If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Responsorial Psalm Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Reading II Heb 4:14-16
Brothers and sisters: Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. Alleluia
Mk 10:45
R. Alleluia, alleluia. The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 10:35-45 or 10:42-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
OR:
Jesus summoned the twelve and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
ANGELUS 17 October 2021 Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
The Gospel of today’s Liturgy (Mk 10:35-45) narrates that two disciples, James and John, ask the Lord to one day sit beside him in glory, as if they were “prime ministers”, or something like that. But the other disciples hear this, and become indignant. At that point, Jesus patiently offers them a great teaching: true glory is not obtained by rising over others, but by experiencing the same baptism that He would receive just a little later in Jerusalem, that is, the cross. What does this mean? The word “baptism” means “immersion”: through his Passion, Jesus immersed himself into death, offering his life to save us. Therefore, his glory, the glory of God, is love that becomes service, not power that seeks to dominate. Not power that seeks to dominate, no! But love that becomes service. Thus, Jesus ends by saying to his disciples and to us as well: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (v. 43). In order to become great, you will have to take the path of service, serving others.
We are in front of two different types of logic: the disciples want to rise up and Jesus wants to immerse Himself. Let us pause on these two verbs. The first is to rise up. It expresses that worldly mentality to which we are always tempted: to experience everything, including relationships, in order to feed our ambition, to climb the ladder of success, to reach important positions. The quest for personal prestige can become a spiritual malady masquerading itself even behind good intentions: for example, when behind the good that we do and preach, we are only seeking ourselves and our own affirmation, that is, getting ahead and climbing up. And we see this even in the Church. How many times, we Christians, who should be servants, try to climb up, to get ahead. We should thus, always evaluate our heart’s real intentions, asking ourselves: “Why am I carrying out this work, this responsibility? To offer service or rather to be recognised, praised and to receive compliments”? Jesus contrasts this worldly logic with his own: instead of exalting yourself over others, getting off the pedestal to serve them; instead of rising above others, immersing one’s self in the lives of others. I was watching on the program “A Sua Immagine” (in His image), on the service provided by Caritas to ensure that no one be without food: being concerned about the hunger of others, being concerned about the needs of others. Today, there are many, many people in need, and after the pandemic there are many more. Looking and lowering ourselves in service and not seeking to climb up for one’s own glory.
Here then is the second verb: to be immersed. Jesus asks us to immerse ourselves. And how should we immerse ourselves? Compassionately in the lives of those we meet. There, [on that programme], we were watching hunger but do we think compassionately about the hunger of so many people? When we have a meal before us, which is a grace from God that we can eat, there are many people who work and are unable to have enough food. Do we think about this? Immersing ourselves with compassion, having compassion. It is not a fact from an encyclopedia... No! They are people. And do I have compassion on people? Compassion for the lives of those we meet, like Jesus did with me, with you, with all of us, he drew near with compassion.
--->Let us look at the Crucified Lord, completely immersed in our wounded history, and we will discover God’s way of doing things. We see that he did not remain above in heaven to look down on us from up there, but he lowered himself to wash our feet. God is love and love is humble, it does not exalt itself, but comes down like the rain that falls to earth and brings life. But how can we adopt the same direction as Jesus, going from raising ourselves up to immersing ourselves, from the mentality of prestige, worldly prestige, to that of service, Christian service? Dedication is needed, but that is not enough. It is difficult alone, but not impossible, for we have a strength within that helps us. It is the strength of Baptism, of that immersion in Jesus that all of us have already received through grace that directs us, moving us to follow him instead of seeking our interests, but to put ourselves at the service of others. It is a grace, a fire that the Spirit has kindled in us that needs to be nurtured. Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to renew the grace of Baptism in us, that immersion in Jesus, in his way of being, to be more like servants, to be servants like he has been with us. And let us pray to Our Lady: even though she was the greatest, she did not seek to rise up, but was the humble servant of the Lord, and is completely immersed in our service to help us encounter Jesus.
Today, the Third Sunday of October, we are celebrating World Mission Day.To every ecclesial community and to each Christian it is a strong appeal for commitment to witnessing and proclaiming the Gospel to all, especially those who do not yet know it. In the Message I wrote for this occasion, I found inspiration in a phrase in the Book of Revelation which echoes a prophecy of Isaiah: "By its light shall the nations walk" (Rv 21: 24). The light mentioned is that of God, revealed by the Messiah and reflected on the face of the Church, portrayed as the new Jerusalem, a marvellous city in which the glory of God shines out in its fullness. It is the light of the Gospel which directs the people's journey and guides them towards the fulfilment of a great family in justice and in peace, under the fatherhood of the one, good and merciful God. The Church exists to proclaim this message of hope to the whole of humanity, which in our time "has experienced marvellous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence itself" (Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, n. 2).
