From the controversy over crosses in the mountains to the peaks and heights of the Word of God

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

FROM THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT CROSSES IN THE MOUNTAINS TO THE PEAKS AND HEIGHTS OF THE WORD OF GOD

«Venite a me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your life. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

PDF print format article

 

.

Like a storm in a glass of water last week the controversy over the summit crosses erupted [see, WHO], among other things, it arose from statements never made, which held the spotlight for a few days in national newspapers. Once again, at the end of the speeches, there was a risk of trivializing and passing off as an imposition what is the symbol par excellence of Christianity, the cross of Jesus visual representation of love until the end [cf.. GV 1, 3] offered to us by the Lord.

Piccola Legazuoi summit cross [image of Stefano Zardini cf. WHO]

Because of this, just like that fresh water that you sometimes find in the mountains after a steep climb, welcome the sequence of readings of this one XIV Sunday of time for a year. It is not always the case that in a single Liturgy of the Word we find a series of writings where every single phrase is so beautiful in itself that it should be preserved and remedied over the course of the week.. At the climax of it we read the evangelical pericope [Mt 11, 25-30] which is so precious, how rare, because it offers us a glimpse of what was the profound conscience of Jesus, his filial conscience. It is no coincidence that this passage from Matthew has been defined as the most Johannine of all the Synoptic Gospels. Usually, indeed, it is in the fourth Gospel that we find similar heights and depths, often, as here in Matthew, in a context of prayer in which Jesus addresses the Father, as in the well-known pericope, that so-called of his hour: "Dad, The time has come: glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you" [GV 17, 1]. Here is the passage from next Sunday's Gospel:

«At that time Jesus said: “I give you praise, Dad, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and have revealed them to little ones. Yup, or Father, because so you have decided in your benevolence. Everything was given to me by my Father; no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Venite a me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your life. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.".

The opening line of the passage in the Greek text specifies: "During that time, answering[1], Jesus said". What is Jesus responding to and why at this crucial moment [2]? To previous events that were not happy. First the question of John the Baptist through the disciples, for he was imprisoned: «Are you the one who must come or we must wait for someone else?» [11,3] and then the lack of response to the preaching and action of Jesus from the three towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernao, where he experienced failure or at least limited success [11, 21-24].

Who can say they haven't felt discouraged faced with a situation of impasse, of failure or lack of understanding on the part of others of who we really are? Jesus integrates these unpleasant situations into prayer. He puts everything, even failure, before the Father and renews his "Yes" [v. 26] since he understands that everything is part of his benevolence project. The "no" he received becomes a "Yes" free from success in view of a more radical adhesion.

With prayer that opens to thanksgiving - "I give you praise" - even failure, or what we judge as such, like pastoral failure, the absence of fruits of the ministry, the sterility of preaching, the rejection or disinterest of others, becomes not a cause of discouragement or abandonment, but a moment of paradoxical confirmation of the following of the Lord.

It is at this point that Jesus takes us into the depths of his relationship with the Father, as his Son. St. John would say that this is where we should “remain” as beloved disciples. But this speech, But, it would take us too far. Matteo, instead, da by suo[3] presents Jesus as the one who reveals[4] the profound intention of the Father that only he knows because everything has been handed over to him alone.

«Everything was given to me by my Father; no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him ".

Everything was given to Jesus because he is the Son of the Father, he whom the Father alone knows, until we can say about him: «You are my Son, the beloved" [Mt 3,17; 17,5]. But even Jesus alone fully knows the Father, It gave, because from him came into the world, and only Jesus can make God known to his disciple, because no one goes to the Father except through him [GV 14,6]. Here is the revelation of the identity of Jesus, of his relationship with God and of the disciple's knowledge of God. We are at the summit of the divine revelation of Jesus according to the first Gospel. This mystery is now handed over to the disciple: mystery to be adored, to be welcomed in silence, to be lived daily in the faithful following of Jesus who leads us to the Father.

The Gospel also tells us to whom this revelation is addressed and who can understand it. They are the little ones (babies), who as such are voiceless. They are those who testify to John the Baptist that the kingdom is here and there is no need to wait for anything else: «the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are purified, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the Gospel is proclaimed to the poor" [11, 5]. And the little one according to Jesus is blessed because «he finds no reason to scandalize me!» [11, 6].

Instead, revelation is closed to the wise – «The wisdom of the wise will perish and the intelligence of the intellectuals will be eclipsed» [Is 29,14] - Why, despite having seen and heard, they were not able to open themselves to the good news of the Gospel and welcome it.

To return to the initial example, I don't know if you have had the experience of climbing the mountains. When you reach the summit, together with the satisfaction of having arrived there and enjoying the splendid view of what is around, the best thing is being able to rest, leave your backpack and poles on the ground, eat and drink, regain your strength.

Likewise Jesus after having led us to the summit of his intimate and profound relationship with the Father now invites us to rest:

«Venite a me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your life. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." [vv 28-30].

Only he knew the path, in fact he himself walked away [GV 14, 6], that could take us up there. Now here we rest and recuperate, in intimacy with him who embodies the bliss of those to whom the earth has been given, who are children of God, children in the Son[5]. A land taken not with violence and war because its distinctive feature is peace, justice and mercy[6].

