If only you would hearken to my commandments.
Thus says the Lord, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the Lord, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.
R./ Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the Lord
and meditates on his law day and night.
R./ Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R./ Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the Lord watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R./ Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
They listened to neither John nor to the Son of Man.
Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
Faith over excuses: Embracing the Challenge of the Gospel
In the Gospel today, Jesus confronts the resistance of His generation to God’s message. Like stubborn children in a marketplace, they reject both John the Baptist and Jesus, inventing excuses to discredit them. John, with his austere lifestyle, is accused of being possessed. Jesus, who dines with sinners, is dismissed as a glutton and drunkard. Their reactions reveal a deeper issue: a refusal to embrace God’s surprising ways.
Pope Francis highlights how this resistance persists today. Leaders and communities, both in society and the Church, often resist challenges to their comfort or traditions. When faced with prophetic voices or new expressions of faith, they label them as disobedient or contrary to established norms. This tendency to cling to little traditions and rigid ideas stifles openness to the Holy Spirit’s work in our time.
Jesus exposes the inconsistency of these attitudes, comparing the critics to children demanding others dance to their tune. True wisdom, however, does not impose its own preferences but seeks God’s will with humility. Wisdom is not about controlling the narrative but discerning God’s presence in unexpected places and voices.
We are called to examine our own hearts. Are we consistent in living our faith, or do we fall into the same traps of prejudices and resistance? Faith requires a critical conscience, one that challenges injustice and seeks authentic renewal, both in society and within the Church.
The Gospel reminds us that divine wisdom is revealed to the humble and open-hearted. Let us lay aside pretexts and excuses, embracing the uncomfortable but life-giving message of the Gospel. May the Gospel challenge and transform us daily.
Saint Lucy (+304), the virgin and martyr from Syracuse in Sicily, is greatly honored in the Roman Church because of her faith and great courage. As the young man who proposed marriage to her was not a Christian, she rejected his marriage proposal. He denounced her to the authorities as a Christian and she was cruelly tortured. Her name means "light." Scandinavian countries celebrate her memory with a feast of light.
Lord our God,
you let the light of faith shine
in your young and courageous martyr, St. Lucy.
On her feast day, we ask you:
May our faith remain young and fresh,
strong in the face of contradiction and indifference
as a treasure never to be abandoned.
May our faith be like a light
brightening not only our lives
but also shining on people around us.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine,
we celebrate the death of your Son
but also his resurrection in glory.
May the Eucharist give us the strength
to profess our faith
not only when it is tested in trials
but also in the life of every day,
that we may live fully as we believe.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Lord our God,
let the Word of Jesus be to us a light
that shows us the way to you and to one another.
May the body and blood of your Son
give us the courage to bear witness,
that we want to live in this light
every day you give us.
Grant us this through Christ, our Lord.
