This time of a more intimate love: the mystery of the Incarnation to be contemplated in Advent

27 November 2021/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THIS TIME OF A MORE INTIMATE LOVE: THE MYSTERY OF INCARNATION TO BE CONTEMPLATED IN ADVENT

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I found one of the most beautiful answers in Sant'Agostino: "What is that, At that time, the weather? If no one asks me, I know; if I had to explain it to anyone who asks me, I do not know"

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

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Meditation for the beginning of Advent

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Dear readers and friends of the island of Patmos

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I am happy to write to you to wish you a fruitful Advent season. On this Sunday, in fact, a new liturgical year begins which, Sunday after Sunday, will take us until Easter night. It is a special time that God gives us.

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About the question of what time is, many philosophers, theologians and men of culture have produced research and reflections. I found one of the most beautiful answers in Sant'Agostino: "What is that, At that time, the weather? If no one asks me, I know; if I had to explain it to anyone who asks me, I do not know" [The Confessions, XI, 14 e 18]. Augustine, in reality, he had theorized his own personal philosophical doctrine on time, but this is not the place to deepen it. In fact, I think that the notion of time finds its foundation only if we consider it founded in the Creation and in the Creator. Or as the Catholic faith teaches us: It gave, who originated all things out of nothing by creating them out of nothing, it also originated becoming and time.

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It is therefore necessary to place oneself in this moment: a before and after that makes sense from that "in the beginning" of Genesis and that God fills with meaning and finality. That's why there is this time we all start today with the Lord, who is master of the world and of history and who started from creation to enter and be next to us. God becomes history among us. In this way, Eternity thus enters time with the mystery of the Incarnation. So let us take this precious period of Advent as a real strong time, that is, a period in which we strengthen our faith and also consolidate our prayer and devotion.

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I would like to stop briefly precisely on the intimate relationship that exists between Incarnation e Resurrection. Together with the Unity and Trinity of God, the second great mystery of the Catholic faith is precisely the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord of Jesus Christ. Incarnation and Resurrection are the poles that unite the whole history of salvation. Let's start from this certainty: we cannot have a happy Easter, deep, spiritual, authentic if we did not live Christmas well before.

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The mystery of the Incarnation it is also the mystery of Jesus who is true God and true Man. Of God that, to save us, assumes a human nature. In his great Love he decides to become like us, equal in everything except sin, so that we might be like him. It is from this that a great path of grace begins, starting precisely from what the Holy Fathers of the Church call amazing interaction / admirable exchange.

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So let's also try to meditate on God's love which is so big that it becomes more intimate to us after the Christmas party. Jesus Christ, the Logos, he takes on the mission of telling each of us that he loves us to the extreme consequences of the evening of Holy Thursday: but these extreme consequences begin with the assumption of extreme poverty in the manger of Bethlehem, which will pass through the glorious and joyful song of the angels. Since his entry into the world, Jesus shows us the face of an affectionate God, authentic and close, decides to be like us, equal in everything except sin, so that we might be similar to him.

Happy Advent everyone!

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Rome, 28 November 2021

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Staff Blog

Father Gabriele

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«In all the tears a hope lingers» because «heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never go away "

13 November 2021/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

"IN ALL TEARS A HOPE DELAYS" BECAUSE "HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS, BUT MY WORDS WILL NEVER PASS "

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If we are not more than cautious, a real form of neo-millennialism can arise, with excessive attention also to the modality of the so-called end of the world. Needless to say what can happen when certain Catholics do it yourself, with specializations and theological doctorates taken up Facebook, they mix together the return of Christ at the end of time and above all the most misunderstood and badly lived Marian devotions.

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

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Meditation on the Holy Gospel of the 33rd Sunday of ordinary time

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Dear Readers of the Island of Patmos,

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Lately, the Gospel readings have called us to attention, to prudence and vigilance. Especially vigilance is a theme that is sometimes experienced excessively, sometimes in a minimal way.

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As for the excessive way, exaggerated and exasperated I have already told you about the US movement of the preppers O survivalisti. If we are not more than cautious, a real form of neo-millennialism can arise, with excessive attention also to the modality of the so-called end of the world. Needless to say what can happen when certain Catholics do it yourself, with specializations and theological doctorates taken up Facebook, they mix together the return of Christ at the end of time and above all the most misunderstood and badly lived Marian devotions. But on this we speak in abundance, we Fathers de The Island of Patmos, in our book The Church and the coronavirus, published by our editions in October 2020.

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Cinematography helps us to get into this theme. In fact, it is enough to remember when at the end of the nineties, films such as Armagedonn - Final Judgment e Deep Impact. In these films one could almost materially perceive a certain fear for the end of the millennium and the century at the now imminent times.. After that, the curtain also fell on the night of the millennium, we had to wait twelve years, to see the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, with a film of the same name and another colossal catastrophe and end game for all of us. In short, we wanted at all costs to want to understand how the present time had to end. A desire that is healthy, he moved without faith, hope and charity.

