Holy thursday 2024. A greeting homily by Cardinal Giuseppe Betori

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

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

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Author
Simone Pifizzi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Florence, 28 March 2024

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Florence, 28 March 2024

Metropolitan Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Holy Chrism Mass

 

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

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

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

- Church news -

Author
The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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

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

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

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

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

the Island of Patmos, 22 March 2024

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

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

BETTER LET ONE MAN DIE THAN THE ENTIRE NATION PERISH

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the Hermitage, 17 March 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 16 March 2024

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

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

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the Hermitage, 10 March 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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Journey into the night with Nicodemus

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Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

JOURNEY INTO THE NIGHT WITH NICODEMUS

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

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

 

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Dear brothers and sisters,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen!

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 10 March 2024

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Being scrutinized by the heart of God

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Homiletic of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

BE SEARCHED BY THE HEART OF GOD

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

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

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Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen!

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 3 March 2024

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The last devotion of Christ: the Sacred Heart is not devotionism but a gateway to the mysteries of God

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THE LAST DEVOTION OF CHRIST: THE SACRED HEART IS NOT DEVOTIONISM BUT A DOOR OF ACCESS TO THE MYSTERIES OF GOD

For those who know about cinema, the reference to Martin Scorsese's film on Jesus is evident 1988: «The last temptation of Christ». But just to say that, while cinematic fiction can also imagine that Christ was tempted to retreat from his path, the Gospel told us that He went all the way, with a devotion towards his mission that ultimately revealed what was inside his Heart full of love.

- The Theological Pages -

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Capp.

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The devotion that has spread most among Christian people, at least in the last few centuries, it is the one addressed to the Sacred Heart, that, naturally, he also attracted to himself that due to the Heart of His Mother Mary. With this cult the Catholic Church intended to honor the Heart of Jesus Christ, one of the organs symbolizing his humanity, than for the intimate union with the Divinity, has the right to worship.

Already practiced in Christian antiquity and the Middle Ages, the cult spread widely in the 17th century thanks to Saint John Eudes (1601-1680) and above all of Santa Margherita Maria Alacoque (1647-1690), while the feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated for the first time in France, probably in 1685. The first of Santa Margherita's famous visions occurred on 27 December 1673, feast of Saint John the Evangelist. Jesus appeared to her and Margaret felt "entirely invested with the divine presence". He invited her to take the place that Saint John had occupied during the Last Supper and told her:

«My divine Heart is so passionate with love for men, who could no longer contain within himself the flames of his ardent charity, you have to spread them. I have chosen you to fulfill this great plan, so that everything may be done by me".

As with all other devotions, so that they would not simply remain such or empty containers of popular demonstrations, theology and then the magisterium did their utmost to offer contents and motivations that could not only keep devotion to the Heart of Christ alive, but that it was also continuously nourished by the sources of writing and ecclesial tradition. As devotionism often happens, which is instead a degeneration of the authentic act of worship, tends to prevail over content, so they struggle to carry out their task, especially nowadays, in which it is easy to brand a devotion as a legacy of a pre-modern past and no longer current, or as they say only good for the elderly or the simple.

Instead, devotion to the Sacred Heart he would have much to teach modern people too, indeed to the post-moderns that are us, because the symbol of the heart and the themes connected to it are spontaneously combined with those of affection and love, that is, that whole world of feelings and emotions that are of great interest to us in our time. When more and more often, also recently, Crime events happen that affect love relationships, we immediately contact the experts who warn us of concern about how our time, especially the younger generations, needs an education of feelings, of how one should be in contact with one's emotions to be able to express them in an adequate and non-violent way. It is that vocabulary that leads us back to interiority and therefore to the human heart, to whom the heart of Christ still has much to teach.

