READING OF THE DAY A reading from the Book of the Prophet Amos AM 6:1A, 4-7
Thus says the LORD the God of hosts: Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches, they eat lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall! Improvising to the music of the harp, like David, they devise their own accompaniment. They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! Therefore, now they shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton revelry shall be done away with.
A reading from the letter to Timothy 1 TM 6:11-16
But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Luke LK 16:19-31
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. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Let us ask the Lord for the grace of always seeing the Lazarus at our door, the Lazarus who knocks at our heart, and [the grace] to go out of ourselves with generosity, with the attitude of mercy, so that the mercy of God can enter into our hearts. (Santa Marta, 25 February 2016)
FAUSTI - Unlike Lazarus, the rich man is nameless, his identity is the richness of clothing and food, but God knows the humble and ignores the arrogant. The rich in the Bible is the practical atheist. He has made himself the center of everything, he has put himself in God's place. He calls to some aspects Herod, beautifully dressed, who banquets (Mk 6,21) and swells making himself acclaimed as god. It is the opposite of Jesus, who as rich as He was, became poor, became emptied of Himself and became the little one . The Father also invites to the banquet for the lost and found, dead and risen son. (Lk 15:23...). But it is a feast open to the poor and the excluded. He himself goes out to console those who remain outside. The poor man, who has nothing, needs of God. It is his only help. Lazarus is a figure of Jesus, the last of the poor, who placed all His trust in the Father, the only source of His life. God throws Himself before the door of the rich man to save him. The poor man is in fact the Lord, "The least of you, he is great" and "every time you have done these things to one of my least brothers, you have done them to me" (Mt 25:40...). By giving to the poor, the rich men receive their true wealth and are welcomed into eternal tents. Whoever gives something to the poor, makes a loan to God, who in His time will repay like Himself. The poor man is the same "God - who helps" each of us to become his children, in recognizing Lazarus as our brother. The poor doesn't remain prey to death. He is brought by the servants of God to the bosom of Abraham, the father of believers. He is with him, because he is like him. Poverty has made him similar to the father of faith, who has placed in God his security of life. Death reveals the dignity of the poor, thrown to the door, hungry and wounded. "The rich man also died and was buried". While Lazarus is taken up, those who have made of the earth their security, find in it their tomb. All their lives had death as their shepherd; now the underworld is their dwelling place forever. The tomb is the breast of death, the opposite of Abraham's breast, the womb of life. It is an underground place, like the lair of foxes. It is the home of those who have been cunning according to the world, and have not procured their eternal tents with the dishonest mammon. From there, he raises his eyes to the top, towards those who had never deigned to look. It is not said that the rich had despised God or the poor. Only he had never had looked at them, because he was preoccupied in looking at his own interest. Finally his eyes are opened. He sees that great distance that he had not perceived before. This abyss is, however, crossed six times by the Word that asks and answers, to let us know what to do now. This abyss was certainly not dug by Abraham, who called him "son". He dug it himself, not recognizing his brother in Lazarus. "You have had your possessions in your life," Abraham tells him. Lazarus, on the other hand, had only evils, and moreover not his own! Now the situation turns upside down, and in a definitive way.
-->We must "remember" this, because we are led to forget it. Earthly life is the time allowed not to fix, but to cross the abyss between rich and poor. On this depends the salvation of the rich man. The poor, already saved by God who is at home with him, saves those who receive him, in turn hosting him with himself in eternal tents. The arc of earthly life is an ephemeral bridge between perdition and salvation. Mercy towards the poor is the passage. When life is over, time is over. To discern the signs of the time is to understand that the present is given to us for this. All the Scripture, Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms are talking about the Poor One sent to us to heal us with His wounds. The real problem, therefore, is to believe in the Word of God. She gives us the Mercy of the Father and invites everyone to share in His joy for the Dead and Risen Son. As long as we are alive we are called to listen to Him and not to mock Him. Even when he places the alternative between God and mammon. Whoever believes in Him, welcomes the Love of the Father and loves his brothers and sisters.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaA reading from the Book of the Prophet Amos
AM 6:1A, 4-7
Thus says the LORD the God of hosts:
Woe to the complacent in Zion!
Lying upon beds of ivory,
stretched comfortably on their couches,
they eat lambs taken from the flock,
and calves from the stall!