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This is the theme of the Gospel of this XXXIII Sunday of ordinary time. With obviously different shades. The beginning of the gospel is a proclamation of future days that, at first glance, deadly sembrano.

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"In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers that are in the heavens will be upset. Then they will see the Son of man coming on clouds with great power and glory " (MC 13, 24-26)

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In short, a truly terrible scenario. Stay without light, with the stars, the moon and the sun that seem to devastate the entire universe. Yet this is the meaning of the parousia. A radical and definitive change in our whole person and in the relationship with God. In fact, our final vocation will be in the parousia: stop looking with the light of your eyes, to look at Jesus with the light of love and charity. With a light given to us by the Holy Spirit, the defined Light of Glory. We will therefore be gathered by the angels, for the most beautiful and final meeting. But don't worry! In fact, Jesus calls us to this meeting. To be ready to receive the light of glory, it is necessary to take a path of rootedness and union with God. This is possible if we follow the culmination of Jesus' teaching:

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' Verily I say: heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass " (MC 13, 31)

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That of heaven and earth is a Hebrew formula to indicate the entire cosmos. So the whole cosmos will pass, will have an end, It has and logoi, God's Word will remain forever. Jesus is in fact the Logos of the father. Every single cell of our being depends on Christ's eternal yes to us. We are radically dependent on God. This is the first and last sense of remaining in the word of God.

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So if we commit ourselves to continually listen to the word of God from now on we will draw on his glory, in its light, to the grace that will be our lamps to walk and face these dark times with serenity. Listen to the word of God, together with the Sacraments, it is the nourishment of charity and hope, it is remembering that we are living in the time of the end but with the joy of the beginning.

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Simone De Beauvoir wrote: "In all the tears a hope lingers". For this we ask the Lord to live every day anchored to his Word, aware that if we also experience existential moments of sadness, we will receive the Trinitarian embrace of the One who is the only and definitive winner and Lord of History.

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"Sweet Jesus, Jesus 'love' (St. Caterina da Siena)

Rome, 13 November 2021

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The problem is not wealth, but the man who instead of using wealth becomes a slave to wealth

10 October 2021/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE PROBLEM IS NOT WEALTH, BUT THE MAN WHO BECOMES A SLAVE TO WEALTH INSTEAD OF USE OF WEALTH

Ithe famous Lutheran pastor Martin Luther King wrote: “Life is sacred. Property is meant to serve life, and as much as we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal essence: it is part of the earth on which man walks: it's not the man ".

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

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Meditation on the Holy Gospel of the XXVIII Sunday of ordinary time

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“Prudence”. In the picture: Father Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci in prudent march on the Lungotevere with the scooter”

on this Sunday through the readings from the Liturgy of the Word, the Lord wants to give us advice on how to live a life of authentic faith more and more, the one that does not require a simple profession of I believe, but a lifestyle that is committed and strives to live what you believe.

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When learning first aid practices, or those of civil protection, there are theoretical principles of guidance and orientation to choices that must then be updated to take effective action to safeguard and defend citizens and the sick. On this XXVIII Sunday of ordinary time the Lord reminds us that the gift of Wisdom is necessary and indispensable to be disciples, so that all of us, however limited, fragile and sinful, thanks to this gift we tend to imitate Jesus and his life. The first reading speaks of Wisdom:

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«I prayed and prudence was lavished on me, / I begged and the spirit of wisdom came into me / I preferred it to scepters and thrones, / I estimated wealth in comparison to nothing ".

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The Author of the sacred text he admits that he prefers wisdom to even the greatest riches, even to royal power. Precisely because wisdom allows us to acquire the key to understanding the hidden treasures of the divine mysteries. Reality that if assimilated and made your own, they are not abstract theories or arid doctrines, but they change the gaze on the world and on everything that happens. This spirit of Wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit who allows us to taste and assimilate all the truths of faith that we profess in I believe. It is therefore a vivid way, experiential and authentic to live the faith, an almost concrete contact with the sacred mysteries, that we can have during a deep prayer.

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Take a sapiential orientation on the world is what helps us to recognize also the path that God gives us. Today's Gospel tells of a rich young man who presents himself to Jesus with an enviable “curriculum”: he followed the commandments with heart from his youth. He probably did it with conviction. But now the passage is missing nail. And that's where the young man goes into crisis. Jesus asks him to follow him after he has sold all his possessions to obtain a treasure in heaven. At that point the young man leaves. In private, the Lord then explains to the apostles:

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«How difficult it is, for those who have riches, enter the kingdom of God! […] How difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, that a rich man enters the kingdom of God ".

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Jesus does not condemn the rich in and of themselves as rich, but in this case it exposes the difficulty of continuing on a path of holiness if material wealth is something rooted in man, when wealth tends to eliminate any spiritual and divine horizon. Or when at the same time, the richness, focuses all human attention on earning, on immoderate possession, making you forget that material goods, such as money or real estate, yes, they are very important means, but still means that must help us to become true disciples of Jesus.

