Today, 22nd of February, we celebrate
The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle
Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened,
you endured a great contest of suffering.
At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction;
at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.
You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison
and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property,
knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence;
it will have great recompense.
You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.
For, after just a brief moment,
he who is to come shall come;
he shall not delay.
But my just one shall live by faith,
and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him.
We are not among those who draw back and perish,
but among those who have faith and will possess life.
R./ The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Trust in the Lord and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
R/ The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit to the Lord your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R/ The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
By the Lord are the steps of a man made firm,
and he approves his way.
Though he fall, he does not lie prostrate,
for the hand of the Lord sustains him.
R/ The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R/ The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Jesus said to the crowds:
“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”
He said,
“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
The evangelist Mark helps us understand that the arrival of the Kingdom does not happen in a miraculous way that instantly eliminates all injustices and inequalities. That’s not how Jesus sees it. The coming of the Kingdom is a free, gracious act of God.
Jesus uses two simple parables, easily understood in the agrarian culture of Galilee. Today, we might call them “parables for times of crisis,” especially in the challenging times we face.
The first parable explains that the Kingdom of God grows with a vitality and energy of its own. It has an inherent power that not only sustains it but causes it to grow steadily—even when we are unaware of it, as we go about our daily lives.
The parable of the Kingdom as a mustard seed offers a sharp critique of the ambitions for greatness that often accompany individuals and institutions. The Kingdom of God is, and will always be, something small and seemingly insignificant—something that goes unnoticed. And it is precisely from this smallness that the realization of the Kingdom springs forth and grows.
We must learn to build a better world by sowing small gestures of goodness, compassion, and solidarity. Discouragement is not an option. Instead, we must remain firm, embracing the humility of the “small ones,” those who seem to count for nothing—the children, the last, the overlooked. These are the ones Jesus taught us to value.
With gratitude,
Salvador León, C.M.F.In the beginning of the 19 Century, social concern was almost inexistent and poverty considered an insoluble problem, with children as the greatvictims. They grew up in ahleys and slums and roamed the streets especially in cities. Turin had thousands of them. Don Bosco (1815—1888) took the initiative to care for these neglected children and youth. His sensitive heart and his firm guidance could bring them together to give them shelter and an education. He understood them and made himself accepted by them. He had a hard time to change the mentality of politicians and Church leaders and to spur them to do something about the problem, but he succeeded little by little. In ah his difficulties, he kept his good cheer.
Lord our God,
with you and with your Son, Jesus,
John Bosco loved the young
and dedicated his hife and that of his Congregation
to their education and care.
Dispose your Church and its leaders
and also ah parents,
to pay very much attentiori
to the formation and development of the young,
who are our hope for the future.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Lord our God, ever young
with bread and wine, we celebrate
how Jesus became one of us
and how he made himself little
to be close to us.
May we also learn from him
to become little and humble
to make ourselves available to children,
to understand and to love them,
and to help them grow up
to the fuli adulthood of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Lord our God, we tend to come before you
with our human wisdom:
self-assured, sophisticated, world wise,
but Jesus made children the privileged symbol
of the truly adult disciple.
Let him give us the openness and receptivity
of children: humble, authentic,
and open to your love and gifts.
Let him make us mature in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
