Reading 1 Is 66:10-14c Thus says the LORD: Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her; exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her! Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk of her comfort, that you may nurse with delight at her abundant breasts! For thus says the LORD: Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent. As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice and your bodies flourish like the grass; the LORD's power shall be known to his servants.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20 R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!" R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. "Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you, sing praise to your name!" Come and see the works of God, his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam. R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. He has changed the sea into dry land; through the river they passed on foot; therefore let us rejoice in him. He rules by his might forever. R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness! R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reading 2 Gal 6:14-18 Brothers and sisters: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation. Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule and to the Israel of God.
From now on, let no one make troubles for me; for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Alleluia Col 3:15a, 16a R. Alleluia, alleluia. Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. R. Alleluia, alleluia. GOSPEL Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 'The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.' Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town."
The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS 3 July 2022 Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
In the Gospel of this Sunday’s liturgy, we read that “the Lord appointed seventy-two [disciples], and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come” (cf. Lk 10:1). The disciples were sent two by two, not individually. To go on a mission two by two, from a practical point of view, would seem to bring more disadvantages than advantages. There is the risk that the two would not get along, that they would go at different paces, that one would get tired or sick along the way, forcing the other to stop. When one is alone, on the other hand, it seems the journey would become swifter and smoother. However, Jesus does not think like this: he does not send people out alone before him, but disciples who go two by two. Let us ask ourselves a question: what is the reason for this choice of the Lord?
It was the disciples’ task to go ahead into the villages to prepare the people to receive Jesus; and the instructions he gives them are not so much about what they should say, but how they should be : that is, not on the “phrasebook” of what they should say, no; on the witness of life, the witness to give rather than the words to say. Indeed, he defines them as workers : in other words, they are called to work, to evangelise through their behaviour. And the first practical action with which the disciples carry out their mission is precisely that of going two by two. The disciples are not “free agents”, preachers who do not know how to yield the word to another. It is primarily the very life of the disciples that announces the Gospel: their knowing how to be together, their mutual respect, their not wanting to prove that they are more capable than the other, their concordant reference to the one Master.
Perfect pastoral plans can be drawn up, and well-designed projects implemented, organised down to the last detail; one can summon crowds and have many means; but if there is no openness to fraternity, the evangelical mission cannot advance. Once, a missionary recounted how he left for Africa with a confrère. However, after some time he separated from him, stopping in a village where he successfully implemented a series of building projects for the good of the community. Everything was working well. But one day he had a jolt: he realised that his life was that of a good entrepreneur, always in the midst of building sites and paperwork! But… and that “but” remained there. So, he left the management to others, to the laypeople, and joined his confrère. He thus understood why the Lord had sent the disciples “two by two”: the evangelising mission is not based on personal activism, that is, on “doing”, but on the witness of brotherly love, even amid the difficulties that living together entails.
So, we might wonder: how do we take the good news of the Gospel to others? Do we do so with a fraternal spirit and style, or in the manner of the world, with self-promotion, competitiveness and efficiency? Let us ask ourselves whether we have the capacity to collaborate; whether we know how to make decisions together, sincerely respecting those who are alongside us and taking into account their point of view; whether we do so in community, not by ourselves. Indeed, it is above all in this way that the life of the disciple allows that of the Master to shine through, truly announcing it to others.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, teach us to prepare the way for the Lord with the witness of fraternity.