Improvising to the music of the harp,
like David, they devise their own accompaniment.
They drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the best oils;
yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph!
Therefore, now they shall be the first to go into exile,
and their wanton revelry shall be done away with.
A reading from the letter to Timothy
1 TM 6:11-16
But you, man of God, pursue righteousness,
devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Compete well for the faith.
Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called
when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus,
who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession,
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
that the blessed and only ruler
will make manifest at the proper time,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
LK 16:19-31
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.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied,
'My child, remember that you received
what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go
from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers,
so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Let us ask the Lord for the grace of always seeing the Lazarus at our door, the Lazarus who knocks at our heart, and [the grace] to go out of ourselves with generosity, with the attitude of mercy, so that the mercy of God can enter into our hearts. (Santa Marta, 25 February 2016)
FAUSTI - Unlike Lazarus, the rich man is nameless, his identity is the richness of clothing and food, but God knows the humble and ignores the arrogant. The rich in the Bible is the practical atheist. He has made himself the center of everything, he has put himself in God's place. He calls to some aspects Herod, beautifully dressed, who banquets (Mk 6,21) and swells making himself acclaimed as god.
RispondiEliminaIt is the opposite of Jesus, who as rich as He was, became poor, became emptied of Himself and became the little one .
The Father also invites to the banquet for the lost and found, dead and risen son. (Lk 15:23...).
But it is a feast open to the poor and the excluded. He himself goes out to console those who remain outside.
The poor man, who has nothing, needs of God. It is his only help.
Lazarus is a figure of Jesus, the last of the poor, who placed all His trust in the Father, the only source of His life.
God throws Himself before the door of the rich man to save him.
The poor man is in fact the Lord, "The least of you, he is great" and "every time you have done these things to one of my least brothers, you have done them to me" (Mt 25:40...).
By giving to the poor, the rich men receive their true wealth and are welcomed into eternal tents.
Whoever gives something to the poor, makes a loan to God, who in His time will repay like Himself. The poor man is the same "God - who helps" each of us to become his children, in recognizing Lazarus as our brother.
The poor doesn't remain prey to death. He is brought by the servants of God to the bosom of Abraham, the father of believers. He is with him, because he is like him. Poverty has made him similar to the father of faith, who has placed in God his security of life.
Death reveals the dignity of the poor, thrown to the door, hungry and wounded.
"The rich man also died and was buried". While Lazarus is taken up, those who have made of the earth their security, find in it their tomb. All their lives had death as their shepherd; now the underworld is their dwelling place forever.
The tomb is the breast of death, the opposite of Abraham's breast, the womb of life. It is an underground place, like the lair of foxes. It is the home of those who have been cunning according to the world, and have not procured their eternal tents with the dishonest mammon. From there, he raises his eyes to the top, towards those who had never deigned to look. It is not said that the rich had despised God or the poor.
Only he had never had looked at them, because he was preoccupied in looking at his own interest.
Finally his eyes are opened. He sees that great distance that he had not perceived before. This abyss is, however, crossed six times by the Word that asks and answers, to let us know what to do now. This abyss was certainly not dug by Abraham, who called him "son". He dug it himself, not recognizing his brother in Lazarus.
"You have had your possessions in your life," Abraham tells him. Lazarus, on the other hand, had only evils, and moreover not his own! Now the situation turns upside down, and in a definitive way.
-->We must "remember" this, because we are led to forget it.
RispondiEliminaEarthly life is the time allowed not to fix, but to cross the abyss between rich and poor.
On this depends the salvation of the rich man.
The poor, already saved by God who is at home with him, saves those who receive him, in turn hosting him with himself in eternal tents. The arc of earthly life is an ephemeral bridge between perdition and salvation. Mercy towards the poor is the passage.
When life is over, time is over. To discern the signs of the time is to understand that the present is given to us for this. All the Scripture, Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms are talking about the Poor One sent to us to heal us with His wounds.
The real problem, therefore, is to believe in the Word of God. She gives us the Mercy of the Father and invites everyone to share in His joy for the Dead and Risen Son.
As long as we are alive we are called to listen to Him and not to mock Him.
Even when he places the alternative between God and mammon.
Whoever believes in Him, welcomes the Love of the Father and loves his brothers and sisters.