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The Gift of Wisdom is the only true wealth, because together with grace it prepares us to evaluate all that we possess in the light of eternal life; it helps us to distinguish the ephemeral from the eternal, giving us a free look, right, prudent and harmonious. And with this freedom we can become generous in charity towards neighbor and prodigal only in the love of God. Ithe famous Lutheran pastor Martin Luther King wrote:

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“Life is sacred. Property is meant to serve life, and as much as we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal essence: it is part of the earth on which man walks: it's not the man ".

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We ask the Lord to be ready for his call to leave all superfluous, drop all the ballast of our life, to live an authentic Catholic life and walk the eternal paths of holiness.

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Amen.

Rome, 10 October 2021

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From the flight of the hornet to the millstone tied to the neck

26 September 2021/1 Comment/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

FROM THE FLIGHT OF THE CALABRONE TO THE MILL TIE TO THE NECK

The wing structure of the hornet, in relation to its weight, it is not suitable for flying, But he does not know and flies anyway". The hornet, according to this legend, flies according to a mysterious force. That he doesn't know he owns.

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

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Meditation on the Holy Gospel of the XXVI Sunday of ordinary time

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

the famous physicist Albert Einsten explained that “The wing structure of the hornet, in relation to its weight, it is not suitable for flying, But he does not know and flies anyway". Saccording to this theory, the hornet flies according to a mysterious force. That he doesn't know he owns. This story helps me introduce the today's readings on this XXVI Sunday of ordinary time.

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Each of us receives the power of grace from God. Even if we are weak and far from God, he always offers us the gift of being in communion with him. We see:

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During that time, John said to Jesus:

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«Maestro, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we wanted to stop him, because he didn't follow us ".

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But Jesus said:

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“Don't stop him, because there is no one who works a miracle in my name and can immediately speak ill of me: whoever is not against us is for us. In fact, whoever will give you a glass of water to drink in my name because you belong to Christ, verily I tell you, he will not lose his reward ".

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This is one of the most complex and most discussed pages by exegetes. In other places, Jesus had explained how to become his disciples; take up his cross, follow him and therefore welcome God's plan. Here it seems instead that a deeper question arises: whoever is not part of the group of apostles can do good.

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Having said that, however, it can be understood in one passage: whoever does good in the name of Christ is already Christ's. Therefore Jesus is already working even in those who are far away; because perhaps his faith is not yet strong, or if that person is on a journey of conversion. The Lord is the only one who knows hearts. Only He can truly evaluate each of our works. Here is what is the center of this teaching: not to prevent anyone from carrying out a spiritual journey, judging it on prepackaged schemes. This is also aimed at us. Let us not feel judged if our journey of faith is also full of doubts, anxieties, fragility, anger and even sins. If we gradually orient ourselves on a journey of being with Christ, every critical moment is a moment of growth and is overcome with the help of grace which is a force that helps us to be more and more of Christ.

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To achieve this it is good to purify yourself from everything that leads us out of communion with God. First of all, we must not scandalize the little ones who believe. That is, those who have a sincere and humble faith: when someone makes him a scandal, it hinders them from believing. To scandalize is to stand against God. Jesus is very clear in this:

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«If your hand causes you to scandal, cut it: it is better for you to enter life with one hand, instead of going to Geènna with both hands, in the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to scandal, cut it: it is better for you to enter life with one foot, instead of being thrown into Geènna with both feet. And if your eye causes you to scandal, throw it away: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, instead of being thrown into Geènna with two eyes, where their worm does not die and the fire does not go out ".

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This call to cut the hand, the foot and throwing away the eye are images, combined with those of the Genna fire, which symbolize a great work on ourselves: purify our gaze and our action. Therefore Jesus, so that we come into communion with him, it asks us to purify ourselves, to put us, that is, to take a look at the reality of things as believers and not as atheists. Therefore to change our way of life not only in a moralistic sense, but from a faith perspective with which to look at all things. In tal modo, we will be able to see our neighbor with a sincere and open heart, give him great works of charity. This purification also takes place with the help of grace, indispensable for our whole life to be elevated and divinized.

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We ask the Lord, the gift of sanctifying grace, to increase our journey of faith, and learn to love God and neighbor with a love of charity.

Amen.

Rome, 26 September 2021

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NICOLAI RIMSKY KORSAKOV "THE FLIGHT OF THE CALABRON"

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The Little Prince traveling with Jesus Christ along the roads of Galilee

18 September 2021/1 Comment/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE LITTLE PRINCE TRAVELING WITH JESUS CHRIST ALONG THE STREETS OF GALILEE

The theme of welcoming children it is important and central in this passage. The children, generally, they are not paralyzing fear. They tend to have a simple look even in the face of difficulties and know how to welcome the embrace of the Eternal Father. With an innocent and clear look, they are not without great insights and great truths. In fact, children often say what they think bluntly.

