If I do not put my finger in the sign of the nails and I do not put my hand in his side, I don't think

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

If I do not put my finger in the sign of the nails and I do not put my hand in his side, I DON'T BELIEVE

The Evangelist John is an extraordinary author, as well as a true theologian. Already at Calvary he had anticipated themes of great importance such as the royalty of Jesus, the fulfillment of his hour, the gathering of the dispersed and even the gift of the Spirit. Realities that for other New Testament authors will come true later or even at the end of time.

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On this second Sunday of Easter the evangelical page corresponds to the last of the four paintings that make up the chapter 20 St John, with its final (GV 20,30-3) — he caps. 21 with a second ending will be added later — and are thus identified: Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb; then Peter and another disciple also run to the tomb; Mary Magdalene meets the Lord while she believes he is the gardener; at last, the last painting, which sees the disciples and Thomas as protagonists.

St. Thomas, work by Caravaggio

We are always on the same Easter day, that of the apparitions of the Risen One and the evangelist has just finished telling the story of Jesus' meeting with Magdalene. Here the Risen One appears for the first time to his disciples closed in the cenacle.

«The evening of that day, the first of the week, while the doors of the place where the disciples were were closed for fear of the Jews, Jesus came, stood in the middle and told them: "Peace to you!». Said this, he showed them his hands and his side. And the disciples rejoiced at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again: "Peace to you! As the Father sent me, I'm sending you too". Said this, he blew and said to them: «Receive the Holy Spirit. To those to whom you will forgive sins, will be forgiven; to those you won't forgive, they will not be forgiven". Tommaso, one of the Twelve, called Didymus, he was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him: «We have seen the Lord!». But he told them: "If I don't see the sign of the nails in his hands and I don't put my finger in the sign of the nails and I don't put my hand in his side, I do not think so". Eight days later the disciples were back in the house and Thomas was also with them. Jesus came, behind closed doors, he stood in the middle and said: "Peace to you!». Then he said to Thomas: «Put your finger here and look at my hands; reach out your hand and place it in my side; and do not be incredulous, but a believer!». Tommaso answered him: «My Lord and my God!». Jesus told him: «Because you saw me, you believed; Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!». Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, he did many other signs which have not been written in this book. But these were written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and why, believing, have life in his name" (GV 20,19-31).

Not having the necessary space here to address the many themes that the Gospel text presents to us, I'll try to highlight some of them - something was already mentioned last Sunday (WHO) — placing them under a single denominator that can help us understand the meaning of the writing, which I would define as starting to breathe again. This time not alone, but as a community. This is very important especially for us who live perpetually connected, but at the expense of true communion, of a sincere and trusted meeting between believers. Furthermore, we are used to thinking of the resurrection as an eschatological event, post-mortem, more than an experience to be lived here and now and to think of it as an individual event, personal, non-communal. But faith in the resurrection of Jesus demands fulfillment in the community, as well as asking to become an experience here and now, in our Christian life today.

The Johannine page presents the community of disciples on the evening of the day of the Resurrection. The same day that Mary Magdalene brought the announcement: «I saw the Lord»; then reporting what he told her (GV 20,18). But this is not enough to move the disciples, for the woman is not believed, as the other evangelists attest even more forcefully. The group of apostles is not only wounded by the loss of the Lord, but it is also blocked by emotions such as fear and distrust. The doors of the house are locked for fear of reprisals from outside, by those Jews who had conspired for the death of the Lord. But even within the place where they are gathered, the distrust is palpable, regarding Mary's testimony as already mentioned, and also for the ever-present trauma of Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial which are certainly fueling a climate of suspicion, so much so that someone, Didymus, he prefers not to stay with the group. The situation is this, internal and external, and who can ignite faith in the Risen One in this circumstance of general discouragement?

The evangelist John is an extraordinary author, as well as a true theologian. Already at Calvary he had anticipated themes of great importance such as the royalty of Jesus, the fulfillment of his hour, the gathering of the dispersed and even the gift of the Spirit (GV 19, 30). Realities that for other New Testament authors will come true later or even at the end of time. But here is Jesus, John writes, he came to that place closed off from external intrusions by the disciples and "stood standing among them", which is one of the very suggestive ways, used in the New Testament, to express the living presence of the Risen One. The Greek verb prompt — standing up straight — will be used to describe Jesus stopping and “standing” with the disciples of Emmaus (LC 24,36), it is the one for which Stephen says he sees Jesus who «stood at the right hand of God" (At 7,55), but above all it is the verb that in the Apocalypse indicates "standing upright" of the Lamb, «as if sacrificed», but living (AP 5,6). Jesus is standing standing at the door and knocking, writes, still, the Apocalypse (3,20), as well as now, after the days of passion and suffering, go back to his parents, he enters the cenacle and, standing among the frightened disciples, addresses them.

The first words of the Risen One to the Church are on peace. Raymond Brown wrote in his commentary on the Fourth Gospel that Jesus' greeting, "peace be upon you" (who, in GV 20,19, and then repeated two more times, in 20,21.26) it is not a simple wish: it's a gift. The Risen One brings peace, that, Paul will write, that the Messiah established between heaven and men (cf.. With the 1,20) and those who still encounter the Lord in the Church today are sure of being able to receive it. The second word of the Risen One to this community of disciples concerns the mission, for Jesus is the first apostle of the father. St. John uses the Greek verb here apostello which we translate as send, from which apostle, or "the one sent" (cf.. also GV 3,17: "It gave […] he sent his son into the world"). After the Resurrection the disciples are sent by Jesus on a mission that comes from above, it is not human initiative, but it starts from God himself and is configured as a continuation of the mission of the Son.

Then the Risen Jesus breathes and gives the Spirit. The way the Fourth Gospel describes the gift of the Spirit is unique in the entire New Testament. Only Giovanni, indeed, and only here, in the verse 20,22, it says that Jesus "breathed" on the disciples. The verb is used emphysao, «inflate, alliteration», which the Bible uses for the first time in the book of Genesis, during the story of the creation of man (Gen 2,7). All created reality - we read there - is generated by the word of God, but to make a man this is not enough: God must breathe into his nostrils. Need, that is, that he bends over him and approaches the man and gives him life through his breath.