Thus Zechariah prefigured the Messiah in today's first reading: «He will make the war chariot disappear from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, the war arc will be broken, will announce peace to the nations" [Zac 9, 10]. And the psalm answers him: «The Lord is merciful and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love. The Lord is good to all, his tenderness expands on all creatures" [Shall 144].

And finally the yoke. What did Jesus want to say?? Allow me to refer again to the mountain. If there is one of the most inadvisable things to do when walking along the paths, it is to go outside, to do their own thing despite the danger and against the guide's instructions. Especially on certain terrains, don't follow the trail, it means putting yourself and the group at risk. In a positive way: it is advisable to stay in a group so as not to miss anyone, proceed on the marked route, listen to what the guide suggests.

Likewise in the Christian life. A yoke remains a yoke and seems like a burden and an imposition. But following the line that the Gospel has traced up to this point, in the words of Jesus it appears more like a bond that keeps us united without subjugating us. We are not dumb oxen for him. He makes the journey with us and if it happens, "he supports those who falter and raises anyone who has fallen" (today's psalm).

Happy Sunday everyone!

from the Hermitage, 9 July 2023

 

NOTE

[1] answered: answering

[2] At that time: at that time

[3] Some commentators have seen a similarity in the tripartite structure of Matthew's passage with the wisdom text of Sir 51. A hymn of thanks (vv. 25-26), a monologue on the relationship between Jesus and the Father (v. 27) and the invitation to learn from Jesus and take on his yoke (vv. 28-30). in Sir 51 we have a song of thanksgiving (vv. 1-12), a monologue on the search for wisdom (vv. 13-22), an invitation to go to the school of wisdom and take its yoke upon oneself (vv. 23-30). It is no coincidence that in Mt 11,19 we speak of the works of Wisdom referring to the works of the Messiah (cf.. Mt 11,2-6): Christ is the Wisdom of God.

[4] “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known” (10, 26)

[5] "Beati and miti, because they will inherit the land... Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called children of God" (Mt 5, 5-9)

[6] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice… Blessed are the merciful… Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5, 6-9)

.

San Giovanni all'Orfento. Abruzzo, Mount Maiella, it was a hermitage inhabited by Pietro da Morrone, called in 1294 to the Chair of Peter on which he ascended with the name of Celestine V (29 August – 13 December 1294).

.

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

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

« So do not be afraid: you are worth much more than the sparrows"

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

"THERE DO NOT BE AFRAID: YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS»

 

… there is fear that blocks, which makes one lose the courage of proclaiming and bearing witness, the fear you feel of losing face, a privilege or not to be on page. And we become lazy and little by little we lose strength and we end up no longer recognizing Jesus, the teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

PDF print format article

 

 

.

Every morning, just woke up, I proceed to pour a generous glass of puffed rice grains into a container placed on a tree in the garden. As soon as I get home I enjoy the show. Dozens and dozens of sparrows first fluttering around, in trees or hedges, they begin to glide, fighting or chasing each other, on the bowl of rice and eat some of it, they throw more around, or they take it away, probably to feed the newborns that hatch from the eggs at this time of year.

In the Gospel of this XII Sunday of ordinary time, right in the center of Jesus' short speech he talks about sparrows. He reassures the disciples: “You are worth more than many sparrows”. Here is the Gospel passage:

"During that time, Jesus said to his apostles: “Do not be afraid of men, for there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness you say in the light, and what you hear in your ears you announce from the terraces. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but they have no power to kill the soul; rather be afraid of him who has the power to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Two sparrows are perhaps not sold for a penny? Yet not even one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows! Therefore anyone will recognize me before men, I will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; who will deny me before men, I too will deny him before my Father who is in heaven." [Mt 10, 26-33].

We are inside the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, where it tells of the sending of the twelve apostles on a mission. But it is also a discourse that is addressed to disciples of every time and place, therefore also to us who hear a page proclaimed today which comes to us from afar and which was probably already affected by those difficulties which not only encountered the very first disciples of the Lord sent to the territories of Israel and only to those, but also the roughness of the path that subsequent generations of disciples found who were inspired by the tradition of Matthew's writing.

Jesus, right in last Sunday's Gospel, he had warned his disciples that the same fate as their master would befall them:

«A disciple is not greater than the master, nor is a servant greater than his lord; it is enough for the disciple to become like his master and for the servant like his lord. If they called the master of the house Beelzebul, much more those of his family!» (Mt 10,24-25).

That is to say, what Jesus experienced, it will also be experienced by his envoys, who will be called devils, in the service of the leader of the demons, Beelzebub, and they will be persecuted to the point of being killed by those who believe they are giving glory to God in this way (GV 16,2). For this reason in today's Gospel Jesus feels the need, not to sugarcoat the pill, but to cheer up the disciples and three times (vv. 26. 28.31) he invites them not to fear: "Do not be afraid!».

