Against sinful tendencies
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. (Matthew 11: 12)
Jesus said to the crowd: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11: 11-15)
The violence cited by Jesus as a necessary condition to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is not violence towards other human beings but violence towards one's own sinful tendencies. Such sinful tendencies can sometimes seem impossible to counter when divine grace is absent within us. Let us pray, therefore, that the Lord will never leave us lacking in His Grace even through the help of good shepherds, like John the Baptist did for his own contemporaries.
