Book of Isaiah 63,16b-17.19b.64,2b-7. You, LORD, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever. Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage. Too long have we been like those you do not rule, who do not bear your name. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you, While you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for, such as they had not heard of from of old. No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him. Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways! Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful; all of us have become like unclean men, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; We have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind. There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you; For you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt. Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.
Psalms 80(79) 2-3.15-16.18-19.
Shepherd of Israel, listen! From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth Rouse your power, come to save us.
Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see: take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
May your help be with the man of your right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong. Then we will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
First Letter to the Corinthians 1,3-9. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ). God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 13,33-37. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"
Saint Peter's Square Sunday, 29 November 2020 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning,
Today, the First Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins. In it, the Church marks the passage of time with the celebration of the main events in Jesus’ life and the story of salvation. In so doing, as Mother, she illuminates the path of our existence, supports us in our daily affairs and guides us towards the final encounter with Christ. Today’s liturgy invites us to live the first “important Season”, which is that of Advent, the first of the liturgical year, Advent, which prepares us for Christmas, and is therefore a time of expectation, it is a time of hope. Expectation and hope.
Saint Paul (cf. 1 Cor 1:3-9) indicates the object of our expectation. What is it? The “revealing of our Lord” (v. 7). The Apostle invites the Christians of Corinth, and we too, to focus our attention on the encounter with Jesus. For a Christian the most important thing is the continuous encounter with the Lord, being with the Lord. And in this way, accustomed to staying with the Lord of life, we prepare ourselves for the encounter, for being with the Lord for eternity. And this definitive encounter will come at the end of the world. However, the Lord comes every day, so that, with his grace, we might accomplish good in our own lives and in the lives of others. Our God is a God-who-comes, do not forget this: God is a God who comes, who continually comes. He does not disappoint our expectation. The Lord never disappoints. He will perhaps make us wait, he will make us wait a few moments in the dark to allow our expectation to ripen, but he never disappoints. The Lord always comes, He is always by our side. At times he does not make himself seen, but he always comes. He came at a precise moment in history and became man to take on our sins — the feast of the Nativity commemorates Jesus’ first coming in the historical moment —; He will come at the end of times as universal judge; He also comes a third time, in a third manner: He comes every day to visit his people, to visit every man and woman who receives him in the Word, in the Sacraments, in their brothers and sisters. Jesus, the Bible tells us, is at the door and knocks. Every day. He is at the door to our heart. He knocks. Do you know how to listen to the Lord who knocks, who has come today to visit you, who knocks at your heart restlessly, with an idea, with inspiration? He came to Bethlehem, he will come at the end of the world, but every day he comes to us. Be attentive, look at what you feel in your heart when the Lord knocks.
We are well aware that life is made up of highs and lows, of lights and shadows. Each one of us experiences moments of disappointment, of failure and bewilderment. Moreover, the situation we are living in, marked by the pandemic, generates worry, fear and discouragement in many people; we run the risk of falling into pessimism, the risk of falling into closure and apathy. How should we react in the face of all this? Today’s Psalm suggests: “Our soul waits for the Lord: he is our help and shield. Yes, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name” (Ps 33:20-21). That is, the soul awaiting, confidently waiting for the Lord, allows us to find comfort and courage in the dark moments of our lives. And what gives rise to this courage and this trustful pledge? Where do they come from? They are born of hope. And hope does not disappoint, that virtue that leads us ahead, looking at the encounter with the Lord.
-->Advent is a continuous call to hope: it reminds us that God is present in history to lead it to its ultimate goal, to lead it to its fullness, which is the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is present in the history of humanity, He is the “God-with-us”, God is not distant, he is always with us, to the extent that very often he knocks on the door to our heart. God walks beside us to support us. The Lord does not abandon us; He accompanies us through the events of our lives to help us discover the meaning of the journey the meaning of everyday life, to give us courage when we are under duress or suffering. In the midst of life’s storms, God always extends his hand to us and frees us from threats. This is beautiful! In the book of Deuteronomy there is a very beautiful passage, in which the Prophet says to the people: “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us?”. No-one, only we have this grace of having God close to us. We await God, we hope that he manifests himself, but he too hopes that we manifest ourselves to him!
