miniZibaldone

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From the possibility of doubting everything, it does not follow that it would be good to do that. The necessity of positing the reality of the living is not a theoretical compulsion but is itself a kind of moral evidence. Whoever loves a human, whoever has friends, cannot at the same time doubt the beloved's or the friend's existence. That person must hold the other's being alive as irreducible. And when I say one cannot doubt, I do not mean a physical or logical impossibility, but a moral and,  therefore,  absolute impossibility. Insofar as I doubt his reality, I do not merely bracket somewhat the reality of the friendship; rather, I destroy it. Friendship does not allow for an ontological abstinence, for an epoche . It implies an ontological affirmation. In the case of friendship, this affirmation is not a postulate but a necessary implication. But there, where the relationship to the other does not have the intensity of friendship but is defined by the claim of each to...

In fact, sometimes our exhaustion is caused by having put our trust in things that are not essential, because we have distanced ourselves from what is really valuable in life. The Lord teaches us not to be afraid to follow Him, because the hope we place in Him will not be disappointed. From the audience Jesus projects to His disciples a path of knowledge and of imitation. Jesus is not a teacher who imposes on others with severity burdens that He does not carry: this was the accusation He made to the Doctors of the Law. He addresses the humble and little ones, the poor and the needy because He Himself made Himself little and humble. He understands the poor and the suffering because He Himself is poor and tried by sorrows. Jesus did not follow an easy way to save humanity; on the contrary, his path was painful and difficult. As the Letter to the Philippians reminds: “He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (2:8). The yoke that the poor and the oppr...

That of the Christian in the world is a wonderful mission, is a mission for all, is a mission of service, without exception; it requires so much generosity and  especially his eyes and heart turned on high, to invoke the Lord’s help. There is so much need for Christians who testify with joy the Gospel in everyday life. From the angelus The missionaries always preach a message of salvation to all; not only the missionaries who go away, even us, Christian missionaries who say a good word for  salvation. And this is the gift that Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit. This announcement is to say: “The kingdom of God is at hand for you.” (v. 9), because Jesus has  [“approached”] God to us; God became one of us; in Jesus, God reigns in our midst, His merciful love overcomes sin and human misery....  And this is the Good News that the “laborers” should bring to everyone a message of hope and consolation, peace and charity. When Jesus sends His disciples ahead of  Him i...

But fear paralyzes us, it always paralyzes us; it makes us close in on ourselves, closed to God’s surprises. This detail speaks to us of a constant temptation for  the Church, that of closing in on herself in the face of danger. But we also see the small openings through which God can work. From the homily The reading from the Acts of the Apostles (12:1-11) shows us three examples of “closing”: Peter is cast into prison; the community gathers behind closed doors in  prayer; and – in the continuation of our reading – Peter knocks at the closed door of the house of Mary, the mother of John called Mark, after being set free.  In these three examples of “closing”, prayer appears as the main way out. It is a way out for the community, which risks closing in on itself out of persecution and  fear.  It is a way out for Peter who, at the very beginning of the mission given him by the Lord, is cast into prison by Herod and risks execution.  And while Peter...

When we present ourselves to Jesus long speeches are not necessary. A few words suffice, though accompanied by full confidence in His omnipotence and in His  goodness. In fact, to entrust ourselves to the will of God means to submit to His infinite mercy.  From the audience I will also share something personal with you. In the evening, before going to bed, I pray this brief prayer: “Lord, if you will, you can cleanse me!” And I pray  five “Our Fathers,” one for each wound of Jesus, because Jesus has purified us with His wounds. But if I do this, you can also do it at home, and say: “Lord, if you  will, you can cleanse me!” –and think of Jesus’ wounds and say an “Our Father for each one of them. And Jesus always listens to us.  Against the dispositions of the Law of Moses, which prohibited coming close to a leper (cf. Leviticus 13:45-46), Jesus stretches His hand and even touches him. How  many times we meet a poor man who comes to us! We can even be ...

