READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Second Book of Chronicles 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy. Their enemies burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects. Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons until the kingdom of the Persians came to power. All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: “Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.”
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!”
Second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians Eph 2:4-10
Brothers and sisters: God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —, raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to John Jn 3:14-21
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Jesus wept not only for Jerusalem, but for all of us. He gives His life so that we might recognize his visitation. St. Augustine said a word, a very strong sentence: ‘I am afraid of God, of Jesus, when He passes!’ But why are you afraid? ‘I’m afraid I will not recognize Him!’ If you are not careful with your heart, you will never know if Jesus is visiting you or not. May the Lord give all of us the grace to recognize the times we have been visited, we are visited and shall be visited, so that we open the door to Jesus and thus ensure that our heart is enlarged ever more by love, and that we might serve the Lord Jesus in love.” (Homily, Santa Marta, 17 November 2016)
FAUSTI - Nicodemus calls Jesus "Master". He is not a simple colleague: he knows that He has come from God, like Moses, and, seeing the signs He performs, he concludes that God is with Him. He recognizes Him as Master and Messiah, authenticated by God. Jesus leads Nicodemus beyond the Law, to the very source of Life itself: to the gift of the new heart and the new Spirit of which the Prophets speak and of which the Pharisee also knows. To enter the Kingdom of God is not the work of man, but gift of God. Into this Kingdom of freedom do not enter those who seek to conquer it, but those who accept to be sons, those who become like children, sons in the Son. The Baptism of Jesus, in addition to water - which in John is the symbol of Life (4,14 - 7,37 - 19,34) - will be in the Spirit, which is the divine fire of Love. For one exists as a person when he is loved. He is born from the wound in the heart of the one who welcomes him and lets him enter into himself, loving him as he is, distinct from himself. One comes to full light when he himself loves. The Words of Jesus to Nicodemus have the intent to operate in us that passage to the new heart, required by the Law and promised by the Prophets that we see well described ( Philippians 3) by Paul who recounts his experience of man of the Law meeting the Lord. "That which is begotten of the flesh is flesh..." Flesh, in opposition to Spirit, indicates that which unites us to the earth : the weak, corruptible and mortal element. Spirit, on the other hand, is what relates us to God: the perennial force of the Life Principle.From the beginning, man is composed of clay and divine breath (Gen 2:4), of earth and of heaven. The earth can only live of heaven. Jesus says that man is flesh.From the beginning, man is composed of clay and divine breath (Gen 2:4), of earth and of heaven. The earth can only live of heaven. Jesus calls "earthly things" what He has said about the birth from the flesh and the necessity of a birth by the Spirit . In fact, the law and the prophets, called terrestrial, speak of it because they are witnesses of that light which has always been present in creation and in the history of Israel. They give voice to the desire of the Spirit that is in every man. If one does not believe this voice, one does not even believe the Word, which reveals to us heavenly things. In fact, the law is not in heaven, but close to every man, while heavenly things are revealed by the Son, who came down from heaven. Jesus wants to open Nicodemus, the teacher of the law, to the gift of the Spirit, which man on earth does not understand. In Him we know the truth of God and our own. Being a son is not an object of robbery, but a gift of love. The Son of man raised up - on Him the heavens were opened, both to descend and to ascend - is the alone who can manifest to us the glory and tell us about the Father. In Him is the descent of God to man and the ascent of man to God. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness" To the people, bitten by snakes, Moses showed, lifted up as a standard, a bronze serpent (Num 21:8). Whoever looked up was cured of the deadly poison. Contemplating the Crucified One, we are "unveiled" from the lie of the serpent who took away our knowledge of the Father and made us flee from Him. He loves us and we are the love that He has for us. Turning our gaze to the One we pierced, (19:37) at the foot of the cross we discover this truth that sets us free (8:32) and we are born from above. We have recognized and believed in the love that God has for us". Indeed, "God is Love" (1Jn 4:16). "To give the Only Begotten Son" He gave us the Son, because only in Him, who loves as He is loved, do we see our identity as sons of the Father.
"Not to judge the world, but that the world may be saved through Him" The Son has the same judgment as the Father. He comes with the scourge into the Temple not to judge or condemn the sinful world. He came to save it precisely by "purifying" the Temple, removing with His Cross the diabolical image that man has of God and of himself. In Him, raised up, we have the true knowledge of Him and of ourselves, which the mouth of the serpent had taken away from us. To adhere to Him is true holiness and righteousness: it is to live of the Son and as sons, to share in the common glory of the Father and the Son. For Nicodemus, as for all of us, it is a slow process that brings us to the light. Reaching the truth is a journey of progressive liberation, of small steps. And it is accomplished by the Word Itself. The meaning of human history is the revelation of the Son, His growth to His full stature (Eph 4:13) so that God may be everything in everyone. "This is the judgment: the Light has come into the world" The judgment for those who, though knowing it, do not receive the Word become Flesh, is that of preferring darkness to light, death to life. The judgment on man is made by man himself, not by God.
SONG OF THE HIDDEN GOD - Karol Wojtyla In me is a transparent country, in the clearness of the Lake of Genezaret and the boat ... and the landing place of the fishermen leaning against silent waves ... and the crowd... the crowd of hearts embraced by a Single Heart, a Single Heart, the simplest, the most meek - or that evening with Nicodemus or on the seashore, where every day I return fascinated by Your Beauty - And all this: the evening with Nicodemus the village and the fishermen's landing place the transparent bottom and Your Person so close - all this is seen through a candid point of the purest whiteness, surrounded, in the heart of man by a bright red stream
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Second Book of Chronicles
2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people
added infidelity to infidelity,
practicing all the abominations of the nations
and polluting the LORD’s temple
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.
Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:
“Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled.”
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!”
Second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians
Eph 2:4-10
Brothers and sisters:
God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —,
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFrom the Gospel according to John
Jn 3:14-21
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Jesus wept not only for Jerusalem, but for all of us. He gives His life so that we might recognize his visitation. St. Augustine said a word, a very strong sentence: ‘I am afraid of God, of Jesus, when He passes!’ But why are you afraid? ‘I’m afraid I will not recognize Him!’ If you are not careful with your heart, you will never know if Jesus is visiting you or not. May the Lord give all of us the grace to recognize the times we have been visited, we are visited and shall be visited, so that we open the door to Jesus and thus ensure that our heart is enlarged ever more by love, and that we might serve the Lord Jesus in love.” (Homily, Santa Marta, 17 November 2016)
FAUSTI - Nicodemus calls Jesus "Master". He is not a simple colleague: he knows that He has come from God, like Moses, and, seeing the signs He performs, he concludes that God is with Him.
RispondiEliminaHe recognizes Him as Master and Messiah, authenticated by God. Jesus leads Nicodemus beyond the Law, to the very source of Life itself: to the gift of the new heart and the new Spirit of which the Prophets speak and of which the Pharisee also knows.
To enter the Kingdom of God is not the work of man, but gift of God.
Into this Kingdom of freedom do not enter those who seek to conquer it, but those who accept to be sons, those who become like children, sons in the Son. The Baptism of Jesus, in addition to water - which in John is the symbol of Life (4,14 - 7,37 - 19,34) - will be in the Spirit, which is the divine fire of Love.
For one exists as a person when he is loved. He is born from the wound in the heart of the one who welcomes him and lets him enter into himself, loving him as he is, distinct from himself.
One comes to full light when he himself loves. The Words of Jesus to Nicodemus have the intent to operate in us that passage to the new heart, required by the Law and promised by the Prophets that we see well described ( Philippians 3) by Paul who recounts his experience of man of the Law meeting the Lord.
"That which is begotten of the flesh is flesh..." Flesh, in opposition to Spirit, indicates that which unites us to the earth : the weak, corruptible and mortal element.
Spirit, on the other hand, is what relates us to God: the perennial force of the Life Principle.From the beginning, man is composed of clay and divine breath (Gen 2:4), of earth and of heaven. The earth can only live of heaven. Jesus says that man is flesh.From the beginning, man is composed of clay and divine breath (Gen 2:4), of earth and of heaven.
The earth can only live of heaven.
Jesus calls "earthly things" what He has said about the birth from the flesh and the necessity of a birth by the Spirit .
In fact, the law and the prophets, called terrestrial, speak of it because they are witnesses of that light which has always been present in creation and in the history of Israel.
They give voice to the desire of the Spirit that is in every man. If one does not believe this voice, one does not even believe the Word, which reveals to us heavenly things.
In fact, the law is not in heaven, but close to every man, while heavenly things are revealed by the Son, who came down from heaven. Jesus wants to open Nicodemus, the teacher of the law, to the gift of the Spirit, which man on earth does not understand.
In Him we know the truth of God and our own.
Being a son is not an object of robbery, but a gift of love.
The Son of man raised up - on Him the heavens were opened, both to descend and to ascend - is the alone who can manifest to us the glory and tell us about the Father.
In Him is the descent of God to man and the ascent of man to God.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness" To the people, bitten by snakes, Moses showed, lifted up as a standard, a bronze serpent (Num 21:8). Whoever looked up was cured of the deadly poison.
Contemplating the Crucified One, we are "unveiled" from the lie of the serpent who took away our knowledge of the Father and made us flee from Him.
He loves us and we are the love that He has for us.
Turning our gaze to the One we pierced, (19:37) at the foot of the cross we discover this truth that sets us free (8:32) and we are born from above.
We have recognized and believed in the love that God has for us".
Indeed, "God is Love" (1Jn 4:16).
"To give the Only Begotten Son" He gave us the Son, because only in Him, who loves as He is loved, do we see our identity as sons of the Father.
"Not to judge the world, but that the world may be saved through Him" The Son has the same judgment as the Father. He comes with the scourge into the Temple not to judge or condemn the sinful world. He came to save it precisely by "purifying" the Temple, removing with His Cross the diabolical image that man has of God and of himself. In Him, raised up, we have the true knowledge of Him and of ourselves, which the mouth of the serpent had taken away from us. To adhere to Him is true holiness and righteousness: it is to live of the Son and as sons, to share in the common glory of the Father and the Son.
RispondiEliminaFor Nicodemus, as for all of us, it is a slow process that brings us to the light. Reaching the truth is a journey of progressive liberation, of small steps. And it is accomplished by the Word Itself. The meaning of human history is the revelation of the Son, His growth to His full stature (Eph 4:13) so that God may be everything in everyone.
"This is the judgment: the Light has come into the world" The judgment for those who, though knowing it, do not receive the Word become Flesh, is that of preferring darkness to light, death to life. The judgment on man is made by man himself, not by God.
SONG OF THE HIDDEN GOD - Karol Wojtyla
RispondiEliminaIn me is a transparent country, in the clearness of the Lake of Genezaret
and the boat ... and the landing place of the fishermen leaning against silent waves ...
and the crowd... the crowd of hearts embraced by a Single Heart,
a Single Heart, the simplest, the most meek -
or that evening with Nicodemus
or on the seashore,
where every day I return fascinated by Your Beauty -
And all this: the evening with Nicodemus
the village and the fishermen's landing place
the transparent bottom and Your Person so close -
all this is seen through a candid point
of the purest whiteness,
surrounded, in the heart of man
by a bright red stream