May Mary Most Holy, woman of expectation, accompany our steps at the beginning of this new liturgical year, and help us to fulfil the task of Jesus’ disciples, indicated by the Apostle Peter: And what is this task? To account for the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
FAUSTI - "I SAY TO EVERYONE, BE AWAKE!" It is in this way that Jesus concludes his last speech. The passage is all a variation on the theme of vigilance. He begins with the words "be attentive, be vigilant," recommending vigilance, twice in between, and once again at the end He exhorts everyone to look: Christianity is not the opium that anesthetizes us before the harshness of reality. It urges us not to behave like the ostrich, but like the wise owl that has its eyes open to peer into the night to see what is there and what is hidden until the sun. Staying awake is necessary, but not enough. The Lord, when He departed, gave us His own "power". We we are therefore responsible to do and say what he said and did, until his return. "Be careful" Those who watch the wishes or are afraid of the arrival of those who are absent. In the great darkness of the world, the disciple is placed like a sentinel. This is his prophetic function (Ez 3:16). He does not sleep like the others, but remains awake and sober. He knows that it is time to wake from sleep (Rom 13:11). If before it was dark, now it is light in the Lord, and he behaves like a child of light, bearing the fruit of light (Eph 5:8) because he is preparing for the desired encounter. Vigilance must be constant because the time of His final coming is unknown. Trying to find out which day and which hour is useless; we just need to know that every day and every hour is the right time to experience the encounter with Him, while we wait for the last one. Jesus has gone away from us. The journey that He made when He was with us is the same one that keeps us away from Him, to be with Him we must make the same journey. We are slaves because we are of the Lord. In this way, we are like Him who became our Servant to be everything for us. The power that He has given us is His power as the Son who loves the Father and His brothers. He comes to us from His Spirit; it is the power of the Word that forgives sins, drives out demons, leads to conversion and recognition of the Lord (2:10). To each one is given a particular manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor 12:7).He has not given everything to anyone, so as not to shut us up in self-sufficiency. He has given each one of us something, so that each one serves his brothers with what he has and can be served in what he does not have, and so we live in mutual service. The goalkeeper has a special responsibility for vigilance. His specific task is to wake everyone up, because those who do not wake up, do not wait, and those who do not wait, do not welcome the one who comes. We are urged not to speculate on the exact dates of His return. The point is: to live as children of light and day (1 Thess 5:5), to wrap ourselves in the Lord, every hour of the night. And then every hour will be an encounter with Him and a step towards the final encounter. His coming is that of the bridegroom for those who are waiting for him, who have rendered his life to Him. For those who have put their treasure elsewhere, His coming is that of the thief (1 Th 5:2)
Certainly the Lord wants everyone to be warned, "What I say to you, I say to all: watch out!" because God loves His people and He wants no one to be taken by surprise and unexpectedly by His Return, be it the definitive one, or the one to meet everyone at the end of the journey. Watch so that you do not fall into the situation of those who "In the time of Noah: they ate, drank, married , until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and made them all perish" "As it also happened in the time of Lot: they ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, built, but on the day when Lot came out of Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from the sky and made them all perish". "Watch" how? The Lord desires hearts that see in Him, He does not take away sleep, but He desires hearts that await Him with trust and abandonment, with intense affection and hope.There can be no indifference, or worse, fear, before the Lord who comes to open the doors of His Kingdom, the House forever. It is therefore important to live with an eye to the definitive, with the heart turned to the Creator and Savior of our souls. Even though we live a daily life that is laborious and open to relationships, it is necessary to turn our attention to Him who "Behold, He comes upon the clouds and everyone will see Him.Even those who pierce Him and all the nations of the earth will fight for Him the chest. Yes, Amen!I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is, who was and who comes, the Almighty! (Rev. 1:7-8). Therefore, give yourself up so as not to let your gaze go numb to Heaven, and go to meet the Lord in the New Jerusalem, Our Fatherland forever! And as the Prophet Isaiah reports the poignant desire for the encounter with the God "If Thou shalt cleave the heavens and come down" made little Child in Mary, now also the Church with the Spirit says: "Come! Maranà.thà" in the expectation of His Day!
