A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:47-54)
The Lord said: “Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns those who memorialize the prophets their ancestors killed. It is a sweeping, difficult message that takes into account generations of human history, in which, as Saint Paul writes “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” While a criticism of religious leaders of the time, Jesus also condemns the hypocrisies of the present age, wherever putting on appearances and false displays of piety supersede genuine acts of mercy and love. The building up of what is false can only lead to separation from God since God is truth itself. As Jesus says: “Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” From every person, Jesus calls for transformation of heart and a genuine commitment to hearing and keeping God’s word.
Father in heaven, help me recognize that Jesus your Son condemns only to set people again on a path to integrity and truth. “I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.” Give me the grace today to trust that you are attentive to my prayers and that in your mercy you alone satisfy every need. Help me know the strength of your guidance throughout the day, keep me from the harm of accepting what is false as true, and bring me into the knowledge of your will and the light of your glory.
From the responsorial psalm: “I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. My soul waits for the LORD more than sentinels wait for the dawn. With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.