That day when a demoniac immediately recognized Jesus Christ as divine power

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

That day when a possessed immediately recognized Jesus Christ as a divine power

«In their synagogue there was a man possessed by an impure spirit and he began to shout, saying: “What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? You come to destroy? I know who you are: the saint of God!”. And Jesus ordered him severely: “Crazy! Go out of him!”. And the impure spirit, Strarking it and shouting strong, He left him ".

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This Sunday's evangelical song It forms part of what is commonly defined as the "day of Jesus in Capernao".

"During that time, Jesus, Entering Saturday in the synagogue, [the caférnao] he taught. And they were amazed at his teaching: In fact, he taught them as one who has authority, and not like the scribes. And here, In their synagogue there was a man possessed by an impure spirit and he began to shout, saying: “What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? You come to destroy? I know who you are: the saint of God!”. And Jesus ordered him severely: “Crazy! Go out of him!”. And the impure spirit, Strarking it and shouting strong, He left him. Everyone was taken by fear, so much so that they wondered each other: “Which is never this? A new teaching, given with authority. He even commands impure spirits and obey him!”. His fame spread immediately everywhere, throughout the Galilee region ". (MC 1,21-28).

It is a collection of short episodes ranging from MC 1,21 until 1,34 that the evangelist contains over twenty -four hours. It starts with the morning prayer in the synagogue, described by the V. 21- Prayer still celebrated today by the Jews, which provides for the proclamation of the Torah, of the prophet and the subsequent sermon held by the rabbi - to get to the sunset of the sun, when now, finite lo Shabbat, It is allowed to bring the sick before Jesus. Jesus' activity is hectic: has no time except to teach and to heal. There is an adverb, "right away" (straight, euthys), Very important for Marco, which is repeated in vv. 21.23.28 - Unfortunately not caught by the Italian translation, but present in Greek - and even twelve times only in the first chapter, Forty -five in the entire Gospel of Marco; It indicates the haste of Jesus for which "time is accomplished" (MC 1,15): If the weather is accomplished, There is no time to waste to show how the kingdom has arrived among men.

The first activity that Marco tells us On Jesus is the fact that he taught with authority. The first miracle, Let's call it that, that performs is not a healing or an exorcism, But teaching. E, in proportion, Mark presents Jesus as a teacher, more than the other gospels: Five times the word in his regard Didachē - "teaching" - and ten times he calls him "teacher", reporting this title only to him. Teaching is one of the ministries of which Paolo speaks in the letter to the Romans (12,7), And it is perhaps the charity that we need most in times when it is difficult to transmit faith.

The others, to which Jesus is compared, are the scribes. But they do not have its own "authority". Even if they are not despised or decreased by the evangelist, Marco underlines twice (vv. 22 e 27) which he teaches in a very different way than them. The difference between him and the other "rabbini" could be at two levels. The first is that of the authoritativeness with which Jesus says things. Reading the texts of the rabbinic tradition, which were collected starting from the fall of the second temple, in the second half of the first century AD, We remain affected by the attachment to the "traditions of the ancients" - of which Marco in 7,1-13 - handed down with a long chain of these and sentences, but above all from the way these are listed one after the other, like a collection of different opinions but of the same value. The word of Jesus, on the other hand, has a more creative character and a greater weight: refers directly to the law and to God and, acquiring strength, His word is never just an opinion. But there is more and here we are at the second level of the authority of Jesus. His are not simply words, but they perform what they say. He is the "saint of God" (MC 1,24) and therefore his authority expresses the power of God himself: For this he teaches, exorcizes and heals, but always through a word that frees and saves.

The kingdom of God is a new creation in which, as already in the first, The words profitablely realize what they utter. This becomes evident in the second activity that distinguishes the advent of the kingdom in Jesus: the healing of the sick and the exorcisms. Where there is God with his kingdom, There is no room for evil and its powers: if they have to go.

In fact, Jesus does not let the unchanged spirit speak: «Take Tour», orders him. He does not want Satan to open his mouth and not only because the devil is "lying and father of lies" (GV 8,44). In fact it had already happened once the snake had spoken, And the sad story of man's sin began: The ancient snake to try to evil Adam had in fact inculcated the poison of doubt in Eva: "It is true that?» (Gen 3,1). If then he had been silenced, Adam would have won the temptation.

In this part of the Gospel according to Marco Christology is centered on the idea that Jesus is capable of recovering the fate of the first man. Who, When the devil is silent and also in the desert scene, or in the story of his temptation. Jesus is "chased" in that place (MC 1,12) Just as Adam had been "chased" by Paradise (Gen 3,24), thus sharing its misfortune, but leaving victorious from the test. At the end of it, Register Marco, Jesus "was with the fairs", that is, again in peace with creation, like Adam, "And the angels served it", that is, receiving the same honor that, according to a rabbinic tradition, God had given his most beautiful creature, The honor of being nourished by good spirits. Jesus, at last, It appears in Marco's Gospel not like a child, As instead in the Gospels of Matteo and Luca's childhood, but it arrives on the already adult scene, man made, As Adam was also created adult.