In the Bible we find other occurrences of this verb, always linked to the theme of giving life back, to be reborn, allow you to breathe again. This is the case of Elijah who performs the miracle of the resurrection of the son of the widow of Zarephath: «Elijah lay down (translate at CEI, but we have the same verb emphysao all'aoristo: sensible, breathed in) three times over the child and called upon the Lord: Lord my God, the soul of the child returns to his body". In the book of Ezekiel the verb is used in the great scene of the dried bones, symbol of the people of the alliance now on its last legs. This people can only rise again if the Spirit from the four winds comes to "breath" life into those dead (cf.. This 37,9). Later, in wisdom literature, we will once again use the verb «alitare, insufflare», to describe the creation of man again: «And who breathed into him the breath of life» (Sap 15,11).

The Spirit of God is life for man, but in the circumstance of the cenacle it also becomes one of the visible signs that Jesus is alive. Just after showing his pierced hands and side He can breathe on the disciples because he breathes. It is further proof that He is not a ghost, but a living one: he started breathing again after he had "emitted the spirit", as we heard in the Holy Week readings.

From Old Testament occurrences first remember, some findings emerge that we can apply to the Gospel story. Saint John allows us to glimpse that as in the first creation, God breathed a vital spirit into man, so now, in the new creation that the Resurrection inaugurates, Jesus breathes the promised Holy Spirit, giving the disciples eternal life that does not necessarily begin after death, but it is already present, because of this gift and because of faith in the Resurrection of the Lord: «This is the eternal way: that they know you, the one true God, and whom you have sent, Jesus Christ" (GV 17,3). And as in the baptismal symbolism of GV 3,5, where it is said that men are reborn as children of God from water and the Spirit; similarly the present scene serves as a baptism for Jesus' immediate disciples and as a pledge of divine rebirth for all believers of the future. It is not surprising if the custom of breathing on those who will receive Baptism will later become part of the Rite of Christian initiation.. Now they are truly brothers of Jesus and can call God by the name of Father (GV 20,17). In this way the gift of the Spirit thus becomes the final culmination of the personal relationships between Jesus and his disciples.

I started by saying that thanks to the presence of the Risen One and through the gift of the Spirit the disciples also breathe again. But this does not correspond to breathing a sigh of relief, like after a big scare, there is a profound theological and ecclesial meaning here. The Risen Jesus does not keep for himself the life that has defeated death, but he also communicates it to the disciples gathered together as a community, as a Church. This life is his and he received it from the Father, He had already announced it in his earthly existence: «I am the way of truth and life». Now it descends on the Easter Church thanks to the gift of the Spirit and it is eternal life that already begins at the moment of baptism and unfolds in the thousand forms of Christian existence. For this reason the disciples rejoice in seeing the Lord and shortly thereafter Thomas too will enter the vital circularity of this faith despite the initial lack of trust in the testimony of the hesitant Easter church. This testimony, including that of Thomas - "My Lord and my God" - ends St. John, it is now delivered in the Gospel. It is the sign that remains and that allows us to participate in the life of the resurrected, but this is possible if we open it with faith and in communion and obedience with the whole Church and its tradition which since Easter has not ceased to announce: «The Lord is truly risen!».

From the Hermitage, 27 April 2025

 

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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The last gift of the Jesuits: We will soon pay for the years to take place the carelessness with which the right has been treated in recent years

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The last gift of the Jesuits: We will soon pay for the years to take place the carelessness with which the right has been treated in recent years

The main thanks will have to go to Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, trusted canonist of the deceased Roman Pontiff, which was overlooked to pack sugar for the laity and for the quote rosa.

— The Briefs of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos —

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Perhaps Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, trusted canonist of the deceased Roman Pontiff, In recent times it has been entirely absorbed by other vital priorities.

I quote only one of these priorities: The possibility of defining a difference between the order of order and power of jurisdiction, making it possible that the government of the Church and the authority in teaching can be separated from the power of sanctification deriving from the sacrament of the order conferred on ministers of the sacred. In this way it would be possible to give yet another sugar to a certain laity - in particular to the increasingly noisy quote rosa —, regardless that secularizing clerics and clericalize the laity lies at the origin of our worst misfortunes and the chaos we are experiencing.

Being too busy in this and more, The eminent canonist has forgotten to remember that the Apostolic Constitution Dominic Flock of the Holy Pontiff John Paul II, which regulates the conclave and the election of the successor of the blessed apostle Pietro, to n. 33 establishes a maximum roof of one hundred and twenty Cardinals voters, which are currently one hundred and thirty -seven, without the Supreme Pontiff, before dying, has never intervened to derogate from this taxation number.

Not happy with all conspiracy theorists who climbed the limelight around the world, especially of social media, After the act of renunciation of Benedict XVI, with immense damage for our simplest and most fragile faithful, The clerical carelessness has considered it appropriate to give these same dark characters a splendid pretext to be able to go on with new conspiracy theories and new fantastic codes. And of this, in the specific, The main thanks will have to go to Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, trusted canonist of the deceased Roman Pontiff, which was overlooked in much more serious things: pack sugars for laity and for the quote rosa.

 

From the island of Patmos, 21 April 2025

Easter Monday

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“They took the Lord away from the tomb and we don't know where they put him”

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

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

Every Christian hope is founded on the Resurrection of Christ, on which our resurrection with him is "anchored". However, Since we now we have risen with him: the whole fabric of our Christian life is woven with this unshakable certainty and this hidden reality, with the joy and dynamism that derive from it.

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The evangelical passage for Easter day does not present an ad, similar to a proclamation, of the resurrection of Jesus. This is the most surprising aspect of it, certainly diluted by the other liturgical readings and prayers that distinguish this solemnity.

The secret and reason for this absence lies in the quality of John's text which by not making it explicit reveals and in its movement, while describing what was true and physical of the disciple Magdalene together with Peter and another, it also drags readers along, almost as if they too were taking part in that race to the tomb, involved in what to all intents and purposes is the genesis of the Easter faith. Let's read the text.

«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 took the Lord away from the tomb and we don't know where they placed him”. 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).

