miniZibaldone

Christians are not tired and lazy in awaiting the final encounter with the Lord, but they go to encounter Him every day, recognizing His face in that of the many individuals who ask for help. From the audience Today we reflect on this word of Jesus: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me” (Matthew 25:35-36)...  [L]et us not fall into the trap of withdrawing into ourselves, indifferent to the needs of brothers and concerned only about our interests. It is precisely in the measure in which we open to others that life becomes fecund, societies re-acquire peace and individuals recover their full dignity. And do not forget that lady, do not forget that migrant who stank and do not forget the driver whose soul was changed by the migrant.   [full text]

To greet, to listen and to support the faith of those simple people From a letter To greet, to listen and to support the faith of those simple people … and, so often, facing the anguish of men and women that want and seek work and do not find it.  I was only able to shake their hands, caress them, look into their tearful pain-ridden eyes, and weep within. Yes, weep, because it is hard in one’s life to come  across a father of a family who wants to work and has no possibility to do so....  But work is so difficult to obtain, especially as we continue to live moments in which the rates of unemployment are significantly high. Bread solves a part of the  problem, but only half of it, because that bread is not the one earned with one’s work. It is one thing to have bread to eat at home and another to bring it home as  the fruit of one’s work. That is what confers dignity....  The wisdom of our people uses a saying to label one who, though able to work, doe...

“The poor are the treasure of the Church.” Abstract theories lead us to ideologies and ideologies lead us to deny that God became flesh, he became one of us! It is a life shared with the poor that transforms and converts us. From an address to poor pilgrims Since Jesus wanted to share in your condition, out of love he became one of you: despised by men, forgotten, one who does not count for much. When you happen to experience all of this, do not forget that Jesus also experienced it like you. It is proof that you are precious in his eyes, and that he is near to you. You are in the heart of the Church, as Father Giuseppe Wresinski said, because Jesus, in his life, always gave priority to people who were like you, who lived similar situations.  And the Church, who loves and prefers what Jesus loved and preferred, cannot rest until she has reached all those who experience rejection, exclusion, and feel that they do not matter to anyone. In the heart of the Church, you allow us ...

  From the Angelus address To celebrate Christmas well, we are called to spend time in the “places” of astonishment [wonder]. And what are these places of wonder in daily life? There are three.  The first place is “the other,” in whom we recognize a brother, because since the birth of Jesus, every face is marked with a similarity to the Son of God. Above all when it is the face of a poor person, because as a poor man, God entered the world and it was the poor, in the first place, that he allowed to approach him.  Another place of wonder - a place in which, if we look with faith, we feel wonder, is history. [...]  The third place of wonder is the Church. To look on her with the wonder of faith means not just considering the Church only as a religious institution – which the Church is – but to feel that she is a mother who, despite her warts and wrinkles – we have so many! – lets the contours of the bride beloved of and purified by Christ the Lord shine through. [ful...