his incarnation. To make this known to you, the Lord said: “Abraham saw my day and was glad”. God considered him as just because he did not ask for any explanations but unhesitatingly believed. It is right that faith should go before explanation; if not, we would seem to be asking the Lord our God for them as from a man. How unseemly it would be to believe other people when they bear witness to another and not to believe God when he speaks about himself! So let us imitate Abraham so as to inherit the world through the justification of faith, which made him inherit the earth.

If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham

Book of Daniel 3:14-20.91-92.95. 

King Nebuchadnezzar said: "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up? 

Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?" 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, "There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 

If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! 

But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up." 

Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual 

and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace. 

King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" "Assuredly, O king," they answered. 

"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God." 

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 

Book of Daniel 3:52.53.54.55.56. 

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, 

praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; 

and blessed is your holy and glorious name,   

praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages. 

Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, 

praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. 

Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, 

praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you who look into the depths 

from your throne upon the cherubim; 

praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, 

praiseworthy and glorious forever.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:31-42. 

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 

A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains.

So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. 

I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. 

I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father."

They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham.

But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. 

You are doing the works of your father!" (So) they said to him, "We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God." 

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me. 

"If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham"

Abraham followed God the first time he was called. He did not make himself a judge of the word addressed to him. His attachments to his family and relatives did not hold him back, nor love of his country and friends or any other human bond. But as soon as he heard the word and knew it was of God, he listened to it with simplicity and his faith held it as true. Despising everything else he set out with the innocence of a nature that does not seek to deceive or do evil. He ran towards God’s word like a child to its father… 

God had said to him: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Gn 12:1). It was to bring about the triumph of Abraham’s faith and make his simplicity shine that God did not reveal to him to which land he was calling him. He seemed to be leading him towards Canaan and yet the promise spoke of another country, of that life which is in the heavens. Saint Paul attests of it: “He was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and makes is God” (Heb 11:10)… Better still, in order to show us more clearly that this promise did not concern an earthly homeland, God, after bringing out Abraham from his own homeland in Ur of the Chaldeans, did not immediately lead him into the land of Canaan but made him first dwell at Haran. Nor did he reveal to him straight away the name of the country to which he was leading him and thus Abraham did not leave Chaldea drawn merely by a reward. 

Therefore, O disciple, consider Abraham’s going forth and that your own resembles his! Do not delay to answer the living voice of Christ calling you. In former days he spoke only to Abraham; today, through the Gospel, he calls all those who wish, inviting them to go out after him, for his call applies to all… Formerly he chose Abraham alone; today he asks everyone to imitate Abraham.

When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am

Book of Numbers 21:4-9. 

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to by-pass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, 

the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!" 

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. 

Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people, 

and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." 

Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. 

Psalms 102(101):2-3.16-18.19-21. 

LORD, hear my prayer; 

let my cry come to you. 

Do not hide your face from me 

now that I am in distress. 

Turn your ear to me; 

when I call, answer me quickly. 

The nations shall revere your name, O LORD, 

and all the kings of the earth your glory, 

when the LORD has rebuilt Zion 

and appeared in his glory; 

when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, 

and not despised their prayer. 

Let this be written for the generation to come, 

and let his future creatures praise the LORD: 

"The LORD looked down from his holy height, 

from heaven he beheld the earth, 

to hear the groaning of the prisoners, 

to release those doomed to die." 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:21-30. 

Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come."

So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"

He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. 

That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins."

So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.

I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." 

They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. 

So Jesus said (to them), "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. 

The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." 

Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him. 

“ When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am ”

He endured death yet hanged death on the cross and mortal men are delivered from death. The Lord calls to mind a great matter which was figuratively done with the Israelites of old. He says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up; that every one who believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life" (Jn 3:14). A great mystery is here, as those who read it know... Now Moses was ordered by the Lord to make a brazen serpent and to raise it on a pole in the wilderness and admonish the people, Israel, that, when any of them had been bitten by a serpent, they should look upon that serpent raised up on the pole. This was done: some were bitten, looked, and were healed (Nm 21:6-9). 