FAUSTI - The passage starts when Jesus sends and ends when He is sent.(v 16) : He sends the disciples as the Father sent Him. The source of the Mission is always the Father, in His Mercy for all His sons. The Son is the first sent because He knows Him. After Him, those who have recognized Him as their brother are sent by Him and like Him. The mission has nothing to do with the proselytism. The mission is born from the Love of the Father for all His children and ends in the love of the children for the Father and among them. It expands into an ever wider horizon, to the point of embracing the ends of the earth: it is the circle of the Father's arms, which opens to embrace all the children without losing any, because He doesn't have children to waste. Mission is an essential dimension of the Church: one realizes his nature as a son in the measure in which he goes to all his brothers and sisters with the love of the Father. The conditions of the mission of the 72, like those of the Twelve, are the same as those of Jesus. The difference is in the fact that He is the Son who has left the Father and has come to seek his brothers and sisters. Instead, the Twelve are called and the seventy-two designated to collaborate in His work. The responsibility of the brother, for whom the Lord is dead, is the origin of the mission. "The love of Christ impels us, to the thought that one man died for all". (2Cor 5,14). It is only in the mission to my brethren that I myself become a son. The mission is not someone's business, but each one's responsibility. The image of the harvest recalls the decisive coming for the judgment of salvation. In fact, every man is from the beginning harvest, wheat ripe to become the Body of the Lord, uniting himself to Him on His way to the Father. The harvest, if it is not harvested, rots. If man does not experience his brother's love, he does not become a son: instead of the bread of life, he becomes the leaven of death. It is interesting to note that the sending of the 72 is both the sowing of the Word and the harvesting. In fact, the acceptance of the proclamation, which is the sowing of seeds, is already salvation, that is, harvest. "The harvest is very much", that is, all mankind, because those who know the heart of the Father are solicitous to all their brothers and sisters. The Word has an initial image that gives meaning to the mission: "lambs in the midst of wolves", under the banner of the Pastor who became Immolated Lamb. This mission, just as from Israel it goes to the ends of space, so from Jesus it extends to the end of time. Then the Lord will come. "But it is first necessary that the Gospel be proclaimed to all nations. The aim of the mission is not only victory over evil, and the return to the original state of Adam, king of creation, but especially the fact that the name of the disciples, in the Name of Jesus, is written in heaven, that is, in God. Jesus came to give us the joy of entering into His communion as Son with the Father. Four prohibitions describe the mission in poverty and the clarifications about the announcement of the kingdom: "enter" "say" "stay" "eat" "take care" "say". This announcement, urgent and necessary, takes place in contradiction and rejection. All this ends with the identification of the sent disciples with Jesus, sent by the Father. The colour of the return is joy, the definitive gift of the workers. The disciples rejoice for the victory over Satan that is fulfilled today, in their mission. Secondly, it is also a return to the original condition of paradise, in which man resumes his role as lord of creation. No evil and no poison, not even death, can damage him and poison his life. "Your names are written in the heaven": this is the real reason for joy. It is the elevation to the intimacy and fullness of life of God. From here we can understand how the missionary spirit is of the whole Church, if she wants to reach the objective of being like the Son, who loves the Father and his brethren.
JESUITS - The Gospel of Luke is the missionary Gospel, because the mission is not an optional for people who go far or because they are generous. The word apostle or missionary derives one from Greek and the other from Latin, and they mean “sent”, “sent”. Each of us is “sent” to the brothers, otherwise he is not a son, therefore the missionary, apostolic dimension is essential for every man also because man is fulfilled in his relationship with the other, going towards the other. Therefore it is precisely the way of the mission that realizes our substance, our being men and our being believers. When we say that the Church is apostolic we mean not only that it is founded on the apostles,...the Church is essentially apostolic, it is the fundamental dimension of our life, we are relationship, love pushes you towards the other, otherwise you go towards the other out of selfishness, to dominate, it is the counter-mission, you are emissaries of Satan if you do so... Fundamentally the mission means to testify that Jesus is the Son and that we are all brothers, children of the same Father. How can you testify? The mission is a matter of life, it is the style of life. The life of openness to others, of love towards others, of giving to others, of communion, which excludes no one and which opens to all because if you exclude one, you exclude God who made himself last of all. You then understand the importance of the mission and also the mission is not reserved for a few, for the elect, for priests, it is the business of every man. If I know that someone is my brother because we have the same Father and he does not know it, I tell him, first of all with my attitude, with brotherhood and if he asks me also with words and, among other things, only if I go on a mission toward the other do I become a son. He sends them two by two, because if such different characters manage to stay together it means that there is something that transcends the characteristics, defects and virtues of the individual. So this is important, what unites them is something else: it is the common sin and it is the common call to follow the Lord that we all have; and the call fits into the desire that we all have for life, that they also had, that is why they followed him, the desire for happiness, for fulfillment. Afterwards there is another thing that will come little by little that will make us all common and it is the freedom and the knowledge that we must have. When we are free He sends, as He was sent by the Father, as the twelve were sent, so each of us is sent. What does it mean? That if you love, love sends you out of yourself towards the other. And you realize yourself as a person if you come out of yourself, if you know how to love the other. So if we are children of God and we have understood something that God is Father, we are necessarily sent
Truly God is Lord of everything and everyone and loves all things and all people and the whole world must be impregnated with this love. And then it is added where He himself was about to come “is about to come” is the definition of God, He is always about to come. And when does He arrive? When we stop and welcome Him. He is about to come from the beginning. The first to welcome Him is Mary who says “yes”. Seeing Him as coming, the one who comes, really breaks that image that presents God in a static way so that if He does not move we do not reach Him: too far away. He is coming continuously, He reaches us. Among other things, "He who is about to come" is the definition of He who will come at the end of the world, that is, the old world ends precisely with Him who comes, we welcome Him and the new world begins. So it is not that we have to wait for who knows what world. Precisely this world of ours ends and the new world begins where we welcome He who is about to come in his testimony, in his announcement, in his love.