Book of Isaiah
RispondiElimina63,16b-17.19b.64,2b-7.
You, LORD, are our father,
our redeemer you are named forever.
Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
Too long have we been like those you do not rule, who do not bear your name. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you,
While you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old. No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him.
Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways! Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;
all of us have become like unclean men, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; We have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you; For you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt.
Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.
Psalms 80(79)
2-3.15-16.18-19.
Shepherd of Israel, listen!
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth
Rouse your power,
come to save us.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see:
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
First Letter
to the Corinthians 1,3-9.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ).
God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Mark 13,33-37.
Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaANGELUS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 29 November 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning,
Today, the First Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins. In it, the Church marks the passage of time with the celebration of the main events in Jesus’ life and the story of salvation. In so doing, as Mother, she illuminates the path of our existence, supports us in our daily affairs and guides us towards the final encounter with Christ. Today’s liturgy invites us to live the first “important Season”, which is that of Advent, the first of the liturgical year, Advent, which prepares us for Christmas, and is therefore a time of expectation, it is a time of hope. Expectation and hope.
Saint Paul (cf. 1 Cor 1:3-9) indicates the object of our expectation. What is it? The “revealing of our Lord” (v. 7). The Apostle invites the Christians of Corinth, and we too, to focus our attention on the encounter with Jesus. For a Christian the most important thing is the continuous encounter with the Lord, being with the Lord. And in this way, accustomed to staying with the Lord of life, we prepare ourselves for the encounter, for being with the Lord for eternity. And this definitive encounter will come at the end of the world. However, the Lord comes every day, so that, with his grace, we might accomplish good in our own lives and in the lives of others. Our God is a God-who-comes, do not forget this: God is a God who comes, who continually comes. He does not disappoint our expectation. The Lord never disappoints. He will perhaps make us wait, he will make us wait a few moments in the dark to allow our expectation to ripen, but he never disappoints. The Lord always comes, He is always by our side. At times he does not make himself seen, but he always comes. He came at a precise moment in history and became man to take on our sins — the feast of the Nativity commemorates Jesus’ first coming in the historical moment —; He will come at the end of times as universal judge; He also comes a third time, in a third manner: He comes every day to visit his people, to visit every man and woman who receives him in the Word, in the Sacraments, in their brothers and sisters. Jesus, the Bible tells us, is at the door and knocks. Every day. He is at the door to our heart. He knocks. Do you know how to listen to the Lord who knocks, who has come today to visit you, who knocks at your heart restlessly, with an idea, with inspiration? He came to Bethlehem, he will come at the end of the world, but every day he comes to us. Be attentive, look at what you feel in your heart when the Lord knocks.
We are well aware that life is made up of highs and lows, of lights and shadows. Each one of us experiences moments of disappointment, of failure and bewilderment. Moreover, the situation we are living in, marked by the pandemic, generates worry, fear and discouragement in many people; we run the risk of falling into pessimism, the risk of falling into closure and apathy. How should we react in the face of all this? Today’s Psalm suggests: “Our soul waits for the Lord: he is our help and shield. Yes, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name” (Ps 33:20-21). That is, the soul awaiting, confidently waiting for the Lord, allows us to find comfort and courage in the dark moments of our lives. And what gives rise to this courage and this trustful pledge? Where do they come from? They are born of hope. And hope does not disappoint, that virtue that leads us ahead, looking at the encounter with the Lord.
-->Advent is a continuous call to hope: it reminds us that God is present in history to lead it to its ultimate goal, to lead it to its fullness, which is the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is present in the history of humanity, He is the “God-with-us”, God is not distant, he is always with us, to the extent that very often he knocks on the door to our heart. God walks beside us to support us. The Lord does not abandon us; He accompanies us through the events of our lives to help us discover the meaning of the journey the meaning of everyday life, to give us courage when we are under duress or suffering. In the midst of life’s storms, God always extends his hand to us and frees us from threats. This is beautiful! In the book of Deuteronomy there is a very beautiful passage, in which the Prophet says to the people: “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us?”. No-one, only we have this grace of having God close to us. We await God, we hope that he manifests himself, but he too hopes that we manifest ourselves to him!