The day of Capernao takes place on a Saturday, The day when God rested after creating man. On this day Jesus can bring the world back to his original beauty, through the same creative word who made the universe and which allows him to exercise his strong authority; but also exercising on that day, Saturday, a special lordship. The "Son of man", how we will listen to another Sunday, It is "Lord also on Saturday" (MC 2,28). The time is of God and Jesus affirms this sovereignty over time by making healing on Saturday. And they are healings that touch men and women who had lost the reason for their disease because of their illness. For a healthy person, The development of the activities along the arc of the week aimed at a fulfillment in sabbatical rest: the encounter with God and with his word permeated with meaning and hope the existence.

For a disabled person, which was excluded from the sabbatical rest and the space of the temple, Here every day of the week was loaded with the same pain and suffering. The healings of Jesus on Saturday interrupt this indistinct flow of time in the body of the sick and restore to men and women who have lost sense of time his full value through Saturday. The healing of that man "possessed by an impure spirit", that that day of Saturday was right there where Jesus was also present, It is the beginning of a new Saturday, that is, a new creation, in which in the center there is the life of every person to be saved. As the rabbi and philosopher Heshel wrote:

«We must feel overwhelmed by the wonder of time if we want to be ready to receive the presence of eternity in a single moment. We have to live and act as if the fate of all the time depended on a single moment " (Heshel A. (J), On Saturday, Garzanti, Milan 2015, p. 96).

 

From the Hermitage, 27 January 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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Charity washes and makes even dirty money clean, The great Saints of Charity teach us this in the history of the Church

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CHARITY WASHES AND MAKES EVEN DIRTY MONEY CLEAN, The great saints of charity teach it in the history of the Church

Some bishops of Migrantopoli and Pauperopoli seems to want to present themselves more pure and immaculate today than the Blessed Virgin Mary, in order to please the world and please it. Until not to understand that charity "everything covers" and "everything transforms", which, however, cannot grasp and understand, If like their president they find themselves a subject who affirms: "The Gospel is not a distillate of truth".

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When the blessed apostle Paul he composed praise to charity also spoke to the present day. This is the characteristic of the Word of God: An eternal language that communicates to men of all time and that over the centuries reveals new messages enclosed in those same words.

The Holy Scriptures they have a style and apocalyptic language in the etymological sense of the term. Although the term apocalypse is spoken in current language, the greek revelation, is erroneously used to indicate a catastrophic event or the end of the world, Its true meaning is "to be dischedamed", "Remove the veil that covers", then discover. Between the term apocalypse and the term epiphany, deriving from the Greek recover, which means "I make myself manifest", There is a close link. Epiphany intended as a manifestation of divinity is a continuous "unfortunate" of the contents enclosed on the lines, within the lines and beyond the lines themselves of the Holy Scriptures that enclose the Word of God.

In the song in question, also known as Hymn to Charity, The blessed apostle Paul expresses:

“Charity is patient, love is kind; It is not envious, It does not brag, not puffed up, no disrespect, does not seek its own interests, don't get angry, ignores the evil received, does not rejoice, but rejoices with the truth. It bears, Love believes, It hopes all things, It endures all things. The charity will never end. […] And now these three remain: faith, hope and charity; but the greatest of these is love!» (The Cor 1, 1-13)

We compare this song Paolino, Easy and understandable only apparently, with a recent fact of ecclesial news:

"" The Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital of Rome has done well to refuse the rich donation of the Leonardo company "because" it's dirty money, weapon, blood -dirty, dirty war ". Mons. Giovanni Ricchiuti National President of Pax Christi and Bishop of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti, takes a more clear position after that The Republic He wrote that one and a half million euros would be refused. "Finally," he says "we are in line with a church that truly frees himself of these conditioning, of these donations that come, as in the case, from an industry that produces weapons. The Vatican did well to refuse this offer. I say it as a bishop: It is a church that loves the truth "" (cf.. WHO e WHO).

First a question. After the president of Peace of Christ He announced that our current "is a church that loves the truth", It would be necessary to clarify two fundamental things. The first: earlier, the church, For two thousand years which truth loved, assuming that she loved her? The second: what is the truth?

Recently, The President of the Bishops of Italy, In the total silence of our national episcopate, he said that "the Gospel is not a distillate of truth" (cf.. WHO). At least, Pontius Pilate, At the time he did not have a statement like that of the President of the Bishops of Italy, in a much more elegant way he asked Christ a question: «What is truth?», What is the truth (cf.. GV 18,38).

It is not easy to talk about truth In today's emotional church of Migrantopoli and Pauperopoli. Let's try to make up for that St. Thomas Aquinas than in the lounges of the increasingly ignorant clerical radical chic It is variously indicated as "old" and "outdated". For the Angelic Doctor O Doctor Common The truth is God himself the very highest and the first reality (Summa Theologica, I q. 16 a. 5 (c)). The truth is never fully deceived, For this reason «truth and incorrect opinion, Truth and lie in the world are continually mixed in an almost inextricable way […] it becomes recognizable, if God becomes recognizable. He becomes recognizable in Jesus Christ. In him God entered the world, And he raised the criterion of truth in the middle of the story " (Joseph Ratzinger, in Jesus of Nazareth, Pilate's question, pp. 216-218).