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

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Meditation on the Holy Gospel of the 25th Sunday of ordinary time (year B)

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In his splendid masterpiece The little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry recounts in first person the imaginary encounter with the little prince, imaginative character with whom he begins a deep journey, between various planets and profound reflections on life and especially on childhood. He dedicates this book to a certain Werth, of which we know only what the Author illustrates:

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“I want to dedicate the book to the child this adult was a long time ago. All adults were first of all children ".

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On childhood issues, the Today's Gospel in its beautiful readings it contains Jesus' admirable teaching of service to one's neighbor and binds it to welcoming the little ones. In the text of the Holy Gospel it emerges above all that Jesus is on a journey:

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"During that time, Jesus and his disciples went through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know. In fact, he taught his disciples and told them: “The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him; ma, once killed, after three days it will rise again”. However, they did not understand these words and were afraid to question him ".

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On the way, Jesus announces this great mystery to them: passion, the Resurrection and therefore the Redemption. It is really difficult for the apostles to understand, on the contrary, this announcement gives rise to a profound fear. A fear that blocks, it paralyzes and does not allow even a simple clarifying dialogue. Fear is in fact the opposite of faith. There is a human fear in the face of an unforeseen event: it serves to activate our skills and knowledge to resolve the traumatic event. But there is also a profound fear that slows down our capacity for reflection and solution and above all paralyzes our entrusting ourselves to God. In deep fear, the sense of abandonment and trust in the God of Jesus Christ disappears.

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«They reached Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them: “What were you arguing about on the street?”. And they were silent. On the street, in fact, they had argued among themselves who was the greatest. Sitting down, he called the Twelve and told them: “If one wants to be the first, be the last of all and the servant of all "".

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Fear had brought the apostles to focus their attention on themselves to try to distract themselves; therefore they had begun to discuss about themselves improvising a sort of ranking on who was the best and most helpful. Jesus then intervenes; the Lord is aware of how much his beloved apostles have served and loved him. But it is not with a spirit of competition that this call must be lived. Being first and greatest means putting yourself at the service of God and others. This is the "fundamental law" of the Church. To work according to an authentic charity, alive and attentive to the need for truth, tenderness and eternity of our neighbor. We too can assimilate the teaching of Jesus: offer a service of charity, to be last in pride, in self-centeredness and perfectionism, to put God's love and simplicity at the center. In this service, we will be small living images of Jesus himself, true God and true man.

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«E, got a baby, placed him in their midst and, hugging him, he told them: “Whoever welcomes only one of these children in my name, welcomes me; and who welcomes me, does not welcome me, but the one who sent me "".

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The theme of welcoming children it is important and central in this passage. The children, generally, they are not paralyzing fear. They tend to have a simple gaze even in the face of difficulties and thus know how to welcome the embrace of the Eternal Father. With an innocent look, pure and clear, they are not without great insights and great truths. In fact, children often say what they think bluntly. Being then true and authentic servants of Jesus requires returning to this spirit of purity and innocence of spirit, not of the mind. A spirit that is always welcoming, with a look at the events that happen, that is not simply material or horizontal, but mainly confident and abandoned to the grace and action of God. Therefore welcome a contemplative gaze capable of embracing, with the light of faith, all of reality to grasp it, with divine amazement, goodness and beauty.

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We ask the Lord to become true authentic servants, through the intercession of our heavenly mother, Maria, to be credible witnesses of the Word of Eternal Life of Jesus.

Rome, 18 September 2021

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The mustard seed: “The heaped grain rots, if instead it is scattered it bears fruit "

13 June 2021/15 Comments/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE MUSTARD GRAIN: "THE HUMPED WHEAT ROTS, IF IT IS LOST IT IS FRUITFUL "

The Gospel is therefore that grain that must be sown as much as possible: in these uncertain times of little solidity, precisely this seed of eternity and certainty must be given to the world for a pandemic that is above all isolation and distancing from love for God and neighbor.

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

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Dear brothers and sisters,

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Today the Lord tells two parables to the crowd to make them understand the kingdom of God. We are that crowd too, today that on this Sunday we listen to His Word. Even when we were children, easily to make us understand some more complicated concepts, our parents, relatives and even the teachers used fairy tales, or simpler narratives. In this way we found ourselves immersed in an example, in a story or even in a tale and we were so closer, more familiar with what we needed to learn. Thus Jesus tells the parables of the sower and the mustard seed to make the great mystery of the kingdom of God closer and more familiar.. This is what the Liturgy of the Word on this XI Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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In the first parable we find the Sower who sows the seed. This seed, beyond the action of the sower, sprouts and grows. Then there is the action of the soil:

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«The soil spontaneously produces the stem first, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear; and when the fruit is ripe, immediately he sends the scythe, because the harvest has arrived "

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The kingdom of God then is like this fermenting seed. With a great sacred ferment, it reaches a maturity and finally it is then given to those who need it.

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Therefore the kingdom of God it is that place where one is prepared, taken care of, left to ferment to become fruitful gifts for the world. The kingdom of God, we will say, it is the Church, the New People of God who, in the union of all believers who in living their vocation become seeds of the Sower, that is, Jesus Christ. This kingdom grows, it expands in the love and charity of God: he welcomes within himself many other men and women eager for love and charity.