On that first day of the week which will later become a holiday for Christians, «day of the sun» (Saint Justin) and of the Lord, the event of the Resurrection of Christ is a fact that is revealed in the guise of testimony. In John's story we grasp the inchoative moment, the release of the spark that will set the world on fire. but yet, what Mary Magdalene first communicates is an observation far from faith in the Resurrection of the Lord, whom he will meet shortly thereafter, as soon as she is left alone. She reports the most obvious thing: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we know not where they have laid!». In that plural we see the initial bewilderment of the disciples, underlined by an annotation, symbol of a faith that is not yet profound and convinced: "it was still dark". In the Fourth Gospel the darkness refers to the darkness that opposes the light of the Word that arrives (GV 1,5; 3,19); designates the problematic situation of the disciples in the absence of Jesus (GV 6,19), and it is the condition of uncertainty and confusion in which those who do not follow Jesus find themselves wandering (GV 8,12). Above all it is the condition of those who do not believe in him: «I came into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (GV 12,46). Maria is in that situation there, he peered into the empty tomb, but he has not yet understood because he has not seen with the eyes of faith and so he involves two important witnesses: Peter and another anonymous disciple. Only later will Mary of Magdala say with conviction: «I saw the Lord!». In this way the internal itinerary that will lead to the ecclesial announcement: «He is risen», passes through the evidence of death, consisting of the bandages and shroud that wrapped the body and the empty tomb in which it had been placed. According to the author of the Fourth Gospel, to arrive at a clear and certain profession of faith on the part of the believer - like that of St. Thomas: "My Lord and my God" - it must mature little by little in the consciousness of the disciples and he outlines its onset through the various degrees of seeing. It is worth highlighting how in the chapter 20 of San Giovanni the verb to see occurs well 13 times. Everywhere in the Gospel, but above all in this chapter the development of "seeing" is outlined, and it is Jesus himself who teaches his followers to look: it is his pedagogical method. Initially there is a sensitive seeing which subsequently leads to contemplation, so that the mystery is touched in the depth of the visible (cf.. GV 19,35: «He who has seen bears witness... so that you too may believe»).

At the Last Supper Jesus had stated: "Whoever has seen me has seen the father" (GV 14,9) and this is the central verse of the fourth Gospel. But physically seeing Jesus is not enough because, obviously, even his enemies see him, but consider him simply a man from Nazareth, indeed an impostor. Physically seeing and hearing Jesus, a man with a face, a flesh, it was indispensable to progressively come to contemplate in him, with the eye of faith, the Son of God, that is, to discover in him the Word made flesh. It is Jesus, with words and signs, with all his presence, which opens the door to the mystery and leads from "seeing" a man of flesh to recognition, in that flesh, the Word of God; so physical "seeing"., throughout the Gospel, it is the access route to this mystery that is revealed. The pedagogy of seeing becomes explicit, in fact, Jesus himself will explain it to Thomas, in our chapter 20. The starting point that becomes a pace, it is what we see with these fleshly eyes of ours; we start with the signs, like the empty tomb or the gardener, a real man whom Mary Magdalene encounters, in which he then recognizes the Risen Jesus. It's a progression, found in John's use of the verb to see. We go from Greek Bleppo with the meaning of seeing, notice something, like the cloths in the tomb, a theorein when the apostles and Magdalene look and observe more carefully. Finally the verb horan, to the perfect Greek, used by Saint John to express the fullness of Easter faith: «I saw the Lord» (heôraka ton Kyrion). Although we can't say much more here, what catches the eye, noting the concentric structure of the entire chapter 20 is that it describes the birth of faith in the risen Christ which however is based on the testimony of those who "saw" the empty tomb and the living Lord. This aspect is so important that the Risen Jesus will rebuke Thomas for his lack of trust in the testimony of the other disciples: «Because you saw me, you believed; Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!» (GV 20,29).

The Resurrection of Christ is therefore done, but also an event inextricably linked to faith and testimony. So the Lord, once again and especially on this occasion of the Resurrection from the dead, he does not deviate from his pedagogy and from the way in which he wanted to meet and save men, that is, by incarnating himself.

The Gospel describes the dynamics of Easter faith very well and how the testimony on it is consolidated. Of the other disciple, who ran with Peter to the tomb, arriving first, it is said that "he began to believe" (in Greek: the epistemic, ingressive aorist) and he will say to Thomas the Risen One: «And don't be incredulous, but become a believer!» (GV 20,27). This aspect of progress and becoming is often not well underlined, since even the translations are sometimes not always happy, yet it makes us understand that the Christian faith is not something static and acquired, but a virtue that grows with experience, the intelligence of the Scriptures and the encounter with the testimony that becomes the living tradition of the Christian community. Initially it is dark: «In fact they had not yet understood the Scripture, that is, he had to rise from the dead. The disciples, therefore, they went home again.". But slowly, also thanks to the presence of the Risen One, faith becomes increasingly sure and clear until: «My Lord and my God!» by Thomas, which are the last words of the disciples in the Johannine Gospel in its first draft (GV 20,28). How important it is today for our communities to rediscover this link between events, faith and testimony, judge it for yourself. Many still follow the latest private revelation, yet another alleged Marian message, when in fact it's all there, in the Gospel. Even today Christ is risen, respecting as then our humanity that He himself assumed, asks for our testimony and our sincere faith in Him risen from the dead so that the world, our concrete situations and personal and collective stories are reborn.

I would like to conclude by reporting the words that Paul VI addressed the participants in the Symposium on the mystery of the Resurrection of Christ in the distant past 1970:

"Yup, every Christian hope is founded on the Resurrection of Christ, on which it is “anchored” our resurrection with Him. However, Since we now we have risen with him (cf.. With the 3,1): the whole fabric of our Christian life is woven with this unshakable certainty and this hidden reality, with the joy and dynamism that derive from it. It is therefore not surprising that such a mystery, so fundamental to our faith, so prodigious for our intelligence, has always aroused, with the passionate interest of the exegetes, a multifaceted contestation throughout history. This phenomenon was already evident when the evangelist Saint John was still alive, who deemed it necessary to point out that the unbelieving Thomas had been invited to touch with his hands the mark of the nails and the wounded side of the risen Word of life (cf.. GV 20, 24-29). How not to mention, since, the attempts at a gnosis, always reborn in multiple forms, to penetrate this mystery with all the resources of the human spirit, and also to strive to reduce it to the dimensions of entirely human categories? A temptation that is certainly understandable and undoubtedly inevitable, but which has a formidable tendency to insensibly empty all the riches and scope of what is first of all a fact: the Resurrection of the Savior. Even today - and we certainly don't need to remind you of this - we see this trend manifesting its extreme dramatic consequences, going so far as to deny it, among the faithful who call themselves Christians, the historical value of inspired testimonies or, more recently, to interpret in a purely mythical way, spiritual or moral, the physical resurrection of Jesus. How could we not deeply feel the disintegrating effect of these harmful discussions on many faithful? But We proclaim with strength: we consider all this without fear, Why, today as yesterday, the testimony "of the Eleven and their companions" is capable, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to arouse true faith: “It's really true! The Lord was resurrected and appeared to Peter” (LC 24,34-35) (full text: WHO, my translation).

