miniZibaldone

We are being asked not to tire of keeping the key message of the faith front and centre: the Lord is risen.  Nothing is more important;  nothing is clearer or more  relevant than this.  Everything in the faith becomes beautiful when linked to this centrepiece. From the homily It is by loving that the God-who-is-Love is proclaimed to the world: not by the power of convincing, never by imposing the truth, no less by growing fixated on some  religious or moral obligation.  God is proclaimed through the encounter between persons, with care for their history and their journey.  Because the Lord is not an  idea, but a living person: his message is passed on through simple and authentic testimony, by listening and welcoming, with joy which radiates outward.  We do not  speak convincingly about Jesus when we are sad; nor do we transmit God’s beauty merely with beautiful homilies.  The God of hope is proclaimed by living out the  ...

In this exclamation, “It is the Lord,” there is all of the enthusiasm of paschal faith. “It is the Lord,” full of joy and wonder, in stark contrast with the confusion, the desperation, the sense of impotence that had afflicted the spirit of the disciples. From the Regina Caeli The Gospel of today tells of the third apparition of the Risen Jesus to the disciples...  The story is placed in the framework of the daily life of the disciples, when they have returned to their lands and their work as fishermen, after the distressing days of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord. It was difficult for them to understand what had happened. But while everything seemed to have ended, it is once again Jesus who “seeks” his disciples. It is he who goes in search of them. [...]  The presence of the Risen Jesus transforms everything: darkness is overcome by light; useless work becomes again fruitful and promising; the feeling of tiredness and abandonment gives way to a new st...

Thomas was hard-headed. He did not believe. And he found his faith at precisely the moment he touched the wounds of the Lord. A faith that is not able to touch the  Lord’s wounds, is not faith! A faith that cannot be merciful, as the Lord’s wounds were a sign of mercy, is not faith: it is an idea, an ideology. Our faith is  incarnated in a God who was made man, who became sin, who was wounded for us.  From the Mercy Sunday vigil speech How many expressions there are, therefore, of God’s mercy! This mercy comes to us as closeness and tenderness, and because of this, comes also as compassion and  solidarity, as consolation and forgiveness. The more we receive, the more we are called to share it with others; it cannot be kept hidden or kept only for ourselves.  It is something which burns within our hearts, driving us to love, thus recognizing the face of Jesus Christ, above all in those who are most distant, weak, alone,  confused and marginalized. Me...

May the Virgin Mary give us the certainty of faith that suffered every step of our journey, illuminated by the light of Easter, will become a blessing and joy for us and for others, especially for those who suffer because of selfishness and indifference. From the Regina Caeli "Life - he said - has conquered death. Mercy and love won over sin! There is need for faith and hope to open this wonderful new horizon. Let us be pervaded by emotions that resonate in the Easter sequence: "Yes, we are certain: Christ is truly Risen". This truth indelibly marked the lives of the apostles after the Resurrection, who again felt the need to follow their Master and received the Holy Spirit, fearlessly going out to proclaim to everyone what they had seen with their own eyes and personally experienced". "In this Jubilee Year - he continued - we are called to rediscover and to welcome the comforting announcement of the resurrection with particular intensity: "Christ...

From the Urbi et Orbi message The Lord Jesus, our peace (Eph 2:14), by his resurrection triumphed over evil and sin. May he draw us closer on this Easter feast to the victims of terrorism, that blind and brutal form of violence which continues to shed blood in different parts of the world. [...]  The Easter message of the risen Christ, a message of life for all humanity, echoes down the ages and invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees – including many children – fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice. All too often, these brothers and sisters of ours meet along the way with death or, in any event, rejection by those who could offer them welcome and assistance. [...]  Along with our brothers and sisters persecuted for their faith and their fidelity to the name of Christ, and before the evil that seems to have the upper hand in the life of so many people, let us hear once...

Announce the Easter message, to awaken and resurrect hope in hearts burdened by sadness, in those who struggle to find meaning in life. This is so necessary today. However, we must not proclaim ourselves. Rather, as joyful servants of hope, we must announce the Risen One . From the Easter Vigil homily Peter was looking for Jesus, not himself. He preferred the path of encounter and trust. And so, he got up, just as he was, and ran towards the tomb from where he would return “amazed” (v. 12). This marked the beginning of Peter’s resurrection, the resurrection of his heart. [...]  We, like Peter and the women, cannot discover life by being sad, bereft of hope. Let us not stay imprisoned within ourselves, but let us break open our sealed tombs to the Lord so that he may enter and grant us life. Let us give him the stones of our rancour and the boulders of our past, those heavy burdens of our weaknesses and falls. Christ wants to come and take us by the hand to bring us out of...

The Easter Triduum is the memorial of a drama of love that gives us the certainty that we will never be abandoned in life’s trials. From the general audience Our reflection on God’s mercy introduces us today to the Easter Triduum . We will live Holy Thursday, Friday and Saturday as intense moments, which enable us to enter increasingly in the great mystery of our faith: the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in these three days speaks of mercy, because it renders visible the point that God’s love can reach. [...]  On Holy Thursday Jesus institutes the Eucharist , anticipating in the paschal banquet His sacrifice on Golgotha. [...]  Holy Friday is the culminating moment of love. ...A love that intends to embrace all , no one excluded. [...]  And, finally, Holy Saturday is the day of God’s silence. It must be a day of silence . We must do everything possible so that it is a day of silence, as that Day, which was the day of God’s silence. Jesus pla...

Christ is the Answer by John Saward What Is God Like? by James Schall   Introduction to Liturgical Theology by Alexander Schmemann   Church World Mission by Alexander Schmemann   Ultimate Questions: An Anthology of Modern Russian Religious Thought by Alexander Schmemann    God Sent His Son: A Contemporary Christology by Christoph Schonborn   Essays in Diakonia by Robert Slesinski   The Holy Transfiguration by Robert Slesinski   The Holy Encounter by Robert Slesinski   The Holy Pentekostarion by Robert Slesinski   The Holy Theophany by Robert Slesinski   A Primer on Church and Eucharist by Robert Slesinski   The Essential Pope Benedict XVI by John Thornton   Mary the Mother of Jesus by Franz William   Jesus and the Victory of God by N. T. Wright   The Resurrection of the Son of God by N. T. ...