---> The fruits of the mission are different. The first fruit is that the demons have submitted, they are very happy about this: the victory over evil. And Jesus says: look, yes, it is right to be happy about this, I too have seen Satan fall, but know that there is something more than the victory over evil, now you can also trample on serpents and scorpions, that is, not only have you conquered evil, but you have returned to the paradisiacal state: man returned to himself, his full humanity, lord of creation, but, I was saying, do not rejoice for this: there is something more. You, going towards your brothers, have become children of God, your name is written in the Name, in God. And, at this point, Jesus begins to dance with joy in the Spirit and to praise the Father: it is the most beautiful glimpse of all the synoptics on the Trinity, on the revelation of the love between Father and Son communicated to us because, finally, God is happy; he says: finally I find all my children, upon returning from the mission, because they have all known my love, they all love each other and truly creation here reaches perfection: it is the purpose for which God created the world and is happy, dancing with joy. And understanding that we are the joy of God is the most beautiful discovery for us and for God: for us who are children and for God who is Father. And then this joy is transmitted to the eyes that look at what you see and listen to what you listen to, that is, to us, who through listening see this scene and participate in the same joy.
Reading 1
RispondiEliminaIs 66:10-14c
Thus says the LORD:
Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
all you who love her;
exult, exult with her,
all you who were mourning over her!
Oh, that you may suck fully
of the milk of her comfort,
that you may nurse with delight
at her abundant breasts!
For thus says the LORD:
Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.
As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
and fondled in her lap;
as a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice
and your bodies flourish like the grass;
the LORD's power shall be known to his servants.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!"
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
"Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!"
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reading 2
Gal 6:14-18
Brothers and sisters:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision,
but only a new creation.
Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule
and to the Israel of God.
From now on, let no one make troubles for me;
for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,
brothers and sisters. Amen.
Alleluia
Col 3:15a, 16a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
'The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.'
Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town."
The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
https://salmiognigiorno.blogspot.com/2024/11/salmo-66-b-c.html
Elimina
RispondiEliminaTHE WORDS OF THE POPES
POPE FRANCIS
ANGELUS 3 July 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
In the Gospel of this Sunday’s liturgy, we read that “the Lord appointed seventy-two [disciples], and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come” (cf. Lk 10:1). The disciples were sent two by two, not individually. To go on a mission two by two, from a practical point of view, would seem to bring more disadvantages than advantages. There is the risk that the two would not get along, that they would go at different paces, that one would get tired or sick along the way, forcing the other to stop. When one is alone, on the other hand, it seems the journey would become swifter and smoother. However, Jesus does not think like this: he does not send people out alone before him, but disciples who go two by two. Let us ask ourselves a question: what is the reason for this choice of the Lord?
It was the disciples’ task to go ahead into the villages to prepare the people to receive Jesus; and the instructions he gives them are not so much about what they should say, but how they should be : that is, not on the “phrasebook” of what they should say, no; on the witness of life, the witness to give rather than the words to say. Indeed, he defines them as workers : in other words, they are called to work, to evangelise through their behaviour. And the first practical action with which the disciples carry out their mission is precisely that of going two by two. The disciples are not “free agents”, preachers who do not know how to yield the word to another. It is primarily the very life of the disciples that announces the Gospel: their knowing how to be together, their mutual respect, their not wanting to prove that they are more capable than the other, their concordant reference to the one Master.