By the will of his divine founder The Church of Christ was not born for pleasure in the world and pleased him, but to fight it:

"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you from the world, that's why the world hates you " (GV 15, 18-19).

If incorrect opinions overlap with the truth who come to life from subjective or collective emotional elements, It remains completely hidden in the emotional church of Migrantopoli and Pauperopoli, Where he does not hesitate to say that "the Gospel is not a distillate of truth", All in the silence of the whole the Italian episcopate.

Refusing that donation He was still tried once to please the world, In particular, the one composed of people who far from going to the Holy Mass for Easter and for Christmas, They don't even know how to get the sign of the cross. This is the world to which our church visible with an increasingly exotic flavor wants to please at all costs, forgetting one's history, starting from that of the great saints of charity.

Let's start with the Jesuits, to which in the historical moment present it is right to confer a deserved right of priority: The pharaonic institutes built around the world, megalomania is not infrequently, Together with the churches adjacent to their colleges, who on many occasions have made so much irritating the diocesan bishops, because they are deliberately built larger, rich and solemn of their cathedral churches, with the money and contributions of those who were built? Because the Spaniards and Portuguese who offered them ample funding were the same as they managed the slave trafficking market or that if necessary administered justice in a casual way, that means: first they cut your head or implies you, then they possibly evaluated if you really did something wrong. Today's Jesuits, that of migrantopoli and pauperopoli are the propulsion ideological engine, A minimum of history have not really have it?

To the great saints of charity and to the great pedagogues to which we owe the foundation of precious assistance institutes for orphans, abandoned elderly, for the education of poor children and for the welcome and care of the disabled, it gives San Filippo Neri but to San Giovanni Bosco, passing through San Vincenzo de 'Paoli and reaching the most recent St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, San Giovanni Calabria and San Luigi Orione, who provided the necessary money funds for the realization of their works? when in 1980 It was blessed Luigi Orione, Shortly thereafter various protests were raised by circles of people who did not even know the first six words of Our father, including the pathetic Anpi protest (National Association of Italian Partisans) who accused him of being a supporter of the fascist regime thanks to which he had funds for the realization of his works; protest that was then repeated in 2004, When Blessed Luigi Orione was canonized.

The great works of these saints of charity they are still active, some of which constitute clinical and assistance centers considered to be of true excellence at European level: The Turin Opera of San Giovanni Benedetto Cottolengo, The enormous welfare works of Genoa of San Luigi Orione, The Sacro Heart Hospital of Verona of San Giovanni Calabria ... Someone, He ever wondered where and who came from the money? More than anything else, he wonders if today, especially in the face of certain absurd protests, The visible church would have had the courage to body them and canonize them, or if instead he would have sold to groups of people who do not even know the first six words of the Our father but who pretend despite the fact that they dictate the law, with our ecclesiastical authorities that bend their heads and give in to political and ideological whims by non -Catholic and non -Christian environments. In this regard, I refer to my works Herbs Amare e Pius XII and the Shoah in which I explain the external influences exercised by certain fierce groups that they attempted with any unfair means, Until the manufacture of real false historians, to block the cause of beatification of Pius XII and the ceremony of father's beatification Leon dehon for which the date had already been set 24 April 2005 in St. Peter's Square, but which was canceled for improbable accusations of anti -Semitism moved to him by some Jewish circles. Given that never and in no case the Church can take orders from the modern great Sanhedrin and accept its protests, The question to ask was the following: Assuming that his father Leon Dehon wrote some critical phrases about Jewish entrepreneurs - who were rigorously read and contextualized historically in the context of the industrial revolution -, Given that his beatification process lasted almost half a century, because certain Jewish circles they attest to patients until ceremony of beatification set to give life to the public controversy in the world press? Simple: even if those writings had always known them, they had to demonstrate, with a real proof of strength, that they were able to give orders to the Church and induce it to relegate not only from a decision taken, but even from a beatification ceremony already made official and set. This was the real purpose, which was widely obtained for their arrogance and our weakness. The problem was not the beatification in itself and in itself of Father Leon Dehon, The Church can be blessed those who want and must never accept protests for this purpose, since the Jews have no kind of obligation to venerate our blessed and saints in their synagogues, Just like certain fringes of political Zionism, born and developed from the breast of Judaism, They do not accept criticisms aimed at the Israeli army when it is unwilling, except to shout as prefiche to anti -Semitic to anyone who dares to disagree with actions that do not constitute a legitimate defense but real crimes against humanity.