To return to the sources of this special Christian devotion and to make people perceive how it is theologically founded and connected to the entire mystery of the salvation brought by Jesus, I would like to consider, who, a simple one, so to speak, verse of the Gospel that has perfect adherence to this devotion of the Sacred Heart. Since many images represent Jesus in the act of offering his palpitating heart, therefore to open his inner and most intimate world, let's see how the Gospel describes this moment. The Evangelist John does so in the chapter where he himself reports the crucifixion of Jesus, the dying moment he says: "Everything is done"; and immediately afterwards a soldier wounds his side to verify his death. Let's see how St. John describes the scene, which must have been truly significant. Let's note how many times the term testimony appears, addressed to faith and connected to two important scriptural quotations. We are interested in the second, the verse we would like to examine – «They will look at the one they have pierced» – precisely because devotion invites us to look at the Heart of Jesus, but we cannot fail to take into consideration the immediate context in which the scene takes place and its important theological meanings.

«But they came from Jesus, seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers struck him in the side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who has seen bears witness to it and his testimony is true; he knows he is telling the truth, so that you too may believe. This in fact happened so that the Scripture could be fulfilled: Not a single bone will be broken. And another passage of Scripture says again: “They will look at him whom they have pierced”» (GV 19,33-37).

The passage cited by John it belongs to a prophetic oracle that announced the salvation and eschatological restoration of Jerusalem (Zac 12-14). In the pericope, 12,10 – 13,1 – it tells of the mysterious death of a shepherd king who represents the future Messiah, God himself perceives himself wounded by this death, so he takes the lead by promising a good spirit and a bubbling fountain for their sin:

«I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and consolation: they will look at me, the one they pierced. They will mourn him as one mourns an only child, they will mourn him as one mourns the firstborn."(Zac 12,10).

Further on 13, 1:

"On that day there will be a spring for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to wash away sin and impurity".

To this verse you can add the text on living water from the next chapter: «On that day living waters will flow from Jerusalem and flow partly towards the eastern sea, part towards the western sea: there always will be, summer and winter. The Lord will be king of all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name will be one." (14, 8-9).

The application of these texts to Jesus on the cross it is clear. Jesus had announced that rivers of living water would flow from within him, in GV 7,38, and the Evangelist explained that he was saying this about the Spirit (7,39)[1].

In summary, the open source for the inhabitants of Jerusalem is the open side of Jesus; the living waters that come out of Jerusalem (Zechariah) for John they are the living waters that flow from within him, which is the new temple; these waters bring purification and life to the East and West. Here we have the theme of the universality of salvation, reported, in the story of the Passion, also from the title of the cross that said: «King of the Jews». Yet the writing was in Hebrew, Greek and Latin: therefore a kingship proclaimed to the whole world. Zechariah's last prophecy was also verified in this way where there is no longer any mention of a pierced shepherd, but of the Lord and his universal kingship in eschatological time: «He will be King of all the earth» (Zac 14,9). John therefore gives the scene of the cross a very broad salvific historical meaning, in full agreement with the other great theological times that are linked to this one verse 37 taken into consideration.

We could also cite two other passages of Scripture where we talk about the New Covenant. In the first, (Gives 31,33-34), this will no longer be reported on external stone tablets, but rather inscribed in the heart:

«This will be the alliance that I will conclude with the house of Israel after those days - oracle of the Lord - I will place my law within them, I will write it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they will be my people. They will no longer have to teach each other, saying: “Know the Lord”, because everyone will know me, from the least to the greatest - oracle of the Lord - for I will forgive their iniquity and will no longer remember their sin".

In the second, (This 36,25-27), reference is always made to the alliance, but sanctioned by the gift of a spirit, similar to water that purifies, hence also the gift of a new heart:

«I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be purified; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols, I will give you a new heart, I will put a new spirit within you, I will take away the heart of stone from you and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and will make you live according to my laws and will make you observe and put into practice my rules".

