Time of Lent and reflection on death to open us to the joy of resurrection and life without end

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TIME OF LENT AND REFLECTION ON DEATH TO OPEN US TO THE JOY OF THE RESURRECTION AND LIFE WITHOUT END

Lent should also be a time for reflection on death. A peaceful reflection, unencumbered by disturbances or fears, worse from the rejection of the very idea of ​​death. Meditate on death, for us Christians, it means thinking and reflecting, with serenity and confidence, to what awaits us after this step: the resurrection to life. Because with Christ the Lord we are all dead and with Him we will all rise again.

— Liturgical ministry —

Author
Simone Pifizzi

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The general rules for the organization of the liturgical year they sanction and explain:

«The purpose of the time of Lent is to prepare for the celebration of Easter. Indeed, the Lenten liturgy prepares both the catechumens and the faithful for the celebration of the paschal mystery, through the remembrance of baptism and the practice of penance" [cf.. n. 27].

 

 

No one can escape the current attraction force of Lent which every year presents itself unchanged in its profound substance, albeit greatly mitigated. Lent remains the spiritually richest and most apostolically fruitful liturgical period of the entire liturgical year: «Here's the time, here is the day of salvation" [II Cor 5,2].

In the speech of 3 March 1965, Pope Paul VI summarized the reasons for the interest of Lent:

«The moral and civil progress to which this recurring and powerful ascetic and spiritual exercise has given impetus and development is incalculable. A reference to what is happening in our day comes to mind; indeed we can remember how, just in the last few years, in accordance with and by virtue of the Lenten discipline, these collections have been promoted, made possible by some penitential sacrifice, which go to alleviate hunger in the world: an abstinence suggested by the spirit of Lent, translates into economic values, and this becomes "bread for hunger in the world", that is, for a multitude of poor people, distant and unknown, who thus enjoy the charity that flows from the Lenten observance ... And what shall we say about the liturgical meaning of Lent? It is the great apprenticeship in the grace of baptism and penance, it is the great fertilizing rain of the Word of God, it is the great preparatory mediation for Easter. At no other time of the year is the spirituality of the Church richer, more moved, more lyrical, more attractive, more beneficial: whoever studies it discovers it as stupendous; whoever experiences it feels human; who lives it, and, goodbye divine».

Lent it has a dual character which we find described in Holy Council in which this tense is spoken of by pointing:

«The double character of the Lenten season which, especially through the memory or preparation for baptism and through penance, it prepares the faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery by listening more frequently to the word of God and by dedicating themselves to prayer, is placed in greater evidence both in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. Therefore a) the baptismal elements proper to the Lenten liturgy are used more abundantly e, if appropriate, some of them are taken from the previous tradition; b) the same can be said of the penitential elements. As for catechesis then, be inculcated in the hearts of the faithful, together with the social consequences of sin, that characteristic of penance which detests sin as an offense against God; nor forget the Church's part in the penitential action and solicit prayer for sinners" [cf.. n. 109].

For the baptism, the paschal mystery of Christ has become the paschal mystery of the Christian. For by means of baptism we were brought in, vitally grafted and incorporated into Christ and the Church, thus becoming responsible protagonists of the history of salvation that is now taking place in the world. To awaken in us the baptismal conscience the Church, during Lent, following the Gospel of John, he presents the paschal mystery to us through the symbolism of water, of light and life, which results from the three important evangelical episodes of the Samaritan woman, of the man born blind and the resurrection of Lazarus. These are themes specifically suitable for making us rediscover the gradualness of the movement of adherence to Christ. In fact, the Samaritan woman recognized the Messiah as soon as she forgets her physical thirst and admits another one, truer and deeper [cf.. GV 4, 1-42]. The born blind, from the vision of natural light he passes to the supernatural one that saves [cf.. GV 9, 1-40]. Lazarus is brought back to life after Jesus solemnly affirms the need for faith: "Whoever believes in me, even if dead he will live" [cf.. GV 11, 1-53]. These three fundamental elements help us understand the history of salvation eminently linked to these three signs: water, light and life.

