Gospel of the day
Describing a situation in which people are deprived of their basic needs, Brusa said currently the most urgent one is drinking water.
He also highlighted the fact that for the first time, UN buildings[, where people take refuge,] are being hit by airstrikes.
What we find very disturbing now, he continued, “is that even hospitals have been asked to evacuate and that equates to a death sentence because we know very well that a patient cannot leave the hospital. There are pregnant women about to deliver, there are very sick people who have been injured in the bombardments, and they cannot move.”
And the doctors, Brusa continued, say “We are not going to move. We are not going to leave our patients, we will die with them.”
One woman, he said, wrote that that was her last message, that she didn't expect to survive until the next day.
“She was in the middle of Gaza and she said ‘I cannot relocate, first of all, because I'm not going to leave behind my elderly parents, I cannot move with young children and my extended family, but also because this is the eighth emergency in the last seven years: we are tired of all of this!’", she wrote.
“We prefer to die with dignity rather than, again, seeking to escape to the south.
Confirming that there is no safe place to go in Gaza at the moment, Brusa said that since last Thursday, 14 UNRWA[, United Nations Relief and Works Agency,] staff members have been killed and he suspects that number could be much higher.
“What we do know is that several of our installations, including a medical centre, schools, relief and social service centres have been hit, they are destroyed, they no longer exist.”
The final chapter of the book of Malachi only contains six verses, and announced the end of the wicked by the righteous.
If we continue in the reverse order comes the book of Zechariah, but if we take the reverse chronological order it is the book of Nehemiah :
I'll keep the biblical order and continue with Zechariah :
Zechariah 1:2-6 :
The LORD was terribly angry with your ancestors.
But you must say to the people, the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims : Return to me, says the LORD of heavenly forces, and I will return to you, says the LORD of heavenly forces.
Don’t be like your ancestors to whom the former prophets preached : The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims : Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they didn’t listen; they didn’t draw near to me.
[Four repetitions of The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims/says in only three verses, why ?]
So where are your ancestors ? Do the prophets live forever ?
In fact, didn’t my words and laws, which I gave to my servants, the prophets, pursue your ancestors ?
And then the people changed their hearts, and they said, The LORD of heavenly forces has treated us according to what we have done, exactly as he planned.
Zechariah 1:12-17
Then the LORD’s messenger, who was speaking with me, said : “LORD of heavenly forces, how long will you withhold compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with whom you have been angry these seventy years ?”
The LORD responded to the messenger who was speaking with me with kind and compassionate words.
The messenger speaking with me called out, “This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says : I care passionately about Jerusalem and Zion. And I am exceedingly angry with those carefree nations. Though I was somewhat angry, they added to the violence”.
Therefore, this is what the LORD says : I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion. My house will be built in it, says the LORD of heavenly forces. Let a measuring line be stretched over Jerusalem. “Call out again, The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims : My cities will again overflow with prosperity. The LORD will again show compassion to Zion and will again choose Jerusalem.”
[Who could ever say that they were lying ? How could anyone take these words literally ?]
Gospel according to Matthew 13:44-52 :
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.
When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.
[Because the bad fish, while not without value before that, suddenly didn't matter as much once they discovered all these good fishes(, and could afford to throw the bad away) ?]
This is how it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
[Exactly one of the formulation of Muhammad ﷺ if i'm not mistaken]
“Have you understood all these things ?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied. [Not me]
He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
[I think i can understand this one, it says that a teacher(, equivalent of a disciple/student in the kingdom of heaven,) is able to bring treasures from the sacred texts as well as from his own soul(, always/only by God's grace of course)]
[This surah talks about the afterlife, which is the occasion to express my regrets for writing that i do not believe in the afterlife, i simply don't give it any thoughts.
If believing in the afterlife helps me to become better, and to serve God and my fellow (non-)humans/creatures/beings, then i believe in the afterlife, i mostly don't want it, or God's gaze, to be my main motive, helping another being should be enough. And if it exists, i already know that my place is in Hell, i've failed.
I'd certainly feel a lot of trust and sympathy towards anyone who fears God, i can't understand how such person would consciously do evil. The problem as always is that our judgment is imperfect, at most we can/must try(, and at worst we can evilly defy our own conscience and God's judgment).]
Surah Al-Inshiqāq("The Sundering") (84) :
When the sky bursts open, obeying its Lord as it must,
and when the earth is flattened out, and ejects ˹all˺ its contents and becomes empty, obeying its Lord as it must,
˹surely you will all be judged˺.
O humanity ! Indeed, you are labouring restlessly towards your Lord, and will ˹eventually˺ meet the consequences.
As for those who are given their record in their right hand, they will have an easy reckoning, and will return to their people joyfully.
And as for those who are given their record ˹in their left hand˺ from behind their backs, they will cry for ˹instant˺ destruction, and will burn in the blazing Fire. For they used to be prideful among their people, thinking they would never return ˹to Allah˺.
Yes ˹they would˺ ! Surely their Lord has always been All-Seeing of them.
So, I do swear by the twilight !
And by the night and whatever it envelops !
And by the moon when it waxes full !
You will certainly pass from one state to another.
So what is the matter with them that they do not believe, and when the Quran is recited to them, they do not bow down ˹in submission˺ ?
In fact, the disbelievers persist in denial. But Allah knows best whatever they hide.
So give them good news of a painful punishment.
But those who believe and do good will have a never-ending reward.