Christ's invitation to welcome the gift of happiness that becomes eternal bliss

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The angle dell'omiletica of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE CALL OF CHRIST TO WELCOME THE GIFT OF HAPPINESS THAT THAT BECOMES ETERNAL BLISS

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The words of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal seem suited to our being witnesses of bliss: "Happiness is neither of us, nor out of us: It is in God, that is, outside and inside us ".

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Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

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Salvador Dali, The announcement, work carried out on the occasion of the opening of Vatican II

in this VIª Sunday in Ordinary Time the Liturgy of the Word gives us the Lucan text of the Gospel of the Beatitudes [see text of the Liturgy of the Word, WHO].

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There are evangelical pages that they are eternal and that's why we know by heart, but yet, whenever we listen, excite us and we always give something new and often unexpected. God sees our reality according to a vision of eternal present simultaneously: therefore, every time that speaks to us in His inspired Word, in our now daily, in our time it seems insignificant fills his tender love and eternally true and present.

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The passage of the Beatitudes Lucan It first remembers what constitutes one of the greatest human research: the pursuit of happiness.

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Salvador Dali, The Temptations of St. Anthony

In the statement the United States of America's founding fathers, with Thomas Jefferson, the 15 September 1787 They declared that the pursuit of happiness is a truth in itself obvious. With the philosophical language we would say that the pursuit of happiness is an axiom, something so obvious that it can not be refuted. This text has also inspired a great movie, I recommend everyone to see, just called The pursuit of happiness, Gabriele Muccino Will Smith and the little Jaden Smith. The film is the story of the broker American Chris Gardner, it reduced to poverty because of a series of existential contingencies and working, finds the strength along with his young son Christopher to roll up their sleeves and rebuild everything. Together the two Gardner begin their path to happiness. One of the most beautiful phrases of the film is that dad Chris says to the little Christopher:

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"Do not ever let anyone tell you you can not do something. Me neither. Ok? If you have a dream you must protect. When people do not know how to do something they tell you that you do not. If you want something, and will inseguila. Point".

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With these beatitudes the Lord wants us to show what is the path that has prepared for us, so that we can achieve happiness is not simply a job, as it happened in Gardner in this film. Happiness is not money: is not only materiality yet is not even abstractness. The Lord teaches us that happiness is bliss.

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Salvador Dali, the vision of Hell granted by the Virgin Mary to the little shepherds of Fatima

Jesus' invitation to bliss It has a spiritual and human foundation at the same time: primarily because it is the Lord who helps every man to live the individual beatitudes. Secondly because, all bliss, It consists of a real condition of insecurity from which flows an act of concrete love given by God to His believers.

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From the material and spiritual poverty, by grace you get the kingdom of God, that is, being in intimate contact with him at all times as baptized persons and children of God. From famine Trinitarian Love, the Lord gives us the fullness of the Holy Spirit when we are confirmed members. From the desperate cry of those who have sinned, the Lord gives the smile of one who has been forgiven in sacramental confession. And finally, Jesus, also we remember those who are in tear, division and deeper persecution for the sake of His Holy Name. Here Jesus turns to the martyrs: both those who today still lose their lives because they killed in hatred of faith, as recently happened in France on the altar with the murder of his father Jacques Hamel, both for those who live a white martyrdom because isolated from relatives, friends and brothers, until almost the removal of more family relationship for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the love of the Church.

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To the martyrs a great reward is prepared: the immediate vision of God's Love in Paradise, without having to further purify, for the martyrs in the Blood. The ability to have an authentic look on the love of God who becomes Eucharistic Bread, white for martyrs.

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On the contrary, the three "woes" that Jesus gives to the rich, satiated and color reflect laughing like a false happiness can take root in man: a happiness that is not of God, but by money, from sexual satiation excessive and disorderly or the exercise of a power that mocks the authority of God and his commandments. Those troubles are warning today. You should be educated to stay away from these attitudes and behaviors that fill us with fleeting svuotandoci the one true treasure: God's presence.

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Salvador Dali, Last dinner

The pursuit of happiness nellc happiness Jesus is described as an attainable goal every day. in the Sacraments, like I said. But also because we know to be those who proclaim the faith that is not passive stasis, but continuous journey towards that which gives us a sense of deep happiness.

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The words of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal they look really suited to our being witnesses of bliss: "Happiness is neither of us, nor out of us: It is in God, that is, outside and inside us ".

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So together, dear brothers and sisters, We ask the Lord to assimilate more and more these eternal words. Every day we can be at the Bliss School. With a contemplative look, We ask you to find the ray of sunshine that illuminates our window, the sign that the Lord wants to make us eternally happy because blessed.

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Amen!

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Rome, 16 February 2019

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To become real fishers of men, first of all you have to be real men

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L'Angolo di Girolamo Savonarola: Catholic homiletics in lean times

TO BECOME THE REAL FISHERS OF MEN, MUST BE THE FIRST REAL MEN

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Throw networks means getting away from the shore and take in the immensity. In order to draw men, first of all we must be real men, legitimate children of a God who became true man in all respects and by whom we freely and lovingly let ourselves be caught, to thus become true fishers of men.

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Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo.

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Jesus Christ be praised !

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Immensity, Roman work of painter Anna Boschini [Vitarte, WHO]

The page of the Lucan Gospel offered by this 5th Sunday of ordinary time [text of the liturgy of the word, WHO], first of all it reminds us of the mystery of an inseparable reality: the Jesus of history, real man, and the Christ of faith, true God, expression of the mystery of the nature of the Redeemer who is one in his person and one in the Trinity, because every action of encounter between the true God and the true man with humanity, it is an action of grace of the Trinity in our history, in our present being and in our future becoming, single and collective.

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The man Jesus also teaches us the art of preaching, which is the ability to communicate in order to seek and live true communion. The historical Jesus demonstrates this, able to discuss already as a teenager with the doctors of the Temple [cf. LC 2, 41-50] who were amazed and wondered where he got this wisdom. Approached Jesus that with simple words, at times disarming - within which, however, the pillars of our faith are contained - he speaks and refers to the children and the simple who listen to him, who understand him and above all who follow him [cf. MC 10, 13-14; Mt 18, 3-4; Mt 18,6].

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If whoever preaches the Gospel does not sow and does not reap, if he does not cast the empty nets to throw them on the boat full, things are in these terms: or has landed in a city of totally dry hearts from which it is good to proceed further by shaking the dust from one's sandals,[3] or he is a misunderstood prophet destined for more or less white martyrdom, or he's a bad preacher who doesn't practice what he preaches.

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The historical Jesus, Jew among the Jews, that in his perfect human nature he was the son of an ancient culture - the Jewish one - made up of symbols and images; in a Judea that at the time had also assimilated the wealth of Greek and then Roman symbols and images, to make his preaching effective he addresses the people speaking in parables. And as we know the parable - that is, the story - is a symbol, beyond which there is a human message, morale, ethical and spiritual.

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But beware of a pitfall that is always lurking: symbolic is language, not the God incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus is a human and divine reality narrated through the Gospels which are also historical sources, put together by direct or immediately directed eyewitnesses. The divine mystery of the incarnate Christ of faith is contained in the historicity of Jesus who speaks in parables or allegories, lived, dead and risen.

