Today's Gospel March 4 2020 with comment

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke 11,29-32.
At that time, as the crowds gathered, Jesus began to say: «This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
For as Jonah was a sign for those of Nìnive, so also the Son of man will be a sign for this generation.
The queen of the south will rise in judgment together with the men of this generation and condemn them; for it came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom. And behold, there is much more than Solomon here.
Those of Nìnive will arise in judgment together with this generation and condemn it; because they converted to the preaching of Jonah. And behold, there is much more than Jonah here ».

San Rafael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938)
Spanish Trappist monk

Spiritual writings, 14/12/1936
"Just as Jonah remained three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so the Son of man will remain three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12,40:XNUMX)
To consecrate itself to an art, to deepen a science, the spirit needs solitude and isolation; it needs recollection and silence. But for the soul in love with God, for the soul that sees no other art and science than the life of Jesus, for the soul that has found the hidden treasure on earth (Mt 13,44:12,7), silence is not enough nor recollection in solitude. He needs to hide from everything and hide with Christ, to look for a corner where the secular glances of the world do not arrive, and to entertain himself only with God. The King's secret (Tb XNUMX) is spoiled and loses its charm by revealing itself. It is this secret of the King that must be hidden for nobody to see, a secret that many will believe made of divine revelations and supernatural consolations; the King's secret, which we envy to the saints, often boils down to a cross.

We do not put the light under a bushel, Jesus tells us (Mt 5,15:XNUMX) ... We proclaim our faith to the four winds, we fill the world with shouts of jubilation for such a good God, we do not neglect to preach his Gospel and to say to all those who want to hear us that Christ died for love, nailed to the wood, died for me, for you, for him. If we truly love it, let's not hide it; we do not put the light that can illuminate others under a bushel.

However, blessed Jesus, we carry within us, without anyone knowing, the divine secret that you entrust to the souls who love you most, that particle of your cross, your thirst, your thorns. In the farthest corner of the earth we hide tears, pains, sadness; let us not fill the world with tears, nor let anyone know even the slightest part of our pains ... Let us hide with Christ, to make him only a part of what, in reality, is only his business: the secret of the cross. We understand once and for all, meditating on his life, passion and death, that there is only one way to get to him: the way of his holy cross.