Menu
Brothers and sisters:
Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm
against the tactics of the Devil.
For our struggle is not with flesh and blood
but with the principalities, with the powers,
with the world rulers of this present darkness,
with the evil spirits in the heavens.
Therefore, put on the armor of God,
that you may be able to resist on the evil day
and, having done everything, to hold your ground.
So stand fast with your loins girded in truth,
clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,
and your feet shod in readiness for the Gospel of peace.
In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield,
to quench all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
With all prayer and supplication,
pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.
To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication
for all the holy ones and also for me,
that speech may be given me to open my mouth,
to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel
for which I am an ambassador in chains,
so that I may have the courage to speak as I must.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My mercy and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,
“Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go and tell that fox,
‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,
and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.
Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,
for it is impossible that a prophet should die
outside of Jerusalem.’
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Behold, your house will be abandoned.
But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Bad times
We live in difficult times, where every day we have bad news for breakfast: corruption, wars, threats of destruction, violence, general demoralization, identity theft. Every day we have the option of falling into discouragement, bitterness, resentment, or resorting to violence to shake off the evil. No one can blame us. Sometimes the feeling of helplessness is so great that it does not seem worth resisting. So today it is comforting to hear that there is an «armor» to resist the evil day. It is not a cheap armor, nor a tin armor. That would not be enough. It is the armor of God, and it is nothing more or less than the cross. A symbol of scandal and weakness, the cross is the most powerful thing we Christians have. The cross implies an absolute confidence of victory in spite of all outward appearances and all the enormous difficulties we face.
Jesus was advised to leave his mission because it was difficult; he was persecuted. He was advised to flee. His life was in imminent danger. But Jesus replied that a hen protects her chicks.
That is, in the face of difficulty, a suit of armor that seems to lead directly to death; in the face of possible persecution and death, the protection of simple chicken wings with a very limited defensive capacity.
These are the paradoxes of Christianity. Faith does not deny them, because they are based on the rock of the Word of God. It is about the firm and sure conviction of the unstoppable power of the resurrection. What we have to do is to resist, to pray and to plead, as Paul says to the Ephesians. It is also to ask for the courage to speak, to proclaim and to denounce. And to say, like Jesus, «I must continue today and tomorrow and the next day. For the prophet must remain in «Jerusalem», even if it means his death. Even if our wings are as seemingly powerless before Him as those of the hen. Even if our armor is something as seemingly ineffective as the cross. Two thousand years of salvation; the sure voice of life tells us again and again and again that appearances deceive. This is our faith; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Carmen AguinacoEphesians tells us in the words of Paul how he was boldly and confidently facing the powers of evil. Paul is in prison for the gospel. He asks his Christians to pray that he may have the courage to speak out for the gospel and he himself prompts the faithful to stand strong in the face of evil.
Jesus is warned by apparently sympathetic Pharisees that Herod may kill him. Jesus replies that he has already faced evil spirits and will continue on his way to Jerusalem, – “I must continue on my way” where death awaits him “today, tomorrow, and the next day,” that is, soon. Are we people marked by courage? Let us pray to the Lord for strength.
Lord God,
to have an aim, a purpose,
a sure destiny to go to,
even at the cost of sacrifice and pain,
is very reassuring in all its uncertainty.
Keep us going on our way in faith and trust,
without fear or hesitation,
for we are sure that nothing can harm us
and that no prison made by human hands or minds
can deprive us from the inner freedom
which you have given us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
– For all who are persecuted for their faith, that Jesus may give them the strength to remain faithful, we pray:
– For couples whose roads in marriage passes through difficult moments, that their love may not fail, we pray:
– For all of us, that through questions, doubts and difficulties God may help our faith grow, we pray:
Lord our God,
your Son Jesus accepted
to go all the way to his destiny
of suffering and death
because he believed in your love.
By this bread and this wine
keep us believing in your victory
over evil and death
and let them become for us
the source of strength and courage
in our struggle for all that is good.
We ask you this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord our God,
we overcome evil with your Son
when we opt for integrity and truth,
for patience and forgiveness.
Keep us going on our way
And strengthen in us the conviction
that the reality of evil and sin
within us and in the world
can never be victorious,
for all that is good cannot die
since your Son rose from the dead,
and he is our Lord forever.
We must be on our way with the Lord, consistently, even in the difficulties of life. We know our goal: love of God and of people, and nothing should stop us. We know we are in the hands of God. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