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Jesus walking over the waters of the Sea of ​​Galilee [cf. MC 6, 45-52; Mt 14,22-32], who performs the miracle of wine at Cana [cf. GV 2,1-11] who multiplies the loaves and fishes [cf. Mt 15,29-37], who heals the sick and who raises Lazarus [cf. GV 11, 35-44]; but especially, Jesus who on the third day rises from the dead, it is not a set of symbols and allegories to be interpreted with the criteria of modern theology, because all of this is historical and real. And only in the face of this real historicity, we can then proceed with spiritual criteria and with theological readings, not vice versa. In fact, if Jesus existed only in the past or instead he also exists in the present, this all depends on his resurrection [cf. Antonio Maria Sicari, Travel In the Gospel, Jaca Boock, pag 270].

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In today's Gospel proclamation an original story was not told but a real fact, beyond which there is the symbol. It is not a play on words but a correct use of words in the delicate vineyard of the mystery of faith. Through the earthly life of Jesus the parable is born from his concrete and palpitating human reality, or the metaphor, which is an effective communication tool. Thinking instead of from the metaphor, or whatever you want from the fairy tale, the tender fairytale idea of ​​a Jesus is born to be interpreted within purely spiritual and theological categories, it is a thought which, however widespread, remains dangerously non-Christian, definitely not Catholic.

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That day Jesus actually got into Simon's boat, inviting him and the other fishermen to put out to sea and cast their nets, and fulfilling his request, Simon really replied that they had tried in vain to fish all night without catching anything, finally saying: "At your word I will cast the nets", thus making a free act of faith.

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What is the spiritual challenge of this parable inserted into a real fact? First of all, Jesus invites Simon to leave the shore to go out to sea, moving away from that shore strewn with the shells of our limits, of our obvious lack of charity. Throw networks means getting away from the shore and take in the immensity, finally to bring to the surface what has been enclosed in each of us since the dawn of time, which is being created in the image and likeness of God: you will be holy because I - the Lord your God - am holy [cf. The Pt 1,13-21; Lv 19,2; Is 11, 45]. And when we just seemed totally lost, God bursts again into the history of man in a real and physical way through the mystery of his incarnation; and through Jesus it is God himself who comes in person to rescue us, it is enough that through an act of free faith one accepts to go out to sea to cast the nets, to be caught by his grace and to be caught by his grace.

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It is the miracle of fishing: abandoned the shore with Jesus, cast the nets and fishing deeply, those men made their true image and likeness with the Eternal Creator re-emerge by re-establishing their communion with God and shortly after bringing the communion of God into the world.

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Faced with the miracle of fish, which is a miracle of faith and abandonment to God, Simon returns to having first of all the perception of good and evil, so much so as to tell Jesus: "Get away from me because I am a sinner". Faced with that awareness, Jesus fills Simon with grace and implicit forgiveness by answering him: "From now on you will be a fisher of men". That statement in itself implies: because you have had the goodness to follow my word and to leave the shore, to get offshore to fish out yourself e, with yourself, recover your Lord and Creator, so that I could perform the great miracle of faith on you.

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In today's Church, what is often lacking are not men to fish - who often would like to let themselves be caught, or who sometimes ask, they beg to be caught - perhaps what they lack are good fishermen. What then Our Lord Jesus Christ, beginning, center and ultimate end of our entire humanism, he in whom all things are recapitulated, those in heaven and on Earth, the visible ones and the invisible ones, head of the mystical body which is the Church ...[I Ef, prologue] may he always make us wise and holy fishers of men, with his grace and with the comfort and prayer of the good People of God. Never forgetting that in order to fish for men, first of all we must be real men, legitimate children of a God who became true man in all respects and by whom we freely and lovingly let ourselves be caught, to thus become true fishers of men.

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From the island of Patmos, 10 February 2019

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«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
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"In God we can all become great writers and artists love the unit"

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The angle dell'omiletica of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

"IN GOD WE CAN ALL BECOME THE GREAT WRITERS AND ARTISTS OF THE UNIT OF LOVE»

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Explain and show our faith so it does not get in the chair, It is not filled with pride, but first of all to love with an act of deep love and tender and generate the union of all men with God.

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Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

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Saint Raymond of Peñafort, patron of jurists and faculties of canon law, who according to the pious legend crosses the waters on his cloak as a Dominican friar

The Liturgy of the Word of this third Sunday of the ordinary temo [cf. Born 8, 2-4.5-6.8-10; Shall 18; 1 Color 12,12-30; LC 1,1-4; 4,14-21, readable texts, WHO], It recalled to my mind the memory of when for the first time I was on a ship. It was a ferry that carried from Naples to the island of Ischia. I also remember the presence of the crew: there was the ordinary seaman, the attendant to passengers, those responsible for the kitchen, the ship's doctor and finally, obviously, also the ship's captain and his assistants. Each had a very specific and distinct task, but all, at the same time, they had a single purpose: lead ship in the port of Ischia.

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This example of diversity and unity it is also the theme of today's readings. In the first reading from the Old Testament we listened:

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«Ezra opened the book in the presence of all the people. […] The Levites were reading the book of the law of God, translating and explaining the way, and in this way they made reading understandable " [Born 8, 4 – 6] .

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This book being explained it is the Mosaic Law that the Jews had received through Moses at Sinai. So both Ezra, prophet, that the Levites, the priests make clear something that God had revealed to him but that he needed clarification. In that passage we also know that is announced a day consecrated to the Lord. So, the work of the prophets and Jewish Levites was almost show the existence of a time dedicated to God. Levites and prophets, so, They have a specific task: make clear and live the message of God.

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The second reading also focuses on this when St. Paul writing to the Corinthians affirms:

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“God has arranged the members of the body in a distinct way, as he wanted " [1 Color 1,14]

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So here it is confirmed this is the Lord himself who wants a certain distinction and diversity within the People of God. From the first two readings we also learn that the Lord asks us to learn in our place. Being able to understand what are their gifts and put them at the service of the whole ecclesial community without being selfish is the greatest act of humility. It is in fact God Himself to call every single person in a specific task: those to religious life or priesthood, those at the wedding, as a primary distinction.

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The beginning of the Gospel of Luke it specifies one of the common tasks that Jesus entrusted to the whole Church. We read:

 

«Jesus returned to Galilee […] He taught in their synagogues and they praised him " [LC 4,14]

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To teach or explain the word of God, or indeed the content of our faith is the task that we all believers receive from Jesus. Of course, in the first place we ministers, in a homily or in the daily catechetical. But the laity. In particular those who live the faith in the world, together with his sons and his family, can not only with the explanation of what he believes, also bear witness to the beauty of faith in God. A faith that is alive meeting, tender and real with Jesus Christ. In tal modo, by clarifying what we believe and hope that the Lord has given us, can we allow faith becomes love of charity. So to offer a knowledge of God let's give a loving God and our neighbor concretely. We can say with the Lord:

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"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled that you have heard".

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Like this, really, It also unveiled some’ of that great mystery of the Triune God who loves us, with the authority of a Father, with the beauty of the Son and of the Holy Spirit motherhood. It will be really the most beautiful and intense caress that we can give to those we love, or who does not feel loved by anyone.

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Explain and show our faith so it does not get in the chair, It is not filled with pride, but first of all to love with an act of deep love and tender and generate the union of all men with God. As she is written by the painter Eugene Delacroix in his diary, where it expresses that in God we can all become the great writers and artists of the unity of Love:

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"The feeling of unity and the power to realize it in the work make the great writer and the great artist".

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Amen.