All this scriptural background it makes us understand what John meant when he reported the prophetic phrase: «They will look at the one they have pierced»; which is found only in his Gospel, at the end of a text that, as we have already highlighted, it is the favorite reference when we talk about devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These words summarize recognition and understanding[2] through the faith of that which dwelt in the depths of the heart of the dying Christ who "Having loved his own... to the end" and having now accomplished everything, expresses the internal desire to give the Spirit. Those who direct their gaze towards Jesus can no longer be the bystanders or soldiers who witnessed the crucifixion, but it is now the believing souls who penetrate and faithfully preserve the mystery of the love of Jesus, in a word his Heart.

Let's try to understand all this better, letting ourselves be guided by the literary structure of the Johannine passage which describes the moments before and after the death of Jesus on the cross. Of course we can only summarize so much. It allows us to highlight the presence of three binomials: «everything is finished» and «I am thirsty» al v. 28; "it is finished" and "he gave up the Spirit" of v. 30; finally «blood and water» of v. 34. Two thematic lines branch off from these three, towards which we need to direct our gaze of faith.

The first line we will call Christological it is drawn by expressions: "everything is done", "it is finished" and "blood". They represent the compendium of the saving work of Jesus. In this case the gaze turns backwards, to what has passed, to grasp in these words the total obedience of Jesus to the Father: he completed his work, until blood flows. But it is also a vision of the fulfillment of that saving love for us, that "until the end" of GV 13,1. So let's see here, in the open side of Christ, be his perfect oblation, that love to excess for us.

The second thematic line it is instead aimed at the future, to the life of the Church which, as we have tried to describe in a previous article, he is present there in the person of the beloved disciple and the Woman, the Mother of Jesus, called to a new spiritual motherhood towards believing disciples. This line, pneumatology, it is outlined by words: «On set», «gave up the Spirit» and «water».

The water that flows from the side of Christ it is a symbol of the gift of the Spirit and comes from Christ himself: it is he who "gave the Spirit"; it is from him that this desire originates: «On set». In fact, we note a significant difference between Zechariah's quote and the way John reports it in the Gospel. For John it is no longer a question of looking towards God, but towards "he", Christ, who was pierced. All the attention, that is, the believing gaze, she is focused on him and on the moment of the blood and water coming out of his underwear. Furthermore, the ancient prophecy spoke of repentance, which is left unsaid by Giovanni who prefers to concentrate on seeing.

There are many studies which confirm the different ways of seeing in the fourth Gospel and how, for John, the most perfect one is the seeing that understands the revealed mystery with faith and preserves it in the memory. We add that this seeing is aimed at the participation of the readers of the Gospel in the same experience, as John himself confesses in the first finale of his work: "These (signs) they were written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and why, believing, have life in his name" (GV 20, 31)[3].

So, Once again, the Evangelist writes to direct the reader from history to mystery. We see a pierced side, of the blood and water that come out and one contemplates the entire interior world of Christ and great themes, great theological depth, ecclesial and spiritual, nothing but magical-esoteric devotionism. The water from Jesus' side is a symbol of the Spirit that flows from his side, He becomes the new eschatological temple (cf.. This 47). At the same time the blood refers to his self-giving gift to the Father, to his finished work and his love for us. The gaze of faith that contemplates is the desire to participate in this entire interior world of Christ who is manifested.

In this passage Johannine there is no explicit mention of the heart, rather than the interiority of Jesus. It will be medieval mysticism that will identify this interior world as the heart of Christ and will make this passage of the pierced side the biblical text par excellence of the theology and spirituality of the Divine Heart of Jesus. Saint Ambrose said:

«Let the Church be introduced into the secret room of Christ...; the secret room of the Church is the Body of Christ; the King introduced it into all (its) mystery» (Sant'Ambrogio, In Ps. 218, 1,16 RUSE 62,16).

And William of Saint-Thierry:

«That through the open door we enter, all in one piece, into your heart, o Jesus... up to your holy soul"; asking the Savior: «To open the side of his body so that those who desire to see the secrets of the Son may enter» (William of Saint-Thierry, Meditative prayers, 6; PL 180, 226A).