 

From the Hermitage, 20 April 2025

Easter of resurrection

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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

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The Holy Spirit in Jesus: Spiritual master on the path of Lent

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The Holy Spirit in Jesus: Spiritual master on the path of Lent

On the Lenten journey we come from the desert to Calvary, and from this place of consummation of the heart of Christ for men, We move on to that consumption charis-matica which is a mission and task for the life of the Church.

— Pastoral current events —

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

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On the first Sunday of Lent It traditionally reads the evangelical pericope of the temptations of Jesus in the desert.

The three synoptic Gospels, including the most synthetic Marco, they agree in underlining an important thing and that is that Jesus is pushed into the desert by the Spirit, To be attempted by the devil. This story represents a strong moment that qualifies the identity of Jesus, since he, full of the Holy Spirit, will inaugurate them a little by the year of jubilee grace (cf.. LC 4,18-19), While his works will make the good news that frees and heals those poor people who tremble the kingdom of God. But there can be no year of grace - there is no real Jubilee - without the firm proposal to put an end to the kingdom of Satan and his works. In Jesus Christ this promise is fulfilled (cf.. LC 10,18), It is in his baptism to the Giordano that the victory over evil starts, which will have a first moment of combat in the agon of the desert and will then culminate on the Golgotha ​​at that time fixed (cf.. LC 4,13) which is chair of salvation for every man.

As already anticipated, The narrative frame also determines the interpretative reading key of that passage of temptations. It is placed after the baptism to the Giordano, At the moment of the Father's Theophany through which he solemnly recognizes his son, The Messiah and the Prophet full of the Fire of the Holy Spirit. It is not exegetically daring to see here a passage of witness between John the Baptist - the one is the prophet of fire (cf.. Mt 11,14; 17,12; Sir 48,1)- and Jesus, the one who possesses the fullness of the fire of the Holy Spirit. This spirit pushed over Christ will remain permanently on him and, how the Gospels remember, Three times during his earthly life he consecrates his life and the public ministry.

The first time in the womb of the Virgin Mary, first altar on which Jesus is greased by the Holy Spirit (cf.. Mt 1,20); The second one is precisely the one in the Giordano river; The third will take place on the cross, where Christ, dying gives the Holy Spirit to the world (cf.. GV 19,30). And that last sigh will be prelude to the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit who will communicate to the Apostles on Easter Sunday (cf.. GV 20,21-22).

Focusing on the second anointing O pneumatological consecration of Jesus to the Jordan, we notice how he, in that circumstance, It unites the whole human lineage to itself, whose nature shares it, the joys, hopes and suffering. In the embrace of the Holy Spirit with Jesus, his profound identity is revealed that, then, through the sacraments, It will be communicated by the Church to men and that Pauline theology expresses in the letter to the Galatians: «God has sent the spirit of his Son shouts in our hearts: Abbà, Dad!» (Gal 4,6). A donate spirit, so, To recognize his Father and his Son Jesus, Lord and Salvatore Our, which also performs the action to lead men to Jesus, so that they are united to him in the Easter dive of death and resurrection.

In Baptism at Jordan Jesus becomes solidarity with us so that we are all presented to the Father as children in the Son, while still recognizing us in need of conversion and - important thing - all, through the humanity of Jesus, We receive that set of the Holy Spirit that allows us to face the temptations of the evil one and to overcome them, which represents, For Christians the first important passage of the baptismal journey, in conversion and free choice.

In fact, the Holy Spirit in the desert He puts the humanity of Christ in the face of evil so that he can fight him and choose in the freedom of the Son of remaining in obedience to the Father. In the same way the Holy Spirit acts in us, manifesting us the scandal of the mystery of iniquity that can only be won by remaining in obedience to God, rooted in his word: "It is written, it was said " (cf.. LC 4,4. 8.12). It is no longer time for man, how it happened to the progenitors in Eden, to hide because of the sin or the disconcerting devastation that it causes in life, But through the Spirit he is called to act, to challenge the sword (cf.. Ef 6,17) and to give war to the evil one who has already been rejected in the humanity of Christ.

Lent becomes in this way, year by year, an ever greater and different path of spiritual awareness. A journey of listening to the inner master - the Holy Spirit - who encourages the man to "see", indeed we could say, to experience him: "Come on, You see the works of the Lord " (cf.. Shall 46, 9). And what are the works that the Holy Spirit, as a lord, carry out? These are those same works that we see realized in the earthly life of Jesus and that he proposes to those who intend to follow him: Venection and contemplation of the Father, annihilation of oneself and a gift of themselves to men.

Lent lends itself to this triple dynamic so that, Under the careful guidance of the Holy Spirit, There is no more space for disordered emotion or apocalyptic revelations, Since everything leads to a conformation of one's life to that of Christ that only the Spirit is able to operate in fullness in man. Let's see how this happens, through three movements.

The first movement corresponds to an ascense motion, Which means fixing the gaze not on one's own misery as a sinner, but lift his eyes to God who is Father. This allows us to contemplate his redemptive work in the Son Jesus: "This is God's work: believe in him whom he sent " (cf.. GV 6, 29). The center of existence, What gives meaning and firm hope to the often difficult path of man's life is faith in Jesus, the encounter with Christ. It is not a question of following an idea, a project, but to meet Jesus as a living person, to let himself be fully involved by him and his Gospel. This is why Jesus invites us not to stop at a purely human plan, But to open up to the horizon of God, that of faith. He demands this only work: welcome God's plan, that is, "believe in the one he sent" (cf. Benedict XVI, Angelus, Castel Gandolfo, 5 August 2012).

The second movement is an abysmal motion, It coincides with the reality of the cross. It means bringing that yoke that makes us small, who daily reduces our self and allows us to give up the domain on brother and things, scanning the selfish obsession with possession, putting their own person in the service, that is, turning preferably to those who have no possibility of reciprocating (cf.. LC 14,13-14).

