TWENTY-FOURTH WEDNESDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Lk 7:31-35) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

"Wisdom is vindicated by all her children." (Lk 7:35)

FIRST READING: 1 Cor 12:31-13:13

Brothers and sisters:

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues

but do not have love,

I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy

and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;

if I have all faith so as to move mountains,

but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own,

and if I hand my body over so that I may boast

but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It is not jealous, love is not pompous,

it is not inflated, it is not rude,

it does not seek its own interests,

it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;

if tongues, they will cease;

if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.

For we know partially and we prophesy partially,

but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,

think as a child, reason as a child;

when I became a man, I put aside childish things.

At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,

but then face to face.

At present I know partially;

then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY: Lk 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:

“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?

What are they like?

They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.

We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,

and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,

‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,

a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

TWENTY-FOURTH WEDNESDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Lk 7:31-35)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear people of God,

In today's Word of God, God the Father invites His children: to unite and love one another, to worship and praise God the Father together; to unite and fight against Satan, because Satan always seeks to divide God the Father's children.

To be united and love one another as God the Father invites, He wants each person to abandon their selfish ego and worship God together in their thoughts and actions. By doing so, everyone will avoid the sins that Satan brings.

God the Father also invites His children: to live in the wisdom of God the Father, that is, to have charity, love, humility, self-abasement, simplicity, so that God's spirit can work in them. Otherwise, Satan will come and act in our own souls and bodies. They will control us according to their instructions and will lead us to evil actions, making us far from the mercy of God the Father.

God the Father continues to call on His children: while living in this world, let us love and forgive; let us abandon our selfish egos, to serve others as God the Father has commanded. God the Father wants people to worship only Him as the only One, to love Him with all their souls, with all their minds, and to love their fellow human beings as themselves.

In today's Word of God, God the Father also mentions the great prophet of God the Father, Saint John the Baptist. God the Father sent him to the world to call on everyone to repent, to abandon the path of sin and return to Him. But people used human wisdom to justify and kill Saint John.

For this reason, today, once again God the Father calls upon His children: to be alert to the temptations of Satan, do not listen to his instigation; practice charity, love, and above all, unite with one another, so that Satan will be defeated.

God the Father is not pleased when His children are jealous, envious and proud. Because these things will pull the souls of His children away from His loving embrace and will lose the happiness of the Kingdom of Heaven that God the Father has prepared for His children.

Thanks be to God. Amen.