The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.
Psalms 54:3-4, 5, 6- 8
R. (6b) The Lord upholds my life.
O God, by your name save me, and by your might defend my cause. O God, hear my prayer; hearken to the words of my mouth.
R. The Lord upholds my life.
For the haughty men have risen up against me, the ruthless seek my life; they set not God before their eyes.
R. The Lord upholds my life
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life. Freely will I offer you sacrifice; I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.
R The Lord upholds my life.
2nd Reading – James 3:16-4:3
Beloved: Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace. Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Alleluia – CF. 2 Thessalomians 2:14 R. Alleluia, alleluia. 14 God has called us through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – Mark 9:30-37 30 Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER The greatest in the Church are those who make themselves servants of all, those who serve everyone, not those who have titles. And to help us understand this, He took a child and placed him in their midst; and embracing him with tenderness – because Jesus spoke with tenderness, He had so much of it – He said to them: “Whoever receives a child, receives Me”. That is, whoever welcomes the most humble, the one who serves the most. This is the path. There is only one path against the spirit of the world: humility. Serving others, choosing the last place, not climbing the ladder. (Santa Marta, 25 February 2020)
FAUSTI - Jesus sits down, in the position of the Master who teaches. Now He calls the Twelve to show their true identity, which they will have to live and proclaim. It can be said that here Jesus gives the New Law, His Law. "If anyone wishes to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all," is a definition of Jesus, Who is first as last of all and servant of all. It becomes the fundamental norm of the new people. Jesus knows that everyone wants and must realize himself. That is why He gives the true norms. To the desire to excel in having, in power and in appearances illusory realization and real illusion of all, He replaces the desire to serve and welcome the little one. This is the greatness of God. Being love, He does not affirm Himself at the expense of the other, but promotes him at His own expense; He does not make use of the other, but serves him, considering him His all. Being poor, humble and small is the characteristic of God who became the Son of Man. The primacy of love supersedes that of selfishness. Freedom, which makes us similar to God, is to make us through love slaves of one another. Thus begins the instruction that follows the second prediction of the Passion . It will conclude with the similar statement . "Many of the first will be last and of the last the first".For the Son of Man came to serve and give his life for all. Minority and service are the sign of the Spirit of Christ. He offers His disciples this criterion of fulfillment as a healing from the thirst for protagonism, the principle of destruction. He, the last and servant of all, identifies himself with the child. The child is a need for acceptance, love and absolute respect. But this is the need that every man has to be happy. God Himself, by His nature, is pure acceptance, given and received, mutual love between Father and Son. The Name of Jesus, the Son, is the only place of Truth for man, who in Him is himself, that is, son. For this reason, there is no salvation in anyone else. Acting in His Name is the principle of Communion and Life. Acting in one's own name - personal or collective - is the principle of disintegration and death. Without love, one can also serve, out of simple self-affirmation or guilt. But one cannot welcome. To welcome is to deny oneself and affirm the other, to shrink in order to leave space for him, to let oneself be invaded and taken without invading and taking him. It is the very reality of God-Love, whose Life is the mutual acceptance between Father and Son. To welcome the little one in the name of the Son is to welcome the Father Himself: one enters into the Mystery of the Trinity. Minority", understood so well by Saint Francis, is the highest of human values, full revelation of the mystery of God. The model to which the disciple must aspire is not the worldly model of the struggle for domination. At the center of the new community Jesus places Himself and a child with whom He identifies Himself. The competition to be greater is replaced by competing in littleness and welcoming the little one. Jesus, the Son who knows the Father, proposes to us His smallness as a criterion for realization.