The third movement is a horizontal motion, It coincides with that "until the end" of GV 13,1, that Jesus first acts in the Upper Cenacle with the Apostles, But then he fully realizes for everyone on Calvary. There Jesus makes men full of himself to men. Just as the Holy Spirit had pushed him into the desert, almost out of salvific necessity, Now he makes him go up the lounge of the ordeal where the last will take place, definitive and necessary combat against the evil one; While in the meantime he proposes his alternative messianicity that contradicts his father's design: «You who destroy the temple and reconstruct it in three days, save yourself! If you are the son of God, get off the cross!» (cf.. Mt 27,40); “The people were seeing, The leaders instead shoed it by saying: “He saved the others, except himself, If it is the Christ of God, His elected ". The soldiers also shine it, and they approached him to give him some vinegar, and they said: “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself "" (cf.. LC 23,35-37). This horizontal motion does not primarily have a philanthropic or solidarity meaning as it could be hastily understood, But it is a lucid request for consummation of your heart for the other. It is the definitive fulfillment that even reaches the forgiveness of the enemies. There the demonic temptation cannot arrive, There is only and only the work of the Holy Spirit who transforms the intimate of man to the consumption for the other, Just as Christ did. The Finished of Christ is the beginning of each Charis-Matic Operation of the Christian and the Church; For this reason, love finds its source in the third person of the Trinity who takes stay in the creature permanently (cf.. RM 8,9).

To conclude, On the Lenten journey we come from the desert to Calvary, and from this place of consummation of the heart of Christ for men, We move on to that consumption charis-matica which is a mission and task for the life of the Church. Emphasizing those three movements on remember, to which man, following Christ, Try to conform by vocation, We have outlined a spiritual path and a missionary journey, announcement, of Christian and baptismal authenticity, For those who have received the effusion of the Holy Spirit and who live Christian life under the sign of Pentecost. This has become true for Christians immediately, just after death, The resurrection and ascension to the sky of Christ. The Holy Spirit praises magnanimity on the whole Church Doni and Carismi, As the Gospel of Marco and the Pauline letters testify. The same book of the acts of the apostles is a pneumatological symphony of the work of the spirit in the life of the Church of the origins, which will then continue in the following centuries in which, drugs, We will witness the birth of unexpected gifts: the martyrdom, The holiness of the anachoretes, The doctrine of the great doctors, ecclesial charity, sacramental and praying life; they let the signing of the Holy Spirit glimpse everywhere as an inner teacher. Lent is a path in the company of the Holy Spirit, It is the realization of that dream of becoming similar to God obtained not in disobedience and with sin, as for the progenitors, but in the mediation of Christ: He is the only one who can lead the man to his father.

Sanluri, 16 April 2025

 

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The books of Ivano Liguori, to access the book shop click on the cover

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It took Daniele Capezzone, The best successful pupil of Marco Pannella, To remove the "Katzinger code" by Andrea Cionci

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It took Daniele Capezzone, The best successful pupil of Marco Pannella, To remove the "Katzinger code" by Andrea Cionci

When to the editorial management of Free Daniele Capezzone came, That of liberalism and intellectual honesty is a model - so much so that by living with him, even his cat Giuditta has become a model - -, things have changed. Because for a primordi professional like the best successful pupil of Marco Pannella, Certain articles by neurodeliri published under the editorial brand he directed were welcome as a cactus instead of the bed pillow.

— The Briefs of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos —

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The year was 2010 as in my book And Satan became triune I wrote that our Catholic dignity would be saved by liberals and unbelievers who however recognize in Christianity a value that is at the root of our western culture. Over a decade later I went back to reiterate it in my book Digressions of a liberal priest, When now our disaster, but for mystery of grace always holy church, had touched the fund of irreversible decline.

That Andrea Cionci is a contact The imperative garbage of his feels it Ratzinger Code, dutifully renamed Codice Katzinger, where he supports the fantastic thesis of the invalid renunciation of Benedict XVI and the election of a usurper antipope carried forward by "strong occult powers".

Without a sense of ridiculous, even more than the measurement, he would have discovered and made it known that Benedict XVI, speaking through a cryptic code - that only this elected had caught and deciphered -, he had been forced to give up the sacred throne and to live prisoner.

The singularity It is that he can publicly vilification the reigning pontiff stating that not only is a "false pope", but worse: also «heretic, apostate, usurper". But, If anyone gives the author of Codice Katzinger The title that deserves, That is to say minchion, Here he is to announce that he has already passed the terrifying "defamation" to his very fierce "college of lawyers" (!?).

For years this CIARPAME has been published under the editorial brand of Free, As long as he was responsible director that melancholy renater face by Alessandro Sallusti, that of certain absurdities published,. In conclusion, with dozens of articles written under the brand of Free, Cionci offended only the Roman Pontiff, little i leader right.

When to the editorial management of Free Daniele Capezzone came, That of liberalism and intellectual honesty is a model - so much so that by living with him, even his cat Giuditta has become model - -, things have changed. Because for a primordi professional like the best successful pupil of Marco Pannella, Certain articles by neurodeliri published under the editorial brand he directed were welcome as a cactus instead of the bed pillow. And so, About a thousand fantastic articles have disappeared from the site of Free, From which Cionci's blog had already been eliminated.

A couple of years ago I directed to this sad character of the words that he demonstrated that he was unable to transpose:

"The author of the Codice Katzinger He has chosen to hit a target for years that he does not forget, Especially when it is silent. Mao Zedong who awaits along the river that passes the corpse of the enemy, Compared to the Holy See and the clergy is a novice beginner. If he knew a little’ The clergy should be frightened, for never having received any consideration and denied by the ecclesiastical authority or its official organs or spokespersons, because it means that the gift will come completely unexpected. When then it will come, It will end for not being able to walk more. At that point it may be that ecclesiastical authority expresses him even heartfelt pain and solidarity. In a sense, we priests inspired the MMAMAMASANTISSIMA how to offer condolences to the widows, with the tear in the eye, at the funeral of their "serenely spirated" husbands " (see article WHO).

As you wanted to demonstrate ...

From the island of Patmos, 8 April 2025

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The last of Senator Dario Franceschini: "The paternal surname is a patriarchal tradition" …

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The last of Senator Dario Franceschini: "The paternal surname is a patriarchal tradition"

If we want a thought so to speak "left", You have to go back to the end of the sixties of the twentieth century, open an encyclical written by Paolo VI in 1967 entitled Development of Peoples, Read it carefully and learn what should really be the progress of peoples based on the common human and Christian sense, not on blind ideology.

- Actuality -

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

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The bill of Senator Dario Franceschini which provides for the possibility of automatically attributing the maternal surname to infants has generated a heated public debate, With conflicting voices and comments. Proposed by him defined as

«Compensation for a secular injustice that has had not only a symbolic value, But it was one of the cultural and social sources of gender inequalities " (cf.. WHO)

The supporters of the proposal they see it as a necessary legislative and social adaptation that follows the constitutive changes of families, so that there is greater gender equality and the custom of the paternal surname is eliminated, considered "patriarchal tradition". In this way a greater role would be given to the mothers at a social level, With greater freedom of choice of the surname to be transmitted to the children by the parents, promoting a more balanced and real vision of the wider family concept compared to that considered too restrictive of the so -called "non -traditional family". The proposal does not exclude the possibility for parents to jointly choose the surname, including the double surname option.

