miniZibaldone

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...

With this gaze of Jesus, you can help bring about another humanity, without looking for acknowledgement but seeking goodness for its own sake, content to maintain a  pure heart and to fight peaceably for honesty and justice.  Don’t stop at the surface of things; distrust the worldly cult of appearances, cosmetic attempts to  improve our looks.  Instead, “download” the best “link” of all, that of a heart which sees and transmits goodness without growing weary.  The joy that you have  freely received from God, please, freely give away (cf. Mt 10:8): so many people are waiting for it!  So many are waiting for it from you. From the homily But Zacchaeus had to face a number of obstacles in order to meet Jesus.  It was not easy for him; he had to face a number of obstacles. At least three of these can  also say something to us. The first obstacle is smallness of stature .  Zacchaeus couldn’t see the Master because he was little.  Ev...

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...

The dynamic unity in Christian life, the signs of which are living memory, the prophetic spirit, and the sure horizon of hope. From the homily The leaders of the people, in particular, are interested in erecting a wall of laws, a “closed juridical system”, and nothing else: “Memory is no concern: as for prophecy, it were better that no prophets come; and hope? But everyone will see it. This is the system through which they legitimate: the lawyers, theologians who always go the way of casuistry and do not allow the freedom of the Holy Spirit; they do not recognize God’s gift, the gift of the Spirit; and they cage the Spirit, because they do not allow prophecy in hope.” ...  “Do I have the memory of the wonders that the Lord has wrought in my life? Can I remember the gifts of the Lord? I am able to open my heart to the prophets, i.e. to him, who says to me, ‘this isn’t working, you have to go beyond: go ahead, take a risk’? This is what prophets do: am I open to that, or am I a...

What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom? What has happened to you, Europe, the home of poets,  philosophers, artists, musicians, and men and women of letters? What has happened to you, Europe, the mother of peoples and nations, the mother of great men and women  who upheld, and even sacrificed their lives for, the dignity of their brothers and sisters? From the address We need to “remember”, to take a step back from the present to listen to the voice of our forebears. Remembering will help us not to repeat our past mistakes (cf. Evangelii Gaudium , 108), but also to re-appropriate those experiences that enabled our peoples to surmount the crises of the past. A memory transfusion can free us from today’s temptation to build hastily on the shifting sands of immediate results, which may produce “quick and easy short-term political gains, but do not enhance human fulfilment” (ibid., 224). [...]  Forms of reduc...

It’s good for the Christian heart to memorize my journey, my personal journey: just like the Lord who accompanied me up to here and held me by the hand. From the homily We must look back to see how God has saved us, follow – with our hearts and minds – this  path with its memories and in this way arrive at Jesus’s side. It’s the same Jesus, who in the greatest moment of his life – Holy Thursday and Good Friday, in the (Last) Supper - gave us his Body and his Blood and said to us ‘Do this in memory of me.’ In memory of Jesus. To remember how God saved us.... And the times I said to our Lord: No! Go away! I don’t want you! Our Lord respects (our wishes).  He is respectful. But we must memorize our past and be a memorial of our own lives and our own journey.  We must look back and remember and do it often. ‘At that time God gave me this grace and I replied in that way, I did this or that… He accompanied me.’ And in this way we arrive at a new encounter, an encounter of...

The Romance of Risk by Lynn Ponton Inside Picture Books by Ellen Spitz Beyond Freedom and Dignity by B. F. Skinner   Memory: Facts and Fallacies by I. M. Hunter Hypnosis: Facts and Fiction by F. L. Marcuse   The Psychology of Loving by Ignace Lepp The Silent Language by Edward Hall Beyond Psychology by Otto Rank

From the a ddress to Ugandan youth It seems that the microphone doesn’t work well. Sometimes we ourselves don’t work well. Yes or no? And when we don’t work well, to whom do we have to ask help? I don’t hear you. Louder! We have to ask Jesus. Jesus can change your life. Jesus can break down all of the walls that you have before you. Jesus can make of your life a service for others. Some of you might ask me: For this, is there a magic wand? If you want Jesus to change your life, ask him. And this is called prayer. Did you understand? To pray. I ask you: Do you pray? Are you sure? Pray to Jesus because he is the savior. Never stop praying. Prayer is the strongest weapon that a youth has. Jesus loves us. I ask you: Does Jesus love some people and not others? Does Jesus love everyone? Does Jesus want to help everyone? Then open the doors of your heart and allow him to come in. Allow Jesus to enter into my life. And when Jesus comes into your life, he helps you to fight. [full text] F...