Meditation

Jesus' call to communion and to the mission requires our participation in its very same nature; it is closeness where to get ourselves in. Jesus does not vindicate him as the milestone of our prayer and of our love. He thanks the Father and constantly lives in his presence. 

Jesus' response shows the absurdity of the argument from those contradicting him. Besides, this answer means for us a call to unity, to the strength meant by that unity. Disunity is an evil and destructive yeast instead. One of the evil signs is, precisely, division and making us unable to understand each other. 
 

As Saint John Paul II reminded us, God wants to get closer to man. God wants to address him his words, to show him his face for He is seeking closeness with him. This becomes a reality with the people of Israel, people chosen by God to receive his words. 
 

In actual fact, man either refuses to forgive or miserly measures out his forgiveness. Who would actually say that we have just received from God an infinitely reiterated and limitless forgiveness…? The parable says: “Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.” (Mt 18, 27). And this, despite the fact his debt was very big.
 

Jesus is the Prophet par excellence, the long awaited Savior; in Him all prophecies are fulfilled. But, just as it did happen at the time of Elijah and Elisha, Jesus is not “well accepted” among their own, for those who are filled with anger “rose up, drove him out of the town” (Lk 4, 29).
 

Even today Jesus continues to “thirst”, namely, to desire humanity “thirst” for our faith and love, “thirst” for our response of faith before so many Lenten invitations to conversion, to change, to reconcile to God and our brothers, to prepare ourselves, as much as we can, to receive a new life of resurrection in the nearing Easter.
 

The protagonist is always the Father. Let's beg the desert of Lent to take us to internalize this appeal to participate in the divine compassion, as life is nothing but gradually returning to the Father.
 

This new Israel is the Church, all the baptized. We have received in the person of Jesus and in his message, a most unique gift we must make bear fruit. We cannot resign ourselves to an individualist and shortsighted experience of our faith; we must transmit it and give it to anyone who may come close. 

The contrast between the rich and the poor is very strong. The luxury of the rich and his indifference to the plight of poor Lazarus lying at his door, his pathetic situation, even when dogs used to come and lick his sores (cf. Lk 16,19-21). It all has a deep realism introducing us into the scene.
 

We have a natural tendency towards a desire to dominate or subjugate things and people, to command and to order, to have things done as per our wishes, to have others accept our status, our position. But, now, Jesus is proposing to us just the opposite: “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant” (Mt 20,26-27). 
 

For our behavior to fit with that of our Lord Jesus, a gesture of humility is fundamental, as Pope Emeritus Benedict said: “I recognize myself for what I am, a frail creature, made from earth and destined to return to earth, yet also made in the image of God and destined for him”.
 

When Jesus says: “Do not judge”, Jesus is not prohibiting the exercise of our faculty of discernment, nor are we asked to approve everything that our brother does. What He is forbidding is to attribute an evil intention to the person for acting thus. Only God knows what is in the heart of a person;...
 

Today on our journey to Easter Time, the liturgy of the word shows us the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Although there is a liturgical day in our calendar reserved for this celebration (August 6th), we are now invited to contemplate the very same scene intimately linked to the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord.
 

Love has its foundation and reaches its highest form in God's love in Christ. We are invited to a dialogue with God. We exist for the love of God, Who created us, and for the love of God which keeps us, “for man would not exist were he not created by God's love and constantly preserved by it; and he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and...

As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote, “If we want to present ourselves to him, we must also take a step towards meeting one another. To do this we must learn the great lesson of forgiveness: we must not let the gnawing of resentment work in our soul, but must open our hearts to the magnanimity of listening to others, open our hearts to understanding them,...

We, sometimes, fail to see God's concern for us, for we find our prayers seemingly unanswered or may even feel God does not love us. In such moments, it will do us good to remember this advice from Saint Jerome: “It is certain God gives to he who asks, that he who seeks finds, and that he who knocks will be opened...
 

A week ago, on Ash Wednesday, we covered ourselves in ashes and heard individually the words of Jesus' first homily, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (cf. Mk 1, 15). The question for us is: Have we responded yet with deep conversion like the Ninevites and embraced that Gospel?
 

During Lent, the Church is asking us to go deeper in our prayers. Saint John Chrysostom says: “The prayer, our conversation with God, is our best treasure, because it means… being united to him.” Oh Lord! I need to learn how to pray and how to draw specific benefits for my own life. 

The IV Lateran Council defines the Final Judgement as a truth of faith: “He will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, to render to every person according to his works, both to the reprobate and to the elect… so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be good or bad;...
 

Today, we celebrate the first Sunday of Lent, and this “strong” liturgical time is a spiritual path leading us to participate in the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. Saint John Paul II said “Each year, the Lenten Season is set before us as a good opportunity for the intensification of prayer and penance,...
 

Today we see how Lent is moving forward and the strength of the conversion our Lord summons us to. The figure of the apostle and evangelist Matthew is very representative of those of us who think that, because of our background, or because of our personal sins or complicated life, we are unworthy of our Lord.
 

Saint John Paul II used to write us a message for Lent every year. One of these messages under the motto “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20, 35); helped us to discover the very same charitable dimension of our fasting, which, from the bottom of our heart, allows us to prepare for Easter Time, in an effort to identify ourselves, more and more,..
 

Our Lord's words, closing today's Gospel, tremendously shook Saint Ignatius and sparked off his conversion: “What would happen if I would do just as Saint Francis and Saint Dominic did?” If only, in this Lent, the same words would help us to reach our conversion, too...!
 

Benedict XVI claimed that helping the needy is a duty of justice, even before an act of charity: “Charity goes beyond justice (…); but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting”. We should never forget that we are not the absolute owners of the goods we possess, but only their administrators. 

With delicate patience, Jesus adds: let him be last of all and servant of all. We have to look for the simple and small, because the Lord identified Himself with them. We have to receive Jesus in our life; thus, we shall be opening the doors to the very same God. It is like programming our life to keep on going.
 

Prayer is the “intimate” dialogue with God. Saint John Paul II affirmed that “Prayer always brings with it a type of interior hiddenness with Christ in God. Only in this hiddenness do we see the workings of the Holy Spirit.” 
 

Pope Benedict XIV tells us, "it is only through service to others that opens my eyes as to what God does for me and to how much He loves me". Jesus gives us a law whereby justice is infinite, whereby evil is not defeated by causing more hurt, but by expelling it entirely from our lives, thereby reducing its hold on us.
 

Our Christian lives have also an aim uncovered by our Lord Jesus Christ: to enjoy God's unfailing love forever and ever. But this target will not be lacking in moments of sacrifice and crucial pains. However, we have to remember the live message of today's Gospel: in this apparent blind alley which, so often, seems to be our life, because of our fidelity to God,...

Saint Augustine also has his famous lesson: “Animam salvasti, animam tuam praedestinasti”, which could be translated as: “He who dedicates himself with true zeal to the salvation of souls has thus good reasons to hope for eternal life.” The invitation is quite clear.
 

We, Christians, must discover our identity and prove our own faith through being good examples with our life. This duty is an urgent task to transmit a clear and understandable message to our brothers and sisters, who will find in Jesus that Word of Life bestowing meaning to what they may think, say or do.