What are the biting serpents? Sins, from the mortality of the flesh. What is the serpent lifted up? The Lord's death on the cross. For as death came by the serpent so it was imaged by the likeness of a serpent. The serpent's bite was deadly, the Lord's death is life-giving. A serpent is gazed on that the serpent may have no power. What is this? A death is gazed on, that death may have no power. But whose death? The death of life: if it may be said so, the death of life; yes indeed, for it may be said, but said wonderfully. But should it not be spoken, seeing it was a thing to be done? Shall I hesitate to utter that which the Lord has deigned to do for me? Is not Christ life? And yet Christ hung on the cross. Is not Christ life? And yet Christ was dead. But in Christ's death, death died...; the fullness of life swallowed up death; death was absorbed in the body of Christ. So also shall we say at the resurrection, when triumphant at last we shall sing, "Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?" (1 Cor 15:55).

Justice and mercy

Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6. 

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

In verdant pastures he gives me repose; 

beside restful waters he leads me; 

he refreshes my soul. 

He guides me in right paths

Even though I walk in the dark valley 

I fear no evil; for you are at my side 

with your rod and your staff 

that give me courage. 

You spread the table before me 

in the sight of my foes; 

You anoint my head with oil; 

my cup overflows. 

Only goodness and kindness follow me 

all the days of my life; 

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD 

for years to come. 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:1-11. 

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 

But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 

They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?"

They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.

But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 

And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 

Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 

She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more." 

Justice and mercy

The Pharisees said amongst themselves regarding Jesus : “He has a reputation for being true and has an air of gentleness; we’ll have to attack him on a matter of justice. Let us take a woman to him who has been caught openly in the crime of adultery and say to him what the Law demands on the subject”… What does the Lord Jesus reply? What does Truth answer? (Jn 14:6). What does Wisdom have to say?” (1Cor 1:24). How does Justice itself respond when thus put to the test? Jesus does not say: “Let her not be stoned”, since he does not wish to seem to speak against the Law. However, he takes good care not to say: “Let her be stoned”, since he has come not to lose what he has found but to “seek out what is lost” (Lk 19:10). So what does he reply? Note how justice, gentleness and truth are fulfilled at the same time: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” he says. 

Wisdom’s answer! How he makes them return to themselves! Their manoeuvers were external but they did not look into the depths of their own hearts. They saw the adulteress but did not observe themselves… O Pharisees, doctors of the Law, you have heard the Law’s guardians but have not understood the One who gives the Law. Indeed, the Law has been written by the finger of God but, because of the hardness of people’s hearts, it has been written in stone (Ex 31:18; 34:1). Now the Lord writes in the dust because he is looking for the Law’s fruit… “Let each one examine himself, return to himself, place himself before the judgement seat of his soul… Anyone who looks at himself attentively inevitably finds himself a sinner. So let this woman go or submit yourself to the punishment of the Law along with her”… 

This is the voice of justice: “Let the guilty be punished but not by the guilty. Let the Law be executed but not by those who break the Law”… Struck by the justice as by the point of a lance they return to themselves and find themselves to be sinners, “they went away, one by one.”

See how he loved him

Book of Ezekiel 37:12-14. 

Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. 

Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! 

I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD. 

Psalms 130(129):1-2.3-4.5-6.7-8. 

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD 

LORD, hear my voice! 

Let your ears be attentive 

to my voice in supplication. 

If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, 

LORD, who can stand? 

But with you is forgiveness, 

that you may be revered. 

I trust in the LORD; 

my soul trusts in his word. 

My soul waits for the Lord 

more than sentinels for dawn. 

For with the LORD is kindness 

and with him is plenteous redemption; 

and he will redeem Israel 

from all their iniquities. 

Letter to the Romans 8:8-11. 