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Rome, 27 January 2019

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«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
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The personal blog of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

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Give the worst wine when everyone is already drunk at the wedding at Cana

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L'Angolo di Girolamo Savonarola: Catholic homiletics in lean times

GIVE THE WORST WINE WHEN EVERYONE IS DRUNK AT THE CANA WEDDING

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If we want to be honest, in the original text of John, Jesus did not specifically say: "Everyone put on the table at the start and good wine, when you are already drunk a lot, an inferior one ". The phrase translated into Italian is faithful undoubtedly, but Jesus, to be precise, He does not say "when you are already drunk a lot" but says, "When everyone is already drunk puts on the table the worst wine".

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Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo.

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Jesus Christ be praised !

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The drunk in taverns Brouwer scenes [Author: Adriaen Brouwer, Flemish painter, 1605 circa]

What the Apostle John offered in this IIª Sunday in Ordinary Time [see text WHO] It is a gospel that encompasses many peculiarities. First John is an eyewitness, Active in the narrated events.

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Before that even in modern exegesis exploded a certain form of "real socialism", not afraid to call John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved", "The beloved disciple". Fondness canceled by some interpreters present in it have almost wanted to read a "divine contradiction", ruling that preference is bad, because to God we are all equal. What is not true, because to God we are all different and all unique in our precious diversity. Moreover, the preference, or healthy predilection, It is not at all a synonym of injustice, especially with careful balance we prefer those who deserve it. And God made man, we have to somehow recognize both prudence is the balance, human and divine, pace of modern exegetes and interpreters. Therefore, in preference humanly, Christian and lovingly understood, there is nothing untoward.

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What John is a particular Gospel, first of all because it comes from the story of an Apostle who had a very direct contact with the Lord, whose predilection was able to enjoy. And if anyone would still doubt the understandable human and divine predilection, divine and human of the Lord to John, one need only reflect on a phrase that leaves no room for doubt. Under the Cross, before expiring, Jesus "Seeing his mother, and beside her the disciple whom he loved, He told his mother: “Donna, here is your son!”. Then he said to the disciple: “Here is your mother!”. And from that hour the disciple took her into his " [GV 19, 26-27].

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Jesus entrusts to this young man, little more than a boy, the one who allowed the Word became flesh, the Vergine Maria; and entrusts to him, not least because, Meanwhile, others had fled, keeping at a prudent distance from the cross.

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So are the facts, narrates the historicity of the Gospels, I'm not a collection of "metaphors" to interpret beyond the facts "merely symbolic", or as some scholars say: by de-mythologizing carefully. The Gospels contain true events, to read and understand. The Gospels are not symbolic tales, because internally they contain a precise and at times flawless historicity.

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Much could be said about images of the wedding at Cana, where the true bridegroom is Christ and where Mary, sitting at the banquet, It is the mother of the Church which wed with the Lamb Immolated. And in this feast Jesus, changing water into wine, offers man a true and full transformation through the action of divine grace of the Holy Spirit. It's still, the nectar of the vine, then end up becoming blood of Christ, which will be with the Eucharistic Sacrifice element bread, alive and holy memorial.

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At the end of this Gospel passage, Giovanni specifies: "This, in Cana of Galilee, It was the beginning of the signs performed by Jesus ». In John's Gospel abound "signs" narrated and used to guide the people to faith in Christ. That accomplished in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs, or rather a prototype that anticipates in its own way the whole series "signs" following, to grasp, read and interpret the wake of the sign at Cana in Galilee: healed the paralytic by the pool of the Sheep Gate [cf. GV 5, 19], healing the sick son of the royal official at Capernaum [cf. GV 4, 46-54], the healing of the man born blind [cf. GV 9, 1-40], the multiplication of the loaves [cf. GV 6, 1-13] Jesus walking on rough waters to the disciples on the boat [cf. GV 9, 16-21], the resurrection of Lazarus [cf. GV 11, 1-44].

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Obviously we are used to read the Gospels in our current language. But this should not lead us to forget the fact that the languages ​​in which we listen to them today are translations of the original texts of the Gospels, in which are often scattered words are not easy to translate from the original writing language to our modern languages. We have to note that what John - who writes in Greek twenty centuries ago - does not use, like other evangelists, the term tέraton, which means prodigy, or better wine miracle; John uses the term shmeίwn, which means sign. Then if we want to be honest, in the original text of John, the man who ran the banquet, to be exact it does not say to Jesus: "Everyone put on the table at the start and good wine, when you are already drunk a lot, an inferior one ". The phrase translated into Italian is faithful undoubtedly, But, to be precise, He does not say "when you are already drunk a lot" but says otan mequsqwsin ton elassw, which literally means: "When everyone is already drunk puts on the table the worst wine".

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In the Gospel of John the “sign” is an act of grace clearly visible that Jesus fulfills the pedagogical purpose to lead the faithful to the gradual penetration of a higher reality that the senses can not perceive, but that can seize.

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John uses the term “signs” the plural because it does not intend to be limited to the miracles performed by Jesus, because all the actions of Christ are signs that lead to faith and in their own way they want to lead us to faith. An example is the miracle of miracles summed up by John in the monumental prologue of his Gospel, which begins with the words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God". Then to come through this crescendo of truth of faith to the announcement of the most unthinkable of miracles: "And the Word became flesh", the mystery of God made man. Mystery before which the author of the Letter to the Hebrews says that "Faith is the assurance of things hoped the conviction of things unseen" [CF. EB 11,1]. For John, the sign is thus a visible element that leads to the invisible, because faith is a sign of the invisible world, the reality of God. This is why the Gospel of John ends with these words: "Jesus did many other signs … these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ " [GV 20,30-31].

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No one today, directing the eternal wedding feast of Christ with his Church can never say: "You have kept the good wine aside so far", because after the incarnation, the life, the death and resurrection of Christ, we have been given good wine until his return to the end of time, because "The groom" Christ "is the one to whom belongs the bride» [GV 3, 29]. The bridegroom is Christ head of the body which is the Church [cf. With the 1,18], and every day, through the mystery of his body and his blood alive, real presence among us, we celebrate the marriage of the lamb, Christ, with his bride, the church.

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the Island of Patmos, 19 January 2019

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«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
but bring, spread and defend the truth not only of
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They were IT 08 (J) 02008 32974 001436620930
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Being a child in the child: the real poor are not the beggar, but the orphan devoid of a Father Celeste

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The angle dell'omiletica of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

BE THE SON SON: THE REAL POOR IS NOT The Jerk, BUT THE ORPHAN WITHOUT A HEAVENLY FATHER

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Poor authentic is not identifiable with the beggar, the miserable and the marginalized, but with the orphan. With the one who is deprived and forgetful of family prerogatives. The poor, He is one who ignores its origins and, because of this, can not access a paternal affection.

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Capp.

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Quirino IESO, The baptism of Jesus, 1996 – cm. 50X100, in a private collection

Even in the Baptism of the Lord, it constitutes a solemn epiphany, a large demonstration, through which always it proves better the identity and the public role of Jesus.

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In the Gospel passage of this feast, the revelation of divinity reaches its climax, because we see the presence of all three divine persons.

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It is the Father who reveals the Son as the beloved [cf. LC 3,22] and in this love of predilection certification [cf. Shall 45,3] goes down, of Jesus in prayer, the Holy Spirit as a seal and definitive word.

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The feast of the Baptism of the Lord can only confirm - if it were still needed - that divine love is communicated to man only through the mediation of the person of Christ.

