Friday of the Twenty-ninth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. John of Capistrano, Priest (1386-1456)

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Pope Benedict XVI: Recognizing here and now the goods of eternity

Letter to the Romans 7:18-25.

For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if (I) do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.

Psalms 119:66.68.76.77.93.94.

Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust.
You are good and do what is good; teach me your laws.
May your love comfort me in accord with your promise to your servant.
Show me compassion that I may live, for your teaching is my delight.
I will never forget your precepts; through them you give me life.
I am yours; save me, for I cherish your precepts.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12:54-59.

He also said to the crowds, “When you see (a) cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day :

Pope Benedict XVI
Encyclical « Caritas in veritate », 7 (©Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Recognizing here and now the goods of eternity

The good of the individual is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of «all of us», made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society. It is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community… To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity…

Every Christian is called to practise this charity, in a manner corresponding to his vocation and according to the degree of influence he wields in the pólis. This is the institutional path — we might also call it the political path — of charity, no less excellent and effective than the kind of charity which encounters the neighbour directly, outside the institutional mediation of the pólis. When animated by charity, commitment to the common good has greater worth than a merely secular and political stand would have. Like all commitment to justice, it has a place within the testimony of divine charity that paves the way for eternity through temporal action.

Man’s earthly activity, when inspired and sustained by charity, contributes to the building of the universal city of God, which is the goal of the history of the human family. In an increasingly globalized society, the common good and the effort to obtain it cannot fail to assume the dimensions of the whole human family, that is to say, the community of peoples and nations, in such a way as to shape the earthly city in unity and peace, rendering it to some degree an anticipation and a prefiguration of the undivided city of God.