“To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Mt 13:12)
This passage from the Gospel of Matthew is part of the parable of the sower. The seed is the Word. The Word is not just something added to man, something which man can do without. The earth (the human creature) and the seed (the Word) in fact were created one for the another. It makes no sense to think of the seed without a relationship with the soil. And the soil without the seed is an uninhabitable desert. Man as we know him, if he cuts off all relations with the Word becomes an arid steppe. The Word is just right for the land. It meets and crosses the aspirations of man, his problems, his sins, his longing for salvation, his accomplishments in the personal and social fields.
And Who is this Word? It is Jesus, the Word that has made His dwelling among us. In the word of Jesus is present Jesus Himself Who speaks, Who speaks to us. And so we meet Him in the Word. And receiving the Word in our hearts, as He wants it to be received (that is, being ready to translate it into life), we are one with Him and He is born and grows in us, and so "we are". But for this we must live the Word, make it our own, we set aside ourselves for the Word; to put it above our thoughts, our affections. And with the Word, blooms the Christian community.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
The words of the Gospel continue to make us wonder, especially regarding the "giving".
And so to make available the most immediate and effective practical help we created a site on the Internet. We called it "electronic sharing." There appears a list of offerings: clothing, tools, rental houses, available lessons, possibilities for holidays ... and a list of needs. This simple tool has proven very useful, we have been able to help many people.
For example, a woman abandoned by her husband, with two sons, underpaid work, poor health, needed a car to go to work.
A family discovered this need by way of the "electronic sharing" and offered their car at a very affordable price. Other families offered a contribution to buy the car which was then fixed up. Within a few days the car was delivered and a party was held. Emotion and gratitude. Actually, even that lady offered a contribution to those who find themselves in difficulty.
J. T., Hungary
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
John 6:27
“Do not work for food
that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life, which
the Son of Man will give you.” (Jn.6:27)
The
feast of the Body of Christ runs a risk:
that Jesus offered to us today as Bread, might be admired,
contemplated, adored along the streets and squares, but then He
remains closed in the monstrance and tabernacle.
But Jesus says:
“take and eat”! So how should we live
concretely the gift of the Eucharist?
We need to take and
eat. That is transform ourselves into
Jesus, to be Him. To live not for ourselves, but that Jesus might be,
live and work among Christians.
Christians then,
among themselves, if they want to be
totally committed, must conduct themselves as members of one body.
But this is not enough. During the day this communion must become
concrete in social relations in a spiritual communion in actions and
material goods.
This applies
for Christians. But for those who do not communicate in the sacrament
of the Body of Christ? We ourselves must be communion for them with
our body: by loving we give Jesus.
Indeed, allowing
ourselves to be "eaten" by others, we make ourselves
Eucharist for them. Letting ourselves to be eaten means to be people
who do not impose themselves, but who make themselves one with
everyone, suffering with those who suffer, rejoicing with those who
rejoice, participating in the life, problems, struggles, and joys of
others.
In a continual
giving of love they make of themselves a bridge between Jesus and
humanity so that the invitation of Jesus will reach the others: “Take
and eat, this is My Body!”.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
At work something
that always saddened me a lot was to see that, when a reprimand was
to be given, it was done before everyone; in fact it happened that a
coworker was reprimanded in the department.
I always asked Jesus
that there might be a good time to do
something about this. Sometime ago there was a trade union meeting
and at the end of a talk of a union organizer he asked if there were
any questions or problems to deal with. It was the opportune moment
to intervene. And so I raised my hand and I explained my point of
view, saying that I had witnessed reproaches made to colleagues in
public and with offensive words and I saw it was not right: if a
colleague had worked badly or had made a mistake, it was the duty of
the manager to let him know, but it should have taken place between
them.
My words caused a
general murmur of approval. A few days after our union rep told me
that my speech was very important; she knew
that they had spoken at the summit and we both noted that afterwards
we did not witness a similar scene. She once said: "I willing
talk with you because you are a humane and fair person. I was once
like you too; I tried to help everyone, then I saw that when I myself
needed help no one did anything, so now I just mind my own business.
