Gospel of March 14, 2021

Jesus wept not only for Jerusalem but for all of us. And he gives his life, so that we recognize his visit. St. Augustine used to say a word, a very strong phrase: 'I'm afraid of God, of Jesus, when he passes by!'. But why are you afraid? 'I'm afraid I won't recognize him!'. If you are not attentive to your heart, you will never know if Jesus is visiting you or not. May the Lord give us all the grace to recognize the time in which we have been visited, we are visited and we will be visited in order to open the door to Jesus and thus ensure that our hearts are more enlarged in love and serve in love. the Lord Jesus (Papa Francesco, Santa Marta, November 17, 2016)

First Reading From the second book of the Chronicles 2Ch 36,14: 16.19-23-XNUMX In those days, all the rulers of Judah, the priests and the people multiplied their infidelities, imitating in everything the abominations of other peoples, and defiled the temple, which the Lord had consecrated himself in Jerusalem . The Lord, the God of their fathers, earnestly and unceasingly sent his messengers to admonish them, because he had compassion on his people and their dwelling. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and mocked his prophets to the point that the Lord's anger against his people reached a climax, with no more remedy.

Gospel of March 14, 2021: Paul's letter

Then [his enemies] burned down the temple of the Lord, demolished the walls of Jerusalem and burned down all its palaces and destroyed all its valuables. The king [of the Chaldees] deported to Babylon those who had escaped the sword, who became his and his sons' slaves until the coming of the Persian kingdom, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord through the mouth of Jeremias: "Until the earth has paid its Saturdays, she will rest for all the time of desolation until she is seventy years old ». In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through the mouth of Jeremias, the Lord aroused the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, which he had proclaimed throughout his kingdom, even in writing: " Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: “The Lord, God of heaven, has granted me all the kingdoms of the earth. He commissioned me to build him a temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever of you belongs to his people, the Lord his God, let him be with him and go up! ”».

Gospel of the day March 14, 2021: the gospel of Joan

Second Reading From the letter of St. Paul apostle to the Ephesians Eph 2,4: 10-XNUMX Brothers, God, rich in mercy, for the great love with which he loved us, from dead we were through sins, he made us live again with Christ: by grace you are saved. With him he also raised us up and made us sit in heaven, in Christ Jesus, to show in future centuries the extraordinary richness of his grace through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith; and this does not come from you, but it is a gift of God; nor does it come from works, so that no one can boast of it. We are in fact his work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared for us to walk in them.

From the Gospel according to John Jn 3,14: 21-XNUMX At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. In fact, God so loved the world that he gave the only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned; but he who does not believe has already been condemned, because he did not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And the judgment is this: the light has come into the world, but men have loved darkness more than light, because their works were evil. In fact, whoever does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light so that his works are not reproved. On the other hand, whoever does the truth comes towards the light, so that it may clearly appear that his works have been done in God ».