Today, thanks to modern accurate exegesis, let's give these beautiful affirmations a solid evangelical basis and appreciate them better.

Having, Once again, summarized themes that would have needed a longer and more in-depth treatment, the intent of this contribution could be to arouse, after tasting, a real taste and interest. The intelligence of faith never ceases to delve into issues that are dear to the Christian people, even a devotion can become a door towards an ever broader and deeper understanding of the mysteries of God and faith. When the month of June approaches, traditionally dedicated to the Heart of Christ, let's give a new meaning to this devotion, to the prayers we will choose or the images we will share on social. For instance, the practice of the «first nine Fridays», after what has been said here, it is no longer simply the prayer and devotion of the individual, but should be thought of in the broader context of ecclesial communion and the Christian mystery, as we discovered when reflecting on the Gospel, thinking back to Jesus' gift of his life and his Spirit for all, not just for the individual soul.

These aspects were grasped by Pope John Paul II who expressed them in a public hearing. Twenty-five years have passed since those words that I now report below:

«The Evangelist speaks only of the spear blow to the side, from which blood and water flowed. The language of the description is almost medical, anatomical. The soldier's spear certainly struck the heart, to check if the Condemned Man was already dead. This heart – this human heart – has stopped working. Jesus ceased to live. At the same time, But, this anatomical opening of Christ's heart after death - despite all the historical "harshness" of the text - pushes us to think also on a metaphorical level. The heart is not just an organ that conditions the biological vitality of man. The heart is a symbol. It speaks of the whole inner man. It speaks of the spiritual interior of man. And tradition immediately reinterpreted this sense of John's description. The rest, in a sense, the Evangelist himself gave the impetus to this, When, referring to the testimony of the eyewitness who was himself, it was reported, at the same time, to this phrase of Holy Scripture: “They will look at him whom they have pierced” (GV 19,37; Zc 12,10). Like this, in reality, look at the Church; This is how he looks at humanity. And here, in Pierced by the Soldier's Lance all generations of Christians have learned and are learning to read the mystery of the Heart of the Crucified Man who was and is the Son of God". (Saint John Paul II, General audience of 20 June 1979).

I titled this contribution: The last devotion of Christ. For those who know about cinema, the reference to Martin Scorsese's film on Jesus is evident 1988: The last temptation of Christ. But just to say that, while cinematic fiction can also imagine that Christ was tempted to retreat from his path, the Gospel told us that He went all the way, with a devotion towards his mission that ultimately revealed what was inside his Heart full of love.

Sanluri 27 February 2024

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On Mount Tabor the disciples receive the revelation of the son of man in a form transfigured by divine light

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

ON MOUNT TABOR THE DISCIPLES RECEIVE THE REVELATION OF THE SON OF MAN IN A FORM TRANSFIGURED BY DIVINE LIGHT

In the evangelical narrative and in the Lenten journey, another framework is thus added which helps to answer the question we asked at the beginning: Who is he? Now it is the Father himself who reveals the profound identity of Jesus not only to those who witness it on the Mount of Transfiguration, but also to readers and believers in Christ: He is the Son. A theology very present in the Gospels that brings to mind what is written in the First Gospel, when Jesus says: “No one knows the Son except the Father”

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Embark on the Lenten journey it means asking ourselves again the fundamental question about Jesus: Who is he? In the same way as the disciples sitting on the boat tossed by the waves, figure of the Church in the post-Easter period, who woke up the sleeping Lord at the stern and when the storm was calmed they wondered: «So who is he?, that even the wind and the sea obey him?» (MC 4, 41). Mark's story of the Transfiguration that we read on this second Sunday of Lent seeks to answer this question.

The transfiguration of Christ, work by Giovanni Bellini, 1478. Capodimonte Museums, Naples.

