FATHER, we no longer know how to listen; FATHER, no one listens to anyone anymore: no one knows how to be silent anymore! We have lost the sense of contemplation, so we are so alone and empty, so noisy and senseless; and inevitably idolatrous! Even when anguish assails us , grant us, O FATHER, not to doubt; or even to doubt, but at the same time to believe ever more: to believe in your faithfulness and your love beyond all appearances; and with Your Spirit, ever present in our history.
Antiphon I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev 21:2)
Behold, God's dwelling is with men; he will dwell with them, and they will be his people; he, God, will be with them, their God. (Rev 21:3)
The Gloria is said.
Collect O God, who with living and chosen stones prepare an eternal dwelling for your glory, continue to pour out upon the Church the grace you have given her, so that the people of believers may always progress in building the heavenly Jerusalem. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Or:
O God, you have chosen to call the Church your bride: grant that the people consecrated to the service of your name may adore you, love you, follow you , and, under your guidance, attain the promised good things. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
First Reading I saw water flowing from the temple, and to all who reached it it brought salvation. From the book of the prophet Ezekiel Eze 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
In those days, [a man whose appearance was like bronze] brought me to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east. The water flowed down from under the south side of the temple, from the south side of the altar. He led me out by the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and I saw water flowing from the south side. He said to me, "This water flows toward the east, flows down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; and when it flows into the sea, it becomes healthy. Wherever the stream goes, every living thing that moves will live, and there will be very many fish, for wherever the water goes, it becomes healthy, and wherever the stream goes, everything will live." Along the stream, on both banks, will grow all kinds of fruit trees, whose leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail, but will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.
Word of God.
Responsorial Psalm From Psalm 45 (46)
R. A river makes glad the city of God.
God is our refuge and fortress, an unfailing help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth tremble, though the mountains be shaken in the depths of the sea. R.
A river and its channels make glad the city of God, the most holy of the dwellings of the Most High. God is in the midst of it: it will not be shaken. God helps it at the breaking of the dawn. R.
The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, see the works of the Lord; he has done awesome things on earth. R.
Second Reading You are the temple of God. From the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 1 Cor 3:9c-11.16-17
Brothers and sisters: You are God's building. According to the grace of God that was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid the foundation; and another builds on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.
I have chosen and consecrated this house, that my name may be there forever. (2 Chronicles 7:16)
Alleluia.
Gospel He was speaking of the temple of his body. From the Gospel according to John Jn 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated there. So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen. He threw the money changers' coins to the ground and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Take these things away! Stop making my Father's house a house of trade!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." Then the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said to him, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. When he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The words of the Popes Today’s Gospel presents the episode of the expulsion of the merchants from the temple (Jn 2:13-25). Jesus made “a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple” (Jn 2:15), the money, everything. Such a gesture gave rise to strong impressions in the people and in the disciples. It clearly appeared as a prophetic gesture, so much so that some of those present asked Jesus: “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” (v. 18), who are you to do these things? Show us a sign that you have authority to do them. They were seeking a divine and prodigious sign that would confirm that Jesus was sent by God. And He responded: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (…)
We have here, according to the evangelist John, the first proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ: His body, destroyed on the Cross by the violence of sin, will become in the Resurrection the universal meeting place between God and mankind. And the Risen Christ is Himself the universal meeting place — for everyone! — between God and mankind. For this reason, his humanity is the true temple where God is revealed, speaks, is encountered; and the true worshippers, the true worshippers of God are not only the guardians of the material temple, the keepers of power and of religious knowledge, [but] they are those who worship God “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23). (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 March 2015)
For the millions of children bent by pangs of hunger who have lost their smile but still want to love.
For the millions of young people who, without any reason to believe or to live, search in vain for a future in this senseless world.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest.
For the millions of men, women and children whose hearts still beat strongly enough to fight, whose spirit rises up against the unjust destiny imposed on them, whose courage demands the right to invaluable dignity.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest.
For the millions of children, women and men who do not want to curse, but rather to love and pray, work and unite so that a more solidary earth may be born; An earth, our earth, where every man gives the best of himself before he dies.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest
For all those who pray, may they be listened to by God, and receive from him the strength to eliminate misery from a humanity made in his image.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest.
HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS 9-11- 2019 This evening, during this celebration for the Dedication [of the Basilica] I would like to offer you three verses taken from the Word of God that you can use as the subject of meditation and prayer.