No other mediators exist, other saviors or pontiffs capable of leading man to God. Jesus immersing - through baptism in the Jordan - into the human tissue, accompanies me to enjoy the true divine solidarity that takes on man's poverty and sin which is the real reason why the separation from the Father occurs.

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Indeed, the poor authentic is not identifiable with the beggar, the miserable and the marginalized, but with the orphan. With the one who is deprived and forgetful of family prerogatives. The poor, He is one who ignores its origins and, because of this, can not access a paternal affection.

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I am convinced more than ever that today's human poverty is not the exclusive result of a sociological or political flaw, but above all identity. In a world that has forgotten its divine origins and the love that God the Father tries continuously to every creature, the result can only be the drift of identity that leads to abandonment and generates orphans. The Christian, But, It is not an orphan, but in Christ is constituted firstborn, son in the Son.

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This speech It is explained in a different way also Evangelist Matthew, that in his genealogy [cf. Mt 1,1-16] see the recapitulation of human history - made of light and shade - just from the person of the Word.

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The baptism of Jesus It is dipping in the weak human history; Baptism man is dipping into robust divine sonship that Christ gets us with his passion, Death and Resurrection.

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Now let's go down to the concrete of our daily: every day - when I get up from bed - God the Father through Jesus tells me her preferential love. Understand this well is essential, because God never rejects any of his creatures!

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If I have a favorite from the Lord - a beloved son - this knowledge revolutionizes all my person and my actions: my being and my moral.

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Moreover, preferential love that God pours into me, She shines the presence of the Holy Spirit who guides me and directs them toward a life of intimacy with God that I can only find out in prayer. It is the example of Jesus praying constantly, through continued dialogue, to join the Father through the loving presence of the Holy Spirit [cf. Mt 26,39; MC 1,35; LC 9,29].

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It is the example of the saints pointing in assiduous prayer the certainty of salvation: "Who prays is saved, who does not pray is lost ' [cf. Sant’ Alphonsus Maria de 'Liguori].

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Today it is necessary in the world a Christian presence who knows better his filial identity with God and cultivate a prayerful dialogue with him.

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It is not permissible to sell off this dignity that Christ won for us, in politically correct name, mundane logics, of an undefined universal love, a religious globalization which means leveling everything and everyone.

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Baptism of the Lord, screams the truth of our origins and invites us to cash in on the spiritual legacy that is the good life of the Gospel.

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Celebrating annually the baptism of Jesus It means to celebrate and remember them by their Baptism and infinitely thank God, our parents and our sponsors for leading us to the baptismal font.

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In baptism we are given to us all grace and we are programmed us a life that looks at its definitive fulfillment in Paradise. While waiting for the fulfillment of our blessed hope, the baptized person lives in the world once cairologico consolation [cf. Is 40,1] which bear witness to what it means to legitimate offspring.

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By learning filial identity in close relationship with God, the man also will learn to be father and mother of a generation of men able to give thanks to the Lord and to open up to the praise of the Spirit that will make us sing: «Bless the Lord, my soul» [cf. Shall 103].

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Cagliari, 13 January 2019

Baptism of the Lord Jesus

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the personal blog by Father Ivano

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"Where there is God's house!"The Epiphany makes the world a home where the Infant God expects each of us

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The angle dell'omiletica of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

"WHERE C'AND ME, (C)'You HOUSE!"THE EPIPHANY MAKES THE WORLD A HOME WHERE THE CHILD GOD AWAITS EACH OF US

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But who really were the Magi? "They were wise, They represented the dynamic of going beyond self, intrinsic to religion - a dynamic search of the truth, search for the true God and therefore also philosophy in the original sense of the word. So the healing wisdom also the message of science: the rationality of this message does not stop with just knowing, but he sought the understanding of the whole, thus set reason to its highest possibilities " [cf. Benedict XVI, The Childhood of Jesus]

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Capp.

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Epiphany of the Lord Jesus

The Christmas festivities have the great merit of invite the man to give up their comforts and to verify the work of God which is realized in the world.

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Often recurring verbs in the Gospels Christmas time, resonate as imperatives and forcefully invite the reader to heal from their indifference and take an active part in God's actions. The Incarnation of the Word, It heals us from the paralysis of the heart that is expressed in the inability - or perhaps fear - to meet God, leading us to take their first tentative steps toward a safe house.

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This dwelling is Bethlehem - from Hebrew Home bread verbatim: House of Bread - a place where the Word of God makes itself known and which in its glorification will become true food of salvation and medicine for the sins of humanity.

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I like now approach the Christmas time, Jesus' words said to the paralytic, when is healed: "Arise, take up thy bed and go’ in your house" [cf. Mt 9,6]. The invitation of Jesus to this poor sick shrunken, It enables us to understand how the man was healed when has the ability to accept Jesus the strength to recover from his illness and return to being a household of God.

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"Arise!'He is told, that participates in my will to sanarti; but then he adds "goes’ in your house", ie get a move, returns to the place where there is your true identity [cf. LC 15,18].

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The paralysis that grips the heart of modern man, often it pushes us out by God, But Jesus with his birth brings us inside to a cozy house in which he himself becomes nourishment and sustenance. Then, as for the paralytic, we are called to listen to Jesus. Knowing that the weak gather our forces and stand up from our couch, It hides the sign of a promise to go that does not disappoint:

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"This sign for you: You find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, placed in a manger " [cf. LC 2,12].

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Certainly the most famous strategy of the Christmas season - after the shepherds - are the Magi. But who really were the Magi?

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"They were wise, They represented the dynamic of going beyond self, intrinsic to religion - a dynamic search of the truth, search for the true God and therefore also philosophy in the original sense of the word. So the healing wisdom also the message of science: the rationality of this message does not stop with just knowing, but he sought the understanding of the whole, thus set reason to its highest possibilities " [cf. Benedict XVI, The Childhood of Jesus, Rizzoli, 2012, pp 111-112].

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The Magi with their lives dedicated to the research and knowledge of the truth, help us to understand the danger of a paralysis that makes God a distant relic vintage. They push themselves beyond their means, because the truth must be sought with passion, effort and perseverance. They want to make the holy journey [cf. Shall 84,6], moving away from their country, to finally get to worship the Lord [cf Sal 72,11; Mt 2,2].

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Of these wise Oriental We appreciate the strong sensitivity to scrutinize the tracks that God disseminates in the lives of men and - as well as the wise Daniel [cf. Dn 2,22] - try to interpret the mystery in the everyday of their lives and their work. In them they realize the messianic prophecies that proclaimed the homage of nations to the God of Israel [cf. Nm 24,17; Is 49,23; 60,5s; Shall 72,10-15]. But it is especially in the footsteps of the Magi we can see the simple feeling of joy [CF. Mt 2,9-11] that is the thread of their deepest desire: see God and worship him piously at his home [cf. Shall 5,8].

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Back home after a long time - especially after a long and tiring journey - is undoubtedly a source of joy but at the same time of thanksgiving. Therefore, the man who is able to give thanks, It is the true devotee, the true worshiper, one who intends to devote himself readily to the service of God.