To serve the Lord means to listen and to put His Word into practice. It is the simple, but essential recommendation of Jesus’ Mother and it is the Christian’s program of life. To draw from the jar is equivalent for each one of us to entrust ourselves to the Word of God to experience its efficacy in life. From the audience What is at the foundation of our faith? — An act of mercy with which Jesus has united us to Himself. And the Christian life is the answer to this love. It is like the story of two who are in love. God and man meet one another, seek one another, find one another, celebrate and love one another: precisely like the loved and beloved in the Canticle of Canticles. All the rest comes as consequence of this relationship. The Church is Jesus’ family in which His love is poured out; it is this love that the Church cherishes and wishes to give to all....  Mary’s words to the servants crown the nuptial picture: “Do whatever He tells you” (v. 5). It’s interesting: they...

Prayer is not a magic wand. It helps to keep faith in God and to entrust ourselves to Him, even when we do not understand His will. In this Jesus Himself – who  prayed so much! – is our example.  From the audience God truly saved Jesus from death giving Him complete victory over it, but the way followed to obtain it passed through death itself! The reference to the  supplication that God heard refers to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. Assailed by imminent anguish, Jesus prays to the Father to let the bitter chalice of the Passion  pass from Him, but His prayer is pervaded by trust in the Father and He entrusts Himself to His will without reservations: “Nevertheless – says Jesus – not as I  will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). The object of the prayer passes to the second plane; what matters first of all is His relation with the Father. See what  prayer does: it transforms the desire and moulds it according to God’s will, whatever it is, because one w...

The Christian life is really quite easy: Jesus is the door; He guides us along the Way, and we know His voice in the Beatitudes, in the works of mercy and when it teaches us to say ‘Father’ From the homily Pope Francis went on to note the simplicity of the language with which Jesus addresses His teachings to the people – a simplicity of imagery that conveys profound truths in a powerful way. “Jesus,” he said, “always spoke to people with simple images: all those people knew what a shepherd’s life was like, because they saw it every day.” They also understood, therefore, what it meant to say, “you enter only through the gate of the sheep pen,” and that anyone trying to get in by any other way was up to no good: “The Lord thus clearly says: you cannot enter eternal life by any entryway that is not the door – that is not Jesus. He is the door of our life – and not only of eternal life, but also of our daily lives. Any decision I take, I take either in the name of Jesus, passing by ...

And that which unites my Christian life to our Christian life, from one moment to another, in order to always go forward — sinners, but going forward — is hope. From the homily When there is no human hope, there is that hope that carries us forward, humble, simple—but it gives a joy, at times a great joy, at times only of peace, but the  security that hope does not disappoint: hope doesn’t disappoint. This “thread of hope” begins with Abraham, who spoke with God, and ends with Jesus. Pope Francis dwelt on the characteristics of this hope. If, in fact, one can say  that he has faith and charity, it is more difficult to speak about hope:  We are able to say this [about faith and charity] easily, but when we are asked, ‘Do you have hope? Do you have the joy of hope?’ ‘But, father, I don’t understand,   can you explain?’ Hope, that humble virtue, that virtue which flows under the water of life, but that bears us up so we don’t drown in so many difficulties, so ...

Think today about our life, about the problems we have, and ask for the grace to entrust ourselves to God’s hands ... The only thing that gives me some light — not to  the mind, to the soul — is Jesus in Gethsemane: ‘Father, not this cup. But your will be done’. From the homily A homeless man who died of exposure in Rome, four sisters of Mother Teresa’s congregation killed in Yemen, the rising incidence of illness in “Terra dei Fuochi” — an  area in southern Italy plagued with toxic waste — and refugees abandoned in the cold. These recent tragedies echoed in Francis’ prayers during Mass at Santa Marta on  Monday, 14 March. [...]  Thus, Jesus “entrusts himself to the Father’s will. [...]  It is a true act of faith, “entrusting myself to God who walks with me, who walks with my people, who walks with the Church”. So perhaps “I entrust myself” by  saying: “I don’t know why this happens, but I entrust myself: You will know why”. And “this is what Jesu...

From the homily No one could be left out in the building of that other shrine, the shrine of life, the shrine of our communities, our societies and our cultures. We are all necessary, especially those who normally do not count because they are not “up to the task” or because “they do not have the necessary funds” to build all these things. God’s Shrine is the life of his children, of everyone in whatever condition, especially of young people without a future who are exposed to endless painful and risky situations, and the elderly who are unacknowledged, forgotten and out of sight. The Shrine of God is our families in need only of the essentials to develop and progress. The Shrine of God is the faces of the many people we encounter each day…  Do not let trials and pains overwhelm you, she tells us. Today, she sends us out anew; as she did Juanito, today, she comes to tell us again: be my ambassador, the one I send to build many new shrines, accompany many lives, wipe awa...