I feel that the first one is addressed to us all, to the entire diocesan community of Rome. It is the Responsorial Psalm: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Ps 46[45]:4). Christians who live in this city are like the river that springs from the temple: they bring a Word of life and of hope that can make fruitful the desert of hearts, just like the stream described in Ezekiel’s vision (chap. 47) which fertilizes the Arabah desert and heals the salty and lifeless waters of the Dead Sea. The important thing is that the course of the water leave the temple and flow towards hostile looking lands. The city cannot but rejoice on seeing Christians becoming joyful proclaimers, determined to share with others the treasures of the Word of God and to devote themselves to the common good. The terrain that seemed destined to be arid, reveals an extraordinary potential: it becomes a garden with evergreen trees and leaves and fruit with healing properties. Ezekiel explains the reason for such fruitfulness: “the water for them flows from the sanctuary” (Ez 47:12). God is the secret of this new life-giving power!
May the Lord rejoice at seeing us in movement, ready to listen with our hearts to his poor that cry out to him. May the Mother Church of Rome experience the comfort of seeing once again the obedience and courage of her children filled with enthusiasm for this new season of evangelization. Meeting others, engaging in dialogue with them, listening to them with humility, generosity and poverty of heart ... I invite all of you to live this, not as a burdensome effort, but with spiritual lightness: instead of letting performance anxiety take over, it is more important to widen your perception in order to grasp God’s presence and action in the city. It is a contemplation that stems from love.
I would like to dedicate a verse from the Second Reading, in the first Letter to the Corinthians, to you presbyters: “no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11). This is your task, the heart of your ministry: to help the community always be at the Lord’s feet in order to listen to his Word; to keep it far from all worldliness, from bad compromises; to keep the foundation and the holy root of the spiritual building; to defend it from vicious wolves, from those who want to make it deviate from the path of the Gospel. Like Paul, you too are “master builders”, masters because you are well aware that any other idea or situation we may want to use as a foundation of the Church, instead of the Gospel, would perhaps guarantee us greater success or immediate gratification, but would inevitably lead to the collapse, the collapse of the entire spiritual edifice!
In my time as Bishop of Rome, I have come to know many of you more closely, dear presbyters. I have admired your faith and love for the Lord, your closeness to people and your generosity in caring for the poor. You know the neighbourhoods of the city like no one else and you keep in your heart the faces, smiles and tears of many people. You have set aside ideological differences and personal “spotlights” in order to make room for what God asks of you. The realism of those who keep their feet on the ground and know “the way of the world” did not prevent you from flying high with the Lord and from having great dreams. May God Bless you. May the joy of intimacy with him be the truest reward for all the good that you do daily.
--->And lastly, a verse for you, members of the pastoral teams who are here to receive a special mandate from the Bishop. I could not but choose it from the Gospel (Jn 2:13-22), in which Jesus behaves in a divinely provocative manner. In order to shake the obtuseness of mankind and lead people to make radical changes, God sometimes chooses to act in a strong way to bring about a break in the situation. With his action, Jesus wants to introduce a change of pace, a change in direction. Many saints shared that same style: some of their behaviour that was incomprehensible from a human point of view, was the result of intuitions caused by the Spirit, with the intention of arousing their contemporaries and helping them understand that “my thoughts are not your thoughts” (Is 55:8), which God says through the prophet Isaiah.
In order to better understand today’s Gospel passage, we must highlight an important characteristic. The merchants were in the courtyard reserved for Gentiles, the area that was accessible to non Jews. This very hall had been transformed into a market. But God wants his temple to be “a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56:7). Hence, Jesus’ decision to topple the currency exchange tables and to drive away the animals. This purification of the sanctuary was necessary so that Israel could rediscover its vocation: to be a light for all people, a small group of people chosen to serve the salvation that God wants to give everyone. Jesus knows that this provocative behaviour will cost him dear. And when they ask him: “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” (Jn 2:18), the Lord answers by saying: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19).
And it is this very verse which I want to offer to you pastoral teams, this evening. You have been entrusted with the task of helping your communities and pastoral workers to reach all the city’s inhabitants, identifying new ways to encounter those who are distant from the faith and from the Church. However, in carrying out this service, you bear within this awareness, this trust: there is no human heart in which Christ does not want to and cannot be reborn. In our lives as sinners, we often happen to distance ourselves from the Lord and to dampen the Spirit. We destroy the temple of God which is each of us. And yet this is never a definitive situation: three days are enough for the Lord to rebuild his temple within us!