Element of Water. It is easy to see a theology of water in Scripture. Given the need to quench their thirst for a nomadic people like Israel, the water becomes the sign of God's providence towards his people, while his deprivation, a punishment. Water is used by the prophets as a sign of the messianic times and the salvation that will come from these times. But the relationship between water and baptism is completely unique: the Spirit hovering over the primordial waters, downpour [cf.. GN 1, 1-2], the Red Sea [cf.. Is 14,15-15,1] I'm, according to the Fathers of the Church, all prefigurations of Baptism.

Element of Light. In ancient times Baptism was called "illumination" and the baptized "illuminated". The relationship between light and baptism is highlighted, as well as from the passage of the man born blind, also from the celebration of the Easter vigil. The symbolism of the candle is all too evident: Christ conquers the darkness. Through baptism we have become children of the light: we must walk as reflectors of the light of the Lord.

Element of Life. It is the culminating aspect of this baptismal catechesis. New life is the primary element in baptism because it is in the very person of Christ. To understand this, one must have a living knowledge of spiritual death, of the impotence to resurrect alone and of the need for divine intervention: "Man, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!» [cf.. GV 11, 1-57]. Until we manage to arouse in us the sense of the need to be saved, i.e. "resurrected", we will have to bitterly get used to living a Christianity that, without its baptismal foundation, it will have nothing paschal. The entire baptismal liturgy consists of a mystery of death and resurrection: the man, to rediscover its true meaning, must necessarily go through a fight in which someone has to die. The deadly force of sin is gradually dampened, won by voluntary mortification, which makes us produce the mystery of Christ's death in us. The one who thus manages to die, through death itself he will know and have life. Lent begins precisely by presenting Christ to us in battle with Satan [cf.. Mt 4, 1-11]; struggle that grows until it reaches death on the cross. But it is precisely in the voluntary and obedient acceptance of death that Christ achieves the victory over death itself and introduces us to the newness of life.

Let us now analyze the penitential character. In the past the penitential discipline of Lent, with its strict practices, it served the Christian as a moment of expiation for sins. The rite of ashes is a clear allusion to this. Public sinners lived in harsh penance for long days. The rigor of fasting touched limits inconceivable for us! Today, albeit with the mitigation of external practices, the need always remains urgent, the duty of penance, as the Lenten liturgy reminds us:

«Let the table be sparing and frugal / sober the tongue and the heart / brothers it's time to listen / the voice of the Spirit" [See. Hymn of praise].

True fasting it is renunciation of what hinders our path towards God and makes our service to God and to our brothers and sisters less generous. Lent must manifest the tension of a penitent people who carry out in themselves the mortifying aspect of the paschal mystery. Our penance draws its reason and meaning from baptism which causes us to die with Christ before rising with him, and relates us to confession, where death dies and life rises again, preparing ourselves for the Eucharist. Penance helps us to see the Christian life in a more unitary conception and to realize that every act we perform is always a manifestation and implementation of the paschal mystery.

The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the decree on the Apostolate of the laity, reminds us that with penance and the spontaneous acceptance of the hardships and pains of life, by which we conform ourselves to the suffering Christ, we can reach all men and contribute to their salvation [Apostolate, 16].

Lent it should also be a moment of reflection on death. A peaceful reflection, unencumbered by disturbances or fears, worse from the rejection of the very idea of ​​death. Meditate on death, for us Christians, it means thinking and reflecting, with serenity and confidence, to what awaits us after this step: the resurrection to life. Because with Christ the Lord we are all dead and with Him we will all rise again. This is the heart of the paschal mystery which we encounter throughout the precious period of Lent.

Florence, 18 March 2023

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Jesus and the man born blind, from darkness to light towards a path of conversion

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

JESUS ​​AND THE BLIND BORN, FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT TOWARDS A PATH OF CONVERSION

The man born blind told him: "I believe, man!». And he bowed himself before. Then Jesus said: “I came into this world to judge, because those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind ".