In the month of October, especially on this Sunday, the universal Church highlights her missionary vocation. Guided by the Holy Spirit she knows she is called to pursue the work of Jesus himself, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God which is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rm 14: 17). This Kingdom is already present in the world as a force of love, freedom, solidarity and respect for the dignity of every person, and the ecclesial community has a heartfelt urge to work, so that the sovereignty of Christ may be completely fulfilled. All her members and structures cooperate in this project, according to their various states of life and charisms. On this World Mission Day I would like to recall the missionaries priests, religious and lay volunteers who devote their lives to bringing the Gospel to the world, also facing hardship and difficulty and sometimes even outright persecution. I am thinking, among others, of Fr Ruggero Ruvoletto, a donum fidei priest, recently killed in Brazil; of Fr Michael Sinott, a religious kidnapped a few days ago in the Philippines; and how can we forget all that is emerging from the Synod of Bishops for Africa, in terms of extreme sacrifice and love for Christ and for his Church? I thank the Pontifical Mission Societies for the valuable service they render to missionary animation and formation. Further, I ask all Christians for a gesture of material and spiritual sharing in order to help the young Churches in the poorest countries.
Dear friends, today, 18 October, is also the Feast of St Luke the Evangelist, who, in addition to the Gospel, wrote the Acts of the Apostles in order to spread the Christian message to the ends of the known world in his time. Let us invoke his intercession, together with that of St Francis Xavier and St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Patrons of the missions, and of the Virgin Mary, so that the Church may continue to make Christ's light shine out among all the peoples. I also ask you to pray for the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which is taking place here in the Vatican in these weeks.
FAUSTI - "What do you want me to do for you?" Ask Jesus to James and John. They don't yet know how to pray to Him. As blind as they are, they ask for the opposite of what He wants to give. Jesus is not the Christ of their desires, but the One who is God's promise. They love Him; but in their own way, without knowing Him. They have made it like an' unknown, to whom they always give the value of their will to power, and it is instinctive for man to make his own desires his own absolute. It doesn't matter if it's called Jupiter, Manitù, JHWH or Jesus: it's the same thing that's indicated. Until recently, it also bore the proper name of Stalin, Hitler, Mao, etc. or the common name of religious or secular ideologies of salvation. Now it identifies itself with the concrete names of pleasure, well-being, production, clean and safe energy, etc. or with the different sciences that claim to say the last word. Man naturally replaces God with any name that guarantees him to pursue his own desires; rather, the divine criterion of salvation is the "Body" of Jesus (1 Jn 4:2), that is, his weakness up to the cross that disappoints all expectations of man, religious or not.The disciples' reaction to the third prediction of passion is worse than the previous ones, after the first one there was the explicit dispute with Peter, who thinks according to men and not according to God (8,32), after the second one everyone misunderstood and remained silent, wanting to argue about who was the greatest (9.32). We would now expect a minimum of understanding. But it is as if Jesus had said nothing... The two beloved ones, instead of listening to Him and doing His will, want Him to do theirs! They want Him to guarantee in heaven their delirium of omnipotence on earth. But isn't that,above all, what all "religious" people ask their god? Abraham, the model of believers, was the first not to exchange faith with his own certainties, the truth with his own security. Man is desire. There is always something missing, so he searches and asks. Jesus educates the disciples' desire, so that they can seek and ask what God wants to give. We find ourselves here in the decisive encounter between the desire of God for man and the desire of man for God. At stake is the very essence of God: Glory. For Jesus, it is the love that becomes servant, slave and last of all; for men of all races (including favorite disciples!) it consists of worldly, disguised or less good intentions. The disciples have the same sin of the world. It doesn't matter, because every sinner is saved! It is serious, however, not to recognize it, because those who do not recognize it stay there. The "It is not like that among you" is the great miracle that Jesus performs in His community, illuminating it with His Glory; the disciple is the one who passes from the question of the religious man, personified by James and John, to that of the blind man of Jericho (v 21.47...). The two brothers are to be thanked for showing the others ten and those who read their blindness, Jesus concludes his teaching, intended to make us admit our blindness, the Doctor has given us the diagnosis; He waits for us to allow him to heal us.
RispondiEliminaReading I
Is 53:10-11
The LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.
