miniZibaldone

From the homily At Christmas, the question is this: “Do I allow myself to be loved by God? Do I abandon myself to his love that comes to save me?” The grace of God has appeared. Tonight we realize that, when we failed to measure up, God became small for our sake; while we were going about our own business, he came into our midst. Christmas reminds us that God continues to love us all, even the worst of us. To me, to you, to each of us, he says today: “I love you and I will always love you, for you are precious in my eyes”. God does not love you because you think and act the right way. He loves you, plain and simple. His love is unconditional; it does not depend on you. You may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete mess of things, but the Lord continues to love you. How often do we think that God is good if we are good and punishes us if we are bad. Yet that is not how he is. For all our sins, he continues to love us. His love does not change. It is not fickle; i...

The theme of comedy is also important. What saves us from our worst suffering is the feeling that we are abandoned and alone, and yet not sufficiently alone for "other people" to stop "sympathizing with us" in our unhappiness. It is in this sense that moments of happiness are often those when we are lifted up into an endless sadness by the feeling that everyone has forsaken us. Also in this sense that happiness is often only the self-pitying awareness of our unhappiness. This is very noticeable among the poor —God put self-pity by the side of despair like the cure by the side of the disease. When I was young, I expected people to give me more than they could —continuous friendship, permanent emotion. Now I have learned to expect less of them than they can give —a silent companionship. And their emotions, their friendship, and noble gestures keep their full miraculous value in my eyes; wholly the fruit of grace.

Faith, however, is born and reborn from a life-giving encounter with Jesus, from experiencing how his mercy illumines every situation in our lives.   From the homily What is the Lord asking us to build today in our lives, and even more importantly, upon what is he calling us to build our lives? In seeking an answer to this  question, I would like to suggest three stable foundations upon which we can tirelessly build and rebuild the Christian life.  The first foundation is memory. One grace we can implore is that of being able to remember: to recall what the Lord has done in and for us, and to remind ourselves  that, as today’s Gospel says, he has not forgotten us but “remembered” us (Lk 1:72).  Faith is also hope for your future and a light for life’s journey. Faith is the second foundation I would like to mention. There is always a danger that can dim the  light of faith, and that is the temptation to reduce it to something from the past, somethin...

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 ...

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 the homily Jesus is the novelty and the fulfillment: He presents Himself to us as the endless surprise of God. In this Child, born for all, the past — made of memory and promise –, and the future — full of hope come together. [...]  The vocation, in fact, does not take the movements of a plan of ours thought “at table,” but from a grace of the Lord who reaches us through an encounter that changes our life. He is the novelty that makes all things new. One who lives this encounter becomes a witness and makes possible the encounter for others; and makes him also a promoter of the culture of encounter, avoiding self-reference that makes us remain closed in ourselves. [...]  Our Founders were moved by the Spirit and were not afraid to soil their hands in daily life, with the people’s problems, going with courage to the geographic and existential fringes. They did not stop in face of obstacles and the incomprehension of others, because they kept in their heart the wonder of...

The Mystery of the Supernatural by Henri de Lubac The Splendor of the Church by Henri de Lubac gratis Paul McPartlan A Short History of Ethics by Alasdair MacIntyre   The Epiphany of Love by Livio Melina gratis Eerdmans Divine Likeness: Toward A Trinitarian Anthropology of the Family by Marc Ouellet     gratis Eerdsman The Catholicity of Reason by David C. Schindler   gratis D. C. Schindler Heart of the World, Center of the Church by David L. Schindler   gratis HUP Ordering Love: Liberal Societies and the Memory of God by David L. Schindler gratis Eerdmans