D. F. All the passages in Mark's Gospel that we are looking at on these Sundays seem to have one thing in common: Jesus' difficulty with His disciples. They don't want to know about understanding who He is and what His program is. Again we are reading the Gospel and we see that Jesus is going through Galilee and giving a precious teaching "The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men." Here there is an opposition between the Son of Man, the one who has fullness, and men, those who do not aspire to this fullness. And it is these who reject Him, they kill Him, "but once He is killed, after three days He will rise again". So this is a serious teaching, a dramatic teaching, and it is a clear teaching. Jesus is not speaking in parables. However, the evangelist writes, "They did not understand these words." Their nationalist ideology, their ideal of success is such that it prevents them from understanding Jesus' very clear Words. "But they were afraid to question Him", because they are afraid that Jesus will confirm what they understood, so it is true, they understood but did not accept. So it's not that they didn't understand, they didn't accept what Jesus said. "They came to Capernaum. When He was in the house" - thus the Palestinian house - Jesus questioned them. They do not want to interrogate and instead it is Jesus who interrogates them, "and He asked them, " What were you discussing on the road?". Here, this indication 'by the road' is symptomatic, 'by the road' is the place of sowing fruitless. 'By the road' the seed is thrown on the ground, but the birds come and immediately pick it up. And Jesus, in explaining these images, was saying that it was the Satan who made the word fruitless. The image of the Satan in this Gospel is the image of power, of success. "And they were silent." They were silent because they had a sense of guilt because they knew that they had done something that Jesus did not approve . "For on the road they had argued" - Jesus asked what they were arguing about, instead they argued, thus an animated discourse - "among them who was greater", the most important.This is the woodworm that gnaws the disciples, the idea of greatness, the ambition to be one the more important than others. "Sitting down," so Jesus sits in the position of the one who is teaching, "He called the Twelve." It's strange, it's a house, a Palestinian house, it's not very big, why does Jesus have to call? The evangelist should have written: 'Jesus said ...', instead Jesus must call them. Why? The Twelve follow Him, but they do not accompany Him, they are not close to Him inwardly. They are close to Him physically, but their mentality is distant. Jesus is the God who by love puts Himself at the service of men. Jesus said that the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, but they think only to command. That is why He must call them, the Twelve, for they are far away.
-->"And He said to them -- " if anyone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all." So in the community there is no person more important, greater, but yes there are people closer to Jesus. Which are they? Those who put themselves at the service of all. Those who, freely and voluntarily, put their lives at the service of others. While He had to call the Twelve follow Him, they do not accompany Him, they are not close to Him inwardly. "Jesus, took a little boy" - that's the individual standing next to him, one wonders what this little boy was doing in this house with the disciples. "He placed him in the middle." In the middle is the place of Jesus, well in the place of Jesus, the Lord puts this individual who puts himself at the service of others. "Embracing him", Jesus identifies Himself with this person, Jesus identifies Himself with the last of society, with those in society without rights. "And He said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little boys", of these workers, so it is not just any children or boys, but these, that is the image of the disciple who truly puts himself at the service of others; "in my name he welcomes me; and whoever welcomes does not welcome me, but Him who sent me".
1st Reading – Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
RispondiEliminaThe wicked say:
Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.
Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.
Psalms 54:3-4, 5, 6- 8
R. (6b) The Lord upholds my life.
O God, by your name save me,
and by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
hearken to the words of my mouth.
R. The Lord upholds my life.
For the haughty men have risen up against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they set not God before their eyes.
R. The Lord upholds my life
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord sustains my life. Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.
R The Lord upholds my life.
2nd Reading – James 3:16-4:3
Beloved:
Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?
You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask.
You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Alleluia – CF. 2 Thessalomians 2:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
14 God has called us through the Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – Mark 9:30-37
30 Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
RispondiEliminaThe greatest in the Church are those who make themselves servants of all, those who serve everyone, not those who have titles. And to help us understand this, He took a child and placed him in their midst; and embracing him with tenderness – because Jesus spoke with tenderness, He had so much of it – He said to them: “Whoever receives a child, receives Me”. That is, whoever welcomes the most humble, the one who serves the most. This is the path. There is only one path against the spirit of the world: humility. Serving others, choosing the last place, not climbing the ladder. (Santa Marta, 25 February 2020)
FAUSTI - Jesus sits down, in the position of the Master who teaches.
RispondiEliminaNow He calls the Twelve to show their true identity, which they will have to live and proclaim.
It can be said that here Jesus gives the New Law, His Law. "If anyone wishes to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all," is a definition of Jesus, Who is first as last of all and servant of all.
It becomes the fundamental norm of the new people.
Jesus knows that everyone wants and must realize himself.
That is why He gives the true norms.
To the desire to excel in having, in power and in appearances
illusory realization and real illusion of all,
He replaces the desire to serve and welcome the little one.
This is the greatness of God.
Being love, He does not affirm Himself at the expense of the other, but promotes him at His own expense; He does not make use of the other, but serves him, considering him His all.
Being poor, humble and small is the characteristic of God who became the Son of Man.
The primacy of love supersedes that of selfishness.
Freedom, which makes us similar to God, is to make us through love slaves of one another.
Thus begins the instruction that follows the second prediction of the Passion .
It will conclude with the similar statement . "Many of the first will be last and of the last the first".For the Son of Man came to serve and give his life for all.
Minority and service are the sign of the Spirit of Christ.
He offers His disciples this criterion of fulfillment as a healing from the thirst for protagonism, the principle of destruction.
