miniZibaldone

A Christ without a cross is not the Lord: he is a teacher, nothing else [...] It is one of the temptations.... The other temptation is a cross without Christ....This is a type of spiritual masochism: only the cross, without hope and without Christ. A Christ without a cross is not the Lord: he is a teacher, nothing else. This is perhaps what Nicodemus, without realizing it, was seeking. It is one of the temptations. Yes, Jesus: ‘What a good teacher’, but… without the cross, [only] Jesus. Who bewitched you with this image? Paul is angry. Jesus Christ is presented but not as crucified. The other temptation is a cross without Christ, that is, the anguish of remaining down, depressed by the weight of sin and without hope. This is a type of spiritual masochism: only the cross, without hope and without Christ. The Cross is a mystery of love; the Cross is faithful; the Cross is noble. Today we should take a minute to ask ourselves these questions. Is Christ crucified a mystery of love?...

Pope Francis's prayer during the Good Friday Via Crucis O Cross of Christ, symbol of divine love and of human injustice, icon of the supreme sacrifice for love and of boundless selfishness even unto madness, instrument of death and the way of resurrection, sign of obedience and emblem of betrayal, the gallows of persecution and the banner of victory. O Cross of Christ, today too we see you raised up in our sisters and brothers killed, burned alive, throats slit and decapitated by barbarous blades amid cowardly silence. O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the faces of children, of women and people, worn out and fearful, who flee from war and violence and who often only find death and many Pilates who wash their hands. O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those filled with knowledge and not with the spirit, scholars of death and not of life, who instead of teaching mercy and life, threaten with punishment and death, and who condemn the just. O Cross of Christ, today ...

Let us walk this path, pausing in these days to gaze upon the Crucifix; it is the “royal seat of God”.  I invite you during this week to gaze often upon this “royal  seat of God”, to learn about the humble love which saves and gives life. From the Palm Sunday 2016 homily [W]e cannot love without letting ourselves be loved by him first, without experiencing his surprising tenderness and without accepting that true love consists in  concrete service. [...]  Even as every form of justice is denied to him, Jesus also experiences in his own flesh indifference, since no one wishes to take responsibility for his fate.  And I  think of the many people, so many outcasts, so many asylum seekers, so many refugees, all of those for whose fate no one wishes to take responsibility. [...]  Jesus, however, even here at the height of his annihilation, reveals the true face of God, which is mercy.  He forgives those who are crucifying him, he opens the...

God’s glory is revealed, instead, on the cross: it is love, which shines there and spreads. It is a paradoxical glory: without noise, without profit, and without applause. But only this glory renders the Gospel fecund. From an address Unity. Jesus prays to the Father so that His own “may become perfectly one” (John 17:23); He wants them to “be one” (v. 22), as the Father and He . It is His last, most heartbroken request before His Passion: that there be communion in the Church. [...]  Every charism is a grace of God to enhance communion. However, a charism can deteriorate when it is closed or is boastful, when it wishes to be distinguished from others. Therefore, it is necessary to protect it. Protect your charism! How? By following the masterful way: humble and obedient unity....It is always necessary to watch over the charism, purifying eventual human excesses through the search for unity with all and obedience to the Church. [...]  This is the fecundity of the Chu...

From the general audience At times, we too can live a sort of exile, when loneliness, suffering, and death make us think that God has abandoned us. How many times we have heard this word:  “God has forgotten me”: they are persons that suffer and feel themselves abandoned. Instead, how many of our brothers are living at this time a real and tragic  situation of exile, far from their homeland, with their eyes still beholding the ruin of their homes, with fear in their heart and often, unfortunately, sorrow for  the loss of dear persons! In such cases, one can ask oneself: where is God? How is it possible that so much suffering can befall men, women and innocent children?  And when they seek to enter somewhere they see the doors close. And they are there, at the border because so many doors and so many hearts are closed. The immigrants  of today that suffer cold, are without food and cannot enter, do not experience hospitality. It pleases me so much when I see ...

From the homily The serpent, the Pontiff clarified, is a “symbol of sin, the serpent that kills. But the serpent that saves: this is the mystery of Christ”. St Paul, the Pope  recalled, also spoke of this mystery. “He said that Jesus emptied himself, humbled himself, annihilated himself in order to save us”. Moreover, the Apostle offers an  even stronger expression: “he became sin”. Thus, using the biblical symbol, we could say: “he became serpent”. This, Francis said, is “the prophetic message of  today’s readings. The Son of man, who like a serpent ‘became sin’, is lifted up in order to save us”. [...]  This, the Pope concluded, is “the history of our redemption”, this is “the history of God’s love”. This is why, “if we want to know the love of God, we look at the  Crucifix”. There we meet “a man who is tortured, died, who is God, ‘emptied of divinity’, tarnished, who ‘became sin’”. Then came the final prayer: “May the Lord  grant us the grace to ...

From the h omily During Mass at University of Nairobi Today God tells us that we belong to him. He made us, we are his family, and he will always be there for us. “Fear not”, he says to us, “I have chosen you and I promise to give you my blessing” (cf. Is44:2). [...] In obedience to God’s word, we are also called to resist practices which foster arrogance in men, hurt or demean women, do not look after the elderly and threaten the life of the innocent unborn. We are called to respect and encourage one another, and to reach out to all those in need. Christian families have this special mission: to radiate God’s love, and to spread the life-giving waters of his Spirit. This is especially important today, for we are seeing the growth of new deserts created by a culture of materialism selfishness and indifference to others. [full text] From the address at an interreligious, ecumenical meeting in Kenya To be honest, this relationship is challenging; it makes demands of us. ...