I would like to say the same thing to my sparrows that, if I make a sudden or involuntary movement, they run away scared. Fear is an early instinct thatimprinting has fixed in different species, in ours too. There is a good fear that allows us not to fall into danger and to be cautious. In the same speech Jesus had in fact said:

"There: I send you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents and harmless as doves ". (10, 16).

And then there is the fear that blocks, which makes one lose the courage of proclaiming and bearing witness, the fear you feel of losing face, a privilege or not to be on page. And we become lazy and little by little we lose strength and we end up no longer recognizing Jesus, the teacher.

Like Peter on the night of his passion: «Who will deny me before men, I too will deny him before my Father who is in heaven." (v. 33). But «Two sparrows are perhaps not sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father."¹.

I feel sorry for the translators of the Italian Episcopal Conference, but there is no "want" in Greek. And instead we need to give back, verbatim: «… without your Father». That is to say, not even a sparrow, falling to the ground, he is abandoned by the Father! Even more so the disciples and even Peter who is their head. In the same way, even the hair on our head (v. 30), that we lose every day without realizing it: they are all counted, all under the gaze of the Father. From such contemplation comes the confidence that dispels fear: God sees as a father sees us, who always looks at us with love and never abandons us, not even when we fall.

When we think we are alone as disciples, left at the mercy of the trials that life presents us or of adversaries who give no respite, Let's think back to the prophet Jeremiah from this Sunday's first reading: «I felt the slander of many. Terror all around... We will take our revenge" (Gives 20,10). Jeremiah lets go of a moment of anger for the situation that has arisen: "may I see your vengeance upon them" (v. 12). Who wouldn't understand it? But then the man of faith called from the mother's womb prevails: "Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, because he freed the life of the poor" (v. 13). The psalmist of today's responsory echoes this:

«Let the poor see and rejoice; you who seek God, take courage, because the Lord listens to the miserable, he does not despise his own who are prisoners. May heaven and earth sing praise to him, the seas and everything that teems in them" (Shall 68).

Now tell me if there is a protagonist of Scripture to whom the Lord God has not given the encouragement that Jesus says in triple form to the disciples: do not be afraid and do not fear. Not even one, from Abraham to Joseph of Nazareth. Do you think the Virgin Mary didn't hear that?? She too: "Do not fear, Maria, because you have found favor with God" (LC 1,30). Then we can discuss until tomorrow morning about the difference between Mary's fear and that of her relative Zechariah, between that of Jeremiah or Saint Peter while Jesus was being questioned in the Sanhedrin. The important thing that today's Gospel reveals to us is this invitation to let go of fear, not to allow this primary emotion to take over, because of God's special protection, the Father that Jesus reveals to us, who does not abandon us like garbage², which is what the adversary par excellence does instead.

Because Jesus after sending his, including us today, invites you not to be afraid of anything or anyone? Because this is the time of revelation (v. 26) or as someone said "the time of the end"³ inaugurated by Jesus. The time of mission is a time of apocalypse, not in the catastrophic sense usually attributed to this term, but in the etymological sense of re-velation, of lifting the veil. The announcement of the Gospel, indeed, requires that what Jesus said in private be proclaimed in broad daylight, let what has been said in the ear be shouted from the housetops.

«Nothing is hidden from you (verb cover, calypto) which will not be re-veiled (verb disclose, apocalypto) nor secret (cryptic, crypto) which will not be known (verb know, Ginosko)» (v. 26).

The things hidden since the foundation of the world (Mt 13,35; Shall 78,2) they are revealed by Jesus and then by the disciples in history. E, hidden in the heart of this inexhaustible message, lies the announcement of God as Father, which is that "much more" as the Apostle Paul calls it in the second reading this Sunday (RM 5, 12), that is, the abundance of his saving grace, redeem and love.

Happy Sunday everyone!

from the Hermitage, 25 June 2023

.

NOTE

1 Mt 10, 29b “and one of them will not fall on the earth without your father”. CEI translation: «Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father».

2 Gehenna (Mt 10,28) it was the valley that collected the garbage of Jerusalem

3 G. Gaeta, The time of the end, proximity and distance of the figure of Jesus, Any 2020

San Giovanni all'Orfento. Abruzzo, Mount Maiella, it was a hermitage inhabited by Pietro da Morrone, called in 1294 to the Chair of Peter on which he ascended with the name of Celestine V (29 August – 13 December 1294)

.

.

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

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

Apostolicity, truth and tenderness for the sheep without a shepherd

/in /by

Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

APOSTOLICITY, TRUTH AND TENDERNESS FOR SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD

However, they are apostles, alongside but in a distinct way compared to the priests, religious and lay people as well. They too in the vocation to the consecrated life and in marriage, they undertake to bring the caress of Jesus to their neighbor in need. This is why Jesus tells everyone: "You received, freely give ".

 

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

.

Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

in this summer time let us try to take the Bible more and more and read it; especially the Gospels can become a road companion for hot and muggy days. Indeed, in the Gospel, Jesus walks with us, he offers us so much tenderness and affection and thus asks us to give freely what we have received from him. Jesus chooses tenderness because as the German writer Rudolf Leonard said «Tenderness is the secret language of the soul».

