The fear of women: “They took the Lord away from the tomb and we don't know where they put him”

/2 Comments/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE SCARE OF WOMEN: «THEY TOOK THE LORD FROM THE TOMB AND WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY PLACED HIM»

Saint Augustine, with the acuity that distinguishes him, honestly reads what these words say: «He entered and didn't find it. He should have believed that he was resurrected, not that it had been stolen"

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

PDF print format article

.HTTPS://youtu.be/4fP7neCJapw.

 

.

While on Easter night we have read the oldest gospel story about the resurrection of Jesus, Marco's, today the beginning of the twentieth chapter of John is proclaimed, probably the last text of the Gospels on the resurrection of Jesus to be written. We are, in this way, in front of a parable that starts from what is contained and taken up by Mark, that is, a "pre-Marc" account of the passion and resurrection of Jesus and reaches up to the last story, the Johannine one, dating back to the end of the first century. The Liturgy, in the space of a single night, from the Easter Vigil to the mass on Easter day, it collects sources and traditions that have settled over several decades and allows us to enjoy the different perspectives of the evangelists. This is the proclaimed text:

Salvador Dali, The dawn, 1948

«The first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in the morning, when it was still dark, and he saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. He then ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, what Jesus loved, and told them: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we know not where they have laid!». Peter then went out together with the other disciple and they went to the tomb. They both ran together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down, he saw the sheets laid there, but he did not enter. Meanwhile, Simon Pietro also arrived, who followed him, and he entered the tomb and observed the cloths laid there, and the shroud - which had been on his head - not placed there with the cloths, but wrapped in a place apart. Then the other disciple also entered, who had reached the tomb first, and he saw and believed. In fact they had not yet understood the Scripture, that is, he had to rise from the dead" (GV 20,1-9)

Reading this passage a profound emotion grips us, the same experienced by the first witnesses of the Resurrection, a woman and two disciples. This seems to be the evangelist's intention. We would expect, indeed, a mature and convinced confession about the event, however in our text we do not yet have the Easter announcement, rather, what Mary Magdalene runs to tell the two disciples is: “They took the Lord away from the tomb and we don't know where they put him”. Maria, prey to fear and discouragement, he takes it for granted that the body of Jesus has been stolen and his concern focuses on "where" the body can now be found. The Gospel story therefore shows the genesis of the Easter faith by presenting its inchoative moment, the release of the spark that will soon become a fire. The internal journey that will lead to the cry and announcement "He is risen" passes through the awareness of the evidence of death constituted by the bandages and shroud that wrapped the body and the tomb in which it had been placed.. The Holy Gospel makes these disciples feel very close to us, to our gradual journey towards a firm faith in the Resurrection of Jesus. Full faith will be that of Thomas who says: "My Lord and my God" (GV 20,28); but not without having also had to go through the temptation of not believing and distrust.

The absence of faith in the Resurrection is symbolically anticipated by the note that "it was still dark outside" (GV 20,1) when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. And the "dark" in Johannine symbolism refers to that which is opposed to the light (GV 1,5; 3,19), designates the problematic situation of the disciples in the absence of Jesus (GV 6,17), it is the condition of uncertainty and confusion in which those who do not follow Jesus find themselves wandering (GV 8,12), who does not believe in him (GV 12,46). In short, we are on the "first day of the week" (GV 20,1), but dawn hasn't broken yet, we are still in the dark.

In this context the evangelist presents the reactions of three disciples faced with the empty tomb and in particular the inchoative faith of the beloved disciple who, having seen the bandages on the ground and entered the empty tomb, «believed» (GV 20,8), or better, "he began to believe" (cf.. the ingressive aorist: the epistemological – and he believed). Only in this way can we explain the note that the evangelist makes for immediate comment: “For they had not yet understood the Scripture that he must rise from the dead” (GV 20,9). Saint Augustine, with the acuity that distinguishes him, honestly reads what these words say: «He entered and didn't find it. He should have believed that he was resurrected, not that it had been stolen" (cf.. WHO). Easter faith is not born from the mere observation of an empty tomb: this can also lead to the hypothesis of the theft of the body. The facts must be compared to the words of Scripture and illuminated by it. Only then will they give life to the Easter faith. Faith that will find its fullness with the gift of the Spirit which illuminates minds, opening them to the understanding of the Scriptures, as it was for the disciples of Emmaus (cf.. LC 24,45), Why: «When he comes, the Spirit of truth, will guide you to all the truth” (GV 16, 13).

In fact, the resurrection is an unheard of event, unthinkable and disconcerting. Paul will know something about it when he tries to announce it to the Athenians (At 17, 32). It is God's absolute novelty and the disciples are totally unprepared for the event. Only the beloved disciple, precisely because of that intimate knowledge that binds him to Jesus, he begins to understand and make room in his soul for the newness accomplished by God.

However, it is there in these three disciples the emotional aspect that at the time had led them to leave everything to follow Jesus. In Magdalene who fears that she will no longer be able to see and touch her Lord and for this reason she runs. He runs towards Peter and the beloved disciple, the two points of reference of the group of disciples. And in turn they run too, this time on the contrary, back towards the tomb. The moment the emotional level is let loose, everyone expresses themselves without enforcing the rules of the group.. However, having reached the tomb, the beloved disciple waits for Peter and lets him enter first, respecting the primacy established by the Lord. Maria's emotional and affective level (running to the two disciples) and of the beloved disciple (who waits for Peter and lets him enter the tomb first) they remain ordered and submitted to community objectivity. But to guide emotion and affectivity to full faith, intelligence of Scripture and faith in it will be needed., which is the ineliminable and objectifying foundation of the Paschal faith and ecclesial life.

We today who hear these words once again of the Holy Gospel proclaimed we express gratitude towards these important disciples who wanted to maintain their hesitation in the face of such an unusual event. We feel them close, grateful for their testimony of faith that they handed down to us in the Scriptures. They taught us to look for the Risen One no longer in the tomb (mnemonic in Greek: became. "memorial"; GV 20 1.2.3.4.6) which is cemetery memory, dead. But now living in his glory and present when we love each other, when we witness it in the places of our existence, when we encounter suffering or when we bring hope. As we gather every Sunday, Easter of the week, without which we can no longer live. Because there we confess not only our sins, but we listen again to the Scripture that speaks to us about Him and we feed on Him, waiting for Him to come.