These great saints of charity they did not hesitate to accept money from the assets of known and known subjects for their immorality and for the somewhat casual way with which they carried on their business without getting too scruples. Li boni Jesuit who were, whose rigid moral was well known and which for a long time attempted to transform teenagers into the prey to hormonal crises into a bead army of San Luigi Gonzaga, There have never been particularly scruples in accepting conspicuous donations from the greatest whores and phenomenon of the Spanish courts. Puri and Casti had to be only teenagers, to which he imposed themselves in their colleges, up to time far from remote, to sleep with your hands out of the bed sheets in order to avoid the risk of committing “abominable impure acts”, while at the same time, Under the sheets of those to whom they owed great donations of money for the construction of their pharaonic structures, Instead, you could do everything and more, In impure acts truly abominable.

The big problem - Place that "the Gospel is not a distillate of truth" - is given by the inability to read the words of the blessed apostle Paolo on charity, For example the statement that it "covers everything". If his words were read and included in their depth, It would come to understand that for the realization of works of charity, not only the money of the companies that manufacture weapons should be accepted, But even the money donated by Mexican drug traffickers. Because if that dirty money is entirely used for works of charity in favor of poor people, weak, oppressed, disabled and sick, they will still become clean, because charity "everything covers" everything, or if we prefer: "Everything transforms", because only the divine charity, which is Christ, it can change the evil to good, So the dirty money in clean money. Otherwise a theological problem of no small importance may take over: deny that the grace of God can change the evil in good. As is well known, however,, One of the things that these days are less fashionable in the Church of the emotional and the politically correct is theology.

Certain bishops of Migrantopoli and Pauperopoli They seem to want to present themselves today more pure and immaculate the Blessed Virgin Mary, in order to please the world and please it. Until not to understand that charity "everything covers" and "everything transforms", which, however, cannot grasp and understand, If like their president they find themselves a subject who affirms: "The Gospel is not a distillate of truth".

the Island of Patmos, 23 January 2024

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«Come behind me, I will make you fishers of men ". And immediately they left their nets and followed him

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

«COME BEHIND ME, I WILL MAKE YOU BECOME FISHERS OF MEN". AND IMMEDIATELY THEY LEFT THE NETWORKS AND FOLLOWED HIM

How might we describe the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus? The main difficulty is that Jesus never used any definition to talk about it. Rather, he used parables and images, paragonaldo, to always remain with the Gospel of Mark that we will read this year, to a sower who throws seed on the ground or to a mustard seed and so on.

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Left behind is the passage in the Gospel according to John last Sunday, the lectionary takes us back to Mark, who, the exposition of the trilogy common to the synoptics has been completed (John the Baptist, Baptism of Jesus and trial in the desert), resumes the narrative giving us an important temporal indication that we learn from the beginning of today's Gospel.

«After Giovanni was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and he said: «The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near; convert and believe in the Gospel". Passing along the Sea of ​​Galilee, he saw Simone and Andrea, brother of Simone, as they cast their nets into the sea; they were in fact fishermen. Jesus said to them,: «Come after me, I will make you fishers of men ". And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going a little further, vide Giacomo, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, while they too repaired the nets in the boat. And he immediately called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the boys and went after him. (MC 1,14-20).

Marco writes that Jesus begins to proclaim the kingdom of God "after John was arrested" (MC 1,14 cf.. also Mt 4,12). Many imagine that the chronology of the beginning of Jesus' public ministry unfolded like this: from Galilee, region he comes from, Jesus goes down to the Jordan to be baptized. Immediately afterwards, attempted, he remains for forty days in the desert before returning to Galilee. But instead more time must have passed and the turning point, what makes Jesus return to Galilee is represented by the arrest of the Baptist. Perhaps it is at that precise moment that Jesus becomes aware that it is time to assume his responsibilities.

The voice that cried in the desert, for it has been silenced, now move on to the Word that announces the kingdom. This interpretation helps us believers in times of difficulty and suffering, what John's arrest must have been like for Jesus and he makes us say it: something must be done. It is in such situations that, if you don't go, no one can go in your place. The call that Jesus will now make of his disciples, he experienced it firsthand; he saw the kingdom he announces arrive first, even in the painful news that Giovanni can no longer speak.

But here we are at an important theological question. How might we describe the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus? The main difficulty is that Jesus never used any definition to talk about it. Rather, he used parables and images, paragonaldo, to always remain with the Gospel of Mark that we will read this year, to a sower who throws seed on the ground (MC 4,26) or a mustard seed (MC 4,31) and so on. The kingdom, says Jesus, not only is it close, but we must welcome him as children do (MC 10,15) and get inside, although it's not that easy, especially if you have a lot of wealth (MC 10,23). It is present, that is, here or near, but it is also the future, like the one in which Jesus will drink, together with us, the new wine, other wine than that of his last dinner (MC 14,25). Christian theology has developed a formula for this purpose, that of "already" but "not yet", almost an oxymoron which says however that we can already inherit the kingdom and live in it, even if it is not yet accomplished. It is not yet extended to all men, ma, as the document of the Second Vatican Council teaches The light "he is already present in mystery" with the Church (cf.. n. 5).