"During that time, Jesus took Peter with him, James and John and led them to a high mountain, on the sidelines, them alone. He was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling, very white: no fuller on earth could make them so white. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Taking the floor, Peter said to Jesus: “Rabbi, it's nice for us to be here; let's make three huts, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah". In fact, he didn't know what to say, because they were scared. A cloud came and covered them with its shadow and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the beloved: listen!”. And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone, if not Jesus alone, with them. As they came down the mountain, he ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, except after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And they kept the matter between them, wondering what it meant to rise from the dead". (MC 9,2-10)

All three Synoptic Gospels they place the Transfiguration in the same context, that is, after Jesus' announcement of his passion. For the reader, a bridge is thus created between the public ministry of Jesus and the death that will take place in Jerusalem. But also a connection between today's proclamation of Jesus "Son of God", that is heard from the cloud, and two other similar ones. That of Baptism, When: «A voice was heard from heaven» saying «You are my beloved Son, I am pleased with you" (MC 1,11); and the other, which is found only in Mark, at the beginning of the Gospel, in the first verse of the first chapter: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God".

It is very likely that the episode narrated, originally, it was a story of the appearance of the Risen One, that Marco, who excluded such stories from his narration, would have placed it at the center of the Gospel, immediately after Peter's messianic confession, to balance the announcement of the death destiny of the Son of man (MC 8, 31) with the proleptic vision of his glorification (MC 9, 2-13). A choice that would also have determined its placement in Matthew and Luke. Supporting this hypothesis is the fact that throughout the three stories the disciples' misunderstanding of Jesus remains intact., despite some having witnessed such a sensational event. While, placed after his death, the story takes on a crucial meaning. It's the turning point. The three disciples receive the revelation of the Son of man in a form transfigured by divine light. After his death, they have the vision of Jesus placed on the same level as Moses and Elijah, that is, of two biblical figures already raised to celestial glory, and they hear the proclamation of his divine election, the same one that resonates at the moment of baptism. Finally the disciples "know" who Jesus is, and it is in the light of this understanding that the historical and initial episode of baptism takes on its "true" meaning of divine investiture.

In the verse preceding the scene of the Transfiguration that today we read in the Liturgy Jesus says to his disciples: ' Verily I say: there are some present here, who will not die without seeing the kingdom of God come with power" (MC 9,1). Six days after this announcement Jesus brings Peter, James and John with him on a high mountain, in a secluded place, and is transfigured before them. The episode is not only described by all three Synoptic Gospels, but also from the Second Letter of Peter. There the Apostle recalls and writes that he was an eyewitness of the greatness of Jesus:

«He in fact received honor and glory from God the Father when this voice was addressed to him by the majestic glory: “This is my beloved Son, in which I am pleased". We heard this voice coming down from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain." (2PT 1,16-18).

Unlike Baptism, where the voice that proclaims Jesus "Son" seems to have been heard only by Him, in the Transfiguration the words are addressed to the disciples, who cannot ignore them: «Listen to him». It is in fact important that at the moment in which Jesus announces his passion the idea that God will not abandon his Son is reiterated, even if he will be handed over for crucifixion. This will not cloud the Father's faithfulness, so that even the harsh announcement of the passion and death are within the Gospel, they are the good news that the reader needs to be aware of, in the same way as the disciples who had that experience.

Pietro, together with his companions, he is the one who needs to listen to Jesus more than anyone. After the confession of Caesarea Philippi, he demanded to stand in front of him to avoid his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is why Jesus calls Peter "Satan" (MC 8,33), but then invites him to go up the mountain with him. In other words, here we are faced with the reaction of God to Peter's disbelief. Not only. If the disciples must prepare for the passion of their master, Jesus also needs instructions to undertake "his exodus", as he will specify Luke in 9,31: Moses had led the Jews out of Egypt, Elijah had retraced his steps, and now the Messiah, helped by those who have lived a similar experience of suffering and liberation, he will be able to go decisively towards Jerusalem.