I end with these words of the Florentine poet Mario Luzi (1914 – 2005). Pope John Paul II asked him to comment on the stations of the Way of the cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday 1999. And that's how it ended:

«From the tomb life exploded. / Death has lost its harsh battle. / A new era begins: the man reconciled in the new alliance sanctioned by your blood / he has the path before him. / It's difficult to stay on that path. / The gate of your kingdom is narrow. / Now yes, or Redeemer, that we need your help, / now we ask for your help, / you, guidance and supervision, don't deny it to us. / The offense to the world was immense. / Your love was infinitely greater. / We ask you for love with love. / Amen». (Mario Luzi, Way of the cross at the Colosseum, 1999)

Surrexit Christus SPEs MEA ... Dominus vere, and he appeared to Simon, Alleluia!

Happy Easter everyone.

 

From the Hermitage, 31 March 2024

Holy Easter of Resurrection

.

Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

.

.

Holy thursday 2024. A greeting homily by Cardinal Giuseppe Betori

/in /by

HOLY THURSDAY 2024. A HOMILY OF GREETING FROM CARDINAL GIUSEPPE BETORI

Affirm that today, from the eagles and hawks that were we are moving on to chickens or, good going, to turkeys, it is not an ungenerous and irreverent statement but a fact: in recent years we have witnessed the episcopal appointments of embarrassing individuals, but what's worse is that they are all the same, or as they say molded, cloned for emulation. All this in the face of the plurality of voices within the Church!

.

Author
Simone Pifizzi

.

PDF print format article

.

.

This article inspired me - which is not so, because it involves reporting the text of a homily pronounced by Cardinal Giuseppe Betori Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence - it was Father Ariel, who a few weeks ago dedicated a tribute to his Bishop in these columns of ours, S. AND. Mons. Andrea Turazzi; tribute done with a touch of class summarized in this sentence:

«A good priest is such if he waits for the end of his mandate to praise his Bishop […] Only now that he no longer has the power of pastoral governance over the Diocese and over me, I can publicly say how much I revered it, appreciated and loved my Bishop".

The Archbishop of Florence, despite having presented his resignation from the pastoral governance of our Diocese to the Supreme Pontiff, he is not yet emeritus, nor has his designated successor been made official yet. His mission among us, de facto, However, it is to be considered finished. As for his successor, it is almost certain that he has already been chosen and appointed, we just have to wait for the official announcement.

With Cardinal Giuseppe Betori - and now very few others who became bishops in their fifties under the pontificate of the Holy Pontiff John Paul II - an ecclesiastical and ecclesiastical season which also had its many problems is definitively closed, but in any case also populated by personalities of high pastoral level and cultural depth. Affirm that today, from the eagles and hawks that were we are moving on to chickens or, good going, to turkeys, it is not an ungenerous and irreverent statement but a fact: in recent years we have witnessed the episcopal appointments of embarrassing individuals, but what's worse is that they are all the same, or as they say molded, cloned for emulation. All this in the face of the plurality of voices within the Church!

Making the words my own addressed by a brother to his Bishop today I can say too:

«A good priest is such if he waits for the end of his mandate to praise his Bishop […] Only now that he no longer has the power of pastoral governance over the Diocese and over me, I can publicly say how much I revered it, appreciated and loved my Bishop".

Cardinal Giuseppe Betori has revealed itself to be a pearl now set in the diadem of the genealogy of the last Bishops donated to this Florentine Church of ours by Rome which was now, as the following homily demonstrates...

Florence, 28 March 2024

 

Cardinal Giuseppe Betori Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence, Holy Chrism Mass of the year 2024

The Chrism Mass, which the Bishop concelebrates with the presbyters of the different areas of the diocese and during which he blesses the holy chrism and the other oils, it is considered one of the main manifestations of the fullness of the priesthood of the bishop and a sign of the close union of the presbyters with him". These are the words of the Roman Pontifical in the Premises to the rite of the Blessing of the Oils. With these words fifteen years ago I addressed you in my first presidency of the celebration of the Chrism Mass in the Florentine Church. I still refer to them today, in this celebration which can be presumed to be my last presidency of the Chrism Mass in this cathedral, to address you in particular to you Florentine priests, with whom I have shared the pastoral governance of the people of God that has been entrusted to me in recent years.

Mine are meant to be words of thanks, of reflection, of delivery for the future. However, I would like to avoid slipping into feelings, although important and not absent in my heart at this moment, to bring everything back to the light of the word of God. Gratitude, awareness, confident hope must in fact be measured by the faithfulness with which we have been able to correspond to the gift that Christ has given us, of how we feel obliged to delve into its forms in a way that is appropriate to the times, of how we hand ourselves over to it in the certainty that the presence of the Lord and his Spirit is among us, despite the uncertainties of the present, it will never fail.

In this horizon we welcome the revelation that comes to us today from the word of God regarding the mission of Christ, of the dignities and responsibilities that are given to his disciples, of the service of the word and of grace which is entrusted to us, his ministers, for the benefit of all. The image that summarizes this mystery is that of the anointing, with which the prophet expresses the consecration of the Messiah sent to bring the good news of salvation, to place themselves at the service of the poor and oppressed, to spread the consolation of mercy. We heard Jesus proclaim this same anointing as a sign of the mission for which the Spirit sends him as a liberator of humanity from all its fragility to enter the time of the Lord's grace. In the end, this anointing, now defined as regal and priestly, it is the sign of a redeemed people who live for the glory of the Father.

