Gospel

From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 11:11-15

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The Gospel of the Lord

 

Peace amid violence.

The Lord has sown in us the seed of the kingdom of Heaven, but this seed placed in our soul undergoes violence. We live, and we must inevitably experience the great tribulation because only the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies bears abundant fruit. Let us not expect to bear fruit without the cross, for only through the humiliation of giving everything I am, as Jesus does in the manger, will Life come through the work of the Holy Spirit.

 

Applied to married life:

Toni: If God loves us so much, why does He allow us to suffer?

Louise: Because we have to strip ourselves of everything to welcome the All. Removing what points to me to point entirely to Him and thus to you. And that hurts.

Toni: It’s easy to say, but indeed, it’s challenging.

Louise: He makes it simple; it is us who make it complicated. As St. Augustine said: Love and do what you will. So, entrust yourself to Him, and everything will be set in order in your heart. It is His promise.

 

Mother,

May we be instruments of peace in the midst of the violence that the kingdom of Heaven undergoes. Praise the Lord.