miniZibaldone

From the General Audience It’s good to stress that we confess, be it to God or to brothers, that we are sinners: this helps us to understand the dimension of sin that, while it separates us from God, also divides us from our brethren and vice versa . The words we say with the mouth are accompanied by the gesture of beating our breast, acknowledging that I have sinned by my own fault, and not that of others. It often happens in fact that, out of fear and shame, we point the finger to accuse others. It costs to admit that we are culpable, but it does us good to confess it sincerely, to confess our sins. I remember a story, which an old missionary told, of a woman who went to confession and began to tell the errors of her husband; then she went on to tell the errors of her mother-in-law and then the sins of neighbors.  At a certain point, the confessor said to her: “But, lady, tell me, have you finished?  — Very good: you have finished with others’ sins. Now begin to...

So let us go forward! Do not forget about prayer. Pray as best you can, and if you fall sleep in front of the tabernacle, so be it. But pray! Don’t ever lose this. Don’t fail to let yourselves be gazed upon by Our Lady, and keep her always as your Mother. Don’t ever lose your zeal, and your closeness and availability to people. And also, may I say: Don’t ever lose your sense of humour… So let’s move forward! From the priest's retreat Our people value this in a priest who cares for the poor and the sick, for those whose sins he forgives and for those whom he patiently teaches and corrects… Our people forgive us priests many failings, except for that of attachment to money. This they don’t forgive. It is not so much about money itself, but the fact that money makes us lose the treasure of mercy. Our people can sniff out which sins are truly grave for a priest, the sins that kill his ministry because they turn him into a bureaucrat or, even worse, a mercenary. I have always be...

Jesus, in fact, is God’s mercy made flesh – a mercy that He expressed, realized and communicated always, in every moment of His earthly life. From the audience All four Gospels attest that, before undertaking His ministry, Jesus wished to receive Baptism from John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22;  John 1:29-34). This event imprints a decisive orientation to the whole of Christ’s mission. In fact, He did not present Himself to the world in the splendor of the  Temple: He could have done so, He did not have Himself proclaimed by fanfare: He could have done so, He did not even come in the robes of a judge: He could have done  so. Instead, after thirty years of a hidden life at Nazareth, Jesus went to the river Jordan, together with many of His people, and He put Himself in the queue with  sinners. He was not ashamed; He was there with everyone, with sinners, to be baptized. Therefore, from the beginning of His ministry, He manifested Hims...

Finding the Mystic Within You by Peggy Wilkinson   Pardon and Peace by Alfred Wilson Treasury of Women Saints by Ronda Chervin Great Saints, Great Friends by Ronda Chervin Maturing the Spirit by Dominic Hoffman Common Bushes Afire with God by Kieran Kay Our Lady in Catholic Life by Lawrence Lovasik The Way of a Pilgrim by Helen Bacovcin Jesus Rediscovered by Malcolm Muggerdige  The Wisdom of the Saints by Adels

The Imitation of Mary Rule of St. Benedict The Love of Eternal Wisdom by St. Louis de Montfort Opening to God by Thomas Green  A Closer Walk with Christ by Raymond Gawronski  The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila On Marriage and Family Life by John Chrysostom Frequent Confession by Benedict Baur 

[B]efore being an attitude or a human virtue, mercy is God’s definitive choice in favor of every human being for his eternal salvation — a choice sealed with the blood  of the Son of God. From an address There is, however, the “sure way” of mercy, which goes from the possibility to the reality, from hope to certainty. Jesus is this way, who has “the power on earth to  forgive sins” (Luke 5:24) and has transmitted this mission to the Church (Cf. John 20:21-23). Therefore, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the privileged place to  experience God’s mercy and to celebrate the feast of the encounter with the Father. We forget this last aspect with such ease: I go, I ask for forgiveness, I feel  the embrace of forgiveness and I forget to celebrate. This is not theological doctrine but I would say, forcing somewhat, that the celebration is part of the  Sacrament: it is as if penance is also part of the celebration I must have with the Father who has forgiven me....

From an address The Church is Mother because she always generates new children in the faith; the Church is Mother because she nourishes the faith; and the Church is also Mother  because she offers God’s forgiveness, regenerating to a new life, fruit of conversion. We cannot run the risk of a penitent not perceiving the maternal presence of  the Church, which receives and loves him. [...]  This passage makes me say how important our role is in confession. Before us is a “naked” person, and also a person that doesn’t know how to speak and doesn’t know  what to say, with his weakness and his limitations, with the shame of being a sinner, and so many times unable to say it. [...]  To be a confessor according to the heart of Christ means to cover the sinner with the cover of mercy, so that he is no longer ashamed and is able to regain the joy of  his filial dignity, and is also able to know where it is found again.     [full text] From the audie...

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...

Psychic Wholeness and Healing by Anna Terruwe and Conrad Baars God-Talk in America by Phyllis Tickle  The Adventure of Living by Paul Tournier  To Understand Each Other by Paul Tournier  I Love You/I Hate You by Carlos Valles  The Search for Human Values by Cornelius Van der Poel   Image Guidance and Healing by Elizabeth-Anne Vanek   The Need for Contemplation by Rene Voillaume  Christian Life Patterns by Evelyn Whitehead   Finding the Mystic Within You by Peggy Wilkinson   Pardon and Peace by Alfred Wilson A Poor Man's Proof for the Existence of God by John Constantino  The Secular City Debate  Vatican Council II  Vatican Council II vol 2  

A Spiritual Friendship Anonymous Christians in the Face of Injustice by Ricardo Antoncich  The Book of Miracles by Zsolt Aradi  A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet  The Noonday Devil by Bernard Basset  Frequent Confession by Benedict Baur  The Gospel and Epistle of John by Raymond Brown  The Community of the Beloved Disciple by Raymond Brown  The Churches the Apostles Left Behind by Raymond Brown  The Way to Freedom by Nicolas Caballero