Announcement, priesthood and kingship from the person of Christ they pass to that of believers in him and our ministry as priests is placed at the service of this passage. Thank you therefore for your ministry at the service of the Word; May there always be within you the desire to know it ever more deeply and to be able to express it again with words that are able to meet the expressed and unexpressed questions of contemporary humanity, we look to the future with confidence, certain that in the inexhaustible richness of the word of God there is a sure orientation for the new challenges that loom over humanity in the days to come. Thank you for your ministry as pontiffs between humanity and its Creator, of generous transmitters of the grace that comes from above and of the voice of humanity and its expectations towards the Father of all; in a world that is built following the myth of self-sufficiency, feel that it is your particular commitment to reawaken in your people the need for invocation and the humility to welcome the gift of life, the new work of the sacraments; always nourish hope within you, so that no obstacle throws you into despair or even just into inertia, because nothing changes anyway, having within us the certainty that the Risen One has the power to make all things new. Thank you for how you animate your communities in your ministry, devote yourself to being, you take on the problems of the poorest in particular; We are indeed ministers of the Church, but our service is always for the coming of the Kingdom of God among us, in the signs of good that we help to blossom and in the contribution that as Christian communities we are able to offer for the affirmation of justice, of peace, of respect for the dignity of every man, of the common good; The place of the Church in society is rapidly changing and consequently that of the priest, therefore we are urged to abandon any nostalgia for centrality but also to reiterate that no one and no world can remain alien to the gift of ourselves in the Lord.

In the homily from fifteen years ago I was calling you to a communion that was not a massifying uniformity, but an interweaving of relationships in the diversity of experiences and in the modulation of the single truth. I asked you to avoid the tired repetition of a monotonous melody to seek a polyphonic harmony in which each voice seeks harmony with the others, for communication that expresses the intelligence of reality and the beauty of experience. I don't know how long we have managed to live like this in these years and I am also here to ask you for forgiveness for what I have not done or for what I may have done in the opposite direction.

The other reminder from fifteen years ago it was at the sacramental root of our ministry, so as not to allow ourselves to be reduced to social agents, although appreciated and well-liked, nor even to officials of a sacred place to resort to as a refuge from human anguish. Sacramentality means that what is decisive in us is the gift of grace, of which we have been and are recipients and of which we have the responsibility of being transmitters. I therefore reminded you and repeat to you that serving the sacramental dimension of the Church means first and foremost a commitment to showing how in the sacramental regime we can grasp the primacy of God in history and how it manifests itself to us and comes into contact with our life thanks to the mediation of Christ, who is the foundation and founder of the sacraments.

And this call to Christ makes me repeat even today that the extent of our being a priest is strictly dependent on our bond with him. Only by remaining united with him can both our identity and our service in the Church and in the world find truth and effectiveness. May this look to Christ never be lacking in our daily life, talk to him, let ourselves be guided and supported by him.

We have walked together over these years. It has been a great gift for me to be your bishop and to be able to count on your support. We don't know when, but in the future another bishop will guide you, to whom I will hand you over but to whom I also ask you to hand yourselves over with trust. The bishops pass, the Lord remains and he is our only true Shepherd, of which we are only signs, aware, as far as I'm concerned, of weakness and insufficiency. I ask the Lord for mercy and I ask you for human understanding. With affection.

 

Florence, 28 March 2024

Metropolitan Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Holy Chrism Mass

 

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

We inform the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto that the excommunicated priest Alessandro Minutella books in religious structures of his Diocese to celebrate the rites of Holy Week and then continue at the Grand Hotel in Assisi

/2 Comments/in /by

WE INFORM THE ARCHBISHOP OF CHIETI-VASTO THAT THE EXCOMMUNICATED PRIEST ALESSANDRO MINUTELLA BOOKS IN RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES OF HIS DIOCESE TO CELEBRATE THE RITES OF HOLY WEEK AND THEN CONTINUE TO THE GRAND HOTEL OF ASSISI

When we called the Casa del Pilgrino in Manoppello, institute founded at the time by the Capuchin Friars Minor, to ask if they were aware of who they would host, those responsible literally fell from the clouds by answering that for hours 20 at 24 they had made a reservation with a "basketball fans" group (!?)

- Church news -

Author
The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

 

Mr. Alessandro Minutella he incurred excommunication automatic for schism and heresy (see decree WHO), subsequently, by his obstinate obstinacy, he was dismissed from the clerical state by decree of the Supreme Pontiff Francis (see decree WHO), therefore it is no longer part of the Church and the Catholic clergy by sentence given by the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority.

For years travels around Italy and Europe collecting lost and vulnerable people, bringing to the world the "good news" that the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI would never have made an act of renunciation and that the Supreme Pontiff Francis is nothing more than a "satanic usurper emissary of the Anti-Christ".

As he was excommunicated and dismissed from the clerical state Mr.. Alessandro Minutella cannot access places of worship or use ecclesiastical structures in any way, he cannot qualify as a Catholic priest and cannot wear the ecclesiastical dress of the clergy.

In a clear sign of challenge and provocation decided to celebrate during the Easter Triduum in Manoppello, in a religious structure next to the Sanctuary of the Holy Face. But let's get to the deception: when we called the House of the Pilgrim of Manoppello, institute founded at the time by the Capuchin Friars Minor, to ask if they were aware of who they would host, those responsible literally fell from the clouds by answering that for hours 20 at 24 had made a reservation for a group of “fans basket”. It is clear that Mr. Alessandro Minutella sent his so-called contacts forward to make a provocative booking through deception, certainly not in his name nor that of his exotic association of schismatic heretics, but even in the name of a … “fans basket” (!?) However, the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto will know what to do and how to do it.

The next day Mr. Alessandro Minutella and his followers will be al Grand Hotel in Assisi, which is not a religious structure, but despite not being such, it is a structure that thanks to religiosity works and carries out its hotel business, enough to prevent a person expelled from the Church from causing serious outrage to Catholic sentiment, with all his fanatics in tow, directly in one of the greatest symbolic places in the world of Christian religiosity.

the Island of Patmos, 22 March 2024

.

.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

Better for a single man to die than for an entire nation to perish

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

BETTER LET ONE MAN DIE THAN THE ENTIRE NATION PERISH

For Jesus, true death is not the physical one that men can give, but it lies in the refusal to give one's life for others, the sterile closure on oneself; on the contrary, true life is the culmination of a process of self-giving.

