miniZibaldone

For Jesus to feel mercy was equivalent to sharing in the sadness of the one He met but at the same time working personally to transform it into joy. From the audience Among the many aspects of mercy, there is one that consists in feeling compassion or being moved in face of those who are in need of love. Pietas – piety – is a  concept that was present in the Greco-Roman world, where, however, it indicated an act of submission to superiors: first of all the devotion owed to the gods, then  the respect of children for their parents, especially the elderly. Today, instead, we must be careful not to identify piety with that rather defused pietism, which  is only a superficial emotion and offends the other’s dignity. In the same way, this piety is not to be confused either with the compassion we feel for the animals  that live with us, and remaining indifferent in face of the sufferings of brothers. How often do we see people attached to cats and dogs, who then leav...

The Lord’s mercy goes to meet those who have the courage to face him, but to face him on the truth, on the things that I do and those I do not do, in order to correct me.   From a homily Thus the Pope recalled that “the Lord teaches us the path of action”. And, he added, “how often we find people — ourselves included — so often in the Church” who  proclaim: “I am very Catholic!”. They should be asked, “what do you do?”. For example, Francis noted, “how many parents say they are Catholic, but never have time to  speak to their children, to play with their children, to listen to their children?”. Perhaps, he continued, “they have their parents in a rest home, but they are  always busy and cannot go to visit them, leaving them abandoned there”. Yet they repeat: “I am very Catholic. I belong to that association...”.  This attitude, the Pope stated, is typical of this “religion of talk: I say that I am like this, but I do worldly things. Like those clerics tha...