We see. In Today's Gospel let's read:

"During that time, Jesus, seeing the crowds, he felt sorry for it, because they were tired and exhausted like sheep that have no shepherd".

Jesus walks with the crowds and realizes that they feel lost and without a point of reference. The existential difficulties and the political disagreement between Jews and Romans must have brought them much suffering also from an emotional and moral point of view. Jesus decides to treat them with compassion, in Greek splanchne, which indicates the tenderness of the mother who welcomes her children with visceral love. So let's imagine a mother who welcomes her children who are crying and feeling desperate.

The same thing Jesus does with us today. In our existential solitudes he gives us his tenderness and compassion, makes us feel that despite the general instability, the many spiritual difficulties, material and economic we can find He is with us. Every time we communicate, he offers us a caress and an intense embrace, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

This caress is offered to us in a concrete way. In a certain sense it is an apostolic caress. Indeed, Jesus himself called the twelve apostles by name and set them up to continue his mission over the centuries. The twelve apostles then set up their successors, and therefore the bishops and with them Jesus wanted priests for a large harvest of people in need of God. For this that the bishop and the priest, despite their personal limitations, tend to give us the Eucharistic caress of the Lord. Their presence and response to this priestly vocation is important.

However, they are apostles, alongside but in a distinct way compared to the priests, religious and lay people as well. They too in the vocation to the consecrated life and in marriage, they undertake to bring the caress of Jesus to their neighbor in need. This is why Jesus tells everyone:

"You received, freely give ".

The way we all clergy believers, religious and laity we are sent by the Lord is the dimension of self-giving. Just like without any rights, we have received the gift of love and tenderness from the Lord, so we can bring it to everyone else. So when we meet our neighbor who doesn't feel loved by anyone, and indeed perhaps he feels abandoned and isolated from everyone, then in that moment we will be able to give him the gift of the Lord's tenderness and charity. That is, a love that is not dull and worthless, but which precisely communicates to those who feel desperate that God loves them and is doing something concrete for them.

We ask the Lord to enter ever more strongly into his Trinitarian heart to bring the whole world into God's embrace, and offer meaning and joy even to those abandoned and isolated from the culture of the world.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 18 June 2023

.

.

.

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

 

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

The body of the Lord. The Blessed Sacrament of Presence and Communion

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE BODY OF THE LORD. THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE PRESENCE AND COMMUNION

"In truth, verily I tell you: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day"

 

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

 

PDF print format article

 

 

Dear Friends and Readers of The Island of Patmos,

in the great feast of The body of the Lord Jesus definitively offers himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Word tells us that in those days, while the inhabitants of Capernaum listen to his words, they are knocked out by a big announcement: «I am the living bread, came down from heaven" (GV 6, 51). Words that initially cause some confusion in them, to the point of raising protests. They almost seem to expect a God who is a bit’ more understandable, compared to those words in which Jesus expounds what is the great mystery of the Eucharist. With words that at first can only stun, outlining a great and tremendous mystery. Jesus, the incarnate son of God, choose to become that piece of bread and that sip of wine. In the Eucharistic species, Christ in body is present at every Holy Mass celebrated, blood, soul and divinity. Those Eucharistic species become for us the bread and wine for the path of eternity. They become the new hidden manna, the food that allows us to obtain the lifeblood of grace to walk in holiness and justice every day of our lives.

As we more or less know from the Catechism, the real presence of Jesus is possible because during the Holy Mass, at the time of consecration, through the words of the priest recited on the Eucharistic species the miracle of transubstantiation. The substances of bread and wine, while maintaining the same look, they are converted into the substance of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Before the announcement of this mystery the Capernaites are scandalized, because they don't understand it, partly because you lack the tools to understand, partly because they have a somewhat hard heart locked up in pharisaic formalisms and memorized formulas which, however, do not have a concrete development in charity. So here Jesus offers them two explanations:

"In truth, verily I tell you: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day" (GV 6, 53).

Jesus explains that assimilate his body it means that the Father has sent him as a new and eternal manna from heaven that completes the manna that was given to the Jews in the desert. So Jesus is the one who in that manna, in that bread, he makes himself present because God the Father makes him present through a miracle, this is in synthesis the discourse that he presents to the listeners; and makes it present because through his bread Jesus arrives in full and strong intimacy with those who welcome him. The body of the one who receives the new and eternal manna becomes the temple, the new home for the Lord.

This shows on the one hand the real presence, as we said at the beginning, in which the believer is purified and transformed by God to be in imitation of Christ. In a sense, as the Greek Fathers say, the assumption of the Body of Christ makes him similar to us: because the Eucharist is the Sacrament that offers all of us the grace of the presence and imitation of Jesus in our concrete daily life.

Like this, imitating Jesus, all of us can fellowship with others and climb a path of holiness. To be holy means to operate the charity and love of God, therefore to let our neighbor enter a path of eternity. Jesus himself tells us so: the love of Christ in the Eucharist leads us to eternal life and the resurrection of the body.

