Book of Jeremiah 31,31-34. The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
Psalms 51(50) 3-4.12-13.14-15. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.
A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you.
Letter to the Hebrews 5,7-9. In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 12,20-33.
Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me." I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the liturgy proclaims the Gospel in which Saint John refers to an episode that occurred in the final days of Christ’s life, shortly before the Passion (cf. Jn 12:20-33). While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, several Greeks, curious because of what he had been doing, express the wish to see him. They approach the apostle Philip and say to him: “We wish to see Jesus” (v. 21). “We wish to see Jesus”. Let us remember this: “We wish to see Jesus”. Philip tells Andrew and then together they report it to the Teacher. In the request of those Greeks we can glimpse the request that many men and women, of every place and every time, pose to the Church and also to each one of us: “We wish to see Jesus”.
And how does Jesus respond to that request? In a way that makes us think. He says: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (vv. 23-24). These words do not seem to respond to the request those Greeks made. In reality, they surpass it. In fact, Jesus reveals that for every man and woman who wants to find him, He is the hidden seed ready to die in order to bear much fruit. As if to say: if you wish to know me, if you wish to understand me, look at the grain of wheat that dies in soil, that is, look at the cross.
The sign of the Cross comes to mind, which over the centuries has become the symbol par excellence of Christians. Even today, those who wish to “see Jesus”, perhaps coming from countries and cultures where Christianity is not well-known, what do they see first? What is the most common sign they encounter? The Crucifix, the Cross. In churches, in the homes of Christians, even worn on their persons. The important thing is that the sign be consistent with the Gospel: the cross cannot but express love, service, unreserved self-giving: only in this way is it truly the “tree of life”, of overabundant life.
Today too, many people, often without saying so, implicitly would like to “see Jesus”, to meet him, to know him. This is how we understand the great responsibility we Christians and of our communities have. We too must respond with the witness of a life that is given in service, a life that takes upon itself the style of God – closeness, compassion and tenderness – and is given in service. It means sowing seeds of love, not with fleeting words but through concrete, simple and courageous examples, not with theoretical condemnations, but with gestures of love. Then the Lord, with his grace, makes us bear fruit, even when the soil is dry due to misunderstandings, difficulty or persecution, or claims of legalism or clerical moralism. This is barren soil. Precisely then, in trials and in solitude, while the seed is dying, that is the moment in which life blossoms, to bear ripe fruit in due time. It is in this intertwining of death and life that we can experience the joy and true fruitfulness of love, which always, I repeat, is given in God’s style: closeness, compassion, tenderness.
May the Virgin Mary help us to follow Jesus, to walk, strong and joyful, on the path of service, so that the love of Christ may shine in our every attitude and become more and more the style of our daily life.
FAUSTI - "The hour has come when the Son of Man will be glorified," says Jesus. He is now at the end of His action and the Passion begins. The hour has come, the decisive hour, for which He came. In it, for our salvation, His and the Father's Glory is manifested, of which what He has accomplished so far is a sign. The crowds have just hailed Him as the Messiah. They saw Him coming on the donkey, but they did not understand. What Jesus now says about Himself, confirmed by the Voice from heaven, removes all ambiguity. Even the Greeks now want to "see Jesus". They are the foretaste of all those who will be attracted to Him when He is lifted up from the earth, the firstfruits of the much fruit of the grain of wheat, fallen into the earth, which dies. True, the whole world goes after Him, even the Gentiles. Jesus responding to the disciples who report to Him the Greek request, makes it clear how He is King, and where He shows Himself . He is the Son of Man, whom they will soon see lifted up on the cross. In His being lifted up from the earth, comes the hour of the Son who, in His love as a brother, reveals that of the Father. The Cross, which visually is an elevation, is actually the supreme lowering, yet this extreme abjection shows the abysmal Glory of God. For God is LOVE, and the highest characteristic of love is humility. After the royal entry into Jerusalem, the hour of the glorification of the Son of Man has come, which is that of the seed that dies and bears much fruit. If in the other Gospels the Word is the seed of God, in John Jesus Himself is the seed. In fact, He is the Word. Anyone who wants to follow Him in the same path is associated with His Glory. After the announcement of death as a fruitful gift of Life, there is a deep disturbance, which recalls the agony in the Garden, immediately approached to the Voice from heaven, which recalls the Transfiguration. This disturbance of Jesus is important. If he were not there, we would be alone and lost in the face of what makes us so: death, violence, injustice, infamy and abandonment. Instead, He is with us and He lives this situation as a Son, trusting in the Father. Adam, because of his distrust, fell into darkness; Jesus, the new Adam, brings into this darkness the light of the Father. "Father" is the Word spoken by the Son, which expresses the Father. In it, God is totally expressed as Love and mutual delivery between Father and Son. Jesus asks the Father to glorify His Name: to make Himself known, through Him, as Father. The Glorification of the Father takes place in that of the Son, Who loves His brothers and sisters with His own Love. To the Son of man Who in His agony calls Him "Father", the Voice from Heaven responds by proclaiming Him Son. What the other Gospels tell us explicitly about the luminous scene of the Transfiguration, here is mysteriously expressed by the Words of the Father "I have glorified and will glorify it". The Name of the Father was glorified in the Baptism of Jesus by the gift of the Spirit, Which constitutes Him His Son and our brother. He was also glorified through the works that the Father has given Him to accomplish, a sign of the Glory, common to Them both. And He will be glorified on the Cross, when the Son will give the Spirit and will reveal His Glory as the Only Begotten Son from the Father. And in history, through the numerous brothers who will live of His Love of Son and will know the Father.
Book of Jeremiah 31,31-34.