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This attitude is underlined, Once again, the invitation to go, to act. Unfortunately, Nowadays, They see a few devotees, few worshipers but many devozionisti. Devotionism is the counterfeiting of devotion and authentic worship. It is a style of the heart that expects everything from God without the capacity for a possible collaboration with him. The miracle is expected to be served on a silver platter by virtue of the mere aseptic execution of some religious practices. On the contrary, the Magi express their adoring devotion through thanksgiving, presenting the total availability of their person to Jesus, together with the recognition of being in the presence of the divine sovereign redeemer of the world [CF. Mt 2,2].

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Parrot, frankincense and myrrh, it's not just the signs that symbolize royalty, the divinity and passion of Christ but also offerings of thanksgiving - eucharistic - for the theophany of God in Jesus. A Betlemme, the Magi are clothed with a mission: to be - in the house where God becomes a child - apostles to those far from home. They are the first heralds who reveal to the people the splendid light of God's presence in the world. With the joy with which they return to their country, they testify to the truthfulness of Nathan's prophecy to David: "The Lord announces that he will make a house for you" [cf. II Sam 7,11].

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Epiphany, makes the world a home where the child God awaits each of us. So: let's get started and welcome the Lord with true devotion and hymns of thanksgiving, so that we can bow down to him and sing:

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“They will love you, man, all peoples of the earth ".

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Cagliari, 6 January 2019

Epiphany of the Lord Jesus

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The mystery of the Epiphany and the rich gifts of the Magi: "With God is the great offers, the maximum, not the differences'

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L'Angolo di Girolamo Savonarola: Catholic homiletics in lean times

THE MYSTERY OF THE EPIPHANY THE RICH AND GIFTS OF THE MAGI: "GOD IS OFFERING THE PERFECT, THE MAXIMUM, DO NOT WASTE ".

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When Mary and Joseph, the Magi offered gold, they did not answer: "Do Not, thank you, l'oro you for data burdens ". They said this because they were aware that God always provides the excellent, the maximum. The scraps, to God, Cain offered them, as we are told in the Book of Genesis. While in the Holy Gospels false love for the poor we are given to us through the figure of Judas, that when Mary of Bethany anointed the Lord Jesus with precious ointment of spikenard, he showed himself falsely outraged at the waste and said that precious oil could be sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to the poor.

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Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo

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Jesus Christ be praised !

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… Unfortunately, in major liturgical solemnities of the year, it is now almost impossible not to lay all the sacred mysteries in the politically correct molasses

The liturgy of the Solemnity of the Epiphany It is characterized by a strong light [text of the Liturgy of the Word, WHO] that reaches all men: "Word was the true light, the one that enlightens every man" [cf. GV 1,9].

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This party, which is celebrated 12 days after Christmas, named after the greek reveal themselves [epiphany] what does it mean “I understand poster”. Word from which it derives surface [epiphany] which means appearance, came, divine presence. Knowing the meaning of words, how often I explain in my homilies and catechesis in my, it is essential to be able to penetrate the mysteries of faith, which have their own vocabulary, precise and specific; and if there is no language, no one can convey the message of truth, indeed there is a risk to distort. The mysteries of faith have indeed their own precise language that is born and grows over the centuries through the wisdom of the Holy Fathers and the great dogmatic councils of the Church.

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With Epiphany It is celebrated the first manifestation of the divinity of Jesus to all humanity. This happens through the formal visit, the supply of highly meaningful gifts and adoration of the Magi, which are of the high dignitaries of a stranger to the Jewish people and the Mediterranean world. The commemoration of Epiphany, which begins in the third century, It includes the divine manifestations of Jesus. In particular: Adoration of the Magi, Jesus' baptism [cf. MC 1,9-11], and the first “sign” in Cana of Galilee through the miracle of the wine [cf. GV 2,1-12], anticipation in his own way the great miracle and sacrifice of the Blood of Christ the Bridegroom of the Church.

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In time, the popular tradition, It decorated with special meanings figures of the Magi: first changing these magicians - term negative today - in magi. It was also stated their number, They were then transformed into King, and they were given a name - Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar -, along with several physical configurations, so one is the Western world, one Arab and one that the African.

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These hide, from the description that there is made, It seems to be the astronomers, perhaps they are of the Zoroastrian priests from Persia. However, what remains certain is that before the People of Israel are of “foreigners” who do not know the Scriptures, and the Mosaic Law. Yet are these foreigners to other culture and religion “they reveal” Israel and its priests and dignitaries, and they knew what they were waiting, but who had hidden in their underwear. The manifestation of the Messiah to those who were waiting for him was therefore possible for the unexpected intervention of foreign elements. The religious and political world of the time was “illuminated” by the knowledge and wisdom of foreigners held by the Jewish world of Nations [goijm] those in evangelical literature and in that Pauline are referred to as kind, term that primarily indicates the pagans.

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The story of the Epiphany of the Lord and of the three Magi, It can only lead us to a reflection on today's world that seems increasingly invaded by “others”, but with a big difference: yesterday, these foreigners, these "other", ie the magi, following the light of a star they came to show us the coming of the Messiah, and once I had found fell down before him and worshiped him. Today, many of the "other" who often welcome at no prudent common sense, are not at all to worship the Word of God he made man nor to let us know, but to replace the light of God Christ - which for us is the beginning of the center and the goal of our entire humanism [cf. you. Lord Jesus] - With their false star, affinch'essa be lifted up on what little remains of the Christian faith in our Europe was now in advanced de-Christianization. Or in other words: It would be like to throw open the doors of a daycare Herod said it great to make things easier for the massacre of the innocents [cf. Mt 2,1-16]. It might be objected that the Word of God, inviting reception, It admonishes us: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" [cf. Mt 25, 31-46], expression that requires to be understood, however,, not upset. Indeed, to the suffix of this expression and all others that follow, there is theI am of the Word of God, so that in total, exclusive and absolute presents itself as a path, Truth and the Life [cf. GV 14,16]. Because it is in this light that goes Christological understanding the final sentence: "Every time you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me". Taking into account fact that Christ God speaks among other things of "brothers", not about invaders eager to replace and destroy the very root of His Divine Being unique, sole and absolute, Truth and the Life.

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A speech all apart deserve the gifts brought by the Magi, that in addition to their great preciousness have a precise meaning, starting from gold, an excellent conductor of heat symbolizing as such the work of Jesus, who has faithfully transmitted to us the warmth of the Father. Parrot, considered the noble metal by definition, has the characteristic of not oxidize and does not corrode. The gold is then from the first apostolic times the incorruptibility of faith. This is the reason why our Bishops, teachers and guardians of the faith, They were donated gold crosses, sign about the incorruptibility of faith, certainly not about glitz and princely opulence. This is why, the precious species of the Body and Blood of Christ, in the tradition of the Church has always been placed in precious metals. And in this regard know that St. Francis of Assisi, the true one, his brothers sent them around even barefoot, It could even happen that they did not do one meal a day, but when his brother priests sent them to bring Communion to the sick, this li Mandava con le pissidi d'oro, because - said the poor man of Assisi - "Poverty must end below the altar steps».

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Other precious gift is the incense, which when burned form white clouds that rise to the top and that is our prayers and hymns of praise rising to heaven to God the Father.

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Finally, the Mirra, which it is in the form of reddish round grain with a pleasant aromatic odor. These reddish grains remind us of the drops of blood that covered the face of Jesus in Gethsemane, then his head crowned with thorns and finally his whole body whipped and tortured by crucifixion. This Bitter herb [swell, feverfew] in its symbolism reminds us of the sufferings of Christ, whose life has been marked by persecution from childhood, since the flight into Egypt, to follow with misunderstandings, treachery, abandonment, until the climax: His death on the cross.

