miniZibaldone

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...

[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....

He knows how much we need to feel loved in order to do good. By ourselves we are not up to it. From the homily He overcomes sin and lifts us from our misery, if we trust in Him. It is for us to recognize that we are in need of mercy: It is the first step of the Christian  journey; it comes in through the open door that is Christ, where He Himself awaits us, the Saviour, and He offers us a new and joyful life. [...]  Then we become even more familiar with the sadness we don’t want, we grow discouraged, and are weaker in the face of temptations. This happens because we remain alone  with ourselves, closing in on ourselves and fleeing from the light; while it is only the grace of the Lord that frees us. Let us allow ourselves, then, to “be  reconciled,” let us listen to Jesus who says to the tired and oppressed “Come to me!” (Mt 11:28). Do not remain in ourselves, but go to Him! There we will find  refreshment and peace. [...]  In the first place is p...