In this sense Jesus distinguishes himself from the two main conceptions of the kingdom that circulated in the Judaism of his time. In fact, he did not invent this idea, already known to the Old Testament (cf. 1Cr 28,5) and did not apply it to that way of thinking that saw the kingdom as a "nationalistic" reality, all present, to be implemented perhaps at any cost, nor even to the opposite conception, apocalyptic type, who saw the kingdom as possible only as a future realization that denied the present. If we want to trace these two extremes in the history of humanity, we could say that materialism has often been based on the illusion that everything could be resolved here, now; but on the other hand it is easy to recognize in certain spiritualistic movements the devaluation of the present, viewed negatively.

Jesus instead used the idea of ​​kingdom to say first of all that it has arrived and therefore we can enter. But to do this we need to change our mentality, way of reasoning and thinking; to say it in the words of Jesus: «convert» (MC 1,15). "Come your kingdom!», pray to the Church again, today, after two thousand years. The kingdom already exists, but it must still be welcomed as a gift and found there even where it is difficult to see it.

Therefore in conformity with the Jewish eschatological expectation, but with the decisive difference that it is no longer a matter of waiting, the Kingdom of God is the effect of the messianic event announced by Jesus and present in him. The full unfolding of his redemptive sovereignty has not yet been realized, but the time of the end has come and therefore to speak appropriately there is no longer historical development, but rather a recapitulation of the whole story called to trial.

«This is the content of the “gospel of God” which is briefly reported to us by the most ancient tradition collected by Mark: «The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is near: convert, and believe in the gospel" (1,14-15). What is announced here is the time (the kairos) of definitive fulfillment, the promised coming of the Kingdom, the great turning point of the world inaugurated by Jesus whose final act is about to take place with his parousia. Evidently it cannot be the historical Jesus speaking here, but rather the Risen One preached by the evangelist, which precisely marks the time of the end between resurrection and parousia, as a unique event where all the time, the whole story condenses, including the life of Jesus itself. For this now, unlike Jewish eschatology, "faith in the gospel" is needed, that is, in Jesus Christ, in the Messiah, who is present as the one who came and who is coming. Therefore, by virtue of this faith, everything precipitates and concentrates in the present, there is no longer oscillation between past and future, tradition and expectation; but only the current hour in which the past is redeemed and the future is only the desire for fulfillment: «Come Lord Jesus» (AP 22, 20).[1]

The Gospel continues describing Jesus' haste to bring his word about the kingdom to fruition, because “the time is fulfilled”. The concept emerges very clearly in the Gospel of Mark, where the adverb abounds euthus (straight), "right away", repeated dozens of times. This concern finds its first application in the call of the four disciples (vv. 16-20) and in the episode of the teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum, accompanied by the liberation of a demoniac (next Sunday). Jesus, with gestures and words, it really shows how the kingdom came to be, and he says it: to the disciples (just called to him) and its people (in the synagogue). So the kingdom can only be a space in which God is present, where is that, precisely, only he reigns. The other powers can do nothing but recognize his authority («I know who you are: the saint of God" of MC 1,24) and submit.

The Fathers of the Church they were impressed by the way Jesus called the first to follow him: they note that they were simple and illiterate people (Origene), who will probably have objected with their inadequacy (Eusebio); we are also surprised by the fact that these "immediately" leave the networks and follow him (cf.. MC 1,18), but above all for the fact that even today, after many years, Jesus still "steps by" (MC 1,16) to our situations, to our daily life, to our networks, and invites us to follow him to be with him.

Each of us he is called where he is and every beginning always has a before that prepared it on which something new is then grafted, a change: just as the seed that has been sown has a different shape from the plant that will then sprout, so we too are taken by the Lord starting from our stories and our today to develop those potential for good and life that are contained in the "little seed" of our life and that only the Lord can open up and transform with the strength and imagination of his Spirit. We are asked to pay attention to his calling voice, filial and trusting abandonment to his words, and the readiness to respond without delays in time or attachments to the "already", to that known and known that reassures us but also risks blocking us: «And immediately they left their nets and followed him».

 

From the Hermitage, 21 January 2024

 

NOTE

[1] Gaeta G., The time of the end, Any, 2020

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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A charitable mastery: «Rabbi, where you live? Come and see"

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Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

A CHARITABLE MASTERY: «RABBI, WHERE YOU LIVE? COME AND SEE"

Isaac Newton wrote «The more I learn, the more I realize how many things I don't know". Today it seems that many do not want to learn even though they are certain and sure that they know.

 

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

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

one of the most natural attitudes we all have is that of research. When we are children we often ask ourselves the why of things. As we grow up we then find answers, and we continually renew our search for the meaning of truth in things. Isaac Newton wrote «The more I learn, the more I realize how many things I don't know".

In today's Gospel Jesus shows us two men in search and the path to follow to find the definitive answer. The answer is very beautiful: go with Him and see where the Lord dwells.

«Jesus then turned and, observing that [John and two disciples] they followed him, he told them: “What are you looking for?”. They answered: “Rabbi — that, translated, means teacher , where you live?”. He told them: “Come and see”».