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

PDF print format article

.HTTPS://youtu.be/4fP7neCJapw.

 

.

Misunderstand, that is, taking one thing for another. This activity which has spread to the present day marked by the consistent use of social, for the author of the Fourth Gospel it becomes a literary device by which, using the momentary misunderstanding, the reader is guided towards further knowledge, often deeper, of reality, of the mystery that lives in Jesus. We saw it in the encounter between Him and the Samaritan woman and before that with Nicodemus, in last Sunday's Gospel. We still find it here, in the evangelical passage of this fifth Sunday of Lent. What could be more simple and natural than the desire to see Jesus? It wouldn't be a request we would ask every day either? Yet the Evangelist tells us that He seems, apparently, don't take it into consideration; distracted or, better to say, focused on an upcoming test, on what could distract him and therefore on a presentation of himself that the simple curiosity of seeing him might not understand. What or who should we look at when we long to see Jesus?

Second Temple of Jerusalem, reconstruction model, State of Israel Museum

"During that time, among those who had come up for worship during the festival there were also some Greeks. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and they asked him: “man, we want to see Jesus”. Filippo went to tell Andrea, and then Andrew and Philip went to tell Jesus. Jesus answered them: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In truth, verily I tell you: if the grain of wheat, fell to the ground, it doesn't die, it remains only; but if it dies, produces a lot of fruit. Who loves their life, he who hates his life in this world loses it, he will keep it for eternal life. If anyone wants to serve me, follow me, and where am I, my servant will also be there. Be one serve me, the Father will honor him. Now my soul is troubled; what will I say? Dad, save me from this hour? But this is precisely why I have come to this hour! Dad, glorify your name”. Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified him and I will glorify him again!”. The crowd, who was present and had heard, he said it was thunder. Others said: “An angel spoke to him”. Jesus said: “This voice did not come to me, but for you. Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be thrown out. And I, when I am lifted up from the ground, I will draw everyone to me”. He said this to indicate the death he was going to die." (GV 12, 20-33).

To understand the pericope just read it is necessary to refer to the growing hostility towards Jesus indicated by the following words which precede the passage just quoted:

«"If we let it continue like this, everyone will believe in him, The Romans will come and destroy our temple and our nation.". But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, he told them: “You don't understand anything! You do not realize that it is convenient for you that one man should die for the people, and the entire nation does not go to ruin!”. However, he did not say this on his own, ma, being high priest that year, prophesied that Jesus must die for the nation; and not just for the nation, but also to gather together the children of God who were scattered. From that day on they decided to kill him." (GV 11, 48-53).

In the words of the opponents there is also the observation that: «The world (it's weird) he went after him" (GV 12,19). In this context, in which the opponents' decisions have already been made, some Greeks want to see Jesus. It's a first step, not yet that perfect seeing that makes one contemplate the meaning of things with a gaze transformed by the Spirit, all the depth of reality that he will make Jesus express: «Whoever has seen me has seen the Father» (GV 14,9). This desire, however, is positive, of a completely different tone than the murderous aspiration of Jesus' adversaries. There are also Greek ones, present for Easter in Jerusalem, perhaps sympathizers of Jewish monotheism or even already circumcised, they cannot enter the innermost part of the temple where Jesus probably was: the enclosure reserved for Jews. In fact, to mark this space there was a balustrade which the historian Josephus Flavius ​​also tells us about which had some writings on it, still preserved today in Jerusalem and Istanbul, who recited in Greek, to be understood by non-Jews:

«Let no foreigner enter beyond the balustrade and the wall that surrounds it yesterday (the reserved Temple area, n.d.r.); whoever is caught red-handed will be the cause of the death that follows".

These who want to see Jesus they turn to the disciple who bears a Greek name, Filippo, who was from a city also inhabited by many Greeks and perhaps he himself spoke their language. The request must have been singular if Philip himself was helped and accompanied by one of the first two disciples of Jesus, also with a Greek name: Andrea.

Having received the news, Jesus seizes the moment as another sign that his "hour" has come (Come hora), that of his glorification in his Easter (GV 17,1). Cana of Galilee, when it was in the initial phase, Jesus mentions it to his Mother, now here, instead, it is expressly said that the time: «It has arrived». And as then the spouses at the wedding at Cana disappear from the scene, here too the Greeks seem rudely put aside, so that a revelation about Jesus emerges. This time not a sign, but his own words reveal it. His death will be fruitful as happens to the grain of wheat which must fall to the ground and rot in order to multiply and bear fruit., die, otherwise he remains sterile and alone. Accepting to rot and die, the grain multiplies its life and therefore goes through death and reaches the resurrection.

The paradox of parables returns that Jesus feels the need to clarify:

«He who loves his life, loses it, and those who hate their life in this world, guards it for eternal life".

For Jesus, true death is not physical death that men can give, but it lies in the refusal to give one's life for others, the sterile closure on oneself; on the contrary, true life is the culmination of a process of self-giving. The story of the grain of wheat is the story of Jesus but also that of each of his servants, who, following Jesus, he will know passion and death like his Lord, but also resurrection and life forever. It will not only be Jesus who will be glorified by the Father but also the disciple, the servant who, following his Lord, become his friend (GV 15,15).

What, so, Jesus promises to see? His passion, death and resurrection, his glorification, the cross as a revelation of love lived to the end (cf.. GV 13,1). To every disciple, coming from Israel or from the Gentiles, it is given to contemplate in his ignominious death the glory of one who gives his life for love. The Evangelist also allows us to take a look at the most intimate feelings experienced by Jesus and his filial conscience. How the Synoptics will recount Jesus' anguish in Gethsemane (cf.. MC 14,32-42 e par.), in the moment preceding his capture, Giovanni reports his confession: «Now my soul is troubled». He is troubled by what is about to happen, as he had already been troubled and cried at the death of his friend Lazarus (cf.. GV 11,33-35). But this very human anguish does not become a stumbling block placed in his path: Jesus was tempted, but he radically overcomes temptation by adhering to the will of the Father. Differently from the synoptics, but I agree with them, for John Jesus did not want to save himself from that hour, nor be exempt from it, but he remains faithful to his mission by carrying out the Father's will, in profound union with Him, so much so that the glory is shared between them: "Dad, glorify your name". Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified him and I will glorify him again”. The words of the Letter to the Hebrews come to mind:

«In the days of his earthly life he offered prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to God who could save him from death and, for her full abandonment to him (his reverence), was granted" (EB 5,7).