Brothers and sisters: those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 11:1-45. 

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 

So the sisters sent word to him, saying, "Master, the one you love is ill." 

When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 

So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. 

Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." 

The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?" 

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 

But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

He said this, and then told them, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him." 

So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved." 

But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. 

So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus has died. 

And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him." 

So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 

Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.

And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." 

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise." 

Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day." 

Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 

and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 

She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher is here and is asking for you." 

As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. 

For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. 

So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." 

And Jesus wept. 

So the Jews said, "See how he loved him." 

But some of them said, "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?" 

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. 

Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." 

Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" 

So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me.

I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." 

And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go." 

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

“ And Jesus wept. So the Jews said : See how he loved him ”

O Lord, since you are true God you knew about Lazarus's sleep and had made it known to your disciples... Since you are true man, who nevertheless are without limit, you came to Bethany. True man, you wept upon Lazarus; true God, you raised, by your will, this man who had been dead for four days. O Lord, have mercy on me too; my sins are numerous. I beg you, come, pull me out of the abyss of evil. It is to you that I cry; listen to my prayer, God of my salvation. 

After weeping for your friend, in your compassion you put an end to Martha's tears, and through your voluntary Passion you wipe away the tears from all faces (Is 25:8). “Blessed be the Lord, the God of our Fathers” (Ezr 7:27). You, the guardian of life, cried out to the dead man as if he were sleeping. With a word you tore open the belly of hell and raised him who then began to sing: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my Fathers”. Raise me up too, I who am strangled by the ties of my sins, and I will then sing to you: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of our Fathers”... 

In her gratitude, Mary brings you, O Lord, a pound of costly perfumed oil as a due for her brother (Jn 12:3) and she sings to you forever and ever.  As mortal you pray the Father, as God you awaken Lazarus. This is why we sing to you, O Christ, forever and ever... You awaken Lazarus, a man dead for four days, you raise him from his tomb, making of him a true witness of your resurrection on the third day. You walk, you weep, you talk, O my Savior, showing us your human nature; but by raising Lazarus you reveal to us your divine nature. In such an unparallelled way as this, O Lord my Saviour, by your two natures and with sovereign power you accomplished my salvation.

A division occurred in the crowd because of him

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 7:40-53. 

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, "This is truly the Prophet."
Others said, "This is the Messiah." But others said, "The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?"
The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this one."
So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed."
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?
They answered and said to him, "You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee."
Then each went to his own house,

"A division occurred in the crowd because of him"

It is with our bodily eyes that we notice what is happening in life and all around us: we observe the difference between light and darkness, white and black, ugly and beautiful... ; the same thing happens with regard to what comes to us through our sense of hearing : high-pitched, low-pitched, concordant. However, we also have ears of the heart and eyes of the soul and with these it is possible to grasp God. Thus God is perceived by those who can see him when the eyes of their souls have been opened.

We all have physical eyes but, for some of us, they are veiled and don't see the light of day. If the blind can't see, this is not because the light of the sun is not shining! It is themselves and their eyes that the blind are handicapped by. The same applies to you : the eyes of your soul are covered over by your sins and evil deeds... ; when someone sins, they can't see God anymore...

Nevertheless, if you want to, you can be healed. Entrust yourself to the doctor and he will operate on the eyes of your soul and heart. Which doctor is this ? It is God, who heals and gives life through his Word and Wisdom. For it is through his Word and Wisdom that God made all things... If you understand this and your life is pure and pious and upright, then you are able to see God. But before all else let faith and the fear of God enter your heart first and then you will understand it. When you have put off mortality and put on immortality (1Cor 15:53) then you will see God according as you deserve. He is the God who will raise up your flesh to immortality along with your soul. And then, when you have become immortal, you will see the immortal God insofar as you have believed in him now.