Perfect pastoral plans can be drawn up, and well-designed projects implemented, organised down to the last detail; one can summon crowds and have many means; but if there is no openness to fraternity, the evangelical mission cannot advance. Once, a missionary recounted how he left for Africa with a confrère. However, after some time he separated from him, stopping in a village where he successfully implemented a series of building projects for the good of the community. Everything was working well. But one day he had a jolt: he realised that his life was that of a good entrepreneur, always in the midst of building sites and paperwork! But… and that “but” remained there. So, he left the management to others, to the laypeople, and joined his confrère. He thus understood why the Lord had sent the disciples “two by two”: the evangelising mission is not based on personal activism, that is, on “doing”, but on the witness of brotherly love, even amid the difficulties that living together entails.
So, we might wonder: how do we take the good news of the Gospel to others? Do we do so with a fraternal spirit and style, or in the manner of the world, with self-promotion, competitiveness and efficiency? Let us ask ourselves whether we have the capacity to collaborate; whether we know how to make decisions together, sincerely respecting those who are alongside us and taking into account their point of view; whether we do so in community, not by ourselves. Indeed, it is above all in this way that the life of the disciple allows that of the Master to shine through, truly announcing it to others.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, teach us to prepare the way for the Lord with the witness of fraternity.
FAUSTI - The passage starts when Jesus sends and ends when He is sent.(v 16) : He sends the disciples as the Father sent Him. The source of the Mission is always the Father, in His Mercy for all His sons.
RispondiEliminaThe Son is the first sent because He knows Him.
After Him, those who have recognized Him as their brother are sent by Him and like Him.
The mission has nothing to do with the proselytism.
The mission is born from the Love of the Father for all His children and ends in the love of the children for the Father and among them. It expands into an ever wider horizon, to the point of embracing the ends of the earth: it is the circle of the Father's arms, which opens to embrace all the children without losing any, because He doesn't have children to waste.
Mission is an essential dimension of the Church: one realizes his nature as a son in the measure in which he goes to all his brothers and sisters with the love of the Father.
The conditions of the mission of the 72, like those of the Twelve, are the same as those of Jesus.
The difference is in the fact that He is the Son who has left the Father and has come to seek his brothers and sisters. Instead, the Twelve are called and the seventy-two designated to collaborate in His work.
The responsibility of the brother, for whom the Lord is dead, is the origin of the mission.
"The love of Christ impels us, to the thought that one man died for all". (2Cor 5,14).
It is only in the mission to my brethren that I myself become a son.
The mission is not someone's business, but each one's responsibility.
The image of the harvest recalls the decisive coming for the judgment of salvation.
In fact, every man is from the beginning harvest, wheat ripe to become the Body of the Lord, uniting himself to Him on His way to the Father.
The harvest, if it is not harvested, rots.
If man does not experience his brother's love, he does not become a son: instead of the bread of life, he becomes the leaven of death.
It is interesting to note that the sending of the 72 is both the sowing of the Word and the harvesting.
In fact, the acceptance of the proclamation, which is the sowing of seeds, is already salvation, that is, harvest.
"The harvest is very much", that is, all mankind, because those who know the heart of the Father are solicitous to all their brothers and sisters. The Word has an initial image that gives meaning to the mission: "lambs in the midst of wolves", under the banner of the Pastor who became Immolated Lamb.
This mission, just as from Israel it goes to the ends of space, so from Jesus it extends to the end of time. Then the Lord will come.
"But it is first necessary that the Gospel be proclaimed to all nations.
The aim of the mission is not only victory over evil, and the return to the original state of Adam, king of creation, but especially the fact that the name of the disciples, in the Name of Jesus, is written in heaven, that is, in God.
Jesus came to give us the joy of entering into His communion as Son with the Father.
Four prohibitions describe the mission in poverty and the clarifications about the announcement of the kingdom: "enter" "say" "stay" "eat" "take care" "say".
This announcement, urgent and necessary, takes place in contradiction and rejection.
All this ends with the identification of the sent disciples with Jesus, sent by the Father.
The colour of the return is joy, the definitive gift of the workers.
The disciples rejoice for the victory over Satan that is fulfilled today, in their mission.
Secondly, it is also a return to the original condition of paradise, in which man resumes his role as lord of creation. No evil and no poison, not even death, can damage him and poison his life.
"Your names are written in the heaven": this is the real reason for joy.
It is the elevation to the intimacy and fullness of life of God.
