miniZibaldone

We must not wait for prodigious events to be converted, but we must open our heart to the Word of God, which calls us to love God and our neighbor. The Word of God  can make an arid heart revive and heal it of its blindness. From the audience Jesus says that one day that rich man will die: the poor and the rich die, they have the same destiny, as do all of us; there are no exceptions to this. And then  that man turns to Abraham, begging him with the appellation of “father” (vv. 24.27). He claims, therefore, to be his son, belonging to the People of God. Yet in life  he showed no consideration to God; instead, he made himself the center of everything, shut-in in his world of luxury and waste. Excluding Lazarus, he did not take  into account either the Lord or His Law. To ignore the poor is to scorn God! We must learn this well: to ignore the poor is to scorn God. [...]  There is a particular point in the parable to be noted: the rich man does not have a name...

The central purpose of Jesus mission, which culminated in the gift of the Holy Spirit, was to renew our relationship with the Father. From the homily The Spirit is given to us by the Father and leads us back to the Father. The entire work of salvation is one of “re-generation”, in which the fatherhood of God,  through the gift of the Son and the Holy Spirit, frees us from the condition of being orphans into which we had fallen. In our own day also, we see various signs of  our being orphans: in the interior loneliness which we feel even when we are surrounded by people, a loneliness which can become an existential sadness; in the  attempt to be free of God, even if accompanied by a desire for his presence; in the all-too-common spiritual illiteracy which renders us incapable of prayer; in the  difficulty in grasping the truth and reality of eternal life as that fullness of communion which begins on earth and reaches full flower after death; in the effort  t...

In Jesus Christ, you have the ‘yes’ of God: He is the ‘yes. ’ From the homily “All of us, throughout each day, we have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and think if we always say ‘yes’ or many times we hide, with our heads down, like Adam and Eve?”  “Today, is the celebration of ‘yes,'” Francis said. “In the ‘yes’ of Mary, there is the ‘yes’ of all the history of Creation,” and here begins the last ‘yes ‘ of man  and God.” With Mary’s yes, he underscored, “God recreates, as [He did] in the beginning with a ‘yes’ that made the world and man, that beautiful Creation,” and now  with this ‘yes,’ “recreates the world more marvelously, recreates all of us … It is the ‘yes’  of God that sanctifies us, that makes us go ahead in Jesus Christ.”   [link]

But we too remember that each of us knows the extent to which we too are often blind, lacking the radiant light of faith, not because we do not have the Gospel close at hand, but because of an excess of complicated theology. We feel that our soul thirsts for spirituality, not for a lack of Living Water which we only sip from, but because of an excessive “bubbly” spirituality, a “light” spirituality. We feel ourselves also trapped, not so much by insurmountable stone walls or steel enclosures that affect many peoples, but rather by a digital, virtual worldliness that is opened and closed by a simple click . From the Chrism Mass homily The first area where we see God showing excess in his ever-increasing mercy is that of encounter . He gives himself completely and in such a way that every encounter leads to rejoicing. [...]  It would be good for us to ask ourselves: after going to confession, do I rejoice? Or do I move on immediately to the next thing, as we would after going...

He wants that our freedom is converted from evil to good, and this is possible – you can! – with His grace. From the Angelus Only the woman and Jesus remained there: misery and mercy, facing each other. And this, as often happens to us when we stop in front of the confessional, with shame,  to make seen our misery and ask forgiveness! “Woman, where are they?” (V. 10), Jesus says to her. And just this fact, and His eyes full of mercy, full of love, to  make that person feel – perhaps for the first time – that she has a dignity, that she is not her sin, but has the dignity of a person; that she can change her life,  can exit from her bondage and walk in a new way.  Dear brothers and sisters, this woman represents all of us, that we are sinners, adulterers before God, traitors of His loyalty. And her experience is God’s will for  each of us: not our condemnation, but our salvation through Jesus.   [full text]

[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....

May those who dedicate themselves to the defense and promotion of life be able to show first of all its beauty. In fact, [as] “the Church does not grow by proselytism but ‘by attraction.’” From an address The good that man does is not the result of calculations or strategies, nor is it the product of the genetic order or of social conditionings, but it is the fruit of a well disposed heart, of the free choice that tends to true good. Science and technology are not enough: to do good, wisdom of the heart is necessary. [...]  “You have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence” (22:17). This condition cannot change either in virtue of theories, or by the effect of social or political reforms. Only the work of the Holy Spirit can reform our heart, if we collaborate: God Himself, in fact, has assured His effective grace to one who seeks Him and is converted “with all his heart” (Cf. Galatians 2:12 ff.)....

The people of God, namely the Church, does not need dirty money; she needs hearts open to God’s mercy.   From the general audience Salvation implies the decision to listen and to let oneself be converted, but it is always a free gift. Therefore, in His mercy, the Lord indicates a way that is not that of ritual sacrifices, but rather of justice. The worship is criticized not because it is useless in itself, but because, instead of expressing conversion, it pretends to substitute it, and so becomes the search for one’s own justice, creating the deceitful conviction that it is the sacrifices that save, not divine mercy that forgives sin. To understand this well: when one is sick one goes to the doctor; when one feels himself a sinner one goes to the Lord. However, if instead of going to the doctor, one goes to a magician, one is not healed. So many times we do not go to the Lord, but prefer to go on mistaken paths, seeking outside of Him justification, justice and peace.   [...