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This first parable then it is a call to all of us and to our life of faith and vocation: it is a simile in which we can ask ourselves if we are growing and fermenting, if we are giving our best in the state of life in which we are called, and if the fruits we offer to the world are truly fruitful because they are born from the Trinitarian seed of the Sower.

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The second parable or simile describing the kingdom of God is built on the mustard seed:

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“It's like a mustard seed that, when sown on the ground, it is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground; ma, when it is sown, it grows and becomes larger than all the plants in the garden and makes branches so large that the birds of the sky can make their nests in its shadow ".

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The image of the mustard seed it was familiar to the shepherds of ancient Judea, and for all those who lived in those lands. Once again, there is the idea of this grain that grows, in a ferment which then makes it become so large that birds can nest there. Here Jesus almost inserts a visual contrast: the smallness of the seed at the beginning, and at the end of growth, its greatness. This image shows one of the qualities of the kingdom of God: its growth over time and history, waiting for a final fulfillment.

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That is why in this second simile, the kingdom of God in the strict sense is the Gospel that makes everyone who hears it holy. A Gospel that if we decide to make it ours, to live it coherently and authentically, it allows us to welcome a very great holiness and therefore to be creatures in the image and likeness of God. Truly the Gospel is a sacred leaven that gives us satisfaction, completeness and a lot of joy right now and then definitively in Heaven. The Gospel is therefore that grain that must be sown as much as possible: in these uncertain times of little solidity, precisely this seed of eternity and certainty must be given to the world for a pandemic that is above all isolation and distancing from love for God and neighbor. This, it is in fact that spiritual pandemic in some respects much worse than the coronavirus. The coronavirus pandemic virus does damage to the body, while the pandemic of the spiritual virus that has hit us, it deeply and severely damages the soul.

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Saint Dominic of Guzmàn wrote: “The heaped grain rots, if instead it is scattered it bears fruit ". For this clet us ask the Lord for the strength and grace to welcome the kingdom of God in us: to be seeds of living charity in the Church, to pour out rivers and words of eternal life over the whole suffering world, so that the gospel of life becomes the dawn of the civilization of love.

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Rome, 13 June 2021

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Rome, 6 June 2021

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Staff Blog

Father Gabriele

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You are the Lord the bread, you are food for us, risen to new life you are alive among us

6 June 2021/1 Comment/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

YOU ARE THE LORD THE BREAD, YOU FOOD ARE FOR US, RISEN TO A NEW LIFE YOU ARE ALIVE AMONG US

I adore you, latent Déitas, Within the forms, vere visitas: To Thee my heart I bow with bended, he said, Because, have you plans, all fails.

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

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

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in these times of global contagion, the decrees asked restaurants to remain closed or to open only at certain times. Perhaps we missed living that moment of serenity, of a break and also of joy that you usually spend with your friends and relatives. These are moments in which physical and interpersonal distancing has also taken away from us the joy of communion and the real presence of those we love.

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But today we are here to celebrate the banquet of Jesus Christ. The banquet of the Eucharist that we receive under the species of bread and wine, in which Jesus is substantially, really and truly present. It is such a great mystery, because it is the mystery of God who is truly and authentically present and living next to us in our life, redeemed by him forever in the Passion.

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The letter to the Hebrews explains precisely this special salvation to us in one passage:

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"He [Jesus] entered the sanctuary once and for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by virtue of his own blood, thus obtaining an eternal redemption " [cf.. EB 9,11-15].

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About the passion and death that we celebrated in the Easter Triduum, the letter to the Hebrews narrates that Jesus gave his Blood for us and obtained an eternal redemption for us. Here the text does not explicitly say the body as well, but it is implied that this is also being spoken of. The sacrifice of Jesus, bloody in the Passion, he freed us from the burden of slavery with sin contracted since the sin of Adam and Eve. So, unlike the Jewish ritual of sacrifice that purified from sins that was repeated every year, the bloody sacrifice of the blood of Jesus happened only once.

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These considerations they are useful for us to try to re-read the events that took place during the Triduum which culminated on Easter day. Maybe in those days we thought little about it, taken by a thousand things to organize for example work, the family, The holy Mass, Easter lunch … but yet, in those hectic days, the Lord has freed us from the great burden of sin. Offering himself innocent for all the guilty. It is true we are in the summer, but we must not forget the first days of April this spring. Let's try to think back to that great Easter sacrifice of love of Jesus for us.