He knows how much we need to feel loved in order to do good. By ourselves we are not up to it. From the homily He overcomes sin and lifts us from our misery, if we trust in Him. It is for us to recognize that we are in need of mercy: It is the first step of the Christian  journey; it comes in through the open door that is Christ, where He Himself awaits us, the Saviour, and He offers us a new and joyful life. [...]  Then we become even more familiar with the sadness we don’t want, we grow discouraged, and are weaker in the face of temptations. This happens because we remain alone  with ourselves, closing in on ourselves and fleeing from the light; while it is only the grace of the Lord that frees us. Let us allow ourselves, then, to “be  reconciled,” let us listen to Jesus who says to the tired and oppressed “Come to me!” (Mt 11:28). Do not remain in ourselves, but go to Him! There we will find  refreshment and peace. [...]  In the first place is p...

From a homily There are so many languages in life: the language of word, and there are also languages of gestures. If a person approaches me, at the confessional, it is because he feels something that weighs on him, which he wants to remove from himself. Perhaps he does not know how to say it, but this is his gesture. If such a person approaches, it is because he wishes to change, not to do something something anymore, to change, to be another sort of person, and he says it with the gesture of approaching, he says it with the gesture of approaching. It is not necessary to ask questions: “But you, you …?” If a person comes, it is because in his soul he does not want to do something anymore. But so often they cannot, because they are conditioned by their psychology, by their life, by their situation … “ Ad impossbilia nemo tenetur .”  A wide heart … Forgiveness … Forgiveness is a seed, it is a caress of God. Have trust in God’s forgiveness. Do not fall into Pelagianism!  [fu...

It [prayer] is the greatest strength of the Church which we must never abandon . From an address Prayer, therefore, is not a good practice to get some peace of heart; nor is it a devout means to obtain from God what is useful to us. If it were so, it would be moved by a subtle egoism: I pray to be well, as if I took an aspirin. No, it’s not so. I pray to obtain this thing. But this is to do business. It is not so. Prayer is something else, it’s something else. Prayer, instead, is a work of spiritual mercy, which wishes to lead everything to God’s heart. “You take charge, who are a Father.” It should be this way, to say it simply. Prayer is to say: “You take charge, who are Father. Look at us, who are Father.” This is relation with the Father. Prayer is this. It is a gift of faith and of love, an intercession of which there is need as of bread. In a word, it means to entrust... Prayer, therefore, as Padre Pio loved to say, is “the best weapon we have, a key that opens God’s h...

From the h omily During Mass at University of Nairobi Today God tells us that we belong to him. He made us, we are his family, and he will always be there for us. “Fear not”, he says to us, “I have chosen you and I promise to give you my blessing” (cf. Is44:2). [...] In obedience to God’s word, we are also called to resist practices which foster arrogance in men, hurt or demean women, do not look after the elderly and threaten the life of the innocent unborn. We are called to respect and encourage one another, and to reach out to all those in need. Christian families have this special mission: to radiate God’s love, and to spread the life-giving waters of his Spirit. This is especially important today, for we are seeing the growth of new deserts created by a culture of materialism selfishness and indifference to others. [full text] From the address at an interreligious, ecumenical meeting in Kenya To be honest, this relationship is challenging; it makes demands of us. ...

From the homily Jesus says that “this poor widow put in more than all the rest” because the others were giving away money from their surplus wealth, while she, in her poverty, “has offered her whole livelihood”. In the Bible, Pope Francis said, the widow is the woman who is alone, who has no husband to look after her, who has to manage on her own, who survives on charity. The widow in this Gospel passage, he said, was “a widow who had placed her trust only in the Lord”. I like to look at the widows in the Gospel, he said, as an image of the “widowed” Church who is waiting for Jesus to return. The Church is the bride of Christ, Pope Francis said, but her Lord has gone and her only treasure is in her Lord. If the Church remains faithful, then she leaves everything while waiting for her Lord to return. If she does not have so much faith in the love of her Lord, then she tries to get by in other ways, seeking security in things that are more of this world than of God.   [link] ...