I listened to
her trying to "make myself one" and I sensed that there was
a lot of suffering under her words. I told her that I understood
because I had to face in life many trials, but one thing I was
certain: to turn ones back on people was not the right solution to be
well.
(Daniela, VR)
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Luke 12:49
“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and
would that it were already kindled!” (Lk 12:49).
Immediately after
these words in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus continues: “I have a baptism to be
baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!” (v.50). The fire may be the purifying Holy Spirit or
charity. The baptism is the baptism of blood of the Passion (cf. Mk 10:39). This
fire of the Holy Spirit, of true charity, is set aflame only through “the
baptism” of the sufferings in our lives embraced out of love in union with
Jesus on the cross. Paul said: “Indeed I count
everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord” (Phil 3:8).
We do not lose
our lives for Jesus, or better, we do not find ourselves in Him only through
martyrdom, but also by doing His will with love moment by moment.
Pius XI, speaking
of the life of St. Therese, entirely spent for love, defined her life as “daily
martyrdom”, a witness of heroic love. Those who train everyday in this
martyrdom of love find themselves prepared, if they might be asked, to undergo martyrdom
of blood: all this in order to find themselves in Jesus.
Three butterflies
desired one day to draw closer to the fire to understand it. Stopping to
observe one of them said: “It is something that gives light.” The second,
feeling the heat, said: “It's something that warms.” But the third one took off
in flight, went deep into it and became of itself a living flame. It alone understood
what really is the fire!
If salt does not
accept to be dissolved, it would not be worth anything; if wood does not accept
to be burned, it would not give heat and would rot needlessly. “Whoever loses
his life for My sake shall find it”.
A song is not a
song until it is sung; a bell is not a bell until it is rung. By its very
nature, love is not love until it is given away!
From the pierced
heart of Jesus gushed forth, as two rivers, blood and water, figures of baptism
and the Eucharist. By living these two sacraments, which makes us children of God
and one in body with Jesus, we can enter the heart of Christ and, through Him, into
the abyss of love of the Trinity.
This transformation
process takes place each time, while making ourselves empty in order to love, we
become capable of receiving the gift of Jesus in every neighbor we encounter.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
Every act of love
turns on a light. If then this takes place in the deepest darkness of hatred, then
it provokes an explosion of light. Today, in our
modern secular culture, there is less true Christian love than every
before.
George Bielecki, a
prisoner of Auschwitz, wrote about what happened when Father Kolbe offered his
own life to save a prisoner condemned to death:
“It was a huge
shock for the whole prison camp. We realized that someone among us, in that
dark spiritual night of the soul, had raised the measure of love to the highest
peak. A stranger, one like everyone else, tortured and deprived of his name and
social condition, offered himself to a horrible death to save someone who was
not even related to him. Thousands of prisoners convinced themselves that the
world continued to exist and that our torturers could not destroy it. More than
one individual started to seek this truth within themselves, to find it and to share
it with other comrades in the prison camp.
To say that
Father Kolbe died for one of us or for the family of that person would be an
understatement. His death was the salvation of thousands of human lives. And in
this, I could say, lies the greatness of that death. And as long as we live, we
who were at Auschwitz, will bow our heads in memory of what had happened. That was
a shock to us that brought back to us optimism, that regenerated us and gave us
strength; we were dumbfounded by his gesture, which became for us a powerful burst
of light capable of illuminating the dark night of the prison camp…”
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
John 15:3
You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. (Jn 15:3)
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/04/01/aprile-2012/)
One finds this verse in the passage where Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). These disciples of Jesus "have already been cleansed" because they live the word of Jesus, each one individually and together as a community.