As well as then, as I read these eternal words I wonder: the great mystery of love truly present in the Eucharist, scandalizes perhaps even today? Perhaps our sanctification also passes through this. Be Eucharistic witnesses, because first of all we are the first to be eucharistized, that is, we are poured out by the grace of the real presence, and its effects of joy and satisfaction can be authentic witnesses of the beauty of its presence. Show the joy of being in communion with Him, thus it leads us to make communion with the whole Church and witnesses with all humanity.

We can draw from this joy every time we approach the embrace of Eucharistic adoration. We lay our hearts, our existential wounds on the Eucharistic heart of Jesus and we will be poured out by a great love.

Amen!

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 11 June 2023

.

.

.

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

 

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

Jesus and the man born blind, from darkness to light towards a path of conversion

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

JESUS ​​AND THE BLIND BORN, FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT TOWARDS A PATH OF CONVERSION

The man born blind told him: "I believe, man!». And he bowed himself before. Then Jesus said: “I came into this world to judge, because those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind ".

 

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

 

PDF print format article

 

 

Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

some Renaissance paintings arose from coloring that darkened black to produce different shades of white and yellow. It is the transition from darkness to light. This also happens in our life and the Today's Gospel it leads us to reflect on sin and our conversion.

 

to open the Lectio click on the image

 

The first narrative moment focuses on sin. Following the Jewish tradition of classical retribution, the disciples, seeing the man born blind, they ask what is the cause of the blindness. For the classical theory of retribution, the handicap comes from a previous sin, committed by the same person or by the parents. But Jesus breaks and contradicts this theory:

« Jesus replied: “Neither he sinned nor his parents, but it is so that the works of God may be manifested in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day; then comes the night, when no one can operate anymore. As long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world”».

A man born blind is like this for the works of God to be manifested. And so, in a sense, sign and manifestation that God is among men and acts. So, a person, in itself it is not a sin, but commits sins. Now the sin, according to the classic definition, it is «a word, an act or desire contrary to the eternal Law".

Lent time it is also a propitious time for the rediscovery of the concept and of the very idea of ​​sin, which is something we hardly attribute to ourselves. More easily we say that we have made a mistake, nonsense, a human error. Let's try to reflect on this in a strong review time of our life, such should be this Lenten season. We are all sinners children of God and we thank the Lord who loves us as we are. With the Sacrament of Confession we cleanse our sins and return all with the grace with which we set to work with God. This is why Jesus tells us that this blind man was born this way, without having committed a real sin that led him to blindness; it is so that the works of God are manifested in him. Jesus then invites you to do the works of the one who sends him, that is, the Eternal Father. First of all, we will say that the man born blind is the one who physically passes from darkness to light. Symbolically, the blind man, he is the one who passes from spiritual blindness to faith. This happens precisely through Jesus. Jesus invites and transmits to those who listen - plausibly disciples and apostles - the invitation to carry out the works of light with Him and with the Father. Send all of us to be candles that burn fire of truth from his flame and light. What happens after the miraculous healing is a complex number of actions, of interrogations and questions. Questions that the Pharisees ask themselves and that they ask the blind, to his parents, because nothing convinces them, not accepting that someone recognizes Jesus as the source of truth and light. In the cold darkness of rigid convictions, of idols and ideal shadows of the truth of Christ. For this they chase away the now ex-blind who has miraculously regained his sight. They don't want to see who can question them, because in truth, the real blind, are they.

The man born blind told him: "I believe, man!». And he bowed himself before. Then Jesus said: “I came into this world to judge, because those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind ".

Jesus goes to meet the healed blind man again. The Pharisees, even though they had kicked him out, the dialogue between the two follows. The healed blind man makes his profession of faith: "Yes Lord, I believe in you". And so he prostrates himself, according to the traditional Jewish gesture: prostration to show the presence of God, as did the High Priest in the Sancta Sanctorum of the Temple of Jerusalem. Jesus then tells him:

“I have come to judge, so that those who see do not see and those who see go blind".

In this way he also reproaches the Pharisees, circumventing their trap. But the strong phrase of Jesus, on the judgment is also important for us. In fact, Jesus comes to judge not in the sense of condemning people and sinners, but so that its light is not only a revelation of faith in God. Also because under his loving and wise judgment, may each of us come to open up a glimpse of truth even about ourselves, returning to recognize all the shining gifts that God has given him.

We ask the Lord the grace to perform an act of humility and recognize ourselves as sinners, to rediscover at the same time that we are masterpieces-gifts, with talents and peculiarities that we can offer to Him, to our neighbor and to the Church in an act of love.

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 19 March 2023

.

.

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

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

The man of liquid society at the well of living water with the Samaritan woman

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE MAN OF THE LIQUID SOCIETY AT THE WELL OF LIVING WATER WITH THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

“Water is condescending, mobile, transparent, tasteless. One easily gets the impression that, compared to the rest of reality, it is somehow otherworldly".

 

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

 

PDF print format article

 

 

Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

who plays sports such as football, the basket or the run, especially in summer, knows how refreshing a glass of water is at the end of a sporting activity. It almost has a profound meaning that goes beyond the somatic aspect. As the scientist Philip Ball writes:

“Water is condescending, mobile, transparent, tasteless. One easily gets the impression that, compared to the rest of reality, it is somehow otherworldly".

