Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 13:12-14
Mass: Ga 5:18-25; Resp Ps 1; Lk 11:42-46
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
At today's General Audience, the Holy Father continued his catechesis on the Ten Commandments with reflections on the Fifth Commandment, 'Do not kill'. Killing comes in many forms. Pope Francis listed a few: insult, contempt, hate, anger, or despising someone. St Paul writes of 'works of the flesh' in our reading from the Letter to the Galatians, which could be other ways of killing: rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, and factions. In today's passage from the Holy Rule, St Benedict writes about 'thorns of contention' that are 'likely to spring up' in community. Anyone who lives in a community or family can likely list more than a few thorns of contention that spring up. This is why St Benedict stresses the importance of reciting the Lord's Prayer at the end of Lauds and Vespers. So, whether we call them 'works of the flesh' or 'thorns of contention', they are all forms of killing. Hence our need of mercy and forgiveness, summarized well by the pontiff: 'None of us can survive without mercy, we all need forgiveness. So, if killing means destroying, suppressing, eliminating someone, then not killing means taking care of, giving value to, including. And forgiving.' In fact, 'Not loving', said Pope Francis, 'is the first step to killing'. And 'not killing is the first step to loving.'
It is a painful grace having our pettiness, our neediness, our grasping and clutching and clinging revealed to us. But this is the only way the inside of the cup is cleaned.
(E. Prevallet)
ST IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH,
PRAY FOR US.
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