 

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

 

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

some Renaissance paintings arose from coloring that darkened black to produce different shades of white and yellow. It is the transition from darkness to light. This also happens in our life and the Today's Gospel it leads us to reflect on sin and our conversion.

 

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The first narrative moment focuses on sin. Following the Jewish tradition of classical retribution, the disciples, seeing the man born blind, they ask what is the cause of the blindness. For the classical theory of retribution, the handicap comes from a previous sin, committed by the same person or by the parents. But Jesus breaks and contradicts this theory:

« Jesus replied: “Neither he sinned nor his parents, but it is so that the works of God may be manifested in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day; then comes the night, when no one can operate anymore. As long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world”».

A man born blind is like this for the works of God to be manifested. And so, in a sense, sign and manifestation that God is among men and acts. So, a person, in itself it is not a sin, but commits sins. Now the sin, according to the classic definition, it is «a word, an act or desire contrary to the eternal Law".

Lent time it is also a propitious time for the rediscovery of the concept and of the very idea of ​​sin, which is something we hardly attribute to ourselves. More easily we say that we have made a mistake, nonsense, a human error. Let's try to reflect on this in a strong review time of our life, such should be this Lenten season. We are all sinners children of God and we thank the Lord who loves us as we are. With the Sacrament of Confession we cleanse our sins and return all with the grace with which we set to work with God. This is why Jesus tells us that this blind man was born this way, without having committed a real sin that led him to blindness; it is so that the works of God are manifested in him. Jesus then invites you to do the works of the one who sends him, that is, the Eternal Father. First of all, we will say that the man born blind is the one who physically passes from darkness to light. Symbolically, the blind man, he is the one who passes from spiritual blindness to faith. This happens precisely through Jesus. Jesus invites and transmits to those who listen - plausibly disciples and apostles - the invitation to carry out the works of light with Him and with the Father. Send all of us to be candles that burn fire of truth from his flame and light. What happens after the miraculous healing is a complex number of actions, of interrogations and questions. Questions that the Pharisees ask themselves and that they ask the blind, to his parents, because nothing convinces them, not accepting that someone recognizes Jesus as the source of truth and light. In the cold darkness of rigid convictions, of idols and ideal shadows of the truth of Christ. For this they chase away the now ex-blind who has miraculously regained his sight. They don't want to see who can question them, because in truth, the real blind, are they.

The man born blind told him: "I believe, man!». And he bowed himself before. Then Jesus said: “I came into this world to judge, because those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind ".

Jesus goes to meet the healed blind man again. The Pharisees, even though they had kicked him out, the dialogue between the two follows. The healed blind man makes his profession of faith: "Yes Lord, I believe in you". And so he prostrates himself, according to the traditional Jewish gesture: prostration to show the presence of God, as did the High Priest in the Sancta Sanctorum of the Temple of Jerusalem. Jesus then tells him:

“I have come to judge, so that those who see do not see and those who see go blind".

In this way he also reproaches the Pharisees, circumventing their trap. But the strong phrase of Jesus, on the judgment is also important for us. In fact, Jesus comes to judge not in the sense of condemning people and sinners, but so that its light is not only a revelation of faith in God. Also because under his loving and wise judgment, may each of us come to open up a glimpse of truth even about ourselves, returning to recognize all the shining gifts that God has given him.

We ask the Lord the grace to perform an act of humility and recognize ourselves as sinners, to rediscover at the same time that we are masterpieces-gifts, with talents and peculiarities that we can offer to Him, to our neighbor and to the Church in an act of love.

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 19 March 2023

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An increasingly aggressive society populated by lost and disoriented young people

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— School, society, policy —

AN INCREASINGLY AGGRESSIVE SOCIETY POPULATED WITH LOST AND DISORIENTATED YOUNG PEOPLE

Young people today need responsible adults, especially if the latter are public figures. The scar to the President of the PD, Elly Schlein, in Viterbo with a swastika, the upside down images of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Minister Giuseppe Valditara, these are very serious episodes that cannot and must not leave us indifferent.

