24th Week in Ordinary Time
Cornelius and Cyprian

1st Reading: 1 Tim 3:14–16

Gospel: Lk 7:31–35
Jesus said, “What comparison can I use for this people? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain: ‘We piped you a tune and you wouldn’t dance; we sang funeral songs and you wouldn’t cry.’
“Remember John: he didn’t eat bread or drink wine, and you said: ‘He has an evil spirit.’ Next came the Son of Man, eating and drinking, and you say: ‘Look, a glutton for food and wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But the children of Wisdom always recognize her work.”

Commentary
The Church is the pillar of truth! Humankind’s ingenuity cannot account for this. The Church has remained one, holy, catholic and apostolic, not through man’s effort, but because God preserves the Church. Just as God guided the Israelites on their escape from Egypt by giving them a pillar of fire to light their way across the dark wilderness, today, He guides us by giving us the Church. In this age of countless competing religions, one voice rises above the din: the Church, the pillar and foundation of the truth. Christ assured the apostles and their successors, the popes and the bishops, of His everlasting support. If we want to observe all that Christ commanded, we must follow Him through the Church. This is our great challenge…and our great privilege.
One of the most important activities for us in the Church is prayer. Without it there can be no true spiritual life. Through personal prayer and the communal prayer of the Church…especially in the Mass…we worship and praise God, we express sorrow for our sins, and we intercede on behalf of others. Through prayer, we grow in our relationship with Christ and with members of God’s family. Let us pray!

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