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The fact that there has been a single historic bloody sacrifice does not leave out of this act of love, all of us who were born centuries after the days of the Passion. This is possible because Jesus, to perpetuate his sacrifice over the centuries and involve us in his great Love, he instituted the Eucharist, ii sacrificing a bloodless. The gospel tells us about it:

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"While they ate, he took the bread and said the blessing, he broke it and gave it to them, saying: “Take, this is my body ". Then he took a chalice and gave thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he told them: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is paid for many. Truly I tell you, I will never drink of the fruit of the vine again until the day I drink it new, in the kingdom of God "" [cf.. MC 14,12-16.22-26]

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Here we see that Jesus offers the bread and wine, which he "transformed" into His Most Holy Body and Blood, to the apostles. Subsequently, the apostles and their successors will repeat the words of Jesus uttering them on bread and wine, who by transubstantiation will again present to those who participate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This is what the whole Church does today, when he celebrates the Eucharist.

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This great mystery is a sacrifice of love which for us still today means being in communion with the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic species. In fact, when we will soon receive the consecrated host, Jesus will take up residence in us, he will unite his Heart to our heart, our body will become the Temple of His Body and His Blood, and also of the Holy Spirit. According to some calculations, the Eucharistic species and therefore Jesus after being assumed remains united with us for fifteen minutes. In the time of distancing and isolation, the Lord makes himself bread to be intimate. And her intimacy with him, it calls each of us to love God and neighbor even more. The Eucharist is the sacrament of friendship and intimacy with God.

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The Roman historian Sallust wrote: “Wanting and not wanting the same things, this is true friendship ". So let's ask the Lord, especially today, to open our soul and our spirit to him and to his great Eucharistic love, to unite our will with Him now, to prepare ourselves for the definitive encounter in eternal bliss.

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Rome, 6 June 2021

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Latin hymn of the 1264
Author
San Tommaso Aquino

I adore you, latent Déitas,
Within the forms, vere visitas:
To Thee my heart I bow with bended, he said,
Because, have you plans, all fails.

All, touch, taste;, in too fallitur,
The hearing safely:
I believe all that the Son;
Nothing for truth.^[2]

In cruce latébat sola Déitas,
But here lies hid at once the manhood too:
Ambo támen credens átque cónfitens,
Make the same thief.

Pests, like Thomas, not intúeor,
You, my God.
Make me believe more and more,
In the hope you, you diligent.

Memorial of,
living bread, giving life to man,
Grant my soul to live,
And always sweet taste.

Pie pellicáne, Jesus Lord,
I clean with your blood,
One drop of doing,
All the world from all kinds of crimes.

They are, whom now veiled,
Let it be done, so thirst:
Out, thy face,
Visually, I may see. Amen.

Translation of Roman Missal
Author
San Tommaso Aquino

O Jesus I adore you in the hidden host,
that, under these species, stay hidden:
Only in You does my heart abandon itself
Because contemplating You, everything is in vain.

The view, the sense of touch, the taste does not reach You,
but your word remains firm in me:
I believe in all of this / that the Son of God said:
nothing is truer than your word of truth.

You hid Divinity on the cross,
but your humanity is also hidden on the altar:
man-God faith reveals you to me,
I'm looking for what the repentant thief wanted.

I don't see wounds like Thomas,
however I confess that you are my God.
Make me believe in You more and more,
that he has hope in you and that he loves you.

O memorial of the Lord's death,
living bread that you offer life to man,
let my mind live on You,
and that you always taste sweetly.

O pious pelican Lord Jesus,
purify me, sinner, with your blood,
that, with a single drop, can save
the whole world from all sin.

O Jesus, which I now see,
I pray that what I so desire will happen:
that, seeing you with your face unveiled,
be blessed with the vision of your glory. Amen.

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The solemnity of the ascension of Christ God, the relay race and Nelson Mandela

16 May 2021/3 Comments/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST GOD, THE RELAY RACE AND NELSON MANDELA

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“We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us […] If we get rid of our fear, our testimony will automatically free others "

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

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The audio-reading of the article will be available this afternoon

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Dear brothers and sisters,

Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013 )

The solemnity of the Ascension is the return of Jesus to the Father who ascended to heaven, it brings with it all of humanity, and therefore all of us. On this solemnity the Lord opens wide the doors of Paradise to every man and we will reach him at the end of our life, if we welcome the grace of the Father and be his witnesses. So let's try to understand everything.

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In an athletics competition, specifically a four-hundred-meter relay race we find four athletes must reach the finish line. As they run, they pass a stick-shaped object called a baton. The first athlete thus begins the race, after a while’ of meters yields it to the second, who waits for him and starts running when he receives the witness, after other meters he gives it to the third, he also runs for a while’ and finally he gives it to the fourth runner who crosses the finish line with the baton.

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This example explains that Ascension it is the day when today there is the definitive handover between the mission of Jesus and that of the Apostles. And therefore also the passing of the baton among the Apostles, their Successors, the Successors of the Successors and finally us too, that we enter this transmission.

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In the Acts of the Apostles, at the beginning of his second work, the Evangelist Luke recalls the words of Jesus shortly before ascending to heaven:

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«You will receive the strength from the Holy Spirit who will descend on you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth " [At 1, 1-18]

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In Luke's testimony, we know that in the Ascension the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and the mandate to be witnesses to the ends of the earth, which in the world known to them indicated the territories of Israel and the entire Roman Empire. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will truly be that impetuous wind that will carry the sails of the Apostles to very distant territories from the small Jewish villages that they knew and inhabited.