Author
Anna Monia Alfieri, I.M.
Knight of the Italian Republic

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A renewed concern, another episode, yet another, of offense, this time against the secretary of the PD, Elly Schlein, in Viterbo. The solidarity that has come from all the political forces is certainly positive. I too express my solidarity with this young woman who today represents the many who have seen in her the person to trust. For some time I have been experiencing with some concern the violent tones of the political dispute which lead to the many episodes of violence against the various personalities of politics. Episodes, the ones I'm referring to, which seem to bring back the nefarious ideologies that sowed death and destruction throughout the twentieth century. And not only. How not to be able to think of the concentration camps and their horror: the surviving Jews have helped us understand the horrors of Nazism and Fascism. How to forget, on the other front, the dark period of the sinkholes, the Italians killed by Tito soldiers for the mere fact of being Italian and therefore, in the eyes of Tito, fascists. Or how not to think about the gulags of Siberia. Aberrant pages of human history, perhaps the worst. And again the anarchy with the violence with which it manifested itself. These are ideologies from which all our political forces, clearly and decisively, they distanced themselves.

 

 

We have to, At that time, everyone, today, take a step forward in responsibility. I know young people and our young people are those of the post covid who have lived through a difficult period that has sown fear in them, loss, with the consequent widespread abuse of psychotropic drugs to manage anxiety, not to think, to sleep, to get away from reality, abuse of psychopharmaceuticals and alcohol that make our children lose their lives. Just a few days ago a girl died in Monza. Equally worrying is the phenomenon of those young people who press their foot on the accelerator and lose their lives crashing into a tree: it's not just shenanigans but a desperate need to push boundaries in order to feel alive. Where are the adults in all of this? Where were they before the covid? Where I am now?

Here these young people need responsible adults today, especially if the latter are public figures. Florence events, Bologna, of Turin are alarm bells that all politicians, as someone involved in communication, they cannot ignore. Similarly the disfigurement to the President of the PD, Elly Schlein, in Viterbo with a swastika, the puppet of the Prime Minister, the images upside down of the President Giorgia Meloni and of the Minister Giuseppe Valditara, with the cross over his eyes, in Milan, these are very serious episodes that cannot and must not leave us indifferent.

I appeal, so, again and in a heartfelt way to the political class: let's protect our young people from the squares, let us not neglect these manifestations, the risk of losing control of these phenomena is really high. Let us remember that politics is "the highest form of charity", as Saint Paul VI defined it, the other is an adversary, not an enemy. Politicians must and know how to discuss ideas and ideas do not need violence to assert themselves. I have had the honor of knowing many politicians for years, belonging to all political forces, and I have always appreciated his capacity for dialogue and constructive confrontation in Parliament. I hardly ever witnessed violent arguments, on the contrary, I appreciated the frank and honest confrontation. We have all suffered, in the recent past, for the squares of the "vaffa" who used and abused the malaise of many citizens, riding and exasperating discontent. Today the risk of physical and virtual squares, with the continuous and piercing reference to the ghosts of the past, can do much worse damage. Let's stop first.

Despite these worrying signs, I have great faith that the situation can evolve with a decisive change towards a sense of responsibility and institutional loyalty. We still have many, young and old, politicians, of the associations, of the culture that make their calm voice heard, respectful and responsible. We need them, Today more than ever, we need meekness, that virtue that knows how to defend one's ideas in a firm but respectful way. So I invite the myths to emerge, to make a difference, to continue to make the beautiful history of our country. «Beati i miti, because they will inherit the earth» [Mt 5, 5].

 

Milan, 12 March 2023

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The man of liquid society at the well of living water with the Samaritan woman

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE MAN OF THE LIQUID SOCIETY AT THE WELL OF LIVING WATER WITH THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

“Water is condescending, mobile, transparent, tasteless. One easily gets the impression that, compared to the rest of reality, it is somehow otherworldly".

 

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

 

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

who plays sports such as football, the basket or the run, especially in summer, knows how refreshing a glass of water is at the end of a sporting activity. It almost has a profound meaning that goes beyond the somatic aspect. As the scientist Philip Ball writes:

“Water is condescending, mobile, transparent, tasteless. One easily gets the impression that, compared to the rest of reality, it is somehow otherworldly".