 

 

The long song the today's gospel it's an invitation. It is a return to the sources, to the water of our origins: therefore to rediscover our baptismal vocation, because from that moment we started walking in the path of holiness and accepting our vocation. Therefore, returning to remember baptism is returning to the sources of our faith and quenching our thirst with the water of grace and the Holy Spirit.

At the beginning of the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, it is the Lord who asks a precise question: “Give me a drink.” Jesus is thirsty because he is in a barren desert area. It's very hot and it's near a well. So try to make friends with the Samaritan woman, asking for practical help. In fact, offer some water, for the culture of the time, it was really a gesture of closeness and also that allowed to generate a certain companionship.

This gesture surpasses the Samaritan woman: Jesus is also close to us. The Lord asks all of us to offer him water, Also today, especially every time we pray and enter into communion with him in the Eucharist. He thirsts for our presence, our friendship and our faith. He says to us give me a drink, to indicate that he wants to relate and have an intimacy with us.

Returning to the letter of the text, we see that the exchange between the two begins. A few sentences later it is He who offers the water to the woman:

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but who will drink of the water that I will give them, he will never be thirsty again. On the contrary, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life".

The Samaritan woman must not have understood this sentence well. They are strong words and very intense. After all, Jesus is telling her not to draw only on water drawn from the well that quenches the thirst of the body and the dry throat, but to drink from a source that also quenches the soul and spirit. This is the water of faith and grace.

We too have been quenched by this water. Effectively, if we think about it, our life of faith began with a little’ of water, a white robe and a candle of light. On the day of our baptism, the material element used to administer the Sacrament of the beginning of the life of faith is precisely water. This water accompanies the words of the priest «I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". Baptismal water is also a sign of a great event: received the divine grace received which has entered into us by uniting itself to our life and to our person. And together with God, from that moment to follow, we can do great works of charity and love.

Jesus offers us faith and grace in baptism because we can discover that we are all a great gift to God himself and to the world. For our personal and unique love to become a concrete action of tenderness and compassion towards those who suffer.

We ask the Lord to still feel that baptismal newness in our lives, to rediscover ourselves as children in soul and spirit, to quench our time with the presence of God and to irrigate the desert of a contemporary world afflicted by an increasingly liquid culture with wells of hope.

Amen.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 12 March 2023

.

.

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

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

We too are called to be transfigured for Christ, with Christ and in Christ

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

WE ALSO ARE CALLED TO BE TRANSFIGURED FOR CHRIST, WITH CHRIST AND IN CHRIST

Since baptism the Eternal Father has also placed his pleasure on us, because in Baptism we have become children of God by adoption. Let us therefore rediscover our Baptism as a way of Transfiguration. Because becoming saints means becoming ever brighter, of a taller and greater beauty. A beauty that is a reference to the very life of the Trinity.

 

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

 

PDF print format article

 

.

Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

I remember a long trip to the mountains a few years ago, on the heights of Bolzano. A long climb, between cold and hot, between equipment and a water bottle, to reach the top and contemplate all the beauty of creation. A long journey in stages, to find contemplation and beauty.

Transfiguration of Christ, Raphael Sanzio, Pinacoteca of the Vatican Museums

The Today's Gospel it is similar to this path and can be divided into two major stages. First of all, the journey up to Mount Tabor. Pietro, James and John are led with Jesus. Immediately Moses and Elijah appear. Because these characters are present and not all the Apostles? We see. Conceivably Jesus brings with him three important figures: his future vicar, Pietro; the great contemplative of his divine mysteries, Giovanni; the attentive apostle of Charity, Giacomo. At the same time, Moses, he is the one who represents the Ten Commandments and with them the validity and importance of the Law. In the end, Elia, the prophet par excellence. So, prophecy must be perceived as a fundamental element for understanding Jesus.

This Lent Jesus also takes us up the mountain, remembering these things: the identity of Catholics who walk with Peter in the authority of faith, with John in meditation and reflections on the Gospel and the Bible, with Giacomo in the more concrete love of Charity which makes faith and meditation the seed of every action, of tenderness and mercy towards one's neighbor. This will make us true prophets and heralds of Jesus, without losing anything of the Law that the Lord did not want to change [cf.. Mt 5, 17]

At that point Jesus is transfigured, his face shines like the sun and his clothes become shiny. Wear the color of white, which biblically indicates the divine presence. This sparkling whiteness is a sign that Jesus wants to confirm the presence of God among them. All of this is definitively confirmed by the second part of the text. Suddenly a cloud envelops them, and the Father confirms «yes it's him, my child, my pleasure, they say». Again another element that wants to show the invisible: Cloud, for the Jews, a sign of God's presence in the desert, His voice. Jesus is the Son of God. This tremendous and fascinating experience is the experience of intimacy in prayer with God. That strong intimacy that occurs in the prayer of contemplation, when we can really taste and internalize everything we believe.

Lent offers itself as a time for rediscovery of this prayer so strong and so intense: being face to face with God, to learn to grow in love. A walk in daily prayer, built on small and big moments, alternating with the Sacraments, in which we too can discover the face of the Transfigured Jesus, preparing for the days of the Passion. To all become transfigured in Him, for him, with him.