But Jesus' hour also corresponds to the judgment on the world who does not know the love of Christ and opposes it:

«Now comes the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world is cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth I will draw everyone to me"

a reference to that serpent raised by Moses (cf.. Nm 21,4-9; GV 3,14) who saved the Israelites. The messianic "hour" of Jesus expels the prince of the world who prefers the darkness of evil and will leave room for the authentic King who, even if he rules from a cross, he attracts everyone out of love and towards whom we must turn a gaze of faith. Here is the real answer to those who wanted it, and they still want it today, «see Jesus».

Today's Gospel page it is the good news especially for all those disciples who know the dynamics of falling to the ground, of "rotting" in suffering, in solitude and hiding. In some hours of life it seems that all following is reduced only to passion and desolation, to abandonment and denial by others, but then more than ever we need to look at the image of the grain of wheat given to us by Jesus; more than ever we need to renew our gaze of faith: «They will look at the one they have pierced» (GV 19,37).

According to an ancient tradition Bishop Ignatius of Antioch (35 approximately – Rome, 107 circa) met the apostle Saint John. It is therefore not surprising to find it in one of his letters addressed to the Christians of Rome, where he will find martyrdom, a concordance of terms and views with the Gospel that we read today:

«I am God's wheat and I will be ground by the teeth of wild beasts to become the pure bread of Christ... It is better for me to die for Jesus Christ than to extend my empire to the ends of the earth... The prince of this world wants to take me away and suffocate my aspiration towards God. All my earthly desires are crucified and there is no longer any aspiration for material realities in me, but a living water murmurs inside me and tells me: “Come to the Father”».

From the Hermitage, 17 March 2024

.

Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

.

.

Abortion, the new dogma of our time with the cry of freedom, Egalitarian, fraternity …

/in /by

ABORTION, THE NEW DOGMA OF OUR TIME CRYING OUT FREEDOM, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY…

For the Catholic morality that descends from the Gospel and the living tradition of the Church, as well as by rational reflection, abortion is an evil and a sin, a serious crime against life worse than the murder of a man or femicide. A man or woman whose lives are being attacked, in some way they could also defend themselves and escape death, or flee from the murderer's attack, but a child in the mother's womb is not, he cannot defend himself in any way or escape.

 

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

 

PDF print format article

 

 

Nobel Prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta he repeated a phrase: «The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion». The lapidary expression contains a challenge to those drifts of modern thought that often choose the logic of death rather than life. Among these is a certain culture of freedom that has imposed the possibility of choosing abortion, to the point of making it a contemporary "dogma"., rooted in the deepest beliefs of people and naturally of politicians who vote in parliaments and enact laws that favor the voluntary termination of pregnancy. In the last Italian electoral campaign even some Catholic-inspired politicians reassured their voters talk show television affirming: "abortion remains an intangible right" (!?).

 

About that I would like to refer to political events that occurred in two mature democracies, what are the American and the French ones, in which we can recognize the weakness of a culture of freedom on one side which is to the detriment of another weaker one, having almost no rights: that of the unborn child who aspires to his own existence.

In November 2022 in the State of Montana (USA) a referendum took place in which the following question was posed to voters:

«Medical care must be provided to children who need it, if they have survived an attempted abortion?».

The "no" vote won, with a percentage equal to 52% of voters. In the opinion of 231.345 voters of that American state should not be given treatment to a child who is dying because the first attempt to end his life failed: a woman's "freedom" comes before her right to live. According to the supporters of the "no" vote, healthcare personnel have every right to let a child die, as long as the woman sees her choice and her body "respected".. They are aberrations that escape a moral conscience; it is in fact very difficult to understand how the event occurred, let's take a look, of a little girl who survived a failed attempted abortion, can be defined as violence against the body of that woman who did not want it and therefore should be left to die, preventing her from being given life-saving care.

Soon said: precisely today when the so-called good society is pining for cases of feminicide, at the same time we must take note that it is not considered femicide if a girl is born alive following a botched abortion, is left to die. In fact, it is only feminicide if a man kills a woman in the grip of a criminal impulse, but not if a gynecologist kills a little girl, because in this second case we are faced with the exercise of a legally protected right, exercised by the mother who is recognized as having the power of life and death and carried out by the gynecologist who uses medical art to help the woman benefit from this indisputable right. On the contrary, more than indisputable, dogmatic!

Much more significant than the referendum in Montana was the recent definitive approval of the amendment to the Constitution by the French Parliament, the Congress of Parliament, than in assembled chambers, Monday 4 March of this year, wanted to include the "right" to abortion in the Constitutional Charter. France is now the leading country not only in Europe, but also in the world, to include the right to abortion in its fundamental charter. This right in France was governed by the Simone Veil law of 1975. The vote of the French Parliament e triumphalistic tones of the comments that exalted him, in France as well as in the international press, they seem to transform a tragedy to be indignant about and to fight against, in a supreme affirmation of the dignity and freedom of women. Abortion becomes a symbol of emancipation, prophecy of a new way of understanding femininity. Once again overshadowing the urgency of investing more resources to give to women, rather than the license to eliminate one's children, the possibility of not doing so. The now approved amendment to the Constitution, strongly supported by President Emmanuel Macron to mark a difference in approach with respect to a previous ruling of the United States Supreme Court (see WHO), poses several problems for example to those French who, following a religious confession that repudiates abortion, they now find it as a right enshrined in the constitution. No Americans, in the case provided for by the above-mentioned Sentence which postponed the decision on abortion to the federal States, he was put in the position to choose between his being a citizen and his conscience. In the French case, however, yes.