Critics of the proposal argue that it risks creating confusion on family identity, influence the perception of the relationship with the parents and the related daughter, producing divisions within families in case of disagreement between the parents for the choice of the surname.

For jurists and experts There are undeniable problems on the proposal regarding the bureaucratic complexity that could derive from the application of the law, such as difficulties in managing documents and administrative practices. In this regard, the Supreme Constitutional Court has already given indications for the overcoming of the purely paternal surname, in which the cases and cases to which the proposal is targeted can return.

It is difficult to predict precisely how many infants would receive the maternal surname following the approval of the law, without specific data on parents' preferences, Any calculation would be approximate but still indicative. Analyzing some data of the National Statistics Authority (cf.. WHO), It is clear that:

– The born in Italy is constantly decreasing, In the 2023, The born residents in Italy were 379.000, marking a new historical minimum with a decrease of 14.000 unit compared to 2022 (-3,6%);
– The sun mothers, or the so -called "monogenitoric" families, they still have very approximate statistics for the reduced sample, however, The family nuclei in which the mother is the sole parent has increased as a consequence of the divorces, Motherhood separations and singular choices;
– I “Monogenitori”, that is, fathers and mothers alone, between 2011 and the 2021 have recorded an increase in 44%: Sun mothers have increased by 35,5%, While the only fathers increased by attesting to 85%.

This bill It would be interesting for the "monogenitoric" nuclei which according to Istat data would be growing and which include families sensitive to gender equality issues, Families with unmarried parents in which the choice of the surname can be more complex, In this and other cases the proposal would simplify the process of assigning the surname. It is extremely difficult to calculate precisely how many families would actually choose to use the maternal surname, But it could also arrive at 10-20% of families, This would represent a significant number of individuals who must not be excluded.

The political choice of the left, In recent years it could be considered progressive, But also wanting a form of radical struggle for civil recognition and legal and social adaptation to minority groups. According to what the current political exponents say in their ideological speeches made on televisions and rallies on the squares, these groups, ostracized or condemned throughout history, Today they must receive their full recognition within the company, If the company itself wants to be truly civil. This abandonment of the left towards the ideal of class struggle or against certain economic systems in which the operative or the proletarian class member was exploited as a propaganda element, it is no longer so important and relevant, as is the struggle for these minority groups, or to put it in other words: from the workers' struggles in the square with the parades of the metalworkers in a suit, We moved on to the gay pride with rainbow men dressed as grotesque faces in heels and mesh stockings.

It is an ideological choice, that of post-communists, which appears today more in contradiction with a world in which the defense of the weak, within economic-annibal powers, It is favored in its tragic inequalities among the classes precisely from the international claims, Those who yesterday screamed "Peace and Love" and who today scream to the rearmament of Europe, with Germany in the lead, who at the time was not properly unarmed by chance.

The transfer Freudian on certain privileged minorities come i cisgender and those who do not want to accept and adapt to "traditional" social roles and schemes, It seems a sort of "updating of the class struggle" or, Better one of his parodys, so that the basic concepts of culture can be revolutionized which little by little manage to "educate" the new generations, In addition to the people obliged in turn to change the company to their root. The ideological choice, however, even if it claims greater inclusion and tolerance, Too often it highlights the exclusivity of these minority groups at the expense of the majority of the population. They are statistically lower segments that are saved and protected by the "mass" almost like a new sort of different and welcoming higher "bundle". Complex theme, this, on which he wrote a far -sighted essay one of our author, Francesco Mangiacapra, In his work The coup of the politically correct - When minorities become dictatorship.

The new struggle of the left exponents not only forgets the people, as evidenced by the facts, But with unconscious comic vein uses the dialectic one in which the policies of opponents are presented as "belly rhetoric", or as a "bieco populism", Fomentati da talk show which feed victimism, The poses and the need for a vindictive redemption, Instead of the search for remuneration justice and the assets of each individual above their personal selfish or self -centered pleasures.

If we want a thought so to speak "left", You have to go back to the end of the sixties of the twentieth century, open an encyclical written by Paolo VI in 1967 entitled Development of Peoples, Read it carefully and learn what should really be the progress of peoples based on the common human and Christian sense, not on blind ideology.

the Island of Patmos, 9 April 2025

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Hard Rock tribute of the Fathers of L'Isola di Patmos

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OMAGGIO HARD ROCK DEI PADRI DE L’ISOLA DI PATMOS

It's true that everyone asks, But we are fantastic and for this we deserve, we are hard rock. So, even if we never ask, Try to support our work.

– The briefs of the Fathers of the Isle of Patmos –

Author
Editors of The Island of Patmos

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From the island of Patmos, 7 April 2025

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The stone of Jesus and the ancient mouth of Rosa that put love above everything

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE STONE OF JESUS ​​AND THE ANCIENT ROSE MOUTH THAT PUT LOVE ABOVE EVERYTHING

«There are those who make love out of boredom, who chooses it by profession, Bocca di Rosa neither one nor the other, she did it out of passion"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There is a thread that ties Jesus' sentence listened to two Sundays ago: "If you don't convert, all perish in the same way » (LC 13, 3); to that, became famous, that we read in the Gospel of this Fifth Sunday of Lent: "Which one of you is without sin, be the first to throw the stone at her ". It is the theme of mercy, masterfully represented by Jesus in the parable of the Prodigal Son proclaimed instead last Sunday.

Today, left Luca, Let's read the Gospel of John, where we find a statement from Jesus that explains the passage about the adulterous woman well:

«God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but for the world to be saved through him" (GV 3,17).

After many clashes with his opponents, finally these bring to Jesus a concrete case that intersects a social sin, adultery. They know that his teaching focuses on openness to sinners, he ate with them, he has already said to the paralytic "Sin no more" (GV 5,14), yet they insist on testing him, so much so that this openness of Jesus will become one of the reasons for his condemnation. Let's read the Gospel.

