miniZibaldone

God can add nothing to the happiness of those who love , except to give them endless duration . After a life of love, an eternity of love is, in fact, an augmentation; but to increase in intensity even the ineffable felicity which love bestows on the soul even in this world, is impossible, even to God. God is the plenitude of heaven; love is the plenitude of man. You look at a star for two reasons, because it is luminous, and because it is impenetrable. You have beside you a sweeter radiance and a greater mystery, woman. Deep hearts, sage minds, take life as God has made it; it is a long trial , an incomprehensible preparation for an unknown destiny . This destiny, the true one, begins for a man with the first step inside the tomb. Then something appears to him, and he begins to distinguish the definitive . The definitive, meditate upon that word. The living perceive the infinite; the definitive permits itself to be seen only by the dead. In the meanwhile, love and suffer, ho...

Men are not egoists. They are not able to be. Their misfortune is in not being capable of it. God is the only egoist. Man can only approach a certain shadow of love for himself when he knows how to see himself as God’s creature, loved by God, redeemed by God. Otherwise a man cannot love himself. —Simone Weil

God Is Mercy Notes from a talk by Luigi Giussani during the Memores Domini Lenten Retreat in Pianazze, Italy, on February 16, 1975 The prayer last night [ “Through our annual Lenten observance, Lord, deepen our understanding of the mystery of Christ and make it a reality in the conduct of our lives.” ] called us to the two results of conversion: the passion of the knowledge of Christ (“knowledge” in the full, biblical sense of the word), thus the passion for Christ, the love of Christ as the desire to cling to Him, and hence the second result, good works. Lent is the instrument–the sacramental instrument–for fostering this conversion. In other words, operating the Lenten sign, making ours the pedagogic indications that the Church uses for the Lenten call to conversion, something happens in us through the power of the Holy Spirit that is greater than what our usual efforts would yield. It is a sacramental time, a time destined by God to give us a greater impetus of transf...

Prayer is not a magic wand. It helps to keep faith in God and to entrust ourselves to Him, even when we do not understand His will. In this Jesus Himself – who  prayed so much! – is our example.  From the audience God truly saved Jesus from death giving Him complete victory over it, but the way followed to obtain it passed through death itself! The reference to the  supplication that God heard refers to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. Assailed by imminent anguish, Jesus prays to the Father to let the bitter chalice of the Passion  pass from Him, but His prayer is pervaded by trust in the Father and He entrusts Himself to His will without reservations: “Nevertheless – says Jesus – not as I  will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). The object of the prayer passes to the second plane; what matters first of all is His relation with the Father. See what  prayer does: it transforms the desire and moulds it according to God’s will, whatever it is, because one w...

God is greater than our sin. Let us not forget this: God is greater than our sin! From the general audience Today we finish the catecheses on mercy in the Old Testament, and we do so meditating on Psalm 51, known as the Miserere . [...]  The “title” that the ancient Jewish tradition gave this Psalm makes reference to King David and his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. We know the  affair well. King David, called by God to tend His People and to lead them on paths of obedience to the Divine Law, betrays his mission and, after having committed  adultery with Bathsheba, has her husband killed. Terrible sin! Nathan, the prophet, reveals his guilt to him and helps him to acknowledge it. It is the moment of  reconciliation with God, in the confession of his sin. And here David was humble; he was great! [...]  The Psalmist entrusts himself to God’s goodness; he knows that divine forgiveness is extremely effective, because it creates that which...

God works with us like this: He lets us be free, even to make mistakes, because in creating us, He has given us the great gift of freedom. It is for us to put it to  good use. This gift of freedom that God gives us always amazes me! From the angelus In this parable, you can also take a glimpse at a third child. A third child? ..Where? He’s hidden! And it is, ‘Who, though he was in the form of God,  did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave … (Phil 2: 6-7).’ This Son-Servant is Jesus! He is  ‘the extension of the arms and heart of the Father: He welcomed the prodigal Son and washed his dirty feet; He has prepared the feast for the feast of forgiveness.  He, Jesus, teaches us to be “merciful as the Father.” The figure of the Father in the parable reveals the heart of God. He is the Merciful Father who, in Jesus,  loves us beyond all measure, always awaits our conversion every time we wron...

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors [is] an equation.” In other words, “if you are not capable of forgiveness, how can God forgive you?” From a homily [Forgiveness] dynamic is the following: “I turn to God, remind him of his mercy and ask his forgiveness” — but “forgiveness as God gives it”.  The Pontiff then expanded on a characteristic of the forgiveness of God, whose perfection is so incomprehensible to us men and women: he reaches the point of  “forgetting” our sins. “When God forgives”, the Pope said, “his forgiveness is so great that it is as if ‘he has forgotten’”. Thus, “once we are at peace with God  through his mercy”, if we ask the Lord: “Do you remember that bad thing that I did?”, he might answer: “Which one? I don’t remember...”.  Francis explained that this is “completely the opposite of what we do”, and which often comes out in our “gossip."   [link]