We therefore find a very beautiful scene. Giovanni, Andrew and another disciple whose name we do not know move following Jesus. He notices this and questions them. They answer and thus recognize him as a teacher and want to know where he lives. And that's when Jesus invites them to come and see.

It is a vivid and strong dialogue between the three and Jesus. The Lord with his divine human gaze captures a heart and a mind ready to seek the house of God. Ready to search for that place where they can find the truth that unlocks their mystery and that of God.

Jesus is truly a teacher for them because as a son of God he can lead Andrew, John and the other disciple to a mastery, to a knowledge that becomes love. A knowledge of God that allows him to love himself and others in a concrete and practical way.

We are also in this meeting. We could say that we are symbolized by that unnamed disciple. The nameless one is the one who listens and asks Jesus what his home is today in 2024.

The Lord asks all of us to seek him first and foremost in the Church, lto his main residence, because in it the Eucharist is lived and celebrated, that is, the real presence of Jesus in the body, blood, soul and divinity. If we follow and see Jesus in the Church that celebrates the Eucharist, and therefore makes us actively participate in the encounter with Him, we can all also grow in learning communion with others. Because, effectively, the second home where we can meet Jesus today, he is our neighbor. In fact, all of us are the temple of the Holy Spirit and the temple of the Eucharist. Therefore, let us learn to look at our suffering and needy neighbors, the same Jesus who asks us for help.

So we must first learn to listen to the voice of Jesus who today asks our hearts “What are you looking for?”. Let's ask ourselves if our desires are holy, just and good, and we will truly feel the Lord inviting us to walk on the paths of Eternity.

We ask the Lord for the gift of research that leads us to authentic life, life in Him and in his Church, to become seekers of the Eternal Light.

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 14 January 2024

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The divine provocateur Jesus to the Apostles: «What are you looking for??»

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE DIVINE PROVOKER JESUS ​​TO THE APOSTLES: «WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?»

This first meeting of Jesus with his first disciples is a mix of glances and testimonies that converge towards the Lord. The profound mystery of his person begins to reveal itself, as well as the names of the first followers. This moment must have been so significant that they even kept the timetable: four in the afternoon, the tenth hour.

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In the Gospel of this Second Sunday of Ordinary Time let's read: «At that time John was with two of his disciples and, fixing his gaze on Jesus as he passed by, he said: «Behold the lamb of God!». And his two disciples, hearing him talk like that, they followed Jesus. Jesus then turned and, observing that they followed him, he told them: «What are you looking for??». They answered: «Rabbi – what, translated, means teacher –, where you live?». He told them: «Come and see». So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day; it was around four in the afternoon. One of the two who had heard John's words and followed him, it was Andrea, brother of Simon Pietro. He met his brother Simon first and told him: “We have found the Messiah” – which translates as Christ – and led him to Jesus. Staring at him, Jesus said: «You are Simone, the son of John; you will be called Cephas" – which means Peter». (GV 1,35-42).

The Church has understood the unity of the three mysteries that relate to the revelation of Jesus, and he already linked them in the ancient antiphon of the Second Vespers of the day of the Epiphany:

«Three wonders we celebrate on this holy day: today the star guided the magi to the nativity scene, today the water changed into wine at the wedding, today Christ is baptized by John in the Jordan for our salvation, alleluia».

This year the third mystery relating to the manifestation of Jesus it is always announced through the Gospel according to Saint John, but instead of the episode at Cana, the liturgy proposes that of the first manifestation of Jesus to the disciples, following the indication of John the Baptist who defines him as "Lamb of God".

The evangelical episode takes place on the third day of the inaugural week of Jesus' ministry, week that will culminate in the manifestation of his glory in Cana before his disciples who "believed in him" (GV 2,11). The text offers the Johannine version of the call of the first disciples narrated by the synoptic tradition, but with notable differences. John presents a scheme in which the mediation of a witness who confesses faith in Jesus and leads others to encounter him is fundamental: it is like this for John the Baptist with regard to two of his disciples (1,35-39), for Andrea towards Simon Pietro (1,40-41), for Philip who turns to Nathanael. In particular John the Baptist who, after a negative testimony about himself ("I am not the Christ") and a positive one about Jesus («Behold the Lamb of God»), he reveals in front of two of his disciples the identity of the one of whom he was the precursor and leads them to become disciples of Jesus. He who was sent by God as a witness of the Word "so that all might believe through him" (1,7) He thus fulfills his mandate by letting his disciples become Jesus', asking them to join him.