Abortion has always been a painful necessity for many women, of which they themselves were the first victims. Killing the child you carry in your womb has always been and is, for a normal mother, a drama, made more terrible by the fact that a chauvinistic society, today again, he doesn't do what he can to avoid it, often leaving her alone to experience first-hand the many problems that make motherhood problematic. For this reason, relying on the logical recognition of women's freedom to motivate such a political stance poses several problems from a philosophical point of view., moral and biological. For biology, eg, there are no "leaps" between pre-natal life and post-birth life and a caesura between one and the other would be arbitrary: the unborn are biologically human individuals, like those born. Everything then depends on the philosophical and ethical justifications that can be given to justify abortion and many scholars, even non-religious ones, have highlighted that Christian ethics has placed at least a barrier to what could be the consequences of similar rights sanctioned constitutionally and deriving from personal freedoms. In this way who will be able to decide in the future who is a self-conscious subject and who is not among a fetus, an infant, a mentally ill person or in a coma, a person suffering from total dementia incapable of understanding and wanting?

The two political cases reported above they make us think back to that Spartan tradition linked to Mount Taygetos. On that mountain the children unwanted because they were not fit for military life or "defective" were thrown from there and made to die. «The throwaway culture», as the Holy Father Francis called it back in 2023. Because, as we know, for Catholic morality that derives from the Gospel and the living tradition of the Church, as well as by rational reflection, abortion is an evil and a sin, a serious crime against life worse than the murder of a man or femicide. A man or woman whose lives are being attacked, in some way they could also defend themselves and escape death, or flee from the murderer's attack, but a child in the mother's womb is not, he cannot defend himself in any way or escape.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church remind believers: «Human life is sacred because, since its inception, it involves the creative action of God and remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, its sole purpose. Only God is the Lord of life from its beginning to its end: None, under any circumstances, can claim the right to directly destroy an innocent human being " (Nr 2258). And the number 2302 recalls - an echo of Mother Teresa's words reported at the beginning - that among the enemies of peace we find first and foremost murder.

The Pontiffs affected by this issue of abortion they all took a clear and contrary position. The Holy Father Francis, with the colorful attitude that often distinguishes him, he has repeatedly stated that this spiral of hatred is clear in abortion because when you have an abortion it is like paying a hitman to carry out a murder (cf.. WHO). The Holy Father Benedict XVI a few years ago recalled the terrible wound opened by the abortion laws, stating: "They have created a mentality of progressive debasement of the value of life" (cf.. WHO). The Magisterium of Saint John Paul II was very clear in this regard: «Everything seems to happen with the strongest respect for legality, at least when the laws that allow abortion or euthanasia are voted according to so-called democratic rules. In truth, we are only faced with a tragic semblance of legality and the democratic ideal, which is truly such when it recognizes and protects the dignity of every human person, it is betrayed in its very foundations: «How is it possible to still talk about the dignity of every human person, when the weakest and most innocent are allowed to be killed? In the name of what justice is the most unjust discrimination carried out among people?, declaring some worthy of defense, while others are denied this dignity?». When these conditions occur, those dynamisms that lead to the dissolution of authentic human coexistence and the disintegration of the state reality itself have already been triggered. Claim the right to abortion, to infanticide, to euthanasia and recognize it legally, is equivalent to attributing a perverse and unfair meaning to human freedom: that of absolute power over others and against others. But this is the death of true freedom: "In truth, truly I tell you: whoever commits sin is a slave to sin (GV 8, 34)» (cf.. Gospel of Life, n. 20).

The drama of abortion, because it remains so, it therefore does not seem exactly liberal, since taking someone's life, it was said at the beginning, peace undergoes a wound; and that inner peace also disappears, of the soul, in someone who makes such a violent gesture. Eventually, with it, beyond freedom and peace, even hope dies. First of all that of the fetus, because the future is closed to him, his human history among his peers. But also that of the woman who, despite all the health and psychological help, she will find herself alone in taking that terrible step. It may console you at that moment to know that abortion has been included among your constitutional rights? Or he will think back to all the help he would have needed - not just moral and spiritual, but also economical, social and political - so that he would not have to make a similar choice, she and all the women in the world who have taken the lives of their children?

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 16 March 2024

.

Father Gabriele, Rome, Republic square (formerly Piazza Exedra) March for life

.

.

Subscribe to our Channel Jordan the Theological club directed by Father Gabriele by clicking on the image

 

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

If one is not born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

IF ONE IS NOT BORN FROM ABOVE, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Johannine morality is a morality of truth: «Instead, he who does the truth comes towards the light, so that it appears clearly that his works were done in God ". In the growing awareness that "without me you can do nothing", the consequences of being Christian, also on a moral level, they are connected in Giovanni to the theme of remaining. Remaining with Jesus implies a duty at the level of coherence, but first and foremost as a consequence at the level of being, live like Jesus: «He who says he remains in him, he must also behave as he behaved".

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

PDF print format article

.HTTPS://youtu.be/4fP7neCJapw.

 

.

Since the Gospel of Mark is shorter than the others, some passages from the Gospel of John help to cover all Sundays of the liturgical year, especially during Lent. They are texts that help to understand that Paschal mystery which will be celebrated in particular in the days of the "Triduum". They anticipate important themes, like that of the raising of the "Son of man" referred to in the following evangelical passage which is proclaimed on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Henry Ossawa Tanner: Jesus and Nicodemus, oil on canvas, 1899, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (USA)

"During that time, Jesasu said to Niconamo: “How Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be raised up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. In fact, God so loved the world that he gave the only Son so that whoever believes in him would not be lost, but have eternal life. It gave, indeed, did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but for the world to be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned; but those who do not believe have already been sentenced, because he did not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict: the light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their works were evil. Anyone in fact does evil, He hates the light, and it does not come to light so that its works are not reproved. Instead, whoever does the truth comes towards the light, so that it may clearly appear that his works were done in God"" (GV 3,14-21)

