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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 13, 2023 THIRD MONDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place…When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. (Luke 4: 24/28-30) “How shall I live this Word? Instead of opening themselves to faith and allowing themselves to be involved in God’s gift, His fellow citizens close themselves off on what they know and expect from Him. Knowledge and claim of the flesh prevent faith. The claim to know prevents us from recognizing the gift. No gift can be claimed. Jesus’ rejection is the same that happened to the prophets who were able to operate only where there was no pretension of God’s intervention. Jesus finds himself before people full of indignation, of anger, people with a hard heart, incapable of accept the gift. Hardness of heart leads to rejection and this heralds His end to us, but Jesus passes and goes: a sign of His resurrection. Give us a docile heart Lord, open to your gift!! The Voice of Pope Francis – on Sts. Peter and Paul Homily 29 June 2020 The second word, prophecy. […] Today we need prophecy, but true prophecy: not talkers who promise the impossible, but witnesses... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 12, 2023 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4: 5-10) “How shall I live this Word? In the two verses before this, verses 3 and 4, the Evangelist tells us that Jesus “left Judea and went back to Galilee; therefore, He had to cross Samaria.” We know that the ordinary way to get to Galilee was the Jordan valley, because Samaria was a dangerous territory, due to the enmity that reigned between the Jews and the Samaritans. The latter were considered unclean by the Jews, and worshiped Jehovah on Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem. But here we see that Jesus reveals His will to go to Samaria on purpose; He reveals His will to enter into a relationship with these excluded people. Jesus goes to look for those who... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 11, 2023 SECOND SATURDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country… Coming to his senses he said, I shall get up and go to my father … He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'” (Luke 15: 11-13a/18a/29-32) “How shall I live this Word? We can say that today’s Gospel is the commentary on verse 6:36 seen on Monday. He re-proposes the figure of the Merciful Father and here we also find two children who, while living at home with their father, have not perceived, have not understood the greatness of their father/mother, have not tasted the love of his paternity/maternity, the sweetness of his presence. While living at home, they were unable to grasp what it meant to be children,... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 10, 2023 SECOND FRIDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?’ Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet. (Matthew 21: 42-43/45-46) “How shall I live this Word? God our Father has special attention and care for each of us. He expresses His love and His predilection by calling us by name and making us His children. He gives us our life and asks us to continue to cherish it according to His style. When He asks us to account for His image and likeness in us, which are the precious treasures of our life, what we unfortunately deny is the gift of our being His children and we deny it for choices that lead us to indulge in evil and trade life for death. Jesus is the cornerstone that reminds us of our choices, our freedom, our responsibility, and asks us which side we want to be on, how we want to live, whether as children of God or as slaves of evil. Who do we listen to in our choices;... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 9, 2023 SECOND THURSDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. (Luke 16: 19-21) “How shall I live this Word? Let’s learn to the make choices Jesus tells us. The situations in which we find ourselves living offer us situations in which we are called to have criteria for judgement. What drives our choices? Greed or compassion? Every choice we make builds the time in front of us, just as the past was built by the choices we made. So how do we want to prepare for the future? Making the same mistakes? Like the “rich man” who doesn’t even have a name – so much has pride obscured his identity – or like Lazarus who has God as his only help? Lazarus means ‘God helps’. The rich man has not understood that in the poor man it is the same ‘God-who-helps’. God Himself asked to be helped. Usually those who are self-sufficient do not need help; their heart becomes hard to requests for help from others. They find within themselves the solution to their needs and close themselves off to those who create problems. O Spirit of God, give us the awareness of our being children in Jesus,... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 8, 2023 SECOND WEDNESDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” (Matthew 20: 21b/24-27) “How shall I live this Word? The logic of Jesus is not a logic immediately understood even by His disciples. The difficulty of entering the perspective of service and consequently abandoning the first places was experienced with resistance even by the closest disciples who had walked with Him for almost three years. And the closer the moment of the Passion approaches, the more unconsciously the disciples run away and think of glory and reason in a human way. But Jesus reiterates that the only accepted power is that of service; true glory is to serve and to serve expresses the concreteness of love. First yes, but in being last out of love, in being servants out of love! O Spirit of God, give us the awareness of our being daughters and sons in Jesus, learning to make the condition of the last, of the least, the style of our life. The Voice of Pope Francis Morning... read more
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam and the salvation of souls!, Communion of Saints, Courage, Events / Calendar, Fidelity, Friendship
Read more: https://aleteia.org/2023/03/06/every-perpetua-needs-a-felicity... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 7, 2023 SECOND TUESDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. (Matthew 23: 1-3) “How shall I live this Word? Jesus asks each of us to walk in truth, to recognize the scribe and the pharisee who is nestled in our heart; to name the secret evil that insinuates itself into us and prevents us from being truly God’s disciples. Jesus indicates it by telling us “do not act according to their works, because they say and do not do.” Saying without doing means that the works do not correspond to words. We can also say true things, but they do not bear fruit. We live divided within ourselves, a bit schizophrenic. But the Gospel is the encounter with a Person who unites us because love has the power to ‘make one’, to unify us in His service. With all of ourselves, in humility and joy, we love by serving our sisters and brothers in deed and in truth. O Spirit of God, give us the awareness of our being Your children in Jesus! Teach us that being a servant is the greatest position, because it is the position of the Son, the One chosen to live and be with us. The Voice of Pope Francis Angelus, 5 November 2017 The Gospel of today (cf. Mt 23:1-12) is set in the last... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 6, 2023 SECOND MONDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6: 36) “How shall I live this Word? Verse 6:36 is the central verse of the whole Gospel of Luke and with this verse Jesus indicates the source of His gratuitousness and His being the Son of God. Here we find the eternal profound ‘desire’ of the human being to “become like God” (Gen 3:5), but the important thing is to ask ourself: “But what is God like?” God is certainly Other; He is different; He is holy as Leviticus reminds us, “Be holy, because I, the Lord of your God am holy” (Lev 19:2). God tells us the specificity in this passage of Luke: God is mercy, indeed: God is God because He is mercy! In Jewish ‘Mercy’ is translated into ‘Raḥamim’, ‘maternal uterus’. Therefore, the essence of God the Father is this viscerally maternal love that necessarily welcomes, which does not judge, does not condemn. It is the principle of life, where misery is redeemed by an infinitely greater, gratuitous love. God is understood only starting from here and His perfection coincides with His being merciful. Help us Lord on our journey to become aware that, thanks to Jesus, we have such a Father! O Spirit of God, give us the awareness of our being Children in Jesus! Grant that we may become what we are: children resembling this Father with viscera of mercy. Make us in God’s image, brothers and sisters in Mercy! The... read more
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FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD MARCH 5, 2023 SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT WORD of the DAY Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light… then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17: 1-2/5b) “How shall I live this Word? “Six days” before: what had happened? We find the profession of faith of Peter: “You are the Christ …” but, a moment later, at the explanation of Jesus relating to His passion, suffering, killed by the priests, and resurrection, he feels authorized to reproach Him, “God not want this; it will never happen to You!” The Teacher’s words are among the strongest, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a scandal; you don’t think according to God, but according to men.” In our Lenten journey, today’s passage follows that of the temptations of Jesus, where the tempter had suggested to Jesus the way to attract an audience through the possession of things on God and people. On Tabor, Jesus, declares again what His way is, ‘His policy” by carrying out the law and the prophets (Moses and of Elia): to put himself at the free service of the other, giving everything Himself, keeping nothing for Himself until He died on the cross for love. This is the way with which Jesus redeems the us from our ‘disfiguration’ through our continually yielding... read more
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