miniZibaldone

Human judgement lacks the mercy of the Lord’s judgment From the homily "Look in the mirror, but not to put on makeup to hide the wrinkles. No, no, no, that's not the advice! Look in the mirror to look at yourself as you are. 'Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye and do not notice the log that is in your own eye?'  Or, how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is still in your eye? And how does the Lord look at us then, when we do this? One word: 'hypocrite.’ First take the log out of your eye, and then you shall see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye'.” "Let us think today about what the Lord says to us: Do not judge, lest you be judged; the measure… by which we judge will be the same that will be used for us; and, third, let us look in the mirror before judging. 'But this fellow does this ... that fellow does that...' 'But, wait a minute ...'  ...

The testimony of this sinner has sowed restlessness in the heart of  the innkeeper. What happened to this innkeeper the Gospel does not say – and doesn’t even record his name. But surely this man’s curiosity grew, his restlessness has  been allowed to grow in his heart. From the address Pope Francis, Vatican Radio reports, gave a catechesis on Luke’s gospel passage of the Good Samaritan. There are many characters in this passage, he said, but who  qualifies as a neighbour? The robber, the poor man who was left for dead on the road, the priest, the doctor of the law, the lawyer? Or the innkeeper? Perhaps none  of these knew how to answer such a question. The priest was in a hurry, like all priests and no doubt he’s looking at his watch and saying to himself that he must  celebrate the Mass, or that he’s left the door of the church open and he must close it. The doctor of the law, a practical man, said “But if I meddle in this,  tomorrow I must go to c...

F aith does not take us out of the world but inserts us more profoundly in it. Not like those perfect and immaculate ones that think they know it all, but as persons that have known the love that God has for us. From the address In fact, to look at our families with the delicacy with which God looks at them helps us to put our consciences in His same direction. The accent put on mercy puts us before the reality in a realistic way, not, however, with just any realism but with God’s realism. Our analyses are important and necessary and they will help us to have a healthy realism. But nothing is comparable to the evangelical realism, which does not halt at the description of situations, of problems, — even less of sin — but always goes beyond and succeeds, seeing behind every face, every story, every situation an opportunity, a possibility. Evangelical realisms is committed to the other, to others and does not make ideals and of “having to be” an obstacle to encounter others in the...

If God favors humility, it is not to humiliate us: rather humility is the necessary condition to be raised by Him, so as to experience the mercy that comes to fill our emptiness. If the prayer of the arrogant does not reach God’s heart, the humility of the miserable one opens it wide. God has a weakness: a weakness for the humble. Before a humble heart, God opens His heart totally. From the audience [T]he parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (cf. Luke 18:9-14). ...  Both the protagonists go to the Temple to pray, but they act in very different ways, obtaining opposite results. The Pharisee “stood” (v. 11) to pray, and used many words. His prayer was one of thanksgiving addressed to God, but in reality it was a display of his merits, with a sense of superiority vis-a-vis “other men,” described as “extortioners, unjust, adulterers,” as, for example — and he points to the other who was there – “this tax collector” (v. 11). But the problem is precisely here: the Pharisee prays...

Therefore, by entering in relation with the sinful woman, Jesus puts an end to that condition of isolation to which the merciless judgment of the Pharisee and of his fellow citizens, who insulted her, condemned her From the general audience The Pharisee cannot conceive that Jesus lets Himself be “contaminated” by sinners, that is how they thought. He thought that if was really a prophet, He should recognize them and keep them at a distance, so as not to be stained, as if they were lepers.  This attitude is typical of a certain way of understanding religion, and it is motivated by the fact that God and sin are radically opposed. However, the Word of God teaches how to distinguish between sin and the sinner: one must not descend to compromises with sin, while sinners – that is, all of us! – are like the sick that are cured, and to cure them the doctor must come close to them, visit and touch them. And, of course, to be cured, the sick person must admit that he is in need of a ...

God is greater than our sin. Let us not forget this: God is greater than our sin! From the general audience Today we finish the catecheses on mercy in the Old Testament, and we do so meditating on Psalm 51, known as the Miserere . [...]  The “title” that the ancient Jewish tradition gave this Psalm makes reference to King David and his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. We know the  affair well. King David, called by God to tend His People and to lead them on paths of obedience to the Divine Law, betrays his mission and, after having committed  adultery with Bathsheba, has her husband killed. Terrible sin! Nathan, the prophet, reveals his guilt to him and helps him to acknowledge it. It is the moment of  reconciliation with God, in the confession of his sin. And here David was humble; he was great! [...]  The Psalmist entrusts himself to God’s goodness; he knows that divine forgiveness is extremely effective, because it creates that which...