God’s salvation comes not from great things, not from power or money, no from clerical or political networks, but from little and simple things that sometimes even arise from disdain.   From a homily “[L]ater on Jesus felt this disdain on the part of the leaders, the doctors of the law who sought salvation in moral casuistry. And so, the Pope asked, “why this disdain?”. It is because, he said, “in our imagination salvation must come from something great, from something majestic: only the powerful can save us, those who have strength, who have money, who have power, these people can save us”. Instead, “God’s plan is different”. Thus, “they feel disdain because they cannot understand that salvation comes only from little things, from the simplicity of the things of God”. And “when Jesus proposes the way of salvation, he never speaks of great things”, but only “little things”.   [full text]

What is a commitment? What does it mean to be committed? When I am committed, it means that I assume a responsibility — a task towards someone, and it also means the  style, the attitude of fidelity and dedication, of the particular care with which I carry out this task. Every day we are asked to put commitment in the things we do:  in prayer, in work, in study, but also in sport, in free time. In sum, to be committed means to put our good will and our strengths to improve life.  And God is also committed to us. His first commitment was to create the world and, despite our attempts to ruin it — and there are so many –, He is committed to  maintaining it alive. However, His greatest commitment was to give us Jesus. This is God’s great commitment! Yes, Jesus is in fact the extreme commitment that God  assumed in his dealings with us. Saint Paul reminds us of it when he writes that God “did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). And, in...

The heart of a Father that goes beyond our little concept of justice to open us to the limitless horizons of His mercy.  From the homily It is only by responding to it with goodness that evil can be truly defeated. Here, then, is another way of doing justice, which the Bible presents to us as the masterful way to follow. [...]  This is the way to resolve disputes within families, in relations between spouses and between parents and children, where the offended one loves the guilty one and desires to save the relation that links him to the other. Do not cut that relationship, that relation. [...]  And here, in fact, forgiveness and mercy come in. [...] T he Lord offers us His forgiveness constantly and He helps us to receive it and to become aware of our wrongdoing to be able to be free of it, because God’s does not want our condemnation, but our salvation.  [full text]

From the general audience [T]his Year of Mercy is a good occasion to meet again, to embrace and forgive one another and to forget the bad things. [...]  Moses, whom Divine Mercy saved from death in the waters of the Nile when he was newly born, becomes the mediator of that same mercy, enabling the people to be born to freedom, saved from the waters of the Red Sea. And in this Year of Mercy, we can also do the work of being mediators of mercy with works of mercy to come close, to give relief, to create unity. So many good things can be done. [...]  Well, we become so [special possession] for God by receiving His covenant and letting ourselves be saved by Him. The Lord’s mercy renders man precious, as a personal richness that belongs to Him, which He guards and with which He is pleased.   [full text]

From the angelus Instead we are called to throw open the door of our heart to the Word of God, to Jesus, in order thus to become His children. This solemn beginning of the Gospel was already proclaimed on: Christmas today; today it is proposed to us once more. It is the invitation of Holy Mother Church to welcome this Word of salvation, this mystery of light. If we welcome Him, if we welcome Jesus, we will grow in understanding and in the love of the Lord, we will learn to be merciful as He is. Especially in this Holy Year of Mercy, let us make sure that the Gospel becomes ever more incarnate in our own lives too. [full text]

From the general audience Mercy and forgiveness must not remain beautiful words, but be realized in daily life. To love and to forgive are the concrete and visible signs that faith has transformed our hearts and they enable us to express in ourselves the very life of God -- to love and forgive as God loves and forgives.[...]  Salvation cannot be paid for; salvation is not purchased. Jesus is the Door, and Jesus is free! [...] With His love He says to us that precisely when we acknowledge our sins He is still closer and spurs us to look ahead. He says more: that when we acknowledge our sins and ask for forgiveness, there is a celebration in Heaven. Jesus celebrates: this is His mercy: let us not be discouraged. Forward, forward with this!  [full text]

From the Angelus address But let us ask: Is it true that in the various situations and circumstances of life, we have in us the same sentiments that Jesus had? Is it true that we feel as  Christ felt? For example, when we suffer some evil or some affront, can we react without animosity and forgive from the heart those who ask us for forgiveness? How  difficult it is to forgive, eh? How difficult! “You’re going to pay for this” — that phrase comes spontaneously, yes? Or when we are called to share joys and  sadnesses, do we know how to truly cry with the one who cries and rejoice with the one who rejoices? Or when we should share our faith, do we know how to do it with  courage and simplicity, without being ashamed of the Gospel?[...] I leave you with this question: Am I truly in love with Jesus? Am I convinced that Jesus offers me and gives me salvation? And, if I am in love, I have to make him  known! But we should be courageous: make low the mountains of ...