Since baptism the Eternal Father he has placed his pleasure on us also, because in Baptism we have become children of God by adoption. Let us therefore rediscover our Baptism as a way of Transfiguration. Because becoming saints means becoming ever brighter, of a taller and greater beauty. A beauty that is a reference to the very life of the Trinity.

We ask the Lord the grace and strength to climb our existential and spiritual Mount Tabor, climbing up the unevenness and difficulties of the journey and always shaking the hand of Jesus, for its beauty to shine in the face of all of us and we will all shine like the sun.

Amen!

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 5 March 2023

.

.

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

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

When Jesus was baptized by his cousin on the banks of the Jordan River

/3 Comments/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

WHEN JESUS ​​WAS BAPTIZED BY HIS COUSIN ON THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN RIVER

That baptism is not the sacramental one we received. That of the Baptist was a ritual purification bath still in use today in the Jewish tradition.

 

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

 

PDF print format article

.

Dear brothers and sisters,

in our lives we are all looking for justice. Justice for a wrong suffered, for a person we love who was affected by an injustice, for various social situations and so on. Seeking justice involves seeking that everyone gets what is due to them, according to the classic definition of justice offered by the jurist Ulpian in Digest. The feast of the baptism of the Lord is the feast of the justice of the man who receives the love of God. Once you receive this love, he brings it to others.

In the song the Today's Gospel Jesus approaches the Baptist to be baptized. Giovanni refuses. Jesus then responds with what is the center of this solemnity:

.

""Leave it for now, for it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness". Then he let him do it.".

.

Fulfill all justice it means for Jesus to be baptized. Let's clarify: that baptism is not the sacramental one that we received. That of the Baptist, brother of the Lord (that is, his cousin, but in Hebrew cousins ​​are referred to as brothers), it was a ritual purification bath, the so-called מקווה (mikveh) still in use today in Jewish tradition. Jesus does not have original sin to wash away through that Sacrament of Baptism which he himself instituted [cf.. Mt 28,19-20]. That mikveh he asks it precisely to do justice to the will of God the Father. So that the mission of man's salvation for which the Father sent him is the center of everything.

.

By being baptized, Jesus carries out an act of justice: gives the Father what is due to him. So immediately afterwards the heavens open wide. And behold the voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit become visible. The whole Trinity is present. The Father says that Jesus is his Son and he is pleased with that Son. From that moment Jesus' three years of preaching and his healing miracles began.

.

From the justice of the Father Jesus draws grace and strength to express God's truth in words and signs. All this will also lead him to welcome the terrible days of the Passion and the glorious resurrection. God the Father and the whole Trinity offer this possibility to us too.

.

The Baptism of the Lord it is a good opportunity to also remember our sacramental Baptism, when the Lord washed away original sin and our bond with evil. From that moment we were also adopted by the Trinity. We have become children of the Eternal Father in Jesus Christ. We have become Sons in the Son. Therefore, if we responsibly and freely respond to the call to be children and accept his grace, God also places his pleasure on us.

.

What does this mean in concrete terms? First of all, since we were conceived, God began to love us with a visceral and profound love. This love has accompanied us throughout our lives until today. A love that is, at the same time, maternal and paternal. Because God is Father, and as a father he gives us the Son and from the beginning he gives us the desire to know and seek the truth, because Jesus is the truth. And at the same time he gives us the Holy Spirit Love. Which is the maternal part of God. Hence the expression of the Blessed Pontiff John Paul I who, leaving some a little perplexed, during one of his catechesis he said "God is father and mother" [cf.. Angelus, 10.09.1978] thus implying that both fatherhood and motherhood are contained in the whole.

.

Let us bring this knowledge of the truth to the whole world through tenderness and kindness. In this way we will transform our baptism from a sacramental act to an act of concrete love for our neighbor. The historian Cesare Cantù wrote: «Charity is the only treasure that increases by sharing it». We ask the Lord, today, to remember our baptism, to rediscover that they have always been loved unconditionally and for

always.

Amen.

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 6 January 2023

Epiphany of the Lord

.

.

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

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

A dream from which the divine reality of the redemption of man comes to life

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

A DREAM FROM WHICH THE DIVINE REALITY OF MAN'S REDEMPTION COMES TO LIFE

In Joseph's dream the Angel can speak with serenity and tranquility in the name of God. Why Joseph, whose heart is already prepared to welcome God, now he can understand the details of the divine plan in the light of faith.

 

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

.

PDF print format

 

.

Dear Readers and friends of The Island of Patmos,

.

we all have dreams. We are men and we always tend to welcome our deepest desires and aspirations. So we have an end, a larger and more precise purpose that directs all the other smaller and more daily choices. All our dreams tend to humanize us and make us better because we reflect through them, we put ourselves to the test and are willing to put ourselves on the line.