The traditional interpretation of the presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain he says, indeed, that they would represent the torah e i Propheti, that is, all Scripture before Jesus. But today we rather think that the meaning of their presence is important if it refers to what Jesus is experiencing at the moment he climbs that mountain. Moses and Elijah experienced events comparable to Peter's reaction to the announcement of Jesus' passion mentioned above. The analogy between the events is given by the way in which Jesus interprets Peter's refusal: like a new temptation, similar to those at the beginning of his ministry; thus Moses experienced the golden calf and Elijah experienced the flight towards Horeb. These two events took place right on a mountain, after a failure of the people of Israel who had, in the first case, built an idol and, in the second, supported the priests of Baal against whom Elijah had to fight. In the face of these two disappointments, both Moses and Elijah ask God to die (cf.. Is 32,32; 1Re 19,4), ma, in response, instead, both are granted the vision of God. Moses, scared, But, he hides in the cliff (Is 33,21-22), and Elijah covers his face (1Re 19,13). While then they did not see God, now they finally stand before Jesus, in his glory and no longer veil their faces; they are no longer afraid of him, because «Jesus, the "beloved Son" of the Father (MC 9,7), "the chosen one" (LC 9,35), he is himself the visibility of the Father: «Who saw me, he saw the Father" (GV 14,9). In him Moses and Elijah meet, they see Jesus in glory, and they bring him their comfort. At the end, the Father confirms to the three disciples, Peter included, the path that Jesus will have to take" (M. Gilbert).

In the evangelical narrative and in the Lenten journey thus another framework is added that helps to answer the question we asked at the beginning: Who is he? Now it is the Father himself who reveals the profound identity of Jesus not only to those who witness it on the Mount of Transfiguration, but also to readers and believers in Christ: He is the Son. A theology very present in the Gospels that brings to mind what is written in the First Gospel, when Jesus says: “No one knows the Son except the Father” (Mt 11,27).

From the Hermitage, 24 February 2024

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

 

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Gestures and words, about the liturgy. Let's break a spear in favor of “Kiss me Tucho”, anche se pare avere dimenticato la Redemptionis Sacramentum

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GESTURES AND WORDS, ABOUT THE LITURGY. LET'S BREAK A SPEAR IN FAVOR OF "KISS ME TUCHO”, EVEN IF HE SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THERE THE SACRAMENT OF REDEMPTION

Many, to put it mildly, they turned up their noses when the Pontiff chose the current Prefect. There was no shortage of criticism. By responding with respect and to lighten up the whole discussion so far with a joke, we could remember the saying that goes: «Even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day»

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By a curious law of retaliation many who had rejoiced at the publication of Begging for confidence, confused and ambiguous statement from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published on 18 December last year, before which entire episcopates rose up, they felt like arguing with the most recent Note from the same Dicastery on the validity of the Sacraments of 2 February of this year and entitled: By gestures and words.

The question arises spontaneously: In the 2004 the Instruction was published Sacramentum which is a masterpiece of sacramental theology, of discipline of the Sacraments and liturgical pastoral care. Education that, according to what continued to happen in our churches, it was beautifully ignored by armies of creative priests and lay movements who continued undaunted to create their own personalized liturgies, Neocatechumenals in the head, all in total carelessness and lack of vigilance on the part of the bishops, although the document speaks very clearly in its final conclusion:

«This Instruction, drafted, by order of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was approved by the Pontiff himself on 19 March 2004, on the solemnity of St. Joseph, who ordered its publication and immediate compliance by all those responsible ".

Why not call for compliance with this instruction, so well made and detailed, if anything, establishing precise sanctions for anyone who disregarded the provisions given? Because this is the underlying problem that has characterized the last fifty years of life of a Church that asks, exhorts, instructs and recommends, but it still looks good, in these documents, to establish precise sanctions for violators. Not only: in 64 reminder notes of By gestures and words the Sacramentum it has never been recalled and cited once, something objectively serious.