If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness
of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Reading II
Heb 4:14-16
Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
Alleluia
Mk 10:45
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mk 10:35-45 or 10:42-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him, "Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
OR:
Jesus summoned the twelve and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaANGELUS 17 October 2021
Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
The Gospel of today’s Liturgy (Mk 10:35-45) narrates that two disciples, James and John, ask the Lord to one day sit beside him in glory, as if they were “prime ministers”, or something like that. But the other disciples hear this, and become indignant. At that point, Jesus patiently offers them a great teaching: true glory is not obtained by rising over others, but by experiencing the same baptism that He would receive just a little later in Jerusalem, that is, the cross. What does this mean? The word “baptism” means “immersion”: through his Passion, Jesus immersed himself into death, offering his life to save us. Therefore, his glory, the glory of God, is love that becomes service, not power that seeks to dominate. Not power that seeks to dominate, no! But love that becomes service. Thus, Jesus ends by saying to his disciples and to us as well: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (v. 43). In order to become great, you will have to take the path of service, serving others.
We are in front of two different types of logic: the disciples want to rise up and Jesus wants to immerse Himself. Let us pause on these two verbs. The first is to rise up. It expresses that worldly mentality to which we are always tempted: to experience everything, including relationships, in order to feed our ambition, to climb the ladder of success, to reach important positions. The quest for personal prestige can become a spiritual malady masquerading itself even behind good intentions: for example, when behind the good that we do and preach, we are only seeking ourselves and our own affirmation, that is, getting ahead and climbing up. And we see this even in the Church. How many times, we Christians, who should be servants, try to climb up, to get ahead. We should thus, always evaluate our heart’s real intentions, asking ourselves: “Why am I carrying out this work, this responsibility? To offer service or rather to be recognised, praised and to receive compliments”? Jesus contrasts this worldly logic with his own: instead of exalting yourself over others, getting off the pedestal to serve them; instead of rising above others, immersing one’s self in the lives of others. I was watching on the program “A Sua Immagine” (in His image), on the service provided by Caritas to ensure that no one be without food: being concerned about the hunger of others, being concerned about the needs of others. Today, there are many, many people in need, and after the pandemic there are many more. Looking and lowering ourselves in service and not seeking to climb up for one’s own glory.
Here then is the second verb: to be immersed. Jesus asks us to immerse ourselves. And how should we immerse ourselves? Compassionately in the lives of those we meet. There, [on that programme], we were watching hunger but do we think compassionately about the hunger of so many people? When we have a meal before us, which is a grace from God that we can eat, there are many people who work and are unable to have enough food. Do we think about this? Immersing ourselves with compassion, having compassion. It is not a fact from an encyclopedia... No! They are people. And do I have compassion on people? Compassion for the lives of those we meet, like Jesus did with me, with you, with all of us, he drew near with compassion.
Elimina--->Let us look at the Crucified Lord, completely immersed in our wounded history, and we will discover God’s way of doing things. We see that he did not remain above in heaven to look down on us from up there, but he lowered himself to wash our feet. God is love and love is humble, it does not exalt itself, but comes down like the rain that falls to earth and brings life. But how can we adopt the same direction as Jesus, going from raising ourselves up to immersing ourselves, from the mentality of prestige, worldly prestige, to that of service, Christian service? Dedication is needed, but that is not enough. It is difficult alone, but not impossible, for we have a strength within that helps us. It is the strength of Baptism, of that immersion in Jesus that all of us have already received through grace that directs us, moving us to follow him instead of seeking our interests, but to put ourselves at the service of others. It is a grace, a fire that the Spirit has kindled in us that needs to be nurtured. Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to renew the grace of Baptism in us, that immersion in Jesus, in his way of being, to be more like servants, to be servants like he has been with us.
And let us pray to Our Lady: even though she was the greatest, she did not seek to rise up, but was the humble servant of the Lord, and is completely immersed in our service to help us encounter Jesus.
BENEDICT XVI
RispondiEliminaANGELUS 18 October 2009
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, the Third Sunday of October, we are celebrating World Mission Day.To every ecclesial community and to each Christian it is a strong appeal for commitment to witnessing and proclaiming the Gospel to all, especially those who do not yet know it. In the Message I wrote for this occasion, I found inspiration in a phrase in the Book of Revelation which echoes a prophecy of Isaiah: "By its light shall the nations walk" (Rv 21: 24). The light mentioned is that of God, revealed by the Messiah and reflected on the face of the Church, portrayed as the new Jerusalem, a marvellous city in which the glory of God shines out in its fullness. It is the light of the Gospel which directs the people's journey and guides them towards the fulfilment of a great family in justice and in peace, under the fatherhood of the one, good and merciful God. The Church exists to proclaim this message of hope to the whole of humanity, which in our time "has experienced marvellous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence itself" (Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, n. 2).