If the Son has set you free, then you are free indeed

Book of Daniel 3:14-20.91-92.95. 
King Nebuchadnezzar said: "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up? 
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?" 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, "There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 
If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! 
But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up." 
Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual 
and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace. 
King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" "Assuredly, O king," they answered. 
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God." 
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 



Book of Daniel 3:52.53.54.55.56. 
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, 
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; 
and blessed is your holy and glorious name,   
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages. 

Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, 
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. 
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, 
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you who look into the depths 
from your throne upon the cherubim; 
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, 
praiseworthy and glorious forever.





Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:31-42. 
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 
They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?"
Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 
A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains.
So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. 
I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. 
I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father."
They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. 
You are doing the works of your father!" (So) they said to him, "We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God." 
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me. 

"If the Son has set you free, then you are free indeed"

      My brothers, we have been born anew by baptism… “If with this life only in view we have had hope in Christ, we are of all people the most to be pitied” (1Cor 15:19). Earthly life, as you yourselves see, for beasts, domestic animals, and the birds of the air is of the same span or longer than ours. What is special to humans is what Christ has given them through his Spirit—that is, life everlasting, but on condition, however, that we sin no more… “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23).

      My little ones, above all hold fast to this: formerly the nations were delivered up to the powers of darkness; now we have been set free thanks to the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is he who has redeemed us… He released the captives and broke our bonds, as David had said: “The Lord sets captives free; the Lord gives sight to the blind” (Ps 145[146]:7). And in another place he says: “You have loosened my bonds. I will offer to you the thank-offering of praise” (Ps 115[116]:16). Yes, freed from our chains, when we rally round the standard of the Lord through the sacrament of baptism, we are delivered by the blood and the name of Christ…

      Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, we are washed but once; we are only liberated once; we are only received once into the immortal kingdom. It is only once that “Happy are those whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered” (Ps 31[32]]:1) Hold firm, then, to the gift received, safeguard your joy, and do not commit further sin. Preserve yourselves pure and innocent for the day of the Lord.

When you lift up the Son of Man, you will come to realize that I AM

Book of Numbers 21:4-9. 
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to by-pass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, 
the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!" 
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. 
Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people, 
and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." 
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered. 



Psalms 102(101):2-3.16-18.19-21. 
LORD, hear my prayer; 
let my cry come to you. 
Do not hide your face from me 
now that I am in distress. 
Turn your ear to me; 
when I call, answer me quickly. 

The nations shall revere your name, O LORD, 
and all the kings of the earth your glory, 
when the LORD has rebuilt Zion 
and appeared in his glory; 
when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, 
and not despised their prayer. 

Let this be written for the generation to come, 
and let his future creatures praise the LORD: 
"The LORD looked down from his holy height, 
from heaven he beheld the earth, 
to hear the groaning of the prisoners, 
to release those doomed to die." 




Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8:21-30. 
Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come."
So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. 
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." 
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. 
So Jesus said (to them), "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. 
The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." 
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him. 

“When you lift up the Son of Man, you will come to realize that I AM”

The person who truly venerates the Lord’s passion must look so hard at Jesus crucified with the eyes of his heart that he recognizes his own flesh in that of Jesus… No sick person can imagine himself refusing the triumph of the cross and there is no one who does not find help in Christ’s prayer. If this prayer benefited many of his torturers, how much more will it help those who turn to him!

By the fact that the divinity adopted our nature, because of which “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” (Jn 1:14) was any person excluded from his mercy unless he refused to believe? If we welcome him who assumed it and are regenerated by the Spirit who begot him, do we not have a nature that we share with Christ? In addition, who would not recognize their own weaknesses in him… who “took the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7)? …

This lifeless body that lay in the tomb but rose on the third day and ascended up above all the heavenly heights to the right hand of the Father’s majesty, this body is ours. If we walk in the way of his commandments and are not ashamed to profess all he did for our salvation in emptying himself in the flesh, then we also shall be lifted up to share in his glory. For what he announced will be radiantly fulfilled: “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my father in heaven.” (Mt 10:32)