«Jesus set out towards the Mount of Olives. But in the morning he went again to the temple, and all the people came to him. And he sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery, they placed it in the middle and said to him: “Maestro, this woman was caught in adultery. now Moses, in the Law, He commanded us to stone such women. What do you think?”. They said this to test him and to have reason to accuse him. But Jesus bent down and began to write with his finger on the ground. However, because they insisted on questioning him, he stood up and told them: “Who among you is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at her.". E, bent down again, He wrote on the ground. Those, heard it, they went away one by one, starting with the older ones. They left him alone, and the woman was there in the middle. Then Jesus stood up and said to her: “Donna, where am I? Has no one condemned?”. And she answered: "Nobody, Man". And Jesus said: “I don't condemn you either; go and sin no more from now on" (GV 8,1-11).

The text is complex — since ancient times it has posed problems of textual criticism due to its absence in the most important manuscripts — also due to the cultural distance that separates us from the themes expressed there, and in this way the interpretations have multiplied. Some, perhaps precisely because today's sensitivity has changed a lot compared to that ancient culture, they highlight the violence used towards women by those male men, in contrast to the kindness and attitude used by Jesus towards her. They wonder where the man who is also an adulterer is, whom the Law ordered to be put to death in the same way as the woman, if discovered (Dt 22, 22). They're not doing it, in this way, violence also against the Law, as well as the woman, those men who push her in the middle, there in front of everyone, then in the Temple, in order to frame Jesus?

For someone else it is likely not true adultery, but of a specious use of Jesus' words to put him in difficulty. These words are found in Mt 5, 31-32:

«It was also said: «Whoever repudiates his wife, give her the writ of repudiation". But I tell you: whoever divorces his wife, except in the case of illegitimate union, exposes her to adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman, commits adultery".

According to what Jesus says in Matthew the repudiation of his wife, although admitted by the Torah (Dt 24, 1-4) by means of a divorce decree, however, it exposes the divorced woman to adultery. The divorce document was intended to limit male agency and to grant it to the woman, after the separation, the possibility of remarrying without being accused of adultery. Jesus then said in the Sermon on the Mount: «Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fully fulfill " (Mt 5, 17). Therefore in those difficult words reported above we at least understand that for Jesus divorce is an act that goes against love for one's wife, exposing her to adultery. According to this interpretation it is possible that that woman thrown there in the middle was actually a remarried divorcee and according to those scribes and Pharisees she could not be reprobated, but since they learned that Jesus advanced that new hermeneutic of the Law, they use it to "test" him (cf.. GV 8, 6; Mt 19, 3). They thus demonstrate that they care more about chance and don't care about the person; perverting the teaching of Jesus they had already put their hands to stones to stone her. Thus comments Saint Augustine: «They were interested in the adulteress, and in the meantime they lost sight of themselves".

The gospel passage opens with the note of Jesus going to the Temple to teach a large crowd. Indeed the text says that "all the people" (GV 8,2) went to him. We also find a similar note in Luke:

«During the day Jesus taught in the Temple; at night he went out and spent the night outdoors on the mountain of olive trees. And all the people went to him in the Temple early in the morning to listen to him" (LC 21,37-38).

Jesus carries out a daily teaching activity in the Temple which probably generates annoyance and for this reason is interrupted suddenly and violently by some. Jesus distances himself from these, avoiding face to face with them; thus while it is twice underlined that the woman is among this group of people (vv. 3 e 9), it is also repeated twice that Jesus bends down to the ground to write (vv. 6 e 8). We don't know if he wanted to express solidarity towards the weakest, experiencing in her own body what she is experiencing, but this gesture certainly has a theological value. Let's retrace the various passages of the text. Jesus bends down for the first time and writes on the ground with his finger (v. 6), scribes and Pharisees insist on questioning him; then he stands up and speaks to them saying: "Let the one who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (v. 7). Immediately afterwards Jesus bends down again for the second time, He writes on the ground (v. 8), the scribes and Pharisees leave one by one, starting with the older ones and leaving Jesus alone with the woman (v. 9), then Jesus gets up (v. 10) and says to the woman: "go and sin no more" (v. 11). It's here, in all probability, a reference to the Old Testament, to the episode of Moses' double ascension to Mount Sinai where he twice receives the tablets of the Law "written by the finger of God" (Is 31,18). In that case Moses came down from the mountain for the first time and broke the tablets of the Law because the people were transgressing them with the sin of the golden calf (Is 32, 19). He ascends again and receives the tablets rewritten a second time together with the revelation of the name of the merciful and forgiving God.:

«The Lord passed before him, proclaiming: "The Sir, the Sir, Merciful and merciful God, slow to anger and rich in love and faithfulness, who preserves his love for a thousand generations, who forgives the guilt, transgression and sin..." (Is 34, 1-9).

So Jesus, with his gesture of bending, write and get up twice, seems to allude, mimetically, to the gift of the Law given twice, a Law that already contained the gift of mercy and forgiveness, so much so that the alliance in the eyes of the Lord God is not canceled by man's sin. Now it's Jesus, in the New Covenant, which reveals divine mercy and forgiveness, since in both cases where Jesus stands up and speaks uttering words that have to do with sin, of the scribes and Pharisees first and then of the woman, which has already been forgiven, even if he will tell her eventually: "Neither do I condemn; go and from now on don't sin anymore ". Jesus asks the woman to assume responsibility, therefore he sends her demonstrating trust in her. The fact then that in our text bending down precedes getting up unlike the story of Moses who first ascended and then descended at Sinai, it is a reference to the fundamental event of the incarnation of the Word who first descended and then was raised in glory: «He who descended is the same who also ascended above all the heavens, to be the fullness of all things" (Ef 4,10). In the mystery of Christ he reveals himself, so, the face of the Father God rich in mercy, according to the evangelical expression already mentioned initially: «God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but for the world to be saved through him" (GV 3,17).

Beyond any possible interpretation John's text 8,1-11 states that God's mercy becomes practice in Jesus. The words of Saint Augustine commenting on the meeting between the Lord and the adulteress have remained famous:

«Only the two of them remained: misery and mercy (miserable and Mercy)».

Words that also struck Pope Francis who wrote:

«He couldn't [St. Augustine] find a more beautiful and coherent expression than this to make people understand the mystery of God's love when he comes to meet the sinner" (Apostolic Letter Mercy and misery of the Holy Father Francis at the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, 2016).

Rightly the liturgy on this Sunday it makes us pray:

«O Lord who sent your only begotten Son not to condemn but to save the world, forgive all our faults, so that the song of gratitude and joy may flourish in the heart".

