miniZibaldone

From the homily Mary is a cure for solitude and dispersion. She is the Mother of consolation: she stands “with” those who are “alone”. She knows that words are not enough to console; presence is needed, and she is present as a mother. Let us allow her to embrace our lives. “All who heard were amazed at what the shepherds told them” (Lk 2:18). To be amazed: this is what is asked of us today, at the conclusion of the Octave of Christmas, as we continue to contemplate the Child born for us, lacking everything yet abounding in love. Amazement is what we should feel at the beginning of each year, for life is a gift that constantly gives us a chance to make a new start. Today is also a day to be amazed by the Mother of God. [link]

From the Angelus Christmas is to celebrate the unheard-of God , or better, it is to celebrate an unprecedented God , who overturns our logic and our expectations. . . . Please, let us not make Christmas worldly! Let us not put the One celebrated aside . In six days, it will be Christmas. The trees, the decorations and the lights everywhere recall that this year also there will be a celebration. Advertising invites to keep exchanging newer and newer gifts to have surprises. However, is this the celebration that pleases God? What Christmas would He want, what presents and surprises? We look at the first Christmas of history to discover God’s tastes. That Christmas was full of surprises . It begins with Mary, who was Joseph’s promised bride: the Angel arrives and changes her life. From being a virgin, she will be a mother. It continues with Joseph, called to be the father of a son without generating Him . . . . However, it’s on Christmas Eve that the greatest surprise arrives...

From the homily Christians who say “it’s always been done that way,” and stop there have hearts closed to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. ‘It’s always been done this way’ is a closed heart, and Jesus tells us, ‘I will send you the Holy Spirit and He will lead you into the fullness of truth.’ If you have  a heart closed to the newness of the Spirit, you will never reach the full truth. And your Christian life will be a half-and-half life, a patched life, mended with  new things, but on a structure that is not open to the voice of the Lord—a closed heart, so that you are not able to change others.” [...] “Christians who obstinately maintain ‘it’s always been done this way,' this is the path, this is the street—they sin: the sin of divination. It’s as if they went  about by guessing: ‘What has been said and what doesn’t change is what’s important; what I hear—from myself and my closed heart—more than the Word of the Lord.’ [...] Habits must be renewed in the newness ...

From the angelus This is the desire of the Church: that they find the mercy of Jesus, His love. [...]  The Church has always seen in them the image of the whole of humanity, and with today’s celebration of the feast of the Epiphany, she wishes to indicate respectfully, to every man and woman of this world, the Child that was born for the salvation of all. On Christmas Eve Jesus manifested Himself to the shepherds, humble men held in contempt – some say brigands --; they were the first to bring some warmth to that cold cave of Bethlehem. Now the Magi arrive from distant lands, also attracted mysteriously by that Child. The shepherds and the Magi are very different from one another; however, they have one thing in common: the heavens. [...]  The shepherds and the Magi teach us that to meet Jesus it is necessary to be able to raise one’s gaze to the heavens, not to be withdrawn in oneself, in one’s egoism, but to have the heart and mind open to the horizon of God, who always s...