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When Mary and Joseph, the Magi offered gold, they did not answer: "Do Not, thank you, l'oro you for data burdens ". They said this because they were aware that God always provides the excellent, the maximum. The scraps, to God, Cain offered them, as we are told in the Book of Genesis. While in the Holy Gospels false love for the poor we are given to us through the figure of Judas, that when Mary of Bethany anointed the Lord Jesus with precious ointment of spikenard, he showed himself falsely outraged at the waste and said that precious oil could be sold for three hundred Sklim [shekel, plur. shape, currency of Judea, Latinized in shekel, Sicli] and the proceeds given to the poor. Blessed John the Evangelist, narrating this episode, It notes that the Iscariot did not say this because he loved the poor, but because he was a thief. But most of all, in memory, we should always bring alive the answer given by Jesus: "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you have always with you, but you do not always have me " [cf. GV 12, 1-8].

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A God always provides the excellent, the maximum. And incidentally: to understand how much of that oil nard that Iscariot had estimated three hundred shekels was really valuable, suffice it to say that at the time the pay of a Roman soldier was a penny. The value of that oil then corresponded to almost one year's pay of a soldier.

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Saw the star, the Magi were overjoyed. No matter the astral event itself. What interests us is the sense: "I see it, but not now, io lo behold, but not near: a check star from Jacob " [cf. Nm 24,17]. The star is Christ Himself [cf. AP 22,16], so it is not visible from the palaces of Jerusalem, because human powers have lack of light [cf. Mt 20,25] and the religious powers of ancient Jewish with all their rules have changed religion into slavery, up to burden people beyond measure: "Load the men of unbearable burdens, and those weights you do not touch with a finger!» [LC 11, 46].

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The Star is moving forward and guides the Magi. Blessed Evangelist Matthew describes the joy of the Magi saw the star in the: the light of the Messiah there lights the way, guides us, It is reflected in our lives so as to cover it with the joy that is changed into that gift of grace that transforms the man to return it to his image and likeness of God. The light of Christ illuminates every aspect of life, or as the prophet Isaiah says: “I was found by those who weren't looking for me, I have shown myself to those who did not ask me " [cf. RM 10,20].

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Just lift your eyes to the sky to see the star and then follow, without ever get off the darkness; and the light of Christ we will seize the shadows to envelop us in the mystery of the light of God's Word made flesh.

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In this festival of light, echo the words of the Prologue to the Gospel of John the Blessed Apostle who speaks of the mystery of the Word made flesh: “Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it " [cf. GV 1,5]. Although yesterday, as unfortunately, many light "has not overcome it", or worse: they try in every way to turn it off, in a world in which, al christocentrism, It has been long since replaced the’man-centrism.

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We pray that before this divine light that manifests and reveals the mystery of the incarnate Word of God, can resonate and then take root in our hearts the desire Pauline:

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"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. This life in the flesh, I live it in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me " [Gal 2, 20].

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the Island of Patmos, 6 January 2019

Epiphany of the Lord Jesus

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«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
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"When you have eliminated the impossible, what remains, however unlikely, It must be the truth "… And the Word became flesh

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The angle dell'omiletica of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

"WHEN YOU HAVE ELIMINATED THE IMPOSSIBLE, WHAT REMAINS, EVEN IF UNLIKELY, MUST BE THE TRUTH "... AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH

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Sherlock Holmes, acute investigator, solves the most intricate and mysterious cases of murder, discovering the murderer with witty wisdom. This character, It is thus able to reveal something hidden, bringing to light that is not immediately visible. He has as its motto: "When you have eliminated the impossible, what remains, however unlikely, It must be the truth " … And the Word became flesh.

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Author
Gabriele Giordano Scardocci, o.p.

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Merry Christmas to you all!

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Shelock Holmes, vintage vignette

Even this year we have the joy of living together this Solemnity of the Lord. The birth of Jesus, Son of God, It is one of the central mysteries of our faith, summarized in John's Gospel just proclaimed [see text, WHO]. Let's get into that great mystery from a literary work.

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We all know the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, born from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the last century in the novel A Study in Red. Holmes, London-based private investigator, He is accompanied by his doctor, Dr. Watson. Holmes, acute investigator, solves the most intricate and mysterious cases of murder, discovering the murderer with witty wisdom. This character, so it is able to reveal something hidden, bringing to light that is not immediately visible. He has as its motto: "When you have eliminated the impossible, what remains, however unlikely, It must be the truth ".

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With his birth and came into the world, Baby Jesus helps all of us to enter into the light of the mystery of God; with this mission, that theology is visible mission called the Trinity, it helps eliminate the impossible and find the truth that, at first sight, It may even seem unlikely.

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The Gospel of John that we heard So just now it helps us to understand the great mystery. To understand it, We must start from the end of the song:

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"It gave, no one has seen him: the only Son, who is God and is at the Father, it is he who has made him known " [cf. v. 18].

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The strong desire that makes us men in a higher state it consists in seeing, learn and discover. Hence the desire to learn and discover God is the highest ever. It is a spark of humanity that wants to become Fire. This permits it the only Son, Jesus, that is God with the Father although distinct from Him. Jesus fulfills our deepest desire to open ourselves to the truth and greatest love. This is possible because it has given us, this Christmas all over himself: "From his fullness we have all received: grace upon grace " [cf. v. 16].

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By becoming man, Jesus accepts all mankind and all the men without exception and without conditions: this is his fullness. The greeted us unconditionally allowed a cascade of love and acceptance: This waterfall is His grace that, first of all, we receive in the sacraments.

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Through the grace that opens our deep knowledge of God, we can rest assured that beings

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"The Word became flesh, and he dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory […]» [cf. v. 16].

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In contemporary culture, this seems very unlikely and unacceptable. Because the Word that is God, spiritual and invisible, become flesh [from greek σάρξ, sarx]? Because God is love and wants to call to intimacy and deep tenderness with Him, up to allow the miracle to assume the human nature and a real body, real, physical. Exactly how a droplet of water is taken in a wider part of the wine, so human and divine nature exist together in Jesus. Soon you will see this mystery of the dual nature, shown in the liturgy when I myself, fulfilling my deacon function, I will mix into the cup with the wine with a few drops of water, followed by soft words:

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"The water combined with wine is a sign of our union, the divinity of Him who humbled himself to share our human nature ".

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So now that we know that Jesus revealed God, He has opened the doors of grace and allows us to contemplate the glory of his dual nature beautiful, with sparkling eyes of happiness and serenity can say with faith: «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God " [cf. v. 1].

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The Verb, dal greco reason, logos [Word] God Himself: It is the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ and is intimately united to the Father, and he wants to transport us to the intimate union with the Trinity itself and therefore to be small Trinity we too.

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This mystery, from the top of its inviolability, now it falls in the reality of everyday life: Now that you will return home to gather you together with those most popular for Christmas dinner, We ask the Lord for strength and determination to be a witness in front of our relatives and friends of the love of Jesus who is born today. For ourselves, once you received Jesus in the Eucharistic communion and united in Him, We can also conduct the farthest to the cave of Bethlehem. So that we hand down the purity, the beauty and the truth with which we live the Catholic faith.

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Amen.

