Gospel: Luke 11:29-32
As the crowd increased, Jesus spoke the following words: “People of the present time are troubled people. They ask for a sign,
but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son
of Man be a sign for this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and
accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon. The people of
Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching made them turn from their sins,
and here, there is greater than Jonah.

Reflection:

An interesting anecdote is said of St. John of the Cross. While he
was in Lisbon, his confreres were eager to visit a famed stigmatic in
that city. They urged John to go with them to meet the stigmatic.
But John refused. He wasn’t interested in the miraculous.
Hence, while his brothers eagerly visited the stigmatic, John spent
the evening by the sea, reading the Bible. People such as John
would be a minority; for we have an insatiable lust for the
miraculous. We thirst for signs and miracles. Such obsession for signs
unfortunately reveals our lack of faith and trust in God, because,
for a person who has faith, isn’t every moment of life a miracle
and every event in life a sign of God’s presence and love? When
we have such faith-filled eyes, we will look at every bird and every
lily and see the signs of God’s everyday Providence, as Jesus
could and did (cf. Mt 6: 25-34).

© Copyright Bible Diary 2022

Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15
When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more
chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him.
This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom, come, your will, be
done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.
Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also
forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.

Reflection:

Being the International Day of Women, we shall listen to an
extraordinary woman. Here is Simone Weil speaking of her
practice of reciting the Lord’s Prayer, in her book Waiting for God:
“The effect of this practice is extraordinary and surprises
me every time, for, although I experience it each day, it
exceeds my expectation at each repetition. At times
the very first words tear my thoughts from my body and
transport it to a place outside space where there is neither
perspective nor point of view. The infinity of the ordinary
expanses of perception is replaced by an infinity to
the second or sometimes the third degree. At the same time,
filling every part of this infinity of infinity, there is silence,
a silence which is not an absence of sound but which
is the object of a positive sensation, more positive than
that of sound. Noises, if there are any, only reach me after
crossing this silence.”

© Copyright Bible Diary 2022

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be brought
before him; and, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will he do with them, placing the sheep on his right hand and
the goats on his left. The king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared
for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and
you welcomed me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to see me.’ Then
the righteous will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and give you food; thirsty, and give you something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome
you; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and go to see you?’ The king will answer, ‘Truly I say to you: just as you did it
for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of my sight,
into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry, and you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and
you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me into your house; I was naked, and you did not clothe me; I was sick, and
in prison, and you did not visit me.’ They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help
you?’ The king will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you: just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ And these will go into
eternal punishment; but the just, to eternal life.”

Reflection:

Look at the response of the sheep on the right: “Lord,
when did we see you hungry and gave you food, thirsty and
gave you drink…?” When the King clarifies, we can imagine
their response to be one of shock, surprise, delight—an
“aha” experience! What does this episode tell us? That these
righteous ones had no idea that it was the Lord they were
feeding and helping when they took care of the poor and
the needy in their life on earth! They didn’t do so because they
“saw” the face of Christ in them (as some saints did); nor because
the Scriptures commanded them to do so (as some of us
do). They did so simply because it came so naturally for them to
help; because loving and caring was their first nature. Like God’s
own nature. We might find them seated on the right and the left
of Christ in his glory!

© Copyright Bible Diary 2022

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
Jesus was now full of the Holy Spirit. As he returned from the Jordan, the Spirit led him into the desert, where he was tempted
by the devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during that time, and at the end he was hungry. The devil then said to him,
“If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “Scripture says: People cannot live on bread
alone.” Then the devil took him up to a high place, and showed him, in a flash, all the nations of the world. And he said to Jesus, “I can give