 

 

The long song the today's gospel it's an invitation. It is a return to the sources, to the water of our origins: therefore to rediscover our baptismal vocation, because from that moment we started walking in the path of holiness and accepting our vocation. Therefore, returning to remember baptism is returning to the sources of our faith and quenching our thirst with the water of grace and the Holy Spirit.

At the beginning of the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, it is the Lord who asks a precise question: “Give me a drink.” Jesus is thirsty because he is in a barren desert area. It's very hot and it's near a well. So try to make friends with the Samaritan woman, asking for practical help. In fact, offer some water, for the culture of the time, it was really a gesture of closeness and also that allowed to generate a certain companionship.

This gesture surpasses the Samaritan woman: Jesus is also close to us. The Lord asks all of us to offer him water, Also today, especially every time we pray and enter into communion with him in the Eucharist. He thirsts for our presence, our friendship and our faith. He says to us give me a drink, to indicate that he wants to relate and have an intimacy with us.

Returning to the letter of the text, we see that the exchange between the two begins. A few sentences later it is He who offers the water to the woman:

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but who will drink of the water that I will give them, he will never be thirsty again. On the contrary, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life".

The Samaritan woman must not have understood this sentence well. They are strong words and very intense. After all, Jesus is telling her not to draw only on water drawn from the well that quenches the thirst of the body and the dry throat, but to drink from a source that also quenches the soul and spirit. This is the water of faith and grace.

We too have been quenched by this water. Effectively, if we think about it, our life of faith began with a little’ of water, a white robe and a candle of light. On the day of our baptism, the material element used to administer the Sacrament of the beginning of the life of faith is precisely water. This water accompanies the words of the priest «I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". Baptismal water is also a sign of a great event: received the divine grace received which has entered into us by uniting itself to our life and to our person. And together with God, from that moment to follow, we can do great works of charity and love.

Jesus offers us faith and grace in baptism because we can discover that we are all a great gift to God himself and to the world. For our personal and unique love to become a concrete action of tenderness and compassion towards those who suffer.

We ask the Lord to still feel that baptismal newness in our lives, to rediscover ourselves as children in soul and spirit, to quench our time with the presence of God and to irrigate the desert of a contemporary world afflicted by an increasingly liquid culture with wells of hope.

Amen.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 12 March 2023

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The book of «Gattoloqui satirici» by Ipazia Gatta Romana is being distributed

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THE BOOK OF «SATIRICAL GATTOLOQUIS» BY IPAZIA GATTA ROMANA IS OUT FOR DISTRIBUTION

Our personal faith is at risk, but this is precisely the challenge that we must overcome and that of all challenges has always been the most difficult: the great test of faith that, as the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews warns: «[…] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ".

- Editorial news -

Author:
Jorge Facio Lynx
President of Editions The island of Patmos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For Editions types The Island of Patmos The book by our author Ipatia Gatta Romana is being distributed. A very feline and biting book, comparable to Alberto Sordi's style of comedy, behind which often, or perhaps almost always, the tragedy was hidden, represented not crying but laughing, although that rice always left a bitter aftertaste.

The work of Ipatia Gatta Romana is presented by Father Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo who wrote the preface.

 

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PREFACE BY

Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo

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Many people do not know that cats are especially loved by secular clergy. They don't know because they don't frequent priests and their spaces, or because some priests only know what is linked to the surreal black legends circulating on a planetary level, especially from the period following the French Revolution, in which it flourished and spread truly extraordinary. There are numerous religious houses, the male and female monasteries and convents where there has always been the presence of cats, almost almost de rigueur. In none of these homes were the cats wanted and taken in, they are the ones who arrived. Also because the cat is capable of presenting itself at the doors of monasteries and convents with an extraordinary pimp-like air, capable of playing the part of the poor trembling creature wonderfully, abandoned and hungry, before which monks, nuns and friars hardly have the courage to throw him out.