 

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Rome, 25 December 2018

Nativity of the Lord

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Some clarification so that our Christmas is less poor and less ideological: in truth, Bethlehem was just sold out, Jesus Christ was not born of two immigrants …

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L'Angolo di Girolamo Savonarola: Catholic homiletics in lean times

SOME CLARIFICATION SO THAT OUR CHRISTMAS IS LESS POOR AND LESS IDEOLOGICAL: IN TRUTH, BETHLEHEM WAS ALL JUST OUT, JESUS ​​CHRIST IS BORN OF TWO IMMIGRANTS …

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Between 25 and the 26 December we will have to put up with the news reports trickling political correctness that c'informeranno how many glorious cathedrals and basilicas, during Holy Mass on Christmas Night, reference was made to Jesus, poor and refugee. And as the cathedral or the basilica will be prestigious, as the homilist will have raised the bar …

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Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo

 

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The boy is born, alleluia !

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there was a place, a Bethlehem …

We will devote the homily on the Gospel of this Holy Night the link between the Incarnation of the Word of God made man in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist [see text of the Liturgy of the Word, LC 2, 1-14, WHO].

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In the days before this Holy Christmas, and in those that follow, the divine mystery of this birth has been defined in many ways by the world increasingly worldly and secular, just some examples: Christmas referred to as "party of peace", "Feast of solidarity", "Feast of love between the peoples of diversity and acceptance", of course "feast of the poor" and "party of immigrants'. Let me be clear: I'm not troubled either by the poor or by immigrants, but I believe both our human and Christian duty to help the poor out of their poverty, and the real refugees fleeing from wars and famine to a homeland: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" [cf. Mt 25, 31-46].

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A disturb, it is therefore not the tragedy of poverty, nor the problem of immigration; for five years now to disturb me is another, and especially when on the occasion of Christmas and Easter, now these two ideological categories - poor and real or would-be migrants -, take the place of the Word of God incarnate and the Risen Christ.

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Between 25 and the 26 December so we will have to put up with The newspaper reports that political correctness dripping c'informeranno how many glorious cathedrals and basilicas, during Holy Mass on Christmas Night, reference was made to Jesus, poor and refugee. And as the cathedral or the basilica will be prestigious, as the homilist will have raised the bar. And so, as every January 1, we will have the traditional account given by newspapers and television news on New Year's incidents in Naples, the same will happen in our church ever crashed worldliness, and the 26 December we celebrate the memory of St. Stephen the Martyr with the most detailed reports on lunches that were held in our churches on Christmas Eve and the homilies based on the poor and refugees in the same took place between the night of 24 and the day 25 December, between cribs which have become a monotonous and conformist riot of barges and rescue donuts used to Arrange above the Bambinello Divine just landed on the island of Lampedusa.

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In this Holy Night I would like to recall that at Christmas, the Orbe catholica, celebrates the mystery of the Word of God made man [cf. GV 1, 1-18], not celebrate an unspecified "feast of" solidarity emptied of the divine mystery and filled with worldly secularism. And words are important, because the more diabolical way to destroy the faith, It is emptying the mysteries of the faith of their true meaning and then fill them with another. This means no more memory of the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God who became man by assuming our human nature as illustrated by the Blessed Apostle Paul in his famous Christological hymn [cf. In II 2, 6-11 text WHO], but "party of peace", "Feast of solidarity", "Feast of love between people and acceptance of diversity" ... all with improbable and untruthful references to Jesus, poor and refugee.

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Let us see what to narrate the historical chronicles of the Holy Gospels: the Blessed Virgin Mary, after answering freely with their own "fiat"The messenger of the Lord [cf. LC 1, 26-38], It gives birth months later the only Son of God, It wraps Him in swaddling clothes and lays him in a manger. This birth and this deposition in a manger did not happen narrated in ways that Joseph was poor and refugee, but because the two, It tells us how the Holy Gospel we have just proclaimed [LC 2, 1-14], They were traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill the obligation of the census ordered by Caesar Augustus [cf. LC 2, 1-14]. Joseph was a craftsman who played the noble and profitable trade of cabinetmaker, while Mary came from a family perhaps even more wealthy than that of Joseph, just think that the husband of her cousin Elizabeth was a priest of the ancient caste of Abijah [cf. LC 1, 57-80]. Therefore, if Jesus was born in a makeshift place is because, as narrated in the Gospels Saints, there was not an empty seat in any hotel [cf. LC 2, 1-6]; not because Joseph had nothing to pay for the accommodation when the Blessed Virgin was seized by labor pains on that trip, undertaken not by voluntary choice, but for a legal duty imposed obligation to be enrolled [cf. LC 2,1].

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The biggest event in history, the incarnation of God's Word, It is described through the sequence of some basic keywords: give birth, wrap in swaddling, put in a manger. With these plain words it tells of the birth of the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, Jesus, the Light of the World. Because "Christ, while it is of divine nature, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness. He appeared in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death on a cross " [Fil 2, 6-11]. His, who is God from God, Light from Light, True God from true God, begotten not made of the same substance as the Father [Nicea-Constantinople Symbol], He sees the light through the eyes of a real man born from the womb of a woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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The only begotten Son of God laid in the manger, It constitutes for us a great value mystagogical. In the manger it is in fact lays the food for animals: hay and straw, keeping them high off the ground so you do not dirty. Jesus, placing itself in the manger, He reveals to the world since the birth of what is its true essence: the Word of God made man is to be real nourishment of men.

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Even today Christ is laid in the manger altar or the tabernacle so that everyone can come to Him to worship him as shepherds worshiped the revelers flocked [cf. LC 2, 15-20] and Wizards astronomers said Magi [cf. Mt 2, 1-12], so that everyone can feed on Him in the Holy Eucharist, which it is the mystery of his body and his blood shed. And in the Eucharist Christ is present not symbolically or metaphorically, but really; He is living and real in body soul and divinity.

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Christ redeems and saves mankind through the sacrifice of the cross, immolating himself as the Lamb of God who washes the sin of the world [cf. GV 1, 29-34], making real food, man's true nourishment. The Holy Eucharist is the mystery of mutual transformation: God became man like us, so that we, washed from sin by the blood, through Christ, the bread of life we ​​can transform ourselves into Him, with Him and for Him. Remember what the celebrant recites what makes memory of the dead in the Holy Mass of suffrage? We priests, acting at that moment in persona Christi - certainly not as mere "presidents-playful joyful assembly" -, We recite this beautiful prayer: "He will transform our mortal body in the image of his glorious body" [cf. Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer III]. This, It meant by the mystery of mutual transformation.

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But what is the real Christ the Lord great joy and eternal humanity deposed in swaddling clothes in the manger? The joy of man is Christ received and heard that becomes our food of eternal life: "I am the living bread, down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world " [cf. GV 6, 51]. If Christ does not become our food and live our real lives, man can never know the truth that will set us free [cf. GV 8, 32]. They will never be the words for their own sake to give the man the joy that pervades the Gospel of Blessed John the Evangelist; They never will be unless those empty words instead lead to the mysteries of faith and salvation, empty these mysteries and fill them with another, often mundane and modern paganism.

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As long as man does not eat in a spirit of faith and truth Christ in his flesh sacrificed for our salvation, No real joy will come for him. And the flesh and throbbing of Christ God, yes it takes life in a tender manger, but then she ends up sacrificed on the cross for our redemption. In the end, the glorious body of Christ, He rises from the dead. Because the final epilogue of the Nativity is the resurrection. He tells us the Blessed Apostle Paul: "If Christ had not risen indeed, in vain would our faith, empty is our hope " [cf. The Cor 15,14].

