miniZibaldone

Christians are not tired and lazy in awaiting the final encounter with the Lord, but they go to encounter Him every day, recognizing His face in that of the many individuals who ask for help. From the audience Today we reflect on this word of Jesus: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me” (Matthew 25:35-36)...  [L]et us not fall into the trap of withdrawing into ourselves, indifferent to the needs of brothers and concerned only about our interests. It is precisely in the measure in which we open to others that life becomes fecund, societies re-acquire peace and individuals recover their full dignity. And do not forget that lady, do not forget that migrant who stank and do not forget the driver whose soul was changed by the migrant.   [full text]

“The poor are the treasure of the Church.” Abstract theories lead us to ideologies and ideologies lead us to deny that God became flesh, he became one of us! It is a life shared with the poor that transforms and converts us. From an address to poor pilgrims Since Jesus wanted to share in your condition, out of love he became one of you: despised by men, forgotten, one who does not count for much. When you happen to experience all of this, do not forget that Jesus also experienced it like you. It is proof that you are precious in his eyes, and that he is near to you. You are in the heart of the Church, as Father Giuseppe Wresinski said, because Jesus, in his life, always gave priority to people who were like you, who lived similar situations.  And the Church, who loves and prefers what Jesus loved and preferred, cannot rest until she has reached all those who experience rejection, exclusion, and feel that they do not matter to anyone. In the heart of the Church, you allow us ...

Holiness is a journey; holiness cannot be bought.  It can’t be sold. It cannot be given away. Holiness is a journey to God's presence that I must make: no one else can do it in my name. I can pray for someone to be holy, but he’s the one who has to work towards [holiness], not me. Walk in God's presence, in an impeccable way. From the homily "Jesus’ Kingdom of Heaven," the Pope stressed, is for "those who have the courage to go forward" and courage, he observed, is generated by "hope," the second element of the journey that leads to holiness. The kind of courage that hopes "in an encounter with Jesus."  The third element of this journey towards holiness, the Pope observed, appears in Peter’s words: "Put all your hope in that grace:”  "We cannot achieve holiness on our own,” affirmed Pope Francis.  “No, it is a grace. Being good, being saintly, going every day a little 'a step forward in the Christian life is a grace of ...

He wants that our freedom is converted from evil to good, and this is possible – you can! – with His grace. From the Angelus Only the woman and Jesus remained there: misery and mercy, facing each other. And this, as often happens to us when we stop in front of the confessional, with shame,  to make seen our misery and ask forgiveness! “Woman, where are they?” (V. 10), Jesus says to her. And just this fact, and His eyes full of mercy, full of love, to  make that person feel – perhaps for the first time – that she has a dignity, that she is not her sin, but has the dignity of a person; that she can change her life,  can exit from her bondage and walk in a new way.  Dear brothers and sisters, this woman represents all of us, that we are sinners, adulterers before God, traitors of His loyalty. And her experience is God’s will for  each of us: not our condemnation, but our salvation through Jesus.   [full text]

Turning by Emilie Griffin  Directions for Communication by Willi Lambert  A Marian Retreat by Bernard Lefrois   Listening With the Heart by Taize The Way, Furrow, Forge by Josemaria Escriva Men of God: Men for Others by Peter Kolvenbach Surprised by Truth by Patrick Madrid The Breath of Love by Michel Quoist

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...

Let us voice our truest desire: “[Jesus], let me receive my sight!” From a homily Sin also has this effect: it impoverishes and isolates us. [...]  But Jesus is passing by; he is passing by, and he halts: the Gospel tells us that “he stopped” (v. 49). Our hearts race, because we realize that the Light is gazing upon us, that kindly Light which invites us to come out of our dark blindness.  Jesus’ closeness to us makes us see that when we are far from him there is something important missing from our lives. His presence makes us feel in need of salvation, and this begins the healing of our heart. Then, when our desire to be healed becomes more courageous, it leads to prayer, to crying out fervently and persistently for help, as did Bartimaeus: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (v. 47). [...]  Unfortunately, like the “many” in the Gospel, there is always someone who does not want to stop, who does not want to be bothered by someone else crying out in pain, prefe...

The people of God, namely the Church, does not need dirty money; she needs hearts open to God’s mercy.   From the general audience Salvation implies the decision to listen and to let oneself be converted, but it is always a free gift. Therefore, in His mercy, the Lord indicates a way that is not that of ritual sacrifices, but rather of justice. The worship is criticized not because it is useless in itself, but because, instead of expressing conversion, it pretends to substitute it, and so becomes the search for one’s own justice, creating the deceitful conviction that it is the sacrifices that save, not divine mercy that forgives sin. To understand this well: when one is sick one goes to the doctor; when one feels himself a sinner one goes to the Lord. However, if instead of going to the doctor, one goes to a magician, one is not healed. So many times we do not go to the Lord, but prefer to go on mistaken paths, seeking outside of Him justification, justice and peace.   [...

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...

Prayer Is A Hunger by Edward Farrell The Gospel Truth by Mitch Finley  A Christological Catechism by Joseph Fitzmyer  Where We Got the Bible by Henry Graham  Turning by Emilie Griffin  The Next Pope by Peter Hebblethwaite  Come and You Will See by Paul Hinnebusch  Making Choices by Peter Kreeft  Directions for Communication by Willi Lambert  A Marian Retreat by Bernard Lefrois  

Hand to Mouth by Paul Auster Anthony Powell: A Life by Michael Barber Charles Dickens by G. K. Chesterton gratis Wiseblood Books The Letters of James and Alix Strachey 1924-1925 ed Perry Meisel and Walter Kendrick My Name Escapes Me by Alec Guinness Surprised by Joy: the Shape of My Early Years by C. S. Lewis Apologia Pro Vita Sua by John Henry Newman gratis Juan Velez