In the Synoptics, Jesus predicts that he will have to suffer a lot; announces that «he will be mocked, scourged and crucified" (Mt 20,19) and that on the third day he will rise again. Giovanni, instead, announcing the passion of Jesus presents it as an "exaltation". He does it in the chapters 3 (vv. 14-15), 8 (v. 28) e 12 (v. 32). The last one is the most explicit song: «When I am lifted up [exalted] from the ground I will draw everyone to me". In the previous verse Jesus had said: «Now is the judgment of this world, now the prince of this world [Satan] he will be kicked out". Jesus, raised from the ground, will take his place, becoming king and attracting everyone to him. But Jesus' exaltation will not take place in Heaven, but on the cross. Many have interpreted, indeed, the raising of Jesus as a Johannine anticipation of his Ascension, while here there is instead explicit reference to the death of the Lord. All this might seem disconcerting because in our passage, The Other Brother, we are at the beginning of the Gospel and not at the end, yet Jesus already speaks of his death. Moreover, we also read in the prologue that: «His parents didn't welcome him» (GV 1,11). And let's not forget that this is also Sunday «In Rejoicing» as the entrance antiphon of the Eucharistic liturgy proclaims. So where to find reasons to rejoice? Evidently in this evangelical verticality that makes you dizzy.

The first to be disconcerted is Nicodemus, Jesus' interlocutor, who is asked for a rebirth from above (from above), that is, by the Spirit poured out from above. Nicodemus' astonished reaction - «How can this happen?» - encounters a response from Jesus that disconcerts us too:

«If you do not believe when I spoke to you about things of the earth, as you will believe if I speak to you about things of heaven?» (GV 3,12).

According to the context earthly things consist precisely in the dynamic of spiritual rebirth that must occur in life, here on Earth, in the humanity of the person who, thanks to faith, opens itself to the action of the Spirit. While celestial things are the paradox of a rising that coincides with a death sentence and a crucifixion that, according to John, it is exaltation and glorification. We find the echo of the words of the prophet Isaiah: «Who will believe our revelation?» (53,1); which follow the announcement that the "servant of the Lord will be exalted" (Is 52,13). The Greek verb, in version of the Septuagint (LXX), ypsóo, it will also be used by John in our text to indicate the raising of the Son of man. Thus at the heart of the Christian faith there is something surprising specified immediately afterwards: the raising of the Son of man is the event that fulfills and fully realizes the gift that the Father has given to humanity: the gift of the Son. The elevation on the cross which seems to appear to be the lowest point of Jesus' life, for the gaze of faith it is the moment in which one is born from above, as Nicodemus was asked: "In truth, truly I tell you, if one is not born from above, cannot see the kingdom of God"; thanks to the gift of the Spirit that the crucifix pours out. Here is the reason to rejoice, since if "no one has ever ascended to heaven except he who descended from heaven" (GV 3,13), the event that we could read as the lowest in the life of Jesus, his cross, According to John, it becomes the highest moment for him and for us: occasion of a gift that reveals all the love of God. A love that, as such, does not intend to condemn in the slightest, but only save. A free and unconditional love that can spread and manifest its energies in those who make room for it by welcoming it into themselves through faith: «God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son». A gift that is vertical and asymmetrical because it does not seek reciprocity: «As the Father loved me, so I loved you. Stay in my love" (GV 15,9); «As I have loved you, so you love one another" (GV 13,34).

Here we must insist on the absolute novelty of a statement. In other religions, for example, we talk about the depth of the mystery of God, of its greatness, of his eternity, of his justice, etc.. But only Christianity teaches us:

«For God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, because everyone believes in him […] have eternal life" (GV 3, 16).

Such a revelation transforms Christian morality. Jesus left us only one commandment, which is a new commandment, that of loving one another, as he loved us (GV 13, 34). This is the only way to explain the fact, paradoxical at first sight, that all Johannine morality is practically a morality of truth. It is summarized in two fundamental precepts: the faith that opens us to the Mystery and the love that makes us live in the mystery of revelation. Conversely, Giovanni seems to know, in its very rich essentiality and simplicity, only two sins: the rejection of faith in Jesus and hatred of one's brother.

Thus the Johannine morality is a morality of truth: «Instead, he who does the truth comes towards the light, so that it appears clearly that his works were done in God ". In the growing awareness that "without me you can do nothing", the consequences of being Christian, also on a moral level, they are connected in Giovanni to the theme of remaining. Remaining with Jesus implies a duty at the level of coherence, but first and foremost as a consequence at the level of being, live like Jesus: «He who says he remains in him, he must also behave as he behaved" (1 GV 2,6). «Whoever remains in Him does not sin; whoever sins has neither seen nor known him" (1GV 3,6). If the Christian, like John, he is amazed to look at it, indeed if it truly remains in Him, then he sins no more. Since whoever remains in that amazement and in that grace cannot sin. It's beautiful, in its conciseness, Augustine's commentary on this verse: «In so far as it remains in him, in so far he does not sin». A common perception especially among the fathers of the Eastern Church. Ecumenius too, a theologian of the Antiochian tradition of Chrysostom, in his commentary on the First Letter of John, writes:

«When he who is born of God has completely given himself to Christ who dwells in him through sonship, he remains beyond the reach of sin".

Let's become flawless as we abandon ourselves totally to Jesus Christ, as we remain in Him.

To conclude and summarize, if it were ever possible, themes of such great theological density that can be drawn from this Sunday's Gospel passage, I report a passage from the dogmatic constitution The light:

«Cristo, indeed, raised from the ground, he attracted everyone to him; risen from the dead, he sent his life-giving Spirit upon the disciples and through him constituted his body, the church, as a universal sacrament of salvation; seated at the right hand of the Father, works incessantly in the world to lead men to the Church and through it unite them more intimately to himself and make them participants in his glorious life by nourishing them with his body and his blood".

From the Hermitage, 10 March 2024

.

Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

.

.

Journey into the night with Nicodemus

/in /by

Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

JOURNEY INTO THE NIGHT WITH NICODEMUS

"It gave, indeed, did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through him."