The true vineyard is the community of those who adhere to Jesus, as the branches to the stump. Only he who remains united to Jesus, as the vine to the branches, belongs to the Father's vineyard. The disciple who follows Jesus is called, every day, to give his response to the Word, and in this way is grafted into Jesus. The Word of Jesus, accepted and lived, is like a seed of rebirth, like a germ of life, destined to grow incessantly in those who live it. An ever greater fidelity to the Word is the condition of every apostolic activity. The branch can have apostolic power only to the point that it is rooted in the Lord, bearing witness to Him in sorrows, trials and even death. This indwelling of Christ is a strong and courageous, manly and daily faithfulness. Because this fidelity of the disciple is guaranteed by the faithfulness of the Lord: "I in him."
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
Simone Weil, a Jewish converted to Christianity, looking one day at the tall and slender plants, with long and leafy branches, commented that these branches, flooded with sunlight, by way of the phenomenon of chlorophyll, transmitted the lifeblood to the whole plant and thus the roots branched deep into the earth. Concluding her paper, Simone Weil posed a question: "But the plants, then, where do they have their roots, in the earth or in heaven?". And she herself replied: "In Heaven". And she concluded: "So too we have our roots in heaven, and the more one is rooted in God, so much the more one becomes man and so much the more one enters into humanity and becomes companion to each man.”
Thursday, March 1, 2012
John 6:68
‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (Jn 6:68)
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/03/01/marzo-2012/)
How many words we hear in a day! There are simple and difficult words, those for love or for hate, those which soothe or make angry. There are tender words or words of reproach. There are words that are imprinted in the memory, which enter into the heart, others that slip away and that we forget quickly. Jesus, after the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, turns to the crowd with a long speech. In the first part He speaks of the mystery of His Person. In the second part Jesus pauses to talk about the bread of the Eucharist. And He identifies Himself with this Food: it is He, Jesus, the living Bread. He who eats It deeply unites himself to God and can live for God Himself.
The listeners were surprised and found it difficult to receive these words. This is why so many leave. Jesus sees the uncertainty of faith even among the twelve. Jesus asks them also to take a position. Peter responds on behalf of the friends with an authentic profession and experience of Christian faith: he recognizes and testifies that only the revelation of Jesus can lead into the divine life: "You have words of eternal life," of the fullness of life. The words of Jesus are words of life. Not only because they can be put into practice, but also because when you live the words your life takes on a particular fullness. We learn to hear the word of God, distinguishing it from a thousand other words that pass by. It is the Word of a Father Who wants the good of the children and this is why He gives us words that give meaning to daily life.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
I went many times to visit Franca in prison. Her pain, her anguish, within the walls of the prison grew every day. I just felt helpless, but every now and then I could give her a bit 'of serenity.
One day she said to me: "I like you because you are like me ".
She had expressed the desire to come to our home during the periods of leave. We talked with the children and together we received her with joy. There was with us, at that time, our mother, rather ill, and it was surprising to see how she knew how to console Franca.
Then there was a special Christmas; Franca was already at our house when we received the news of the arrival of my brother with his whole family.
Knowing his way of thinking I was afraid that the presence of Franca would upset him. Instead, seeing our willingness and the joy that Mom felt in helping the unfortunate girl, after a first moment of surprise, he was taken up by the climate of solidarity without judgment. Franca had found the warmth of a family.
N.S., Italia
P.s.
I highly recommend reading the book:
The True Devotion To Mary,
By St. Louis De Montfort.
(http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/secret-mary.htm).
In particular read paragraphs 47-59 for our very particular period of time in the history of the world and of the Church.
Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote about this book:
“The reading of this book was a decisive turning point in my life. I say ‘turning point,’ but in fact it was a long inner journey… This ‘perfect devotion’ is indispensable to anyone who means to give himself without reserve to Christ and to the work of redemption.” “It is from Montfort that I have taken my motto: ‘Totus tuus’ (‘I am all thine’). Someday I’ll have to tell you Montfortians how I discovered De Montfort’s ‘Treatise on True Devotion To Mary’, and how often I had to reread it to understand it.”
