Spiritual Exercises with Francis (Lent 2016)

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Ermes Ronchi: The Pope's 2016 Lenten Retreat Master

The Church must not shine the spotlight on herself but instead on Christ, and She still has some work to do in this regard.
Christ is not giving lessons or suggesting replies based on what other people say about Him, but rather urges His Apostles to look into their own hearts. Think of the beauty of a Church that does not shine the spotlight on herself but instead on Christ... [link]

Some people are so hungry that for them God cannot but have the form of a loaf of bread. Life – he said – begins with hunger; to be alive is to be hungry. And if you take that a step further one must consider the hunger of millions of people in the world: the siege of the poor, millions of outstretched hands asking for something to eat does not – he said –  ask for a religious definition. How does the Church respond? Jesus has a very practical approach when he tells the disciples to sum up what they have in hand. He said that all disciples, including the ones today, are called to quantify their assets. How much money do you have? How many houses? What standard of living? You must check! How many cars and how much jewelry in the form of crucifixes or rings? he said. The Church – Father Ronchi concluded – must not be afraid of transparency. In this promise of Jesus – Father Ronchi said – is the mysterious, immense economy of giving and its hundredfold return which turns every budget upside down. [link]

In his last hours on the Cross on Good Friday, Jesus was concerned for the pain and anguish suffered by a thief, Fr. Ronchi observes.  And in the early hours of Easter, he was concerned about Mary’s pain and her love. Jesus is the man of encounter, the priest says: he never looks for a person’s sins, but always focusses on their suffering and need. If I see, I stop and I touch. If I wipe away a tear, I know I am not changing the world; I cannot change the structures of iniquity, but I have injected into it the idea that hunger is not invincible. Mercy, he concludes, is all that is essential to human life…And God forgives thus: not with a document but with His hands, a touch, a caress. [link]

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