As even the stones now know the first aforementioned Declaration, in the broader context of the meaning to be given to blessings in the Church, it opened up the possibility of spontaneously blessing couples in irregular situations and of the same sex. Something that for many bishops and priests of the various regions of Northern Europe was not necessary, they've been doing it arbitrarily for years. This controversial Declaration provides for Blessings to be given in places and in ways that are not in any way similar to those given to regular couples, ma: «In other contexts, such as a visit to a sanctuary, the meeting with a priest, the prayer recited in a group or during a pilgrimage. Indeed, through these blessings which are imparted not through the ritual forms of the liturgy, but rather as an expression of the maternal heart of the Church, similar to those that emanate from the depths of popular piety, it is not intended to legitimize anything but only to open one's life to God, ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values ​​of the Gospel can be lived with greater fidelity" (no 40).

So far everyone is happy, at least the supporters of this opening, as if we had previously withheld blessings from individuals, especially to those who lived in irregular conditions, or who were guilty of the most serious sins and crimes.

Ironically, precisely those who had rejoiced before the Begging for Confidence, shortly afterwards they launched into harsh criticism regarding the Note of 2 February, Gestures and words, because it uses traditional language in defining what is needed for a Sacrament to be valid, as well as lawful. The criticism, in particular, points out the insistent use of the terms "form" and "matter" used by the Note as irreplaceable components of every celebration of the Sacraments, together with the intention of the celebrant. Criticism that concerns the disconnection of these three constitutive elements from the entire celebration of the Sacrament, by the subjects who participate in it and by the various signs that intervene, which they should be, by their very constitutionality, significant e, how do you say, speakers. The wavy notes, so, refer to the way in which the Note does not examine the entirety of the Sacrament celebrated e, as a return wave, they also pour onto the Begging for confidence, as there: «…A blessing without form (without space, time, words, all over) It's nonsense." (cf.. See WHO).

It's not up to me to defend myself of a strategic Dicastery such as that for the Doctrine of the Faith. But, reading and rereading that Note comes to mind «Ockham's Razor» which could be summarized more or less like this: «All things being equal, the simplest explanation is the one to prefer"; or even «Do not consider plurality if it is not necessary».

this Note, and in the accompanying letter from the Prefect, than in his body itself, remember that they were detected by Cardinals and Bishops, and therefore requested clarifications, on the serious changes made to the matter and form of the Sacraments, effectively rendering them null and void. It would be enough to read the few clues and examples, sometimes bizarre and curious, to which the Prefect refers to understand the simple purpose of the Note itself: call everyone to a correct celebration of the Sacraments, loyal, ecclesial. That if they are granted, where permitted by the Episcopal Conferences, spaces of creativity, these do not instead become an invention that actually arbitrarily manipulates the celebrated Sacrament.

It is from this background and that is from the concern of the Pastors of the Churches, that the Note must be read. Which then summarizes what is needed for a Sacrament to be valid, recalling the traditional doctrine, which is true, in its salient features it dates back to the Council of Trent which Vatican II took up and reworked in harmony with everything that the Church in the meantime, in quell’assise, rediscovered about herself and how she intended to present herself to today's world.

It is no coincidence that the Note takes its inspiration from the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium to remember that the Council: «It analogically refers the notion of Sacrament to the entire Church». And from The light which states about the Church that the latter is: «In Christ as Sacrament, that is, a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the entire human race". And this is achieved mainly through the Sacraments, in each of which the sacramental nature of the Church is realized in its own way, Body of Christ... The Church is aware of this, since its origins, he took particular care of the sources from which he draws the lifeblood for his existence and his testimony: God's Word, attested by the sacred Scriptures and Tradition, and the Sacraments, celebrated in the liturgy, through which it is continually brought back to the mystery of Christ's Easter" (cf.. no. 6, 7 e 10).