Felines have another relationship with religious people, as they are people who live in communities. Therefore, the cat, he establishes a community relationship with the inhabitants of those sacred walls, ending up becoming an animal with a very religious character, monastic or conventual. These are the so-called "cats of contemplative life". The relationship they establish with the presbyters of the secular clergy is completely different, who almost always live individually in their parsonages or private homes.

The cat is that splendid independent animal, but deeply affectionate and faithful, capable of breaking the priest's loneliness, becoming his companion and friend.

While quite a few bishops, careless, they left their priests, young and old, in a state of abandonment and loneliness, if anything with the potential risk of reactively falling into depressive syndromes or alcohol dependence, to say the least, here the presence of a cat managed to do what many of these bishops did not do: stay close to their priests.

At times, for a priest, a cat can do much more than his bishop busy tormenting his heart as a melodramatic actor for the poor, migrants and refugees…

Homily for Holy Christmas? Poor, migrants and refugees. On the contrary, directly new version and reading of the Holy Gospel: «Jesus was poor…Jesus was a migrant…Jesus was a refugee…».

Holy Mass at the Lord's Supper? Poor, migrants and refugees. In fact, as is well known - I have said and written it but I never tire of repeating it - during the Last Supper Jesus Christ took a poor, or if we prefer a migrant or a refugee, he showed it to the Apostles and told them: “This is my body, this is my blood". All after having established social workers, not Priests of the New Covenant, giving them a specific command: “Go around the world and found NGOs”.

Easter of Resurrection? Needless to say. For those who are resurrected Jesus Christ, if not for the poor, migrants and refugees, made yet another object of the episcopal homily on the mystery of the empty tomb of the Risen One who defeats death?

Many of us are perhaps annoyed by poor people, migrants and refugees? Of course not! We are only so because of the conformism of the moment of certain ecclesiastics who at the first change of wind will not hesitate to change their attitude and flag instantly. This is what is understandably annoying.

In a similar situation of ecclesial and doctrinal drift, you understand well the extraordinary importance for a priest of those exceptional animals that are cats, authentic masters in teaching the art of... but ignore them!

Hypatia Gatta Roman, witty and ironic feline without mincing words, she is an authentic master in this art summarized in her own way in the sentence: «Now piatelli on a series, you owe them by pija just fuck!».

A few years ago an elderly priest died, with a life dedicated to the care of believers of Christ without any self-sacrifice. Finally becoming old and ill he was left to his own devices, with all the inconveniences and discomforts that old age and illness can bring with them.

They wanted to put him in a retirement home for priests in the city, but he, who had lived his whole life in a rural mountain area, replied that he would die in that structure within a month.

There was no shortage of space in the town's rectory, converted from a former 16th century Franciscan convent, but the new parish priest only liked his predecessor, now partially incapacitated, remained in the parish structure. A parishioner thus made an old apartment he owned available to him, two small rooms on the first floor overlooking a town square, where the new parish priest went in a hurry to say hello for Christmas and Easter, despite living in 100 meters away. On one of these two occasions, upon his exit he made a very ironic and unfortunate joke to some parishioners who were on the street, telling them with rare sensitivity: «… and this too is done, see you at Easter!».

The elderly, semi-ill priest could, however, count on some precious resources: several grateful and grateful parishioners for the apostolate he carried out who visited him in rotation to keep him company and pray with him, some elderly women who looked after him every day with housework and his beloved and inseparable cat, named Tobit. Also an old brother several times a month, with a simple call, gave him spiritual assistance.

Finally the old priest died. His funeral was celebrated by the bishop in the parish church of which he had been parish priest for fifty years. Bishop installed for about a year and what ever, the two times he had gone to that parish, one for the Patron Saint's Day, one for Holy Confirmations, he had found time to go and visit him. Which is more than understandable in these times in which bishops new generation they respect others, new priorities; they have poor people, migrants and refugees who await them in every corner. Sometimes they even go to greet them inside the mosques, because if they really don't meet them on the street they go looking for them, with the far-sighted aim of giving the Mohammedans the ropes with which Europe will soon be hanged.