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For us, too, following the example of the Apostles, the witness we are called to bear, from the Ascension onwards, it is an invitation to join a larger and more unexpected project. It is therefore to affirm the beauty of our faith in circumstances and places that we may not have loved thought of. When the Spirit accompanies us, it makes us discover new paths and roads of truth and beauty.

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The testimony of faith, then leads to generate, with God's help, of other believers like us. This nascent faith, Jesus teaches us according to the testimony of Mark, it has very specific signs:

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«These will be the signs that will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons, speak with new tongues, they will pick up snakes and, if they drink any deadly, it shall not hurt them harm; they will lay their hands on the sick and they will heal " [MC 16,15-20].

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Call on the name of the Lord it is the way in which the missionary work of the apostles is carried out: everything is done in the name of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit. From this source, they flow like a cascade of miraculous signs and signs of God's healing for man. This is an encouragement for us: Jesus reassures us that the faith witnessed always gives good fruits of charity. We will not always work miracles strict sense, indeed plausibly almost never. Perhaps the only miracle we can truly do by cooperating with God, is to defeat the demons, the snakes and poisons of hatred and indifference generated by the materialism of today's post-modern society; this will be possible if united with the Lord we will bring his healing to all those who have neither material nor spiritual goods, abandoned by the world that deprives them is the nourishment for daily life, be the nourishment for eternal life, ie God.

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Nelson Mandela said in his inaugural address given in Pretoria in May of 1994 for his inauguration as president of South Africa:

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“We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us […] If we get rid of our fear, our testimony will automatically free others " [see WHO]

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We ask the Lord to be good witnesses and bearers of a message of eternal life, with the intercession of Mary our mother, and in this way to unite all men to the horizon of eternal life inaugurated in the Ascension.

Amen.

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Rome, 16 May 2021

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In the Old and New Covenants, we know that only the love of Jesus Christ is credible

9 May 2021/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

IN THE OLD AND IN THE NEW COVENANT, WE KNOW THAT ONLY THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST IS CREDIBLE

Wrote the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar: Only love is credible, aware of Dante's lesson in the Comedy: Love that moves the sun and the other stars.

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

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Dear friends and readers of The Island of Patmos,

the future presbyter and theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (Lucerne, 12 August 1905 - Basel, 26 June 1988), juvenile photo of the 1929, at the time he was a university student

we spend the Easter time together through the narration in which we remember the words of the Risen Jesus. These words make us aware that eternal life is not a mere theory, or a system of ideas, but it is a promise of something huge: the promise of resurrection in body and soul. Therefore our life is a vocation to a project of eternity.

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One of the themes who comes back today in the readings is the theme of Love. In fact, God's love is eternal and never ceases to love and to make itself alive and strong in our life: precisely because of its eternity it will not cease to give itself to us even after our death. Jesus himself is a witness of this great love, which he receives from the Eternal Father and then passes it on to us, as the Apostle John tells us in this Liturgy of the Word:

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«As the Father loved me, I also loved you. Remain in my love. If you will keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, as I have observed my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete " [cf.. 15, 9-17]

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The observance of the commandments it allows you to remain in the love of the Father and the Son. This observance of Jesus is not a military command, nor a moral blackmail. The Lord simply clarifies to his Apostles and to all those to whom the Jesus message will be transmitted, that this message does not abolish the Ten Commandments, which are an integral and fundamental part of our faith. In second place, Jesus is telling us that Love is not pure sentimentality, made of those dry sentimentality, sterile and dull, today so well represented by various television series or contemporary cinema. Loving one's neighbor by observing the commandments means loving him concretely, with a determined choice to accompany our neighbor to the greater Good: friendship with God.

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Friendship with God it is therefore the relationship that arises from the perspective of faith and love announced by Christ. A prospect that promises true joy, authentic, deep: the joy of the encounter with the One who gave us life on the cross. Precisely for this reason the gift of self becomes the commandment of love, the commandment par excellence. In fact, the Holy Evangelist John continues in another passage of this Gospel:

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"This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: give his life for his friends " [cf.. 15, 9-17].

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Here is the commandment of the New Law. The New Covenant of Jesus which integrates, completes and maximizes the Ancient Pact of Torah. The New Pact of Love is the gift of oneself to the point of extreme consequences for those we love, and especially for their friends. This reception of Trinitarian Love to then give it to others, it is expressed in our lives and in our concrete vocations. In marriage, the spouses give each other fruitful love, indissoluble and faithful of Jesus, groom, and the Church, the bride; in the Sacred order, the three different degrees that make up the diaconate, presbyterate and episcopate, they make the Love of Jesus really present in the Sacraments, in His Word and in the government of the parish or diocese; finally, consecrated life, it is an expression of the perfect love of Jesus, especially in the exercise of the three vows and in the specific mission to which each consecrated person is sent.