As much as they may have been wounded by evil, no one is condemned to be forever separated from God on this earth. In an often mysterious but real way, the Lord opens new small openings in hearts, the desire for truth, good and beauty that make room for evangelization. At times, one can come across mistrust and hostility. One should not allow oneself to be stopped but rather safeguard the conviction that for God three days are enough to resuscitate his Son in the heart of man. It is also the history of some of us: deep conversions that are fruit of the unpredictable action of grace! I am thinking about Vatican Council II: “since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).
May the Lord give us the opportunity to experience all this in our evangelizing action. May we grow in faith in the Paschal Mystery and be associated with his “zeal” for our home. Enjoy your journey.
FAUSTI - He himself, the Word made flesh, is the new Temple, a place of communion between God and man. Easter celebrates the liberation from slavery in Egypt, a prefiguration of the one the Messiah will bring. In John we find three Easters (2:13 – 6:4 – 11:55). In the last one, the Lamb of God will be sacrificed for the salvation of the world. The story begins by saying that Easter is near and ends by foretelling Jesus' Easter. Originally, Easter was celebrated in the family; later, with the centralization of power, people went to the Temple in Jerusalem. In Jesus' time, on that occasion, as many as 100,000 pilgrims would ascend and sacrifice up to 18,000 lambs. In the Old Testament, Easter is the Lord's, here it is "of the Jews." The Lord has entered His Temple. “Who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? He is like a refiner's fire and a fuller's lye. He will sit as a refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. (ML 3,1...)”. Jesus begins by purifying worship, because in it what is experienced is celebrated: one prays as one lives. The temple, a place of encounter with God, easily becomes a market. Especially in the month around Easter, business prospered, with large profits for the priestly class who, from serving in the temple, had moved on to dominion over it and over those who frequented it. Jesus comes to destroy this system of oppression. He will pay the cost with the destruction of His Body. The Lord enters His temple to purify it. Jesus' gesture is a symbol of God's judgment on the sin of the world: the meek lamb reveals the wrath of evil, which He will bring upon Himself. The Temple is called by Jesus: "the house of My Father". Then it will be called "sanctuary", which is the most intimate place, where "the Holy of Holies" is inaccessible to all, except once a year, for the high priest. (Lev 16, 2-28). Brotherhood should reign in the house of the Father. The temple can also become a market in a figurative sense. God is in fact Love, whoever wants to pay Him, goes against His very nature... When the prophets speak of prostitution in the temple, they mean this cult, as pious as it is offensive to God. The actions of Jesus remind the disciples to remember the scriptures, which they already know and which through Him, of whom they speak, they finally understand. "The zeal for your house will consume me" It is from a Messianic Psalm (Ps 69, 10), which speaks of the suffering of Christ, who the zeal of God devoured, like the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19, 10-14). The love for the Father, where Jesus dwells, will “devour” Him on the day of His Easter. The scene already opens on the mystery of the Messiah's passion. On the cross, this Psalm will once again be alluded to, which says: "When I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar" (Ps 69:22). The Son of Man, the true temple, will be killed precisely by the deception of man who makes his happiness consist in possessing things, people and God Himself. The flesh of the Word is now the tent of God among us, where we ourselves are at home with Him. In Jesus, the Temple reaches the reality of which it is a sign: it is heaven open on earth, a vision of the glory and life of man. Jesus will become the new Temple, from which salvation for all will flow. God directs history with His Word, which does not remain without effect (Is 55:11) and is always fulfilled in its time. An initial recollection of the words of Psalm 69:10 illuminated the purification of the Temple and prefigured the Passion of the Lamb. The event of the Resurrection, foretold by Jesus, will be the fulfillment of God's plan spoken of in Scripture. Even today, He speaks to us from His flesh, which is our poorest brothers and sisters. There is always the danger of making His Word a fetish of the past, without realizing that He speaks to us "now." This different way of conceiving the Word makes the difference between the scribes and the prophets.
MOTHER TERESA The fruit of silence is prayer The fruit of prayer is faith The fruit of faith is love The fruit of love is service The fruit of service is peace.
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KNOWING HOW TO LISTEN TO YOU - DM TUROLDO
RispondiEliminaFATHER, we no longer know how to listen;
FATHER, no one listens to anyone anymore:
no one knows how to be silent anymore!
We have lost the sense of contemplation,
so we are so alone and empty,
so noisy and senseless;
and inevitably idolatrous!
