Friday of the Thirty-fourth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Saint Gregory the Great (c.540-604), Pope, Doctor of the Church
Homilies on the Gospels, no. 1 (trans. ©Cistercian publications, Inc., 1980)
"Know that the kingdom of God is near"
“Look at the fig tree and all the trees; when they produce their fruit you know that smmer is near. So too, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.” He means that just as the coming of summer is recognized by the fruit on the trees, so is the nearness of the kingdom of God recognized by the destruction of the world. These words show that the fruit of the world is destruction: it increases only to fall, it produces only to destroy by its disasters whatever it produces. The kingdom of God is aptly compared to summer, because it is then that the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine with the brightness of the eternal sun…
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Nothing among material realities is more lasting than the heavens and the earth, and nothing among realities passes away as quickly as an utterance... Therefore the Lord declares: “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” He means: “Nothing that is lasting in your world lasts for eternity without change; and everything that in me is perceived as passing away is kept firm, without passing away. My utterance, which passes away, expresses thoughts that endure without change”…
Therefore, my friends, do not love what you see cannot long exist. Keep in mind the apostle John's precept, in which he counsels us not “to love the world or the things in the world, because if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him” (1Jn 2,15).
-- Saint Catherine Laboure