From here we can understand how the missionary spirit is of the whole Church, if she wants to reach the objective of being like the Son, who loves the Father and his brethren.
JESUITS - The Gospel of Luke is the missionary Gospel, because the mission is not
RispondiEliminaan optional for people who go far or because they are generous.
The word apostle or missionary derives one from Greek and
the other from Latin, and they mean “sent”, “sent”. Each of
us is “sent” to the brothers, otherwise he is not a son, therefore the
missionary, apostolic dimension is essential for every man also because
man is fulfilled in his relationship with the other, going towards
the other. Therefore it is precisely the way of the mission that realizes our
substance, our being men and our being believers. When
we say that the Church is apostolic we mean not only that
it is founded on the apostles,...the Church is
essentially apostolic, it is the fundamental dimension of
our life, we are relationship, love pushes you towards the other,
otherwise you go towards the other out of selfishness, to dominate, it is the counter-mission,
you are emissaries of Satan if you do so... Fundamentally the mission means
to testify that Jesus is the Son and that we are all brothers, children
of the same Father. How can you testify?
The mission is a matter of life, it is the style of life.
The life of openness to others, of love towards others, of giving
to others, of communion, which excludes no one and which opens to all
because if you exclude one, you exclude God who made himself last of all.
You then understand the importance of the mission and also the mission is
not reserved for a few, for the elect, for priests, it is the business of every man. If I know
that someone is my brother because we have the same Father and he does
not know it, I tell him, first of all with my attitude, with brotherhood and
if he asks me also with words and, among other things, only if I go on a mission
toward the other do I become a son.
He sends them two by two, because if such different characters manage to stay together it means that there is something that transcends the
characteristics, defects and virtues of the individual.
So this is important, what unites them is something else: it is
the common sin and it is the common call to follow the Lord that
we all have; and the call fits into the desire that we all have for life, that they also had, that is why they followed him,
the desire for happiness, for fulfillment. Afterwards there is another thing that
will come little by little that will make us all common and it is the freedom and the
knowledge that we must have.
When we are free He sends, as
He was sent by the Father, as the twelve were sent, so
each of us is sent. What does it mean? That if you love, love
sends you out of yourself towards the other. And you realize yourself as a person if you come out of
yourself, if you know how to love the other. So if we are children of God and we
have understood something that God is Father, we are necessarily sent
Truly God is Lord of everything and everyone and loves
all things and all people and the whole world must be
impregnated with this love. And then it is added where He himself
was about to come “is about to come” is the definition of God, He is always
about to come.
And when does He arrive?
When we stop and welcome Him. He is about to come from the beginning. The
first to welcome Him is Mary who says “yes”.
Seeing Him as coming, the one who comes, really breaks that image that presents God in a static way so that if He does not move we do not reach Him: too far away. He is coming continuously, He reaches us. Among other things, "He who is about to come" is the definition of He who will come at the end of the world, that is, the old world ends precisely with Him who comes, we welcome Him and the new world begins. So it is not that we have to wait for who knows what world. Precisely this world of ours ends and the new world begins where we welcome He who is about to come in his testimony, in his announcement, in his love.
---> The fruits of the mission are different. The first fruit is that the demons have submitted, they are very happy about this: the victory over evil. And Jesus says: look, yes, it is right to be happy about this, I too have seen Satan fall, but know that there is something more than the victory over evil, now you can also trample on serpents and scorpions, that is, not only have you conquered evil, but you have returned to the paradisiacal state: man returned to himself, his full humanity, lord of creation, but, I was saying, do not rejoice for this: there is something more. You, going towards your brothers, have become children of God, your name is written in the Name, in God. And, at this point, Jesus begins to dance with joy in the Spirit and to praise the Father: it is the most beautiful glimpse of all the synoptics on the Trinity, on the revelation of the love between Father and Son communicated to us because, finally, God is happy; he says: finally I find all my children, upon returning from the mission, because they have all known my love, they all love each other and truly creation here reaches perfection: it is the purpose for which God created the world and is happy, dancing with joy. And understanding that we are the joy of God is the most beautiful discovery for us and for God: for us who are children and for God who is Father. And then this joy is transmitted to the eyes that look at what you see and listen to what you listen to, that is, to us, who through listening see this scene and participate in the same joy.
Elimina