Even when anguish assails us
, grant us, O FATHER, not to doubt;
or even to doubt, but at the same time to believe ever more:
to believe in your faithfulness
and your love
beyond all appearances;
and with Your Spirit,
ever present in our history.
Antiphon
RispondiEliminaI saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev 21:2)
Behold, God's dwelling is with men;
he will dwell with them, and they will be his people;
he, God, will be with them, their God. (Rev 21:3)
The Gloria is said.
Collect
O God, who with living and chosen stones
prepare an eternal dwelling for your glory,
continue to pour out upon the Church
the grace you have given her,
so that the people of believers
may always progress in building
the heavenly Jerusalem.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Or:
O God, you have chosen to call the Church your bride:
grant that the people consecrated to the service of your name
may adore you, love you, follow you
, and, under your guidance, attain the promised good things.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
First Reading
I saw water flowing from the temple, and to all who reached it it brought salvation.
From the book of the prophet Ezekiel
Eze 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
In those days, [a man whose appearance was like bronze] brought me to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east. The water flowed down from under the south side of the temple, from the south side of the altar. He led me out by the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and I saw water flowing from the south side.
He said to me, "This water flows toward the east, flows down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; and when it flows into the sea, it becomes healthy. Wherever the stream goes, every living thing that moves will live, and there will be very many fish, for wherever the water goes, it becomes healthy, and wherever the stream goes, everything will live." Along the stream, on both banks, will grow all kinds of fruit trees, whose leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail, but will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.
Word of God.
Responsorial Psalm
From Psalm 45 (46)
R. A river makes glad the city of God.
God is our refuge and fortress,
an unfailing help in times of trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth tremble,
though the mountains be shaken in the depths of the sea. R.
A river and its channels make glad the city of God,
the most holy of the dwellings of the Most High.
God is in the midst of it: it will not be shaken.
God helps it at the breaking of the dawn. R.
The Lord of hosts is with us,
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come, see the works of the Lord;
he has done awesome things on earth. R.
Second Reading
You are the temple of God.
From the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
1 Cor 3:9c-11.16-17
Brothers and sisters: You are God's building.
According to the grace of God that was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid the foundation; and another builds on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.
The Word of God.
Gospel Acclamation
RispondiEliminaAlleluia, alleluia.
I have chosen and consecrated this house,
that my name may be there forever. (2 Chronicles 7:16)
Alleluia.
Gospel
He was speaking of the temple of his body.
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple those selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated there.
So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen. He threw the money changers' coins to the ground and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Take these things away! Stop making my Father's house a house of trade!"
His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
Then the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews then said to him, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
When he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The word of the Lord.
The words of the Popes
EliminaToday’s Gospel presents the episode of the expulsion of the merchants from the temple (Jn 2:13-25). Jesus made “a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple” (Jn 2:15), the money, everything. Such a gesture gave rise to strong impressions in the people and in the disciples. It clearly appeared as a prophetic gesture, so much so that some of those present asked Jesus: “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” (v. 18), who are you to do these things? Show us a sign that you have authority to do them. They were seeking a divine and prodigious sign that would confirm that Jesus was sent by God. And He responded: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (…)
We have here, according to the evangelist John, the first proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ: His body, destroyed on the Cross by the violence of sin, will become in the Resurrection the universal meeting place between God and mankind. And the Risen Christ is Himself the universal meeting place — for everyone! — between God and mankind. For this reason, his humanity is the true temple where God is revealed, speaks, is encountered; and the true worshippers, the true worshippers of God are not only the guardians of the material temple, the keepers of power and of religious knowledge, [but] they are those who worship God “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23). (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 March 2015)
For the millions of children bent by pangs of hunger who have lost their smile but still want to love.
EliminaFor the millions of young people who, without any reason to believe or to live, search in vain for a future in this senseless world.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest.
For the millions of men, women and children whose hearts still beat strongly enough to fight, whose spirit rises up against the unjust destiny imposed on them, whose courage demands the right to invaluable dignity.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest.
For the millions of children, women and men who do not want to curse, but rather to love and pray, work and unite so that a more solidary earth may be born; An earth, our earth, where every man gives the best of himself before he dies.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest
For all those who pray, may they be listened to by God, and receive from him the strength to eliminate misery from a humanity made in his image.
Father, we beseech you to send workers into your harvest.
HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS
RispondiElimina9-11- 2019
This evening, during this celebration for the Dedication [of the Basilica] I would like to offer you three verses taken from the Word of God that you can use as the subject of meditation and prayer.
I feel that the first one is addressed to us all, to the entire diocesan community of Rome. It is the Responsorial Psalm: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Ps 46[45]:4). Christians who live in this city are like the river that springs from the temple: they bring a Word of life and of hope that can make fruitful the desert of hearts, just like the stream described in Ezekiel’s vision (chap. 47) which fertilizes the Arabah desert and heals the salty and lifeless waters of the Dead Sea. The important thing is that the course of the water leave the temple and flow towards hostile looking lands. The city cannot but rejoice on seeing Christians becoming joyful proclaimers, determined to share with others the treasures of the Word of God and to devote themselves to the common good. The terrain that seemed destined to be arid, reveals an extraordinary potential: it becomes a garden with evergreen trees and leaves and fruit with healing properties. Ezekiel explains the reason for such fruitfulness: “the water for them flows from the sanctuary” (Ez 47:12). God is the secret of this new life-giving power!
May the Lord rejoice at seeing us in movement, ready to listen with our hearts to his poor that cry out to him. May the Mother Church of Rome experience the comfort of seeing once again the obedience and courage of her children filled with enthusiasm for this new season of evangelization. Meeting others, engaging in dialogue with them, listening to them with humility, generosity and poverty of heart ... I invite all of you to live this, not as a burdensome effort, but with spiritual lightness: instead of letting performance anxiety take over, it is more important to widen your perception in order to grasp God’s presence and action in the city. It is a contemplation that stems from love.
I would like to dedicate a verse from the Second Reading, in the first Letter to the Corinthians, to you presbyters: “no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11). This is your task, the heart of your ministry: to help the community always be at the Lord’s feet in order to listen to his Word; to keep it far from all worldliness, from bad compromises; to keep the foundation and the holy root of the spiritual building; to defend it from vicious wolves, from those who want to make it deviate from the path of the Gospel. Like Paul, you too are “master builders”, masters because you are well aware that any other idea or situation we may want to use as a foundation of the Church, instead of the Gospel, would perhaps guarantee us greater success or immediate gratification, but would inevitably lead to the collapse, the collapse of the entire spiritual edifice!
In my time as Bishop of Rome, I have come to know many of you more closely, dear presbyters. I have admired your faith and love for the Lord, your closeness to people and your generosity in caring for the poor. You know the neighbourhoods of the city like no one else and you keep in your heart the faces, smiles and tears of many people. You have set aside ideological differences and personal “spotlights” in order to make room for what God asks of you. The realism of those who keep their feet on the ground and know “the way of the world” did not prevent you from flying high with the Lord and from having great dreams. May God Bless you. May the joy of intimacy with him be the truest reward for all the good that you do daily.
--->And lastly, a verse for you, members of the pastoral teams who are here to receive a special mandate from the Bishop. I could not but choose it from the Gospel (Jn 2:13-22), in which Jesus behaves in a divinely provocative manner. In order to shake the obtuseness of mankind and lead people to make radical changes, God sometimes chooses to act in a strong way to bring about a break in the situation. With his action, Jesus wants to introduce a change of pace, a change in direction. Many saints shared that same style: some of their behaviour that was incomprehensible from a human point of view, was the result of intuitions caused by the Spirit, with the intention of arousing their contemporaries and helping them understand that “my thoughts are not your thoughts” (Is 55:8), which God says through the prophet Isaiah.
EliminaIn order to better understand today’s Gospel passage, we must highlight an important characteristic. The merchants were in the courtyard reserved for Gentiles, the area that was accessible to non Jews. This very hall had been transformed into a market. But God wants his temple to be “a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56:7). Hence, Jesus’ decision to topple the currency exchange tables and to drive away the animals. This purification of the sanctuary was necessary so that Israel could rediscover its vocation: to be a light for all people, a small group of people chosen to serve the salvation that God wants to give everyone. Jesus knows that this provocative behaviour will cost him dear. And when they ask him: “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” (Jn 2:18), the Lord answers by saying: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19).
And it is this very verse which I want to offer to you pastoral teams, this evening. You have been entrusted with the task of helping your communities and pastoral workers to reach all the city’s inhabitants, identifying new ways to encounter those who are distant from the faith and from the Church. However, in carrying out this service, you bear within this awareness, this trust: there is no human heart in which Christ does not want to and cannot be reborn. In our lives as sinners, we often happen to distance ourselves from the Lord and to dampen the Spirit. We destroy the temple of God which is each of us. And yet this is never a definitive situation: three days are enough for the Lord to rebuild his temple within us!