That we are faced with the manifestation of a mystery is also signaled by the “revelation scheme”, often used by the evangelist in his work and which can be summarized in the three phases of seeing, say and pronounce the adverb: «Ecco». The evangelical passage opens, like this, with John who "fixes his gaze" (1,36) about Jesus and says: «Behold the Lamb of God» and ends with Jesus who «gazes his gaze» (1,42) about Simon Peter tells him: «You are Simone, the son of John, you will be called Cephas – which means Peter". It deals with, in both cases, of an intense gaze, a seeing in depth, a discernment of a person's identity. Vocation is not just a calling as in the synoptics, but also a look like here in Giovanni. The look, like and perhaps more than the voice it is communication and revelation. In John the most neutral verb is to perceive, they see (Blepein). We find it for the initial scene of the baptism in the Jordan. John the Baptist sees Jesus coming to him and says: «Behold the lamb of God». But we can already see in this episode a transition from seeing to contemplating (GV 1,32) and then to the "I saw" of GV 1,34, come in GV 14,9.

To the most complete verb form we arrive in GV 14,9, where the verb «see» will be used in the perfect tense: I'm sorry (Euraka). Applied to Jesus, describes what the attentive and amazed gaze has discovered in him and of which the discovery is preserved in the memory. We can observe that every time John uses this verb "I saw" (and I cherish the memory of it) Jesus is recognized as the holy place where God manifests himself, the temple of divine presence, home, that is, the abode in which God himself lives. In such a context the meaning of the verse becomes clear Gv14,9: "Whoever has seen me has seen the father". Having seen Jesus and preserving his interior vision in memory means recognizing Jesus as the Father's dwelling place, present in his Son as in a dwelling. Because of this, returning to this Sunday's Gospel passage, it must be said that the renewed version of the CEI Bible in an adequate manner 2008 he translated v.38 as: «Rabbi where do you live?» and not «where you live?» as it was in the previous version, given the presence of the verb stay (Meno) which has particular importance in the fourth Gospel. The theme of dwelling runs, indeed, like a red thread through the entire fourth Gospel, progressively enriching itself. Broadening our gaze to the whole of the Gospel and trying to draw the threads of our discussion we can affirm that the same evangelist in 1,14 invites us to understand that in the man Jesus - the Word made flesh "full of the grace of truth" in which the witnesses "contemplated the glory of the only begotten" - there was a mystery, "unfathomably hidden" but which is revealed to us "symbolically" (St. Maximus the Confessor). It is the mystery of the "only begotten from the Father", who "came to pitch his tent among us". Thus he becomes the abode of the Father (GV 14,10), the new temple of God's presence (GV 2,21; cf.. GV 4,20-24). A beautiful passage by Saint Maximus the Confessor, sep­pur difficile, says the essential:

"The Sir […] he became his own precursor; he has become a type and symbol of himself. Symbolically he makes himself known through himself. That is, he leads all creation, starting from itself as it manifests itself, but to lead her to himself as it is unfathomably hidden".

Perhaps more intelligible and at the same time admirable is this phrase from William of Saint-Thierry, the friend of Saint Bernard, who interpreted the question of the first disciples in a spiritual and Trinitarian sense:

«Maestro, where you live? Come and see, He said. You do not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? Thank you, man! […] We have found your place. Your place is the Father; it's still, the place of the Father is you. You are therefore located from this place. But this localization, which is yours, […] it is the unity of the Father and the Son"[1].

This first meeting of Jesus with his first disciples it is a mix of glances and testimonies that converge towards the Lord. The profound mystery of his person begins to reveal itself, as well as the names of the first followers. This moment must have been so significant that they even kept the timetable: four in the afternoon, the tenth hour. This is how we begin to get to know Andrea, Simon Pietro's brother, (1,42) who from Jesus receives the vocation to become a "rock" (this means «Cephas»), among his brothers. Who is the other disciple who was with Andrew? We can hypothesize that he is "the beloved disciple". He is the one who, present at the cross of Jesus, seeing Jesus die as a Lamb whose bones are not broken (GV 19,33.36) "He testifies so that you may believe" (GV 19,35), just as John the Baptist testifies of Jesus, after having seen him and indicated him as the Lamb of God so that all may believe (GV 1,34.36.37). The parallelism between GV 1,38 («Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them») e GV 21,20-21 («Turn around, Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following... and says to Jesus") shows that next to Peter, at the beginning of the sequel and after Easter, there is, in all likelihood, the beloved disciple who followed the Lamb faithfully from the beginning. And Peter, while he is made shepherd of the Lord's sheep and invited again to follow Jesus as a sheep himself (cf.. GV 10,4), receives the revelation that following the Lamb and pastoral ministry find their outcome in giving one's life for the sheep, in glorifying God with martyrdom. This will be Peter's testimony: in death on the cross the apostle will find himself where his Lord was: «If anyone wants to serve me, follow me and where I am, My servant will also be there." (GV 12,26).

From the Hermitage, 13 January 2024

 

NOTE

[1] GULLIEM OF SAINT-THIERRY, Contemplation of God. The oration of Dom Guillaume, Paris, Ed. Deer, 1959 (Coll. Christian Sources, n.61), 124-125.