During the homily, the bishop had a "memory lapse", if we want to call it that: he could not remember the name of the dead priest, which was suggested to him in a low voice by the parish priest sitting nearby. Whether it was a sign from heaven this is not known, but just while to the miserable bishop everything poor, migrants and refugees the name was whispered, at the same time Tobias entered the church, the deceased priest's cat, with soft and solemn step he walked the whole aisle and went to squat under his master's coffin, where he remained attentive and sly throughout the Holy Mass without ever moving, she knew him well and loved him.

The feline had seen the funeral home workers first place him in the coffin and then seal it, then take her away. Left alone in the house, he slipped out of a half-open window on the first floor, he then jumped into the street and headed towards the church.

What to say: certain bishops should learn from the wisdom and faithful kindness of certain cats who don't talk about the poor at all, migrants and refugees. On the contrary, if some mouse tried to illegally emigrate into their house to damage it, maybe they would even celebrate him, they certainly wouldn't remove the crucifix from the wall so as not to disturb the rodent, in case he was a Muslim mouse who screams before biting into the cheese: God is Great AAllah Akbar! (Allah is the greatest!).

Cats have no spirit of furry charity, however, they are capable of following their master right to the coffin, while the pious bishop new generation all poor, migrants and refugees, he didn't even know the name of his priest who had served the Church and the People of God for fifty years.

Said this: could never, the biting Hypatia Gatta Romana, Don't take the piss out of certain people? As you will see by reading the chapters of this systematic collection, Hypatia has been around for several years now, patient and sagacious philosopher, he was able to observe with a careful eye and was able to grasp, photographing and commenting in often good-natured language, but witty, sometimes even caustic, moments, episodes, facts and situations that have negatively characterized participation in the life of the Church in the last decade, starting from its most titled exponents up to the last small and humble faithful. A progressive crisis that comes from afar and seems to have no end, a general degradation of the ecclesiastical institution and its structures, a lack of clarity and a continuous game of ambiguity by the hierarchy, a dangerous loss of authority on the part of the authorities responsible for leading the Vatican departments, the dioceses and further down to the parishes. There are fewer and fewer exceptions to the decline of religious practice and virtuous examples are increasingly precious and difficult to identify. Our personal faith is at risk, but this is precisely the challenge that we must overcome and that of all challenges has always been the most difficult: the great test of faith that, as the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews warns:

«[…] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen " (EB 11, 1).

Between one irony and another Hypatia always reminds us of a fundamental principle that no Catholic adheres to, cleric or layman, must never fail:

«[…] we must kiss the hand that slaps us, if that hand is the hand of the Supreme Pontiff or of our Bishop".

Those who think this way and act accordingly in the life of faith, it can also be ironic, because it is a luxury that is granted to him and that he can fully afford.

Rome, 20 January 2023

Saint Sebastian martyr

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Marcello Stanzione, priest of the Angels, Wednesday, 8 March in Florence in the company of Santa Ildegarda di Bingen

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MARCELLO STANZIONE, PRIEST OF ANGELS, WEDNESDAY 8 MARCH IN FLORENCE TOGETHER WITH SAINT ILDEGARDA OF BINGEN

Anything can happen in Florence, including that our esteemed confrere Marcello Stanzione, expert angelologist of European renown, come to us together with St. Hildegard of Bingen.

— Events —

Author
Simone Pifizzi

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Expect everything from the Florentines and in every sense, this is proved by the fact that every native in the capital of Tuscany receives Holy Baptism three times, because as you know we were born with three original sins. This is the reason why a completely specific and particular sacramental theology is applied with respect to that in use in the entire universal Church. So anything can happen in Florence, including that our esteemed brother Marcello Stanzione, expert angelologist of European renown, come to us together with St. Hildegard of Bingen.

 

 

That of Saint Hildegard she is an extraordinary female figure, multifaceted personality endowed with multiple qualities, from thaumaturgical skills to the discovery of medical and pharmacological techniques, from mysticism to the gift of prophecy. Famous for his prophecies, which is much debated today, unfortunately not infrequently also inappropriately, this is the reason why our scholar will be able to clarify certain aspects.