As much as they may have been wounded by evil, no one is condemned to be forever separated from God on this earth. In an often mysterious but real way, the Lord opens new small openings in hearts, the desire for truth, good and beauty that make room for evangelization. At times, one can come across mistrust and hostility. One should not allow oneself to be stopped but rather safeguard the conviction that for God three days are enough to resuscitate his Son in the heart of man. It is also the history of some of us: deep conversions that are fruit of the unpredictable action of grace! I am thinking about Vatican Council II: “since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).
May the Lord give us the opportunity to experience all this in our evangelizing action. May we grow in faith in the Paschal Mystery and be associated with his “zeal” for our home. Enjoy your journey.
FAUSTI - He himself, the Word made flesh, is the new Temple, a place of communion between God and man.
RispondiEliminaEaster celebrates the liberation from slavery in Egypt, a prefiguration of the one the Messiah will bring.
In John we find three Easters (2:13 – 6:4 – 11:55). In the last one, the Lamb of God will be sacrificed for the salvation of the world.
The story begins by saying that Easter is near and ends by foretelling Jesus' Easter.
Originally, Easter was celebrated in the family; later, with the centralization of power, people went to the Temple in Jerusalem.
In Jesus' time, on that occasion, as many as 100,000 pilgrims would ascend and sacrifice up to 18,000 lambs.
In the Old Testament, Easter is the Lord's, here it is "of the Jews."
The Lord has entered His Temple. “Who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? He is like a refiner's fire and a fuller's lye. He will sit as a refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. (ML 3,1...)”.
Jesus begins by purifying worship, because in it what is experienced is celebrated: one prays as one lives.
The temple, a place of encounter with God, easily becomes a market. Especially in the month around Easter, business prospered, with large profits for the priestly class who, from serving in the temple, had moved on to dominion over it and over those who frequented it.
Jesus comes to destroy this system of oppression. He will pay the cost with the destruction of His Body. The Lord enters His temple to purify it.
Jesus' gesture is a symbol of God's judgment on the sin of the world: the meek lamb reveals the wrath of evil, which He will bring upon Himself.
The Temple is called by Jesus: "the house of My Father".
Then it will be called "sanctuary", which is the most intimate place, where "the Holy of Holies" is inaccessible to all, except once a year, for the high priest. (Lev 16, 2-28).
Brotherhood should reign in the house of the Father.
The temple can also become a market in a figurative sense.
God is in fact Love, whoever wants to pay Him, goes against His very nature...
When the prophets speak of prostitution in the temple, they mean this cult, as pious as it is offensive to God.
The actions of Jesus remind the disciples to remember the scriptures, which they already know and which through Him, of whom they speak, they finally understand.
"The zeal for your house will consume me" It is from a Messianic Psalm (Ps 69, 10), which speaks of the suffering of Christ, who the zeal of God devoured, like the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19, 10-14).
The love for the Father, where Jesus dwells, will “devour” Him on the day of His Easter.
The scene already opens on the mystery of the Messiah's passion.
On the cross, this Psalm will once again be alluded to, which says: "When I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar" (Ps 69:22).
The Son of Man, the true temple, will be killed precisely by the deception of man who makes his happiness consist in possessing things, people and God Himself.
The flesh of the Word is now the tent of God among us, where we ourselves are at home with Him.
In Jesus, the Temple reaches the reality of which it is a sign: it is heaven open on earth, a vision of the glory and life of man.
Jesus will become the new Temple, from which salvation for all will flow.
God directs history with His Word, which does not remain without effect (Is 55:11) and is always fulfilled in its time.
An initial recollection of the words of Psalm 69:10 illuminated the purification of the Temple and prefigured the Passion of the Lamb.
The event of the Resurrection, foretold by Jesus, will be the fulfillment of God's plan spoken of in Scripture.
Even today, He speaks to us from His flesh, which is our poorest brothers and sisters.
There is always the danger of making His Word a fetish of the past, without realizing that He speaks to us "now."
This different way of conceiving the Word makes the difference between the scribes and the prophets.
MOTHER TERESA
RispondiEliminaThe fruit of silence is prayer
The fruit of prayer is faith
The fruit of faith is love
The fruit of love is service
The fruit of service is peace.