For the magnitude of it all the church, if he says, receives the Sacraments, who administered, but she is not the owner of it. Which instead seems to have happened with the creative variations of various ministers and various lay movements. It is only at this point that the Note briefly recalls - it is not a treatise on liturgy - what are the essential elements. First of all, the "form" of the Sacrament which corresponds to the words that accompany the matter, transcends it, conveying the Christian meaning, salvific and ecclesial of what is being accomplished in the celebration. Therefore the "matter" of the Sacrament which instead consists in human action, through which Christ acts. Sometimes there is a material element in it (water, pane, vino, oil), other times a particularly eloquent gesture (sign of the cross, laying on of hands, immersion, infusion, consent, anointing). This corporeality appears indispensable because it roots the Sacrament not only in human history, but also, more fundamentally, in the symbolic order of Creation and leads it back to the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption carried out by Him (cf.. no 13).

Finally, the "intention" of those who celebrate, which has nothing to do with his morality and faith, rather with the conviction to accomplish: «At least what the Church does» (Council of Trent). This provision removes the celebrant from the automatism and possible arbitrariness of the individual, since this exquisitely human act is also ecclesial. Internal and subjective act yes, which, however, manifesting itself in the Sacrament, it becomes of the entire ecclesial community and: «For what the Church does is nothing other than what Christ instituted, also the intention, together with matter and form, contributes to making the sacramental action the extension of the saving work of the Lord" (cf.. no 18).

In this regard the Church he has prepared the liturgical books which must not be altered or used at will, rather faithfully observed in the words and even in the gestures indicated in them. They provide spaces for creativity and the Episcopal Conferences of the various countries have prepared possible adaptations and variations that correspond to the sensitivity and situation of the participants. Think of celebrations with children, for instance, to the various Eucharistic canons prepared for them and approved by the CEI.

The Note also reminds, and this seems to respond to the critical notes, that: «Materia, form and intention are always inserted into the context of the liturgical celebration, which does not constitute a decorated ceremonial of the Sacraments and not even a didactic introduction to the reality that takes place, but overall it is the event in which the personal and community encounter between God and us continues to take place, in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, meeting in which, through the mediation of sensitive signs, «perfect glory is given to God and men are sanctified». The necessary concern for the essential elements of the Sacraments, on which their validity depends, it must therefore accord with the care and respect of the entire celebration, in which the meaning and effects of the Sacraments are made fully intelligible by a multiplicity of gestures and words, thus favoring theactive participation of the faithful (cf.. no 20).

In this context all the importance of liturgical presidency and the art of celebrating is included. These require knowledge of the theological reasons behind them, like those to act, when it is celebrated, In persona Christi e In the name of the church. As well as knowledge of liturgical books and theirs To be noted which are often skipped over because they are boring. But what if we wanted to make a comparison, which I hope doesn't seem out of place, between celebrating and sporting gesture, we can see how the latter is effective if it is backed by good knowledge and implementation of the so-called fundamentals. A champion, especially those disciplines that require repeated, identical and precise gestures, a lot of time passes, years even, to study, to train and then express themselves with an ease that amazes. A very difficult athletic gesture that we see performed, during an Olympics for example, It required considerable preparation, yet it seems simple and natural to us.

To conclude, I know many, to put it mildly, they turned up their noses when the Pontiff chose the current Prefect. There was no shortage of criticism. By responding with respect and to lighten up the whole discussion so far with a joke, we could remember the saying that goes: «Even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day». But, honestly, this Note sounds good this time. There is nothing objectionable about it, if the intention is precisely to invite us to safeguard and present such a precious asset in a dignified and ecclesial way. In fact, this is how it ends:

"We […] we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that it appears that this extraordinary power belongs to God, and it doesn't come from us" (2Color 4, 7). The antithesis used by the Apostle to underline how the sublimity of God's power is revealed through the weakness of his ministry as an announcer also describes well what happens in the Sacraments. The whole Church is called to safeguard the richness contained in them, so that the primacy of God's saving action in history is never obscured, despite the fragile mediation of signs and gestures typical of human nature" (no 28).

Florence, 21 February 2024

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