He, the last and servant of all, identifies himself with the child.
The child is a need for acceptance, love and absolute respect.
But this is the need that every man has to be happy.
God Himself, by His nature, is pure acceptance, given and received, mutual love between Father and Son.
The Name of Jesus, the Son, is the only place of Truth for man, who in Him is himself, that is, son.
For this reason, there is no salvation in anyone else.
Acting in His Name is the principle of Communion and Life.
Acting in one's own name - personal or collective - is the principle of disintegration and death.
Without love, one can also serve, out of simple self-affirmation or guilt.
But one cannot welcome.
To welcome is to deny oneself and affirm the other, to shrink in order to leave space for him, to let oneself be invaded and taken without invading and taking him. It is the very reality of God-Love, whose Life is the mutual acceptance between Father and Son.
To welcome the little one in the name of the Son is to welcome the Father Himself: one enters into the Mystery of the Trinity.
Minority", understood so well by Saint Francis, is the highest of human values,
full revelation of the mystery of God.
The model to which the disciple must aspire is not the worldly model of the struggle for domination.
At the center of the new community Jesus places Himself and a child with whom He identifies Himself.
The competition to be greater is replaced by competing in littleness and welcoming the little one.
Jesus, the Son who knows the Father, proposes to us His smallness as a criterion for realization.
D. F. All the passages in Mark's Gospel that we are looking at on these Sundays seem to have one thing in common: Jesus' difficulty with His disciples. They don't want to know about understanding who He is and what His program is.
RispondiEliminaAgain we are reading the Gospel and we see that Jesus is going through Galilee and giving a precious teaching "The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men." Here there is an opposition between the Son of Man, the one who has fullness, and men, those who do not aspire to this fullness. And it is these who reject Him, they kill Him, "but once He is killed, after three days He will rise again".
So this is a serious teaching, a dramatic teaching, and it is a clear teaching. Jesus is not speaking in parables. However, the evangelist writes, "They did not understand these words."
Their nationalist ideology, their ideal of success is such that it prevents them from understanding Jesus' very clear Words.
"But they were afraid to question Him", because they are afraid that Jesus will confirm what they understood, so it is true, they understood but did not accept. So it's not that they didn't understand, they didn't accept what Jesus said.
"They came to Capernaum. When He was in the house" - thus the Palestinian house - Jesus questioned them. They do not want to interrogate and instead it is Jesus who interrogates them, "and He asked them, " What were you discussing on the road?". Here, this indication 'by the road' is symptomatic, 'by the road' is the place of sowing
fruitless. 'By the road' the seed is thrown on the ground, but the birds come and immediately pick it up. And Jesus, in explaining these images, was saying that it was the Satan who made the word fruitless. The image
of the Satan in this Gospel is the image of power, of success.
"And they were silent." They were silent because they had a sense of guilt because they knew that they had done something that Jesus did not approve . "For on the road they had argued" - Jesus asked what they were arguing about, instead they argued, thus an animated discourse - "among them who was greater", the most important.This is the woodworm that gnaws the disciples, the idea of greatness, the ambition to be one the more important than others.
"Sitting down," so Jesus sits in the position of the one who is teaching, "He called the Twelve." It's strange, it's a house, a Palestinian house, it's not very big, why does Jesus have to call?
The evangelist should have written: 'Jesus said ...', instead Jesus must call them. Why? The Twelve follow Him, but they do not accompany Him, they are not close to Him inwardly. They are close to Him physically, but their mentality is distant.
Jesus is the God who by love puts Himself at the service of men. Jesus said that the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, but they think only to command. That is why He must call them, the Twelve, for they are far away.
-->"And He said to them -- " if anyone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all." So in the community there is no person more important, greater, but yes there are people closer to Jesus. Which are they? Those who put themselves at the service of all. Those who, freely and voluntarily, put their lives at the service of others.
RispondiEliminaWhile He had to call the Twelve follow Him, they do not accompany Him, they are not close to Him inwardly.
"Jesus, took a little boy" - that's the individual standing next to him, one wonders what this little boy was doing in this house with the disciples.
"He placed him in the middle." In the middle is the place of Jesus, well in the place of Jesus, the Lord puts this individual who puts himself at the service of others. "Embracing him", Jesus identifies Himself with this person, Jesus identifies Himself with the last of society, with those in society without rights.
"And He said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little boys", of these workers, so it is not just any children or boys, but these, that is the image of the disciple who truly puts himself at the service
of others; "in my name he welcomes me; and whoever welcomes does not welcome me, but Him who sent me".