miniZibaldone

The Lord’s passing is an encounter of mercy that unites everything around Him to enable us to recognize one who is in need of help and of consolation. From a beggar to a disciple: this is also our path. We are all beggars, all of us. We are always in need of salvation. And all of us, should take this step every day: from beggars to disciples. And so, the blind man sets out behind the Lord and begins to be part of His community. He whom they wanted to silence, now witnesses in a loud voice his encounter with Jesus of Nazareth . From the audience “If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother …. For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore, I command you, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land” (Deuteronomy 15:7.11). The contrast between this recommendation of Go...

W hereas Jesus was warning his disciples about his coming humiliation and death, they [apostles] were concerned with worldly matters such as who would become the most powerful among them. From the homily Pope Francis reminded of Jesus' warning to his disciples that "if anyone wishes to be first he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."  “Along the path where Jesus shows us to journey, the guiding principle is service. The greatest is the person who serves most, who serves others most, not the person who boasts, who seeks power, money… vanity, pride. No, these people are not the greatest. And this is what happened here with the apostles, even with the mother of John and James, it’s an event that happens every day in the Church, in every community. ‘But which of us is the greatest? Who’s in charge?’ Ambitions: there is always this desire to be a social climber, to have power, in every community, parish or institution.” [...]  “Vanity and power …  and how and...

How am I doing on this Christian journey?  Am I standing still, making mistakes, turning here and there, stopping in front of the things that I like, or (am I  following) Jesus who said "I who am the Way. " ? From the homily Pope Francis reflected on the need for Christians to consistently follow Jesus and not get waylaid or blocked on their journey of faith.  He said there are many  different types of Christians who are following Jesus in a confused manner like the mummified Christian, the vagabond Christian, the stubborn Christian and the half  way Christian. [...]  “Christians who stay still, who don't go forward, are non-Christian Christians. We don’t know exactly what they are. They are slightly ‘paganized’ Christians: who  are there, who stay still and don’t go forward in their Christian lives, who don’t make the Beatitudes bloom in their lives, who don’t do Works of mercy… they are  motionless. Excuse me for saying it, but they are lik...

The Christian life is really quite easy: Jesus is the door; He guides us along the Way, and we know His voice in the Beatitudes, in the works of mercy and when it teaches us to say ‘Father’ From the homily Pope Francis went on to note the simplicity of the language with which Jesus addresses His teachings to the people – a simplicity of imagery that conveys profound truths in a powerful way. “Jesus,” he said, “always spoke to people with simple images: all those people knew what a shepherd’s life was like, because they saw it every day.” They also understood, therefore, what it meant to say, “you enter only through the gate of the sheep pen,” and that anyone trying to get in by any other way was up to no good: “The Lord thus clearly says: you cannot enter eternal life by any entryway that is not the door – that is not Jesus. He is the door of our life – and not only of eternal life, but also of our daily lives. Any decision I take, I take either in the name of Jesus, passing by ...