They turned to her for advice the most diverse personalities, from Frederick Barbarossa to Philip of Alsace, from the Supreme Pontiff Eugene III to San Bernardo di Chiaravalle. She was canonized by the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI in 2012 and by the same proclaimed a little later Doctor of the Church.

We invite our Readers who are in and around Florence to participate in the Parish of the Sacred Heart in via Capo di Mondo 60 at 19.00 on March 8. We will also be present with our Dominican editor Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci to do the honors for Father Marcello Stanzione and the participants.

Florence, 5 March 2023

 

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We too are called to be transfigured for Christ, with Christ and in Christ

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

WE ALSO ARE CALLED TO BE TRANSFIGURED FOR CHRIST, WITH CHRIST AND IN CHRIST

Since baptism the Eternal Father has also placed his pleasure on us, because in Baptism we have become children of God by adoption. Let us therefore rediscover our Baptism as a way of Transfiguration. Because becoming saints means becoming ever brighter, of a taller and greater beauty. A beauty that is a reference to the very life of the Trinity.

 

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

 

PDF print format article

 

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

I remember a long trip to the mountains a few years ago, on the heights of Bolzano. A long climb, between cold and hot, between equipment and a water bottle, to reach the top and contemplate all the beauty of creation. A long journey in stages, to find contemplation and beauty.

Transfiguration of Christ, Raphael Sanzio, Pinacoteca of the Vatican Museums

The Today's Gospel it is similar to this path and can be divided into two major stages. First of all, the journey up to Mount Tabor. Pietro, James and John are led with Jesus. Immediately Moses and Elijah appear. Because these characters are present and not all the Apostles? We see. Conceivably Jesus brings with him three important figures: his future vicar, Pietro; the great contemplative of his divine mysteries, Giovanni; the attentive apostle of Charity, Giacomo. At the same time, Moses, he is the one who represents the Ten Commandments and with them the validity and importance of the Law. In the end, Elia, the prophet par excellence. So, prophecy must be perceived as a fundamental element for understanding Jesus.

This Lent Jesus also takes us up the mountain, remembering these things: the identity of Catholics who walk with Peter in the authority of faith, with John in meditation and reflections on the Gospel and the Bible, with Giacomo in the more concrete love of Charity which makes faith and meditation the seed of every action, of tenderness and mercy towards one's neighbor. This will make us true prophets and heralds of Jesus, without losing anything of the Law that the Lord did not want to change [cf.. Mt 5, 17]

At that point Jesus is transfigured, his face shines like the sun and his clothes become shiny. Wear the color of white, which biblically indicates the divine presence. This sparkling whiteness is a sign that Jesus wants to confirm the presence of God among them. All of this is definitively confirmed by the second part of the text. Suddenly a cloud envelops them, and the Father confirms «yes it's him, my child, my pleasure, they say». Again another element that wants to show the invisible: Cloud, for the Jews, a sign of God's presence in the desert, His voice. Jesus is the Son of God. This tremendous and fascinating experience is the experience of intimacy in prayer with God. That strong intimacy that occurs in the prayer of contemplation, when we can really taste and internalize everything we believe.

Lent offers itself as a time for rediscovery of this prayer so strong and so intense: being face to face with God, to learn to grow in love. A walk in daily prayer, built on small and big moments, alternating with the Sacraments, in which we too can discover the face of the Transfigured Jesus, preparing for the days of the Passion. To all become transfigured in Him, for him, with him.

Since baptism the Eternal Father he has placed his pleasure on us also, because in Baptism we have become children of God by adoption. Let us therefore rediscover our Baptism as a way of Transfiguration. Because becoming saints means becoming ever brighter, of a taller and greater beauty. A beauty that is a reference to the very life of the Trinity.

We ask the Lord the grace and strength to climb our existential and spiritual Mount Tabor, climbing up the unevenness and difficulties of the journey and always shaking the hand of Jesus, for its beauty to shine in the face of all of us and we will all shine like the sun.

Amen!

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 5 March 2023

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The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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