READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah Jer 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 that 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 relatives 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.
Second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews Heb 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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to John Jn 12:20-33
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast 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.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Within the image of Jesus crucified is revealed the mystery of the death of the Son as the supreme act of love, the source of life and salvation for humanity of all ages. By his wounds we have been healed. To explain the meaning of his death and resurrection, Jesus uses an image and says: “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). He wants to explain that his extreme fate — that is the cross, death and resurrection — is an act of fruitfulness — his wounds have healed us — a fruitfulness that will bear fruit for many. And what does losing one’s life mean? That is, what does it mean to be the grain of wheat? It means to think less about oneself, about personal interests and to know how to “see” and to meet the needs of our neighbours, especially the least of them. (Angelus, 21 18 March 2018)
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.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jer 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 that 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 relatives
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.
Second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews
Heb 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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 12:20-33
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
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.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Within the image of Jesus crucified is revealed the mystery of the death of the Son as the supreme act of love, the source of life and salvation for humanity of all ages. By his wounds we have been healed. To explain the meaning of his death and resurrection, Jesus uses an image and says: “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). He wants to explain that his extreme fate — that is the cross, death and resurrection — is an act of fruitfulness — his wounds have healed us — a fruitfulness that will bear fruit for many.
And what does losing one’s life mean? That is, what does it mean to be the grain of wheat? It means to think less about oneself, about personal interests and to know how to “see” and to meet the needs of our neighbours, especially the least of them. (Angelus, 21 18 March 2018)
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.