From the homily The serpent, the Pontiff clarified, is a “symbol of sin, the serpent that kills. But the serpent that saves: this is the mystery of Christ”. St Paul, the Pope  recalled, also spoke of this mystery. “He said that Jesus emptied himself, humbled himself, annihilated himself in order to save us”. Moreover, the Apostle offers an  even stronger expression: “he became sin”. Thus, using the biblical symbol, we could say: “he became serpent”. This, Francis said, is “the prophetic message of  today’s readings. The Son of man, who like a serpent ‘became sin’, is lifted up in order to save us”. [...]  This, the Pope concluded, is “the history of our redemption”, this is “the history of God’s love”. This is why, “if we want to know the love of God, we look at the  Crucifix”. There we meet “a man who is tortured, died, who is God, ‘emptied of divinity’, tarnished, who ‘became sin’”. Then came the final prayer: “May the Lord  grant us the grace to ...

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]

Let us voice our truest desire: “[Jesus], let me receive my sight!” From a homily Sin also has this effect: it impoverishes and isolates us. [...]  But Jesus is passing by; he is passing by, and he halts: the Gospel tells us that “he stopped” (v. 49). Our hearts race, because we realize that the Light is gazing upon us, that kindly Light which invites us to come out of our dark blindness.  Jesus’ closeness to us makes us see that when we are far from him there is something important missing from our lives. His presence makes us feel in need of salvation, and this begins the healing of our heart. Then, when our desire to be healed becomes more courageous, it leads to prayer, to crying out fervently and persistently for help, as did Bartimaeus: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (v. 47). [...]  Unfortunately, like the “many” in the Gospel, there is always someone who does not want to stop, who does not want to be bothered by someone else crying out in pain, prefe...

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.   [...

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors [is] an equation.” In other words, “if you are not capable of forgiveness, how can God forgive you?” From a homily [Forgiveness] dynamic is the following: “I turn to God, remind him of his mercy and ask his forgiveness” — but “forgiveness as God gives it”.  The Pontiff then expanded on a characteristic of the forgiveness of God, whose perfection is so incomprehensible to us men and women: he reaches the point of  “forgetting” our sins. “When God forgives”, the Pope said, “his forgiveness is so great that it is as if ‘he has forgotten’”. Thus, “once we are at peace with God  through his mercy”, if we ask the Lord: “Do you remember that bad thing that I did?”, he might answer: “Which one? I don’t remember...”.  Francis explained that this is “completely the opposite of what we do”, and which often comes out in our “gossip."   [link]

This is the essence of Christianity: to spread the regenerating and gratuitous love of God, with the attitude of acceptance and mercy to everyone.  From the angelus Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ feet, and said: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” It was a miraculous sign that convinced him that Jesus is not only a terrific teacher, Whose word is true and powerful, but that He is the Lord, the manifestation of God. And this close presence arouses in Peter’s a strong sense of his own pettiness and unworthiness. From a human point of view, one could think there should be distance between the sinner and the saint. In truth, his own sinful condition requires the Lord to not distance himself from him, the same way a doctor cannot create distance from he who is sick.  [full text]

From the homily “Today I want to emphasize only one thing,” the Pope concluded. “There is a moment where the attitude of sin, or a moment where our situation is so secure and we see well and we have so much power” that sin “stops” and becomes “corruption.” And “one of the ugliest things” about corruption is that the one who becomes corrupt thinks he has “no need for forgiveness.” [...]  “Today, let us offer a prayer for the Church, beginning with ourselves, for the Pope, for the Bishops, for the priests, for consecrated men and women, for the lay faithful: ‘Lord, save us, save us from corruption. We are sinners, yes, O Lord, all of us, but [let us] never [become] corrupt!’ Let us ask for this grace.”   [link] From the address Therefore, mercy constitutes the architrave that supports the life of the Church: the first truth of the Church, in fact, is the love of Christ. [...]  This attention to the works of mercy is important: they are not a devotion. It is the concr...