RispondiEliminaThe days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
Psalms 51(50)
3-4.12-13.14-15.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
Letter to
the Hebrews 5,7-9.
In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint John 12,20-33.
Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."
Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me."
I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again."
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaANGELUS 21 March 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Buongiorno!
On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the liturgy proclaims the Gospel in which Saint John refers to an episode that occurred in the final days of Christ’s life, shortly before the Passion (cf. Jn 12:20-33). While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, several Greeks, curious because of what he had been doing, express the wish to see him. They approach the apostle Philip and say to him: “We wish to see Jesus” (v. 21). “We wish to see Jesus”. Let us remember this: “We wish to see Jesus”. Philip tells Andrew and then together they report it to the Teacher. In the request of those Greeks we can glimpse the request that many men and women, of every place and every time, pose to the Church and also to each one of us: “We wish to see Jesus”.
And how does Jesus respond to that request? In a way that makes us think. He says: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (vv. 23-24). These words do not seem to respond to the request those Greeks made. In reality, they surpass it. In fact, Jesus reveals that for every man and woman who wants to find him, He is the hidden seed ready to die in order to bear much fruit. As if to say: if you wish to know me, if you wish to understand me, look at the grain of wheat that dies in soil, that is, look at the cross.
The sign of the Cross comes to mind, which over the centuries has become the symbol par excellence of Christians. Even today, those who wish to “see Jesus”, perhaps coming from countries and cultures where Christianity is not well-known, what do they see first? What is the most common sign they encounter? The Crucifix, the Cross. In churches, in the homes of Christians, even worn on their persons. The important thing is that the sign be consistent with the Gospel: the cross cannot but express love, service, unreserved self-giving: only in this way is it truly the “tree of life”, of overabundant life.
Today too, many people, often without saying so, implicitly would like to “see Jesus”, to meet him, to know him. This is how we understand the great responsibility we Christians and of our communities have. We too must respond with the witness of a life that is given in service, a life that takes upon itself the style of God – closeness, compassion and tenderness – and is given in service. It means sowing seeds of love, not with fleeting words but through concrete, simple and courageous examples, not with theoretical condemnations, but with gestures of love. Then the Lord, with his grace, makes us bear fruit, even when the soil is dry due to misunderstandings, difficulty or persecution, or claims of legalism or clerical moralism. This is barren soil. Precisely then, in trials and in solitude, while the seed is dying, that is the moment in which life blossoms, to bear ripe fruit in due time. It is in this intertwining of death and life that we can experience the joy and true fruitfulness of love, which always, I repeat, is given in God’s style: closeness, compassion, tenderness.
May the Virgin Mary help us to follow Jesus, to walk, strong and joyful, on the path of service, so that the love of Christ may shine in our every attitude and become more and more the style of our daily life.
FAUSTI - "The hour has come when the Son of Man will be glorified," says Jesus. He is now at the end of His action and the Passion begins. The hour has come, the decisive hour, for which He came. In it, for our salvation, His and the Father's Glory is manifested, of which what He has accomplished so far is a sign. The crowds have just hailed Him as the Messiah.
RispondiEliminaThey saw Him coming on the donkey, but they did not understand. What Jesus now says about Himself, confirmed by the Voice from heaven, removes all ambiguity.
Even the Greeks now want to "see Jesus". They are the foretaste of all those who will be attracted to Him when He is lifted up from the earth, the firstfruits of the much fruit of the grain of wheat, fallen into the earth, which dies. True, the whole world goes after Him, even the Gentiles.
Jesus responding to the disciples who report to Him the Greek request, makes it clear how He is King, and where He shows Himself . He is the Son of Man, whom they will soon see lifted up on the cross.
In His being lifted up from the earth, comes the hour of the Son who, in His love as a brother, reveals that of the Father. The Cross, which visually is an elevation, is actually the supreme lowering, yet this extreme abjection shows the abysmal Glory of God.
For God is LOVE, and the highest characteristic of love is humility.
After the royal entry into Jerusalem, the hour of the glorification of the Son of Man has come, which is that of the seed that dies and bears much fruit.
If in the other Gospels the Word is the seed of God, in John Jesus Himself is the seed. In fact, He is the Word. Anyone who wants to follow Him in the same path is associated with His Glory.
After the announcement of death as a fruitful gift of Life, there is a deep disturbance, which recalls the agony in the Garden, immediately approached to the Voice from heaven, which recalls the Transfiguration.
This disturbance of Jesus is important. If he were not there, we would be alone and lost in the face of what makes us so: death, violence, injustice, infamy and abandonment.
Instead, He is with us and He lives this situation as a Son, trusting in the Father.
Adam, because of his distrust, fell into darkness; Jesus, the new Adam, brings into this darkness the light of the Father. "Father" is the Word spoken by the Son, which expresses the Father.
In it, God is totally expressed as Love and mutual delivery between Father and Son.
Jesus asks the Father to glorify His Name: to make Himself known, through Him, as Father.
The Glorification of the Father takes place in that of the Son, Who loves His brothers and sisters with His own Love.
To the Son of man Who in His agony calls Him "Father", the Voice from Heaven responds by proclaiming Him Son.
What the other Gospels tell us explicitly about the luminous scene of the Transfiguration, here is mysteriously expressed by the Words of the Father "I have glorified and will glorify it".
The Name of the Father was glorified in the Baptism of Jesus by the gift of the Spirit, Which constitutes Him His Son and our brother. He was also glorified through the works that the Father has given Him to accomplish, a sign of the Glory, common to Them both. And He will be glorified on the Cross, when the Son will give the Spirit and will reveal His Glory as the Only Begotten Son from the Father.
And in history, through the numerous brothers who will live of His Love of Son and will know the Father.