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Entering the love of God therefore it is being involved in a project of Charity and Truth. Nothing in God is left to improvisation, indeed, everything is aimed at generating a profound and intimate relationship with God. From the gift received from God for oneself, to the gift of oneself for others, the whole movement of Trinitarian Love in man is what makes the presence of Jesus in our lives current and credible.

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Wrote the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar: Only love is credible, aware of Dante's lesson in the Comedy: Love that moves the sun and the other stars.

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Following the example of Mary handmaid of Trinitarian love, let us ask the Lord to grant us the grace to be more and more messengers and bearers of a greater love, a Charity that goes beyond the borders of nations and social distancing, and you give a horizon of a sense of eternity.

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Rome, 9 May 2021

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The Good Shepherd is the one who guides with serenity by giving himself with charity in the liquid world

25 April 2021/in Homiletics/by Father Gabriele

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE GOOD SHEPHERD IS THE ONE WHO LEADS WITH SERENITY BY GIVING HERSELF WITH CHARITY IN THE LIQUID WORLD

Jesus describes the figure of the mercenary as opposed to his own. The mercenary expresses the mentality of the liquid world. In fact it does not give life, flees from the dangers of those entrusted to him. The mercenary uses the sheep as objects, as long as it suits them and for personal gain. He does not know how to guard, but it only uses a domain perspective

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

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Roman aqueduct on the Appia Antica

Dear Readers L'Isola di Patmos,

when I was a high school student I used to go for a run in the park near my house every now and then, a huge countryside inside the Appia Antica Park. One day I remember that a large flock of sheep appeared in this large green area. Behind a young shepherd who directed them by whistling in their direction. And the silent sheep, also accompanied by the shepherd dog, they obeyed.

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This tale of the Gospel of Saint John offered by the liturgy of this fourth Sunday of Easter [cf.. 10, 11-18], providentially reminds us that in these times of great uncertainty, today the Lord comes to meet us and reminds us that He is the Good Shepherd of our life. It is precisely in this great mystery that today's readings introduce us. Especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus presents himself as such by affirming:

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"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The mercenary […] sees the wolf coming, abandon the sheep and flee, and the wolf kidnaps and scatters them; because he is a mercenary and does not care about the sheep ".

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We immediately notice that Jesus describes the figure of the mercenary as opposed to his own. The mercenary clearly expresses the mentality of the liquid world. In fact it does not give life, flees from the dangers of those entrusted to him. The mercenary uses the sheep as objects, as long as it suits them and for personal gain. He does not know how to guard, but it only uses a domain perspective. It therefore has a merely utilitarian mentality.

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On the contrary, the good Shepherd is quite the opposite. He knows and loves his sheep. Interesting how there is this link between knowing and loving, which finds its foundation in the relationship of knowledge and love that exists between the Eternal Father and Christ Logos. Indeed, in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages spoken by Jesus, the word to know is said with the word yadah indicating it is an intellectual knowledge, is at the same time an emotional intimacy. When Jesus says know then he wants to indicate that there is a truthful and very intimate relationship between him and us, his sheep. Precisely because he loves us, he offers his life and remains, giving himself to the end, in Gethsemane. He offers all of himself to free us from the slavery of sin.

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In offering life there is the deepest reason for all the Trinitarian movement. The Lord explains it to us in clear words, continuing in this way:

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«For this the Father loves me: because I give my life, and then pick it up again. Nobody takes it from me: I give it myself. I have the power to give it and the power to take it back again. This is the command I received from my Father ".

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The Eternal Father in fact he entrusted the visible mission to Jesus of incarnating himself, become a man like us, live the days of passion and death and then rise again. Here then is that the Incarnation and Easter have the element of love in common: all of us in the risen Jesus obtain the grace to love and know God. The Trinitarian mentality of offering and self-love overcomes the utilitarian mentality. Because it renews man entirely in God: anima, body and spirit. This deeply questions our lives of faith.

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We want to be mercenaries or shepherds? We want to enter into the perspective of domination or self-offering? If we really choose to strive to be consistent with our vocation, we too enter into the perspective of the Eternal Father who sends Jesus: then we respond to His command, which, however, is not a dictatorial imposition. It is adhering to a project of personal community love which is the expression of a greater freedom. Enter the perspective of the Trinity, it means welcoming our mission which will offer priceless joy and satisfaction.

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We ask the Lord to enter more and more into his perspective of offering and oblation of ourselves, to involve the whole world in the horizon of theological charity and generate the true civilization of love, united in the love of the one Shepherd.

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Rome, 25 April 2021

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Dear Readers,

we opened the Facebook page of Editions The island of Patmos on which we invite you to put You can open it directly from here by clicking on the logo below:

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Staff Blog

Father Gabriele

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

.

News from the Dominican Province Roman: visit the official website of the Dominicans, WHO

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«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
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risks but also the costs. Help us supporting this Island
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NICOLAI RIMSKY KORSAKOV "THE FLIGHT OF THE CALABRON"

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