miniZibaldone

A Cross-Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching by  Stanley Hauerwas We live in a death-denying world that seems determined to develop technologies that will enable us to get out of life alive. Yet the more we strive to be free of death the more our lives are shaped by the death-determined means we create to try to free ourselves of death. Even more paradoxical, the means we use to free ourselves from death only serve to increase our isolation from one another. We fear the loneliness we think death entails, but it turns out that the loneliness we fear death entails is the expression of the loneliness made unavoidable by our attempts to avoid death. Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. But Lazarus is still to die. We are still to die. Jesus, by contrast, has been raised never again to die. His death makes possible a communion that overwhelms the loneliness our sin creates. ... That feast we call Eucharist, for in eating it we are made “living member...

From the homily Let us never forget: the Mass is the Memorial that heals memory, the memory of the heart. The Mass is the treasure that should be foremost both in the Church and in our lives. Through the Eucharist, the Lord also heals our negative memory , that negativity which seeps so often into our hearts. The Lord heals this negative memory, which drags to the surface things that have gone wrong and leaves us with the sorry notion that we are useless, that we only make mistakes, that we are ourselves a mistake. Jesus comes to tell us that this is not so. He wants to be close to us. Every time we receive him, he reminds us that we are precious, that we are guests he has invited to his banquet, friends with whom he wants to dine. And not only because he is generous, but because he is truly in love with us. He sees and loves the beauty and goodness that we are. The Lord knows that evil and sins do not define us; they are diseases, infections. And he comes to heal them wi...

To turn to the fundamentals, to rediscover what is essential, through what one touches and sees in the celebration of the Sacraments. To rediscover, together with you, the beauty that is hidden in the Eucharistic Celebration and that, once revealed, gives full meaning to each one’s life. The Eucharist is a wonderful event in which Jesus Christ, our life, makes Himself present. The Lord is present there with us. We go there so often, we look at things, we chat among ourselves while the priest is celebrating the Eucharist  . . . and we don’t celebrate close to Him. But it’s the Lord! If the President of the Republic came here today or a very important person of the world, it’s certain that we would all be close to him, that we would want to greet him. But think: when you go to Mass, the Lord is there! And you are distracted. It’s the Lord!  We must give thought to this. “Father, it’s because the Masses are boring” – “But, what are you saying, that the Lord is boring?”...

It is Jesus who blesses and breaks the loaves and provides sufficient food to satisfy the whole crowd, but it is the disciples who offer the five loaves and two  fish. From the homily Jesus wanted it this way: that, instead of sending the crowd away, the disciples would put at his disposal what little they had.  And there is another gesture: the  pieces of bread, broken by the holy and venerable hands of Our Lord, pass into the poor hands of the disciples, who distribute these to the people.  This too is the  disciples “doing” with Jesus; with him they are able to “give them something to eat”.  Clearly this miracle was not intended merely to satisfy hunger for a day, but  rather it signals what Christ wants to accomplish for the salvation of all mankind, giving his own flesh and blood (cf. Jn 6:48-58).  And yet this needs always to  happen through those two small actions: offering the few loaves and fish which we have; receiving the brea...

The Church is not a community of the perfect, but of disciples on the way, who follow the Lord because they recognize themselves sinners and in need of His forgiveness. Therefore, the Christian life is a school of humility that is open to grace. From the general audience If the Pharisees see only sinners in the guests and refuse to sit with them, Jesus on the contrary reminds them that they are also God’s table companions. So, to sit at table with Jesus means to be transformed and saved by Him. Jesus’ table is twofold in the Christian community: there is the table of the Word and there is the table of the Eucharist (cf. Dei Verbum, 21). These are the medicines with which the Divine Doctor heals and nourishes us. With the first – the Word – He reveals Himself and invites us to a dialogue between friends. Jesus was not afraid to dialogue with sinners, publicans, prostitutes. No, he was not afraid; He loved all! His Word penetrates us and, as a scalpel, operates in depth to free us f...

The Easter Triduum is the memorial of a drama of love that gives us the certainty that we will never be abandoned in life’s trials. From the general audience Our reflection on God’s mercy introduces us today to the Easter Triduum . We will live Holy Thursday, Friday and Saturday as intense moments, which enable us to enter increasingly in the great mystery of our faith: the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in these three days speaks of mercy, because it renders visible the point that God’s love can reach. [...]  On Holy Thursday Jesus institutes the Eucharist , anticipating in the paschal banquet His sacrifice on Golgotha. [...]  Holy Friday is the culminating moment of love. ...A love that intends to embrace all , no one excluded. [...]  And, finally, Holy Saturday is the day of God’s silence. It must be a day of silence . We must do everything possible so that it is a day of silence, as that Day, which was the day of God’s silence. Jesus pla...

The Church at the End of the 20th Century by Francis Schaeffer Celebrating the Eucharist by L. Alonso Schokel Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed Peace of Soul by Fulton Sheen A Practical Guide to Ecumenism by John Sheerin The Bible and the Mass by Peter Stravinskas The Church, Community of Salvation by George Tavard God, the Father of Mercy Jesus Christ, Word of the Father The Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life Eucharist, Gift of Divine Life The New World Dictionary-Concordance NAB Economic Justice for All With Us Today by John Hardon 

Accept This Offering by Kenneth Stevenson   Vatican Council II  Vatican Council II vol 2   Mission and Evangelization by Michael Hayes The Gift of God the Holy Spirit by Andrew Apostoli Christus Victor by Gustaf Aulen Spiritual Theology by Jordan Aumann The Devil by Corrado Balducci Inquiring Faith by Tadeusz Dajczer The Graced Horizon by Stephen Duffy Church and Social Communication by Franz-Josef Eilers What is Liberalism? by Felix Sarda Salvany 

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre Christians in the Face of Injustice by Ricardo Antoncich  The Book of Miracles by Zsolt Aradi  A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet  The Church Speaks to the Modern World by Leo XIII Mother and Disciple by Charles Miller   All About Angels by Paul O'Sullivan   How To be Happy How To Be Holy by Paul O'Sullivan   Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer  The Real Presence by Michael Parker  Mary Mother of Christ and Christians by Joseph-Marie Perrin Your God is Too Small by J. B. Phillips