miniZibaldone

But fear paralyzes us, it always paralyzes us; it makes us close in on ourselves, closed to God’s surprises. This detail speaks to us of a constant temptation for  the Church, that of closing in on herself in the face of danger. But we also see the small openings through which God can work. From the homily The reading from the Acts of the Apostles (12:1-11) shows us three examples of “closing”: Peter is cast into prison; the community gathers behind closed doors in  prayer; and – in the continuation of our reading – Peter knocks at the closed door of the house of Mary, the mother of John called Mark, after being set free.  In these three examples of “closing”, prayer appears as the main way out. It is a way out for the community, which risks closing in on itself out of persecution and  fear.  It is a way out for Peter who, at the very beginning of the mission given him by the Lord, is cast into prison by Herod and risks execution.  And while Peter...

The humble prayer we can say is: ‘Father, lead me to Jesus, help me to know Jesus’ and the Father will send the Spirit to open our hearts and lead us to Him. From the homily The hardness of the Scribes and Pharisees’ hearts, the Pope said, “is a drama which continues all the way to Calvary.” the Pope said, noting various examples of those who witnessed Jesus’ miracles, but refused to believe. And this, the Pope explained, has its consequences, “because they are orphans who have denied their Father.”  “These doctors of the law,” he highlighted, “had closed hearts, they thought they were their own masters but in fact they were orphans because they had no relationship with the Father. They talked about their fathers, Abraham and the patriarchs, but these were distant figures and in their hearts they were orphans because they would not let themselves be drawn to the Father.”   [link]