From the Hermitage, 5 April 2025

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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I believe the Church one, santa, Cattolica, apostolic … it is not written “synod” …

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I believe the Church one, SANTA, Apostolic Catholic … It is not written “Synod”

With all due respect to the German drivers of all time, We do not profess "I believe in churches", because the Church is one, not many; Because it is the particularity or location that must submit to the universality of the Church, not the universality of the Church to submit to the particularity or location, especially to teutonic whims.

— The Briefs of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos —

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The dogmatic constitution on the Church The light opens with these words:

«Christ is the light of the people, and this sacred council, gathered in the Holy Spirit, ardently want the light of Christ, reflected on the face of the church, enlighten all men, announcing the Gospel to every creature " [1].

The Second Vatican Council indicates that the article of faith on the Church depends entirely on articles concerning Jesus Christ. The Church has no other light than that of Christ. According to an image dear to the Fathers of the Church, It is similar to the moon, whose light is all reflected in the sun.

The article on the Church It also depends entirely on that on the Holy Spirit, who precedes him:

«In that, indeed, The Holy Spirit appears to us as the total source of all holiness; in this, The divine spirit appears to us as the source of the holiness of the Church "[2]. According to the expression of the fathers, The Church is the place "where the spirit blooms"[3].

Believe that the Church It is "holy" and "Cattolica" and which is "one" and "apostolic" (How does the NICEN-Costantinopolitan symbol) It is inseparable from faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the symbol of the apostles we profess to believe the Holy Church and not in church, In order not to confuse God with his works and to clearly attribute to the goodness of God all the gifts he has poured into his Church[4] (cf.. WHO).

I believe the Church one, santa, Apostolic Catholic … it is not written “synod”, But above all - with all due respect to the German drivers ever, We do not profess "I believe in churches", because the Church is one, not many; Because it is the particularity or location that must submit to the universality of the Church, not the universality of the Church to submit to the particularity or location, especially to teutonic whims. Also for this, The last Synod, It turned out to be a remarkable failure.

From the island of Patmos, 4 April 2025

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Notes

See. 1: AAS 57, year 1965, 5
See. Roman Catechism, 1, 10, 1: ed. P. Rodriguez (Vatican City-Pamplona 1989) p. 104.
See. St. Hippolytus of Rome, The delivery of the Apostolica, 35: ed. B. Barrel (Münster I.W. 1989) p. 82.
See. Roman Catechism, 1, 10, 22: ed. P. Rodriguez (Vatican City-Pamplona 1989) p. 118.

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The 2 April returned to the house of his father John Paul II and died Antonio Livi, The last theologian of the Roman school

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THE 2 April returned to the house of his father John Paul II and died Antonio Livi, The last theologian of the Roman school

Over the years, we realize more and more than certain men, dying, they left many voids in the church, because they have not been replaced and there was no spare and continuity.

– The briefs of the Fathers of the Isle of Patmos –

Author
Editors of The Island of Patmos

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We propose a short article Written by Father Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo in April of 2020 On the occasion of Antonio Livi's death, that together with the Dominican papal academician Giovanni Cavalcoli He was one of the founders of our magazine.

 

From the island of Patmos, 2 April 2025

 

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AND DEAD ANTONIO LIVI TOGETHER WITH THE HOLY PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II AUTHOR OF THE ENCYCLIC FAITH AND REASON

This morning died Antonio Livi, Roman priest and theologian of the last Roman Theological School. The Fathers de The Island of Patmos leave a comment in his memory to Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo.

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Author
The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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Antonio Love, Academic of the Pontifical Lateran University

Rest in peace our brother Antonio Livi, Tuscan-born Prato, roman presbyter, philosopher and theologian, last great exponent of the Roman Theological School, He returned to the Father's House this morning.

Our brother, 82 year old, He had long been ill with brain tumor. His death is not in any way ricollegabile the ongoing pandemic.

One of the founders This magazine was born in October 2014, Antonio Livi was the author of the subtitle that accompanies The Island of Patmos: "The site of the last revelation". It was in fact this island in the Aegean that the Blessed Apostle, also known as the Eagle, wrote the Book of Revelation.

Those who knew Antonio Livi thoroughly, He knows that the worst thing that you could do is the apology of Dear Extinct. Or when he had to tell me himself on one occasion with his typical Tuscan cynicism:

"When a priest dies, you crying two days, pretending, obviously. Then, from the third day, we rejoice because he is out of the way ".

Useless to remember His curriculum academic, because once said Antonio Livi was the last member of the Roman Theological School, with what has been said.

Antonio Livi with the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI visited the Pontifical Lateran University

Amabile as a person and yet nature sometimes impossible. With him talk meant the end fight. So much so that when I said: "When you have finished arguing with everyone, then you begin to fight with yourself ". And when once, in complaints tone told me: «... sai, They say about me that I am touchy ". Replicandogli said in mocking way: "Do not tell me! Lies, horrible slander. You touchy so, so to speak ... ordinary? No, you are more touchy of a capuchin monkey!».

He loved me and I to him, we loved each quarreling. Once there “we skinned” for the classic misunderstanding: I wrote that without historical support the dogma would remain unsubstantiated, It is the dogma also the result of a precise history, sometimes even of a specific policy that helps to understand how it has come to its solemn definition. He decided to figure whistles for flasks - because at that moment he needed psychophysical to quarrel with somebody - and gave me the historicist and the crypto-modernist. To which I took to tease his logic aletica, his forte; and this went on for weeks. Then the elderly Brunero Gherardini intervened and said to one and the other: “You look like two dogs biting the same bone!». This was Antonio Livi, why I say that today beatify him on the day of his death, He would be to bring him really insult.

Antonio Love

The ever silent death comes, But, in his own way, sometimes he speaks: Antonio Livi died 2 April, on the same day he died on Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, under which collaborated in the drafting of the famous Encyclical Faith and Reason, It has brought into the heart throughout his life. We knew of his valuable contribution to the drafting of this Encyclical, but he did not say, and he's never boasted. So not only quarrelsome and touchy, but also humble and discreet servant of the Church and the papacy.

At random we do not believe, indeed imagine who his soul was met. And maybe, John Paul II, accepting it with a smile typically sly its own and with the irony of his character, it may be that told him: «Antonio, Now you can finally relax, because you've finished arguing, after having experimented on your skin, in the course of your illness, Also the essence of another celebrated my Apostolic Letter: the saving Passion».

And maybe, the pain he has suffered in recent years, He purified him as a new Baptism, opening the doors to the reward of eternal bliss.

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Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo

From the island of Patmos, 2 April 2020

in memory of Antonio Livi

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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 Rome – Vatican
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

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