Joseph also he had his dream. Marry his girlfriend, Maria. He was almost at the pace of the wedding ritual celebration. But Joseph realizes that Mary is pregnant. Like this, suddenly, he is in a drama. His dream breaks. What he had longed for and expected can no longer come true. Maria cannot be his wife. But overcome the initial discouragement, Joseph does not lose heart. With justice towards God and towards Mary herself, he places himself in obedience to the law of Deuteronomy: to avoid stoning she decides to write a letter to break off the engagement in a discreet and confidential way. God helps Joseph and sends him an Angel in a dream. Here then is that Joseph can abandon his dream to enter God's dream. In Joseph's dream the Angel can speak with serenity and tranquility in the name of God. Why Joseph, whose heart is already prepared to welcome God, now he can understand the details of the divine plan in the light of faith.

Joseph learns from the Angel who must name the son of God. To that very special son, willed by the Eternal Father, first person of the Trinity, Joseph is called to give the name. Naming implies having parental authority and offering legal paternity. And Jesus is the son of Joseph by legal means. (D)The name means that God entrusts Joseph with a very important task: proclaim to the world that Jesus, that child who came so mysteriously into her life, it is God who saves the whole world. Joseph thus becomes the first announcer of the name of God who offers the announcement of salvation. Finally God's dream announced in Isaiah is fulfilled and realized [cf.. 7,14]. When Giuseppe wakes up, he has the key to that broken dream in his heart. He earned everything a hundredfold, in God's dream that comes true in him. So he takes Maria with him, as a faithful husband, affectionate groom and a man who is careful and precise in his work and takes care of his bride. Together with Maria, she takes care of and guards that mysterious child. With Mary he teaches him the practices of the Jewish faith. Joseph in his loyal chastity is a fruitful and authentic father for this mysterious son.

God's dream surpasses the human one of Joseph. And it is even more beautiful and unexpected. Writes the biblical scholar Rosalba Manes:

«With Joseph, man returns to being as Genesis presents him to us before sin: lover and custodian of the gifts of God"

This can happen in our lives. How many times do we have to abandon projects and dreams. With difficulty we succeed. But if we leave all the projects and enter God's dream, we will not lose anything but we will have everything a hundredfold.

We ask the Lord to bring our lives into His Dream, to all become little Joseph and Mary, and with the grace we have received, give the world the salvation of God.

Amen.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 18 December 2022

.

.

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

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

That precious human doubt that transforms us into lights of the living God

/in /by

Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THAT PRECIOUS HUMAN DOUBT THAT TRANSFORMS US INTO LIGHTS OF THE LIVING GOD

Doubt assails John the Baptist during his imprisonment, when he has to experience the solitude of the night of the soul and of faith he begins to have doubts and to think that the announcement made about Jesus is not entirely true…

 

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

.

PDF print format article

 

.

Dear Readers and friends of The Island of Patmos,

.

In our life it can happen that we see things so beautiful that we don't believe they are real. Perhaps we have forgotten how to be surprised. Children are true masters of this. Therefore, when something joyful and beautiful happens, we easily ask ourselves: «… it really happened? Or maybe it's all just a dream?». In that moment we are all a little’ like the philosopher Descartes who writes in a famous passage of the Metaphysical Meditations:

.

«Thinking about it more carefully, so clearly I realize that it is never possible to distinguish waking from dreams with certain criteria, to be astonished; and it is precisely this amazement that almost brings me back to believe that I am dreaming even now".

.

But then here is Jesus who comes to give us a nice wake-up call, inviting us on this Advent journey to dispel doubts because what is happening is not a dream. God takes human nature, he becomes a man, to be close to all of us. It's all true. So what is unthinkable and what seems like an unattainable dream is actually reality.

.

This doubt after all, at a certain point John the Baptist also had it. In Gospel of this Third Sunday of Advent let's read:

.

"During that time, Giovanni, who was in prison, having heard of the works of Christ, through his disciples he sent word to him: «Are you the one who must come or we must wait for someone else?».

.

Doubt assails John the Baptist during his incarceration, when he has to experience the solitude of the night of the soul and of faith he begins to have doubts and to think that the announcement made about Jesus is not entirely true. In the hour of abandonment it is easy to think that everything is too good to be true, exactly like it happens to us too. Not because we were all actually incarcerated, but because we may have spent periods of isolation, of loneliness, of abandonment. We felt alone and thought that Jesus had not really come for us too, that he wasn't really there at that moment, in our suffering. This Advent let us try to remember these moments to reread them in the light of Christmas: Jesus was there in that existential night.

.

Jesus in the Gospel in fact he reassures the Baptist that he is truly the Son of God, he who, by being born, came to illuminate the darkness of the world and of man and make it shine. To make us shine like him on Christmas night is the light of the world. And let the light of our lives shine.

.

May Advent also be the journey of understanding and rereading with the gaze of that faith which in the light of the Bethlehem cave transforms us all into little lights of the Lord. We can all become witnesses to the message that that little child is the son of God, who is true God and true man.

.

God guide us and accompany us in this season of Advent, because with his grace and his gifts, let us become in the Lord his Christmas Gift for the suffering world.

Amen.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 11 December 2022

.

.

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

THE LATEST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE ARCHIVE: WHO

.

.

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

.

.

.

______________________

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

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

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

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

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

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.