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Our faith is born with the Incarnation of the Word of God deposited in a manger, but it is sealed from the overturned stone of an empty tomb, before which the angel said to the women: "Do not look among the dead for one who lives" [cf. LC 24,5]. The tender manger is just the beginning of the big announcement Christological, while the risen Christ is the eternal, one who affiancandoci in the journey along the Way to Emmaus [cf. LC 24, 13-53], will guide us through the centuries to his kingdom will have no end, towards the eternal.

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From the island of Patmos, 24 December 2018

Christmas night – Nativity of the Lord

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The Word of God made flesh for our health: Christmas as a therapeutic approach in the light of the Fathers of the Church

/in /by

The angle dell'omiletica of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE WORD OF GOD FLESH FOR OUR HEALTH: CHRISTMAS JOURNEY AS THERAPY IN THE LIGHT OF THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

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It seems clear, as the mystery of the coming of Christ on earth, presents a new therapeutic strategy that divine providence makes available to every man. The incarnation leads to a profound affinity between the Savior and man. Christ's affinity for man is constituted by putting on a fragile nature and marked by sin without assuming the original guilt.

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Capp.

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PDF print format article

 

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the Word of God became man to become a heavenly physician on earth

The birth of Christ constitutes the largest event in the entire human history: in this coming, God clothes himself in the nature of man by making himself in solidarity with him. Such a serene immersion of the Almighty in our fragility, carries out the project of redemption expected by all the prophets.

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In accordance with this will of God "The Fathers and the whole ecclesial tradition see him as a doctor sent by the Father to heal sick men from the consequences of original sin and to restore human nature to its original health" [cf. Jean-Claude Larchet, Therapy of spiritual diseases, ed. St. Paul, 2003, pg 2699].

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In this divine action, we must see clearly what constitutes the core of our dignity which cannot be tarnished by any person and anything, a very eloquent sign of the intrinsic value of each person, even if sick.

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To be made worthy - by grace - of the divine nature of the Son of God, constitutes in man the true personal identity that the Holy Pontiff Leo the Great explains precisely starting from the mystery of the nativity:

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"Know, cristiano, your dignity e, made partakers of the divine nature, not wanting to return to the abjection of the past with unworthy conduct " [cf. Leo the Great, Speeches, Homily I for Christmas, 1-3; PL 54, 190-193].

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The incarnation of Christ thus determines a profound liberation of the whole man who becomes the paradigm of sympatheia Divina [cf. Peter Crisologo, sermons, 50; PL 52, 340], an attitude that combines within itself the ability that God has to take on human suffering together with the ability to heal it.

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This concept we find it clearly expressed in various healings performed by Jesus and testified by the evangelists. We are faced with the paradigm of wounded healer, the one who is capable of healing because he makes himself sick with the sick.

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It seems clear, as the mystery of the coming of Christ on earth, presents a new therapeutic strategy that divine providence makes available to every man. The incarnation leads to a profound affinity between the Savior and man. Christ's affinity for man is constituted by putting on a fragile nature and marked by sin without assuming the original guilt, says the Council:

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«Following the holy Fathers, unanimously we teach to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, true God and true man, [composed] of rational soul and body, consubstantial with the Father for divinity, and consubstantial with us for humanity, “similar in everything to us, except in sin”…» [cf. Concilio of Chalcedon, Symbol: DS 301-302].

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The principle of affinity between Christ and man, joins the gap between the divine and the human and this allows the divine nature to heal human nature in depth through a radical and entirely new compromise, indeed: "A healthy person can only cure those who are not healthy if they are also sick with the sick. It is the ancient cure that the centaur Chiron offered to wounded people who went to visit him, to be caring because he is in turn wounded " [cf. Pike Coco, edited: I will heal you, ed. Praglia Abbey, 2013].

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Christ truly fulfills the hope of total healing that the ancients represented in the myth of the centaur healer Chiron, like this

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“Everything that Christ had placed in the human body of a heavenly nature, seeing that it was consumed by a corrosive wickedness and that the sinuous serpent was lord of mortals, since he wanted to raise his share, did not leave the disease to other doctors - in fact a small remedy is sufficient for serious diseases -, but emptying himself of his glory, being heavenly and immutable image of the divine, as a man and against mortal laws, in the holy womb of a virgin woman he became incarnate, or incredible miracle for exhausted men " [cf. Gregory of Nazianzo, Moral trees: 1,2,38 vv. 140-148; PG 37, 533].

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The condition of man, towards the heavenly physician, it needs a daily trust which is the human sentiment which - illuminated by grace - leads to the theological virtue of faith.

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Like this, how the sick person heals only if he puts his trust in those who care for him, trust in God is necessary to understand how the entire Christian life is a path of healing in which we are led into the arms of the Lord to regain health. Without this trust, we can never be completely safe from any infirmity.

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Trust in God is necessary so as not to presume about ourselves and not to fall into pathological complaining discontent, which is the daughter of vanity and worldly distress. Saint Augustine explores the theme of the advent of Christ, in relation to the trust and availability that man shows towards God, stating:

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«Our great physician came to the aid of mankind lying sick in the great bed of the world. A good doctor observes and studies the course of the disease, makes a prognosis on its development e, when the suffering of the patient is still slight, he calls in his helpers; in the same way our doctor first sent the Prophets to visit us who brought us their word, their preaching, and he healed some through them. They announced an aggravation of the disease nearing the final stage, which would have required the intervention of the physician in person to whom the patient could directly refer. It had been announced that he would console and heal anyone who had faith in him: "I strike and heal" [cf. Dt 32,39]: and so it happened. He has come, he became man by assuming our condition as mortal men so that we can share his immortality. But men are still troubled by the disease and, parched from fever, with labored breathing, they complain that since the doctor arrived, the fevers became more violent, more severe the torment, the sufferings are unsustainable. Wherever the doctor came from, they do not seem to have welcomed his coming. These are the laments of those who are still immersed in the disease of worldly vanities, having refused to receive from the doctor, the medicine of sobriety " [cf. St. Augustine, sermons: 346/A,8; NBA 34, pg 101].

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Each year, Christmas is preceded by a suitable time of preparation so that our Christian life becomes sober from so many distractions and intoxications that distract us from trust in God. The coming of Christ into the world is a cause for great joy [cf. LC 2,10], precisely because the Father

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"Over time it has convinced our nature of its own powerlessness in obtaining life; now he has shown us the Savior who has the power to save even what could not be: through this double means, he wanted us to have faith in his goodness and to see in him […] a doctor" [cf. Letter to Diognetus, IX, 6].

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Reassured by this certainty, we welcome the birth of the Lord as the visit of the heavenly doctor and put aside the fear and shame of being examined, presenting even those most hidden and infected sores that horrify us. Our eyes like that, like those of the holy old Simeon, they will contemplate salvation and with the psalmist we will be happy to sing «Lord, my God, I shouted at you and you healed me " [cf. Shall 30,3].

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Cagliari, 24 December 2018

Christmas' Eve

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«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
but bring, spread and defend the truth not only of
risks but also the costs. Help us supporting this Island
with your offers through the secure Paypal system:



or you can use the bank account:
They were IT 08 (J) 02008 32974 001436620930
in this case, send us an email warning, because the bank
It does not provide your email and we could not send you a
thanks [ isoladipatmos@gmail.com ]

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