In the month of October, especially on this Sunday, the universal Church highlights her missionary vocation. Guided by the Holy Spirit she knows she is called to pursue the work of Jesus himself, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God which is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rm 14: 17). This Kingdom is already present in the world as a force of love, freedom, solidarity and respect for the dignity of every person, and the ecclesial community has a heartfelt urge to work, so that the sovereignty of Christ may be completely fulfilled. All her members and structures cooperate in this project, according to their various states of life and charisms. On this World Mission Day I would like to recall the missionaries priests, religious and lay volunteers who devote their lives to bringing the Gospel to the world, also facing hardship and difficulty and sometimes even outright persecution. I am thinking, among others, of Fr Ruggero Ruvoletto, a donum fidei priest, recently killed in Brazil; of Fr Michael Sinott, a religious kidnapped a few days ago in the Philippines; and how can we forget all that is emerging from the Synod of Bishops for Africa, in terms of extreme sacrifice and love for Christ and for his Church? I thank the Pontifical Mission Societies for the valuable service they render to missionary animation and formation. Further, I ask all Christians for a gesture of material and spiritual sharing in order to help the young Churches in the poorest countries.
Dear friends, today, 18 October, is also the Feast of St Luke the Evangelist, who, in addition to the Gospel, wrote the Acts of the Apostles in order to spread the Christian message to the ends of the known world in his time. Let us invoke his intercession, together with that of St Francis Xavier and St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Patrons of the missions, and of the Virgin Mary, so that the Church may continue to make Christ's light shine out among all the peoples. I also ask you to pray for the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which is taking place here in the Vatican in these weeks.
FAUSTI - "What do you want me to do for you?" Ask Jesus to James and John. They don't yet know how to pray to Him. As blind as they are, they ask for the opposite of what He wants to give. Jesus is not the Christ of their desires, but the One who is God's promise. They love Him; but in their own way, without knowing Him. They have made it like an' unknown, to whom they always give the value of their will to power, and it is instinctive for man to make his own desires his own absolute. It doesn't matter if it's called Jupiter, Manitù, JHWH or Jesus: it's the same thing that's indicated. Until recently, it also bore the proper name of Stalin, Hitler, Mao, etc. or the common name of religious or secular ideologies of salvation. Now it identifies itself with the concrete names of pleasure, well-being, production, clean and safe energy, etc. or with the different sciences that claim to say the last word.
RispondiEliminaMan naturally replaces God with any name that guarantees him to pursue his own desires; rather, the divine criterion of salvation is the "Body" of Jesus (1 Jn 4:2), that is, his weakness up to the cross that disappoints all expectations of man, religious or not.The disciples' reaction to the third prediction of passion is worse than the previous ones, after the first one there was the explicit dispute with Peter, who thinks according to men and not according to God (8,32), after the second one everyone misunderstood and remained silent, wanting to argue about who was the greatest (9.32). We would now expect a minimum of understanding. But it is as if Jesus had said nothing... The two beloved ones, instead of listening to Him and doing His will, want Him to do theirs! They want Him to guarantee in heaven their delirium of omnipotence on earth.
But isn't that,above all, what all "religious" people ask their god? Abraham, the model of believers, was the first not to exchange faith with his own certainties, the truth with his own security. Man is desire. There is always something missing, so he searches and asks. Jesus educates the disciples' desire, so that they can seek and ask what God wants to give. We find ourselves here in the decisive encounter between the desire of God for man and the desire of man for God.
At stake is the very essence of God: Glory. For Jesus, it is the love that becomes servant, slave and last of all; for men of all races (including favorite disciples!) it consists of worldly, disguised or
less good intentions. The disciples have the same sin of the world. It doesn't matter, because every sinner is saved! It is serious, however, not to recognize it, because those who do not recognize it stay there.
The "It is not like that among you" is the great miracle that Jesus performs in His community, illuminating it with His Glory; the disciple is the one who passes from the question of the religious man, personified by James and John, to that of the blind man of Jericho (v 21.47...). The two brothers are to be thanked for showing the others ten and those who read their blindness, Jesus concludes his teaching, intended to make us admit our blindness, the Doctor has given us the diagnosis; He waits for us to allow him to heal us.