Friday of week 8 in Ordinary Time; Saint Paul VI, Pope; Gospel: Mark 11:11-26In today’s Gospel, Jesus cleanses the Temple and curses the barren fig tree, revealing a profound spiritual truth: the Temple exists for an encounter with God, and without genuine spiritual fruit it loses its meaning. The fig tree appeared alive from a distance because of its leaves, yet it bore no fruit. In the same way, religious life can sometimes preserve external appearances while lacking true communion with the Lord. Jesus enters the Temple expecting prayer, worship, and openness to God, but instead finds distraction, commerce, and self-interest. The Temple is holy not because of its structure alone, but because it is the place where humanity encounters the living God. The same is true of our hearts, our churches, and our spiritual lives. If prayer, faith, forgiveness, charity, and conversion are absent, external religiosity risks becoming barren like the fruitless fig tree. On the memorial of Saint Paul VI, who continually called the Church to authentic renewal and deeper encounter with Christ, we are reminded that true faith must bear visible fruits of holiness and love. The Lord seeks not appearances, but hearts truly open to Him, because only a life rooted in communion with God can bear lasting fruit. Let’s reflect: Is my heart truly a temple of encounter with the Lord that bears the fruits of prayer, faith, forgiveness, and love, or am I only preserving the appearance of spiritual life without real communion with God?
Don Giorgio