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

 

PDF print format article

 

 

Dear brothers and sisters,

in our lives we have had moments of great night and existential and spiritual darkness. In those moments the Lord was close to us with his Light, even if perhaps we didn't realize it at first. On this journey of Lent we can think back to those moments and discover the meaning of hope as theological charity. Nicodemus himself had come to Jesus at night. The two have a long exchange of which only part of it is actually reported today. The most important section:

Christ and Nicodemus, opera by Pieter Crijnse Volmarijn, 17th century.

"During that time, Jesasu said to Niconamo: “How Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be raised up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. In fact, God so loved the world that he gave the only Son so that whoever believes in him would not be lost, but have eternal life. It gave, indeed, did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but for the world to be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned; but those who do not believe have already been sentenced, because he did not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict: the light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their works were evil. Anyone in fact does evil, He hates the light, and it does not come to light so that its works are not reproved. Instead, whoever does the truth comes towards the light, so that it may clearly appear that his works were done in God"" (GV 3, 14-21).

Initially Jesus refers to the serpent in the desert raised by Moses (14-15), arguing with great force that He is the newly raised one who will give eternal life. Effectively, the reference to the serpent was not new to Nicodemus. For here, Jesus, refers to the episode in which Moses took a snake and placed it on a pole to free the poisoned Jews from death (cf.. Nm 21,8 ss).

Here then is that Jesus is the New One Raised: the one who, if welcomed with faith and love, frees us from all the poisons of our life. The sins, vices and frailties. Embracing true and authentic life means discovering all your potential, the gifts of God and offer them in charity to others. It is therefore necessary to purify the gaze of our faith to try to encounter Jesus raised up even in moments of difficulty and suffering. Even that moment, if lived with faith it gives moments of growth: you enter new life when you are raised on your cross in Him, in moments crucial of life.

This flourishing in new life in Christ opens up hope for a better world already now, which builds the Common Good in Charity, and also eschatological hope. That is, the hope of being redeemed and one day going to Heaven. Jesus himself promises it to Nicodemus:

"It gave, indeed, did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through him.".

The salvation that Jesus offers us It happens right on the cross, in which, with a supererogatory work he redeemed us from the dominion of sin and the devil; we drew on this salvation directly in our baptism and reinvigorated it in confirmation.

In this time of Lent we can reinvigorate the faith and hope of eternal life, always with acts of charity, but also with a look of hope and goodness on the history we live. Indeed, the personal micro-story that we live in our daily lives is a great gift of grace: God gave us life, freedom and personal vocation, therefore, our personal choices influence the construction of our daily life. Our daily life, if lived with faith and charity, allows us to hope to build a macro-history of the world in which we live, which opens the path of hope for eternal life. So, in our little daily journey we love, we believe and work in the Good at the same time we found the hope of a life that will be eternally beautiful because in the presence of God. Eternal life that will be inaugurated on Easter morning in which with Christ we will be called to be born never to die again.

Lent purifies us to learn to hope in the Eternal and no longer only in temporary realities. We ask the Lord to grow more and more in hope and increasingly generate a heart poured out by his Holy Spirit and Marian love.

Amen!

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 10 March 2024

.

.

Subscribe to our Channel Jordan the Theological club directed by Father Gabriele by clicking on the image

 

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

Being scrutinized by the heart of God

/in /by

Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

BE SEARCHED BY THE HEART OF GOD

Jesus scrutinizes the hearts of the men who witnessed his miracles and realizes that theirs is not true faith but only emotion. It is a faith that seeks only sensationalism, what today we would define as “fideism”. Jesus instead tries to give them a faith that is authentic and strong.

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

.

PDF print format article

 

 

 

Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

In this third stage towards Easter we observe a very strong moment in the life of Jesus. The only episode in which the Lord almost seems to use violent actions in which he fights the mentality of his time. In fact every fight scene is always strong on the eyes. Let us think of the war scenes described in great classical works such asIliade o la Jerusalem Liberated. The fight of Jesus, But, it is not aimed at war, but until a feeling of faith and continuous conversion arises in the heart of man and in each of us.

On this third Sunday of Lent We read the famous passage of the expulsion of the merchants from the temple in (text of the Gospel HERE). A really strong scene. A way for the Lord to purify the Temple, that is, the house of God, from the impurities that the not always correct sales were made here. However, the Temple, it is a sacred space that merchants really could not enter for the purpose of buying and selling.

This episode it is generally applied to our time as a condemnation of the market and of inhuman financial speculations which do not respect the dignity and sacredness of man. But this is also a sign that Jesus is not attentive to individual economic materiality in itself but as a means to an end. The money, so, however necessary, it can never become a substitute for God.

The next dialogue it is an excuse that Jesus uses to announce his Passion. To affirm his final act of love. This act of love is Redemption and liberation from sin. And it is also the Great Sign of Jesus, greater than all other signs, that we too must rediscover this Lent. In fact, if we read this pericope carefully:

«While he was in Jerusalem for Passover, during the party, a lot of, seeing the signs that he performed, they believed in his name. Jesus, he didn't trust them, because he knew everyone and did not need anyone to bear witness about man. For he knew what is in man.".

We understand how Jesus, through his divine knowledge by way of eternity, he searches the hearts of the men who witnessed his miracles. And he realizes that theirs is not a true faith but only emotion. It is a faith that seeks only sensationalism, or what today we would define as “fideism”. Jesus instead tries to give them a faith that is authentic and strong.

This is our daily journey that in this difficult period we can undertake with courage. Let us help with prayer, the Sacraments and trust in the Lord to free us from an immature faith, emotional and fragile. This path can also help us understand what our difficulties and distractions are in prayer and in the practice of works of mercy.

All of this will lead us to grow in being known to gradually become more and more intimate with the Lord. And this intimacy will be a source of joy and satisfaction.

We ask the Lord to always have a heart open to his inspirations of love and truth to become new men in Him.

Amen!

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 3 March 2024

.

.

Subscribe to our Channel Jordan the Theological club directed by Father Gabriele by clicking on the image

 

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.