All our expressions of love, of solidarity, of sharing are but a reflection of that love which is God.   From an address God does not  simply have the desire or capacity to love; God is love: charity is his essence, it is his nature.  He is unique, but not solitary; he cannot be alone, he cannot be closed in on himself because he is communion, he is charity; and charity by its nature is communicated and shared.  In this way, God associates man to his life of love, and even if man turns away from him, God does not remain distant but goes out to meet him.  This going out to meet us, culminating in the Incarnation of his Son, is his mercy.   [full text]

From a homily There are so many languages in life: the language of word, and there are also languages of gestures. If a person approaches me, at the confessional, it is because he feels something that weighs on him, which he wants to remove from himself. Perhaps he does not know how to say it, but this is his gesture. If such a person approaches, it is because he wishes to change, not to do something something anymore, to change, to be another sort of person, and he says it with the gesture of approaching, he says it with the gesture of approaching. It is not necessary to ask questions: “But you, you …?” If a person comes, it is because in his soul he does not want to do something anymore. But so often they cannot, because they are conditioned by their psychology, by their life, by their situation … “ Ad impossbilia nemo tenetur .”  A wide heart … Forgiveness … Forgiveness is a seed, it is a caress of God. Have trust in God’s forgiveness. Do not fall into Pelagianism!  [fu...

From the general audience The Lord is “merciful”: this word evokes an attitude of tenderness as that of a mother in dealing with her child. In fact, the Hebrew term used by the Bible makes one think of the insides or even the maternal womb. Therefore, the image it suggests it that of a God that is moved and becomes tender for us as a mother when she takes her child in her arms, desirous only of loving, protecting, and helping, ready to give everything, even herself. This is the image that this term suggests. A love, therefore, that can be described as “visceral” in the good sense. [...] Mercy is a celebration! Said also of this merciful God is that He is “slow to anger,” literally, “in the long term,” that is wide-ranging in long suffering and the capacity to endure.  God is able to wait, and His times are not the impatient ones of men. He is like the wise farmer that is able to wait, gives time to the good seed to grow, despite the darnel (cf. Matthew 13:24-30). [...]  Th...

From the homily “This word ‘love’ is a word that is used so many times and when we use it we don’t know exactly what it means. What is love? Sometimes we can think of the love in the soap operas but that doesn’t appear to be love. Or else love can seem like having a crush on a person but then it fades away. Where does true love come from? Whoever loves has been created by God because God is love. Don’t say: ‘Every love is God,’ No, God is love.” [...]  “When we have something on our mind and we want to ask God to forgive us, it’s He who is waiting for us – to forgive us.  This Jubilee Year of Mercy, to some extent, is also this: that we may know that our Lord is waiting for us, each one of us.  Why? To embrace us.  Nothing more.  To say to us: son, daughter, I love you. I let my Son be crucified for you: this is the price of my love, this is the gift of my love.” [...]  “We must go to the Lord and say: ‘You know Lord how much I love you.’ Or, if you don’...

From a dialogue Saint Augustine said a very beautiful phrase. Each one of you must learn it in his own language. Speaking of the Christian life, of the joy of Christian life, he said this: “Sing and walk.” Christian life is a way, but it isn’t a sad way; it is a joyful way, so he sings. Sing and walk, don’t forget! Each one must say it in his own language: sing and walk! [...] But always remember: God alone is good and, if you want to find goodness, go to the Lord. He is all goodness, all love, all mercy. And do you know what I do to be somewhat good? I come close to the Lord. And I ask the Lord: “Lord, may I not be such a sinner, may I not be so bad, may I not do evil things to anyone; may I not have jealousies, envies, may I not get roped in, in so many ways ...” [...] To get angry is something that not only harms the other person, but it harms oneself, it poisons one. And there are people, whom you undoubtedly know, that have a bitter spirit, who are always bitter, who live ang...

From the homily God is greater than our sins[...]  Hope is a Christian virtue that is a great gift from God and that allows us see beyond problems, pain, difficulties, beyond our sins. It allows us to see the beauty of God. Human calculations close hearts and shut out freedom, whilst hope gives us levity. [link]

Mary Mother of Christ and Christians by Joseph-Marie Perrin Your God is Too Small by J. B. Phillips  Unconditional Love by John Powell  What is Liberalism? by Felix Sarda Salvany  Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers  The Truth About Trouble by Michael Scanlan  Ethical Communities and the Faith Community by Stuart Speiser    Accept This Offering by Kenneth Stevenson   If Augustine Were Alive by Theodore Tack   Listening With the Heart by Taize

How to Think About God by Mortimer Adler   Hamann and Tradition by Lisa Marie Anderson   Wholeness and the Implicit Order by David Bohm   Unfolding Meaning by David Bohm   Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas by Etienne Gilson   The Spirit of Thomism by Etienne Gilson   Methodical Realism by Etienne Gilson   The Levinas Reader by Sean Hand   Hegel on Hamann by G. W. F. Hegel   Hegel's Logic by G. W. F. Hegel