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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Giuseppe Betori, a man of culture and a Bishop who succeeded in the difficult task of making himself well-liked by the Florentine presbytery

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GIUSEPPE BETORI, A MAN OF CULTURE AND A BISHOP WHO SUCCEED IN THE DIFFICULT TASK OF MAKING THE FLORENCE PRESBYTERY WELCOME

While a miserable poison dealer states: «Without forgetting that the clergy of Florence is fed up with Betori who has done more damage than anything else», Instead, a question resonates in all of us which, if desired, arouses anxiety in our souls: and then?

- Church news -

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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Starting from the last week of Advent and followed by the solemnities of Holy Christmas, the Fathers of the Island of Patmos - who before being scholars and publicists are first and foremost priests - were engaged in pastoral activities. Certain solemnities, in particular Holy Christmas and Holy Easter, they are always preceded by sermons, confessions and spiritual directions, today more than ever anything but easy, considering the times of confusion that the Catholic faithful are experiencing on the one hand, we priests on the other hand. We therefore resume our publicity activities on this magazine of ours with the presentation of a very interesting video which we recommend you watch..

At the end of next February Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence, will celebrate his 77th birthday. He has spent many of these years of his life 16 at the head of the Florentine Church, which is coming soon’ to leave in the hands of his successor.

Despite the malicious judgements recently spread by some obscure, painful character who has set himself up as an intransigent judge of the entire ecclesiastical hierarchy (cf.. WHO) and who usually states «we in the Vatican… here in the Vatican…», except not being able to even get close to the entrance gates of that small Sovereign State, among the majority of the Florentine clergy there is the awareness that this Umbrian bishop - despite the limitations of every human being - has truly made a great contribution to his particular Church and to the entire Italian Church. For this reason it will undoubtedly be regretted for the balance, the clarity and theological and cultural depth that he demonstrated in his apostolic service.

Doing a realistic analysis of the last twenty years it will emerge that we have had the opportunity to experiment with two completely different types of bishops. In the past, between the end of the pontificate of the Holy Pontiff John Paul II and the pontificate of the Venerable Benedict XVI we had the season of "professor bishops". Understandable, the crisis of doctrine had generated situations that he illustrated well 14 years ago our Father Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo in one of his books on the analysis of the Church:

«The crisis of doctrine has generated a profound crisis of faith which in turn has given rise to a moral crisis within our clergy» (cf.. And Satan became triune, Editions The island of Patmos, 2010).

On this issue Our Father Ivano Liguori also recently returned with a precise and dramatic article of his:

«From the doctrinal disorientation of the Church to the sin of the priests and the recycling of the laity. Prospect of an intransigent culture which while condemning sanctifies and condemns by sanctifying" (cf.. WHO).

The so-called “professor bishops”, in light of these issues, in themselves they weren't a bad idea, but the results are not always happy, when we began to have people catapulted from a university chair to an episcopal chair at the head of the dioceses, because they are two substantially different professorships. Bishops often lacking pastoral experience who tended to relate to their priests as teachers with students or who transformed assemblies and meetings of the clergy into academic lessons, ignoring, often not understanding at all, the problems that their priests experienced and had to face every day.

At the next change of wind the need for "shepherds with the smell of sheep" began to be invoked, which in itself would not be a bad idea at all, just as that of the "professor bishops" was not. Unfortunately, when ideology undermines behind the apparent good intentions, or if we want real prevention towards the "princely" (!?) Italian episcopate, the results can only be unfortunate. And today we find ourselves with a substantial number of bishops pulled out of Caritas centers or from unspecified "peripheries", only capable of talking about the poor, migrants and the «Church on the move».

Instead of moving forward we were catapulted backwards, in the early seventies, when the sixty-eighters spoke of "forbidden to forbid" and of "imagination in power". On the doctrinal and theological preparation of these bishops all projected into a social system that we have already seen abundantly fail in the various social-welfare and political fields, let us draw a compassionate veil out of Christian charity. In fact, when the President of the Bishops of Italy responds by stating that "the Gospel is not a distillation of truth" (cf.. WHO), there's not much else to add, both regarding the "frontier" or "street" priests, both regarding the "Church going forth" that appears to us, more than "outgoing", on the verge of bankruptcy, proof of this is the fact that for some years we have been trying to resolve the problems by placing all possible and imaginable commissioners under commissionership, with one exception: the Society of Jesus.

Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, perhaps one of the last of a generation now in extinction, he was able to put his science and culture at the complete service of pastoral care. Character at first approach introverted and shy, in his relationships with his clergy he showed great listening and welcoming skills, he was a teacher and a guardian of the faith, not a professor in the chair. He loved his Church and knew how to make himself loved, even by those who welcomed him upon his arrival with that air of condescension, suspicion and distrust typical of us Florentines, that we are historically subjects that are not exactly easy to handle, treat and govern. His homilies, always profound but at the same time clear and understandable, have aroused esteem and respect on the part of the Catholic faithful.

And while a miserable poison dealer states: «Without forgetting that the clergy of Florence is fed up with Betori who has done more damage than anything else» (cf.. WHO), Instead, a question resonates in all of us which, if desired, arouses anxiety in our souls: and then?

Florence, 12 January 2024

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