EliminaMay Mary Most Holy, woman of expectation, accompany our steps at the beginning of this new liturgical year, and help us to fulfil the task of Jesus’ disciples, indicated by the Apostle Peter: And what is this task? To account for the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).
FAUSTI - "I SAY TO EVERYONE, BE AWAKE!" It is in this way that Jesus concludes his last speech. The passage is all a variation on the theme of vigilance. He begins with the words "be attentive, be vigilant," recommending vigilance, twice in between, and once again at the end He exhorts everyone to look: Christianity is not the opium that anesthetizes us before the harshness of reality. It urges us not to behave like the ostrich, but like the wise owl that has its eyes open to peer into the night to see what is there and what is hidden until the sun.
RispondiEliminaStaying awake is necessary, but not enough.
The Lord, when He departed, gave us His own "power". We
we are therefore responsible to do and say what he said and did, until his return.
"Be careful" Those who watch the wishes or are afraid of the arrival of those who are absent.
In the great darkness of the world, the disciple is placed like a sentinel. This is his prophetic function (Ez 3:16). He does not sleep like the others, but remains awake and sober. He knows that it is time to wake from sleep (Rom 13:11). If before it was dark, now it is light in the Lord, and he behaves like a child of light, bearing the fruit of light (Eph 5:8) because he is preparing for the desired encounter. Vigilance must be constant because the time of His final coming is unknown.
Trying to find out which day and which hour is useless; we just need to know that every day and every hour is the right time to experience the encounter with Him, while we wait for the last one. Jesus has gone away from us. The journey that He made when He was with us is the same one that keeps us away from Him, to be with Him we must make the same journey.
We are slaves because we are of the Lord. In this way, we are like Him who became our Servant to be everything for us. The power that He has given us is His power as the Son who loves the Father and His brothers. He comes to us from His Spirit; it is the power of the Word that forgives sins, drives out demons, leads to conversion and recognition of the Lord (2:10).
To each one is given a particular manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor 12:7).He has not given everything to anyone, so as not to shut us up in self-sufficiency. He has given each one of us something, so that each one serves his brothers with what he has and can be served in what he does not have, and so we live in mutual service.
The goalkeeper has a special responsibility for vigilance. His specific task is to wake everyone up, because those who do not wake up, do not wait, and those who do not wait, do not welcome the one who comes.
We are urged not to speculate on the exact dates of His return. The point is: to live as children of light and day (1 Thess 5:5), to wrap ourselves in the Lord, every hour of the night. And then every hour will be an encounter with Him and a step towards the final encounter.
His coming is that of the bridegroom for those who are waiting for him, who have rendered his life to Him. For those who have put their treasure elsewhere, His coming is that of the thief (1 Th 5:2)
Certainly the Lord wants everyone to be warned, "What I say to you, I say to all: watch out!" because God loves His people and He wants no one to be taken by surprise and unexpectedly by His Return, be it the definitive one, or the one to meet everyone at the end of the journey. Watch so that you do not fall into the situation of those who "In the time of Noah: they ate, drank, married , until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and made them all perish" "As it also happened in the time of Lot: they ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, built, but on the day when Lot came out of Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from the sky and made them all perish".
RispondiElimina"Watch" how? The Lord desires hearts that see in Him, He does not take away sleep, but He desires hearts that await Him with trust and abandonment, with intense affection and hope.There can be no indifference, or worse, fear, before the Lord who comes to open the doors of His Kingdom, the House forever. It is therefore important to live with an eye to the definitive, with the heart turned to the Creator and Savior of our souls.
Even though we live a daily life that is laborious and open to relationships, it is necessary to turn our attention to Him who "Behold, He comes upon the clouds and everyone will see Him.Even those who pierce Him and all the nations of the earth will fight for Him the chest. Yes, Amen!I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is, who was and who comes, the Almighty! (Rev. 1:7-8).
Therefore, give yourself up so as not to let your gaze go numb to Heaven, and go to meet the Lord in the New Jerusalem, Our Fatherland forever! And as the Prophet Isaiah reports the poignant desire for the encounter with the God "If Thou shalt cleave the heavens and come down" made little Child in Mary, now also the Church with the Spirit says: "Come! Maranà.thà" in the expectation of His Day!