Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

FROM JUSTICE TO YIELD Betrothed, RIGHT TO REVOLT PRAYER TO GOD THE FATHER

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"The publican smote upon his breast, saying,: "Hate, have mercy on me a sinner ". I tell you: these, unlike the other [Pharisee], He went down to his house justified, For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, those who humble themselves will be exalted " [LC 18,14].

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Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

The unforgettable and lamented Anna Marchesini [1953-2016] with the companions of trio Solenghi-Marchesini-Lopez, In a famous edition of satirical The Betrothed from the 1980s [click on image to open the video]

I remember with great affection and joy of one of the secondary characters The Betrothed. Agnese, Lucia's mother Mondella, which encourages Lucia and Renzo want to tie the wedding through the expedient of surprise wedding. With this humble advice and, in spite of everything, full of wisdom, Agnes tries to do justice to the betrothed and to God's plan, acting in this sense an example of humility and devotion.

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We now try to grasp the humility of prayer in the readings of this XXX Sunday of Ordinary Time [see Liturgy of the Word, WHO]. In the first reading from the Old Testament we read:

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"The Lord is judge, and there is no respect of persons for him. There is partial to the detriment of the poor and listen to the plea of ​​' [SR 35,15].

The author of the book of wisdom He turns to the Jewish People, trying to break a mindset and religious formalism of an era in which some thought that the poor and oppressed will be reduced in this state for some misconduct, for example pride. The concept that if one is poor, Because of this it is for itself, we find him in some thought Calvinist, especially that he developed in the liberalist society of the United States of America in the seventeenth century. An entirely different view Siracide that says the opposite: the poor are heard instead. Just because he is unable to raise to God a word of fidelity with a great poverty of heart. So you know how to pray in the most authentic way.

Let's also think about the way we pray. If we are too formal or repeat unenthusiastically, We ask the Lord to help us instead to live prayer with greater depth and authenticity.

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In the second reading we find the nearness of the Lord for those who pray in a more authentic and with an act of abandonment to him:

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"In my first defense no one took my; all deserted me […] But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength " [2TM 4, 16].

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St. Paul reminds the strength and closeness of God in the hardest moments, and more depressive of his Christian and preacher of Jesus Christ. Put on trial for blasphemy by the Jews and then by the Romans for having disobeyed the command not to proclaim the mystery of the Risen Jesus, Paul reminds Timothy that the abandonment to God was the case with an act of humility. This humility allowed him to feel the proximity and strength of the Lord. Of this it gives us the greatest teaching Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke where we read:

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"The publican smote upon his breast, saying,: "Hate, have mercy on me a sinner ". I tell you: these, unlike the other [Pharisee], He went down to his house justified, For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, those who humble themselves will be exalted " [LC 18,14].

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If you compare the two prayers, both they turn to God. In the case of the Pharisee, he performs a ritual prayer and perfect liturgically, thanking God not to be like the publican. There is a kind of contempt that is expressed, so not so hidden, towards the publish. This prayer, stylistically perfect, It is absolute useless from the point of view of content. Because the Pharisee does not know how to get those seeds of good that the Lord has put in publishing, beyond the injustices they may have actually done. But the tax is a sinner. It does not compare to others; It does not offer a perfect ritual prayer. Only small words, lowly, but full of meaning. That's why, says Jesus, the tax will be exalted. Because it offers the little that has, his being fragile and sinful man, to the Sir. And in this true and authentic offer the Lord can do great things.

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This is an invitation for us not too much focus on ourselves: to thank the Lord for the talents and the gifts received, but how humus fertile, We humbly offer them to God. And in this offer us, God will exalt. We make its sacred ferment where blossoming of joy.

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He wrote the Italian writer and patriot Niccolò Tommaseo:

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"Who wants to look at himself in clear water, It agrees that is bent. Without humility do not know the pure souls ».

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May the Lord grant the humility to bend down on his mysteries and the people who sent us, to be clear mirrors of his Trinitarian love.

Amen.

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Rome, 27 October 2019

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