Friday, February 3, 2012
Mark 1:15
Repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mk 1:15)
(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/02/01/febbraio-2012/)
In the primitive Church Lent was a precious time dedicated to the “catechumenate”, that is to the preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism at the Easter Vigil. Also for us who have already received the gift of the Christian life, Lent is a precious moment to reflect on the received gift, not only to “feel” part of the baptized people, but especially to “live” as baptized people.
This is what it means to “repent”, to overturn our hearts, that is, to go to God with a “new heart”. Conversion is not just about a pagan who embraces the faith in Christ the Savior, but every Christian, in fact the more one is holy, feels even more the need to go to God with the “heart renewed”. To this we are invited in the walk of forty days, helped by the gift of the word of God, because it becomes life of our life, similar to how bread that we eat becomes our flesh.
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
I CONDEMNED A DEAD MAN
I committed a big error. I knew that John had died in a sad shameful way: after a night out in drunkenness with prostitutes. He was rich, he had a wife and children, but he also had some really bad habits.
Today will be held the funeral. They called me to bless the body. I said that I would not go. Because of the life that he lived up to the last moment – I replied – he did not deserve the blessing of the Church. I felt I had to defend justice, to give a good example to the people, to do, you might say, my duty.
I was left alone; I did not have peace. I asked myself what would Jesus have done in my place and I was ashamed of myself. In this moment of sorrow, while the wife and the children are crying because there is no longer Dad because he left in that way, I, who could bring a little relief, I condemned a dead man! I know this man from the outside; only God knows him from the inside. I am not his judge, but Jesus Who for him poured out His Blood! That night I was not able to sleep.
The next day I went to find the widow and the children. I asked for their pardon and we made a date for the funeral
Father E. P. (Italy)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Colossians 3:1
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (
An icon of the Eastern Churches depicts the Risen Christ that breaks down, in a powerful way, the door that holds the dead prisoners. The hinges and even the nails fly in every direction. Jesus stretches out His arms: with one hand He pulls out Adam, and with the other Eve. In the first human couple is represented humanity snatched from death and brought into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
Jesus with His death descended into the abyss of our anguish, of our death, of our sin, to raise us up to heaven. Being incorporated as members, in Him, we already participate in His resurrection, and we are already risen in him, in the heart of the Trinity. But, while we are itinerants on the earth, the work of sanctification continues unrelentingly. Every day we see the gap between "what is above" and our fragility that leads us to give up. "Up there" sin and death can no longer enter and the Father's will is perfectly done. Instead, as long as we are on this earth, we are exposed to thousands of difficulties and temptations that can slow or even divert our path toward false goals.
Knowing the struggle that is in us,
- - - - - - -
An Experience of Life:
Twenty years, and the belief that to live my life meant to do whatever I liked. A circle of friends beyond the limits of legality: drugs, disco, hooliganism, clashes with the police, the thirst for money and power, fights between rival gangs.
My brother had started at that time to hang around with new friends who immediately struck me: they had between them a relationship very different from what I had lived with my gang and they lived taking seriously the words of Jesus. God for me was nothing and those guys intrigued me, but I could not understand them: I watched them so that later I could have a good laugh with my friends.
Then, the accident: a car struck me while I was on a motorcycle going to the disco. The drama of a moment: if my life had ended, what was left in my hands? I in a flash there appeared to me all of the futility of my years spent chasing nothing, that left me nothing. And a suddenly flash: a trip to the mountains many years before, a person who had proposed that I entrust my life to God. By now it was too late to do it, or perhaps God had accepted that prayer?
At the hospital, none of my friends ever came to see me. Instead the girl friend of my brother came immediately and stayed by me all the days of hospitalization. With her, slowly, was born a friendship and deep esteem and I discovered that her God-Love could transform and enrich even my life.
"Love one another as I have loved you," Jesus repeated even to me: it was a radical revolution. In my heart I said yes. I drastically decided to get out of the gang. It was not easy. But there were my new friends to support me and the personal love of God to give me strength. I felt reborn and the Gospel indicated to me, step by step, the way to go.
Susy F.,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)