First reading from the Book of Sirach SIR 3:2-6, 12-14
God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins —a house raised in justice to you.
Second reading from the letter of St.Paul to the Colossians COL 3:12-21
Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged. Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to Matthew MT 2:13-15, 19-23
When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean. Words of the Holy Father
And today the Gospel presents the Holy Family to us on the sorrowful road of exile, seeking refuge in Egypt. Joseph, Mary and Jesus experienced the tragic fate of refugees, which is marked by fear, uncertainty and unease (cf. Mt 2:13-15; 19-23).Therefore, as we fix our gaze on the Holy Family of Nazareth, let us think of the tragedy of those migrants and refugees who are victims of rejection and exploitation, who are victims of human trafficking and of slave labour. But let us also think of the other “exiles”: I would call them “hidden exiles”, those exiles who can be found within their own families. Jesus wanted to belong to a family who experienced these hardships, so that no one would feel excluded from the loving closeness of God. (Angelus, 29 december 2013)
S. FAUSTI - Joseph, like his homonym sold by his brothers, is a dreamer: in the depths of his pure heart he can feel and see God. And God's dreams always come true in the end, even if they to us. seem impossible The Angel says the Word that awakens him to life. Joseph does not respond to the Word by words, but by himself. He executes to the letter, realizes the Word, offering his body to it. This is love in deeds and in truth, the worship pleasing to God. In this way it fulfills punctually what "is written". "The Nazorean", as Jesus will be called, is the fulfilment of what was said through the prophets. Welcomed by Joseph and the Magi, rejected by the wise and powerful, In this passage the story of Jesus is presented as a journey. It is the journey of the Son, who meets His lost brothers and sisters, walking along the same path. He who descends and ascends from Egypt, He is the Son who realizes the new definitive exodus. He relives the history of His people: through Egypt and exile - with the killing of the innocent, an anticipation of His own - He returns in the promised land. The shoà of the innocents, prelude of that of the Just, is seen as the supreme evil of exile (Jer 31:15). Egypt and exile are the twofold experience of slavery, one caused by the sin of others and the other by one's own sin: from both frees Jesus, Who is the "therefore" of the promise. The "Nazorean" is, in the same way as the people of Israel, the Son freed from the hand of Egypt and the exiled who returns to the native land. In Jeremiah, the exile is the place of definitive liberation. He Who loves us of Eternal Love says we do not weep, for He will rebuild us, He will forgive us, He will make with us an eternal Covenant, and thus we shall all know the Lord. (Jer 31:3 s). On leaving exile, the Just One will die, and the Almighty will make a New Covenant with us. The true exile is the death of the Son: infidelity reduces Him to no longer being. I Am, in His Love, will lead Him back to existence; but no longer with signs of power, as from the slavery of His people in Egypt, but rather with the powerlessness of the Cross, prefigured in the shoà of child-servants. The journey of the Son passes through solidarity with His brothers and sisters in their oppression and their sin, to the curse of their non-being, by making Himself abandonment, curse and sin (Gal 3:13), so that all abandonment is no longer abandoned, not even the abandonment of God. The cross will be God's closeness to every one abandoned by God. The fourth dream then leads Joseph to the last " retreat", where the "Nazorean" takes "home" and "name" in the " Land"! The four phases of his listening / doing are the same as for every man: to take in marriage Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, and to call Him by name (1:24), to make with them both the entrance and the exit from Egypt and from exile - a prefiguration of the journey from the cross to the resurrection - until "making home" in the "land of Nazareth". and here, finally, live with discernment. The whole Bible, from Moses to John the Baptist, prophesied of Him, the Son begotten before every creature, in Whom, through Whom and for Whom everything was made (Col 1:15-17). Matthew, starting from Jesus and looking at Him, rereads past history, and sees how God truly accomplishes all His Word in Him, without letting go empty even one (1 Sam 3:19). What matters is that the Nazorean is the "therefore" of the history of God and of man. This "retreat" of His in humble daily life is the very mystery of God-with-us, which makes every daily life divine: every rest and toil, every joy and pain, every love and fear, every work and fruit produced by man.
RispondiEliminaReading of the day
First reading from the Book of Sirach
SIR 3:2-6, 12-14
God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother's authority he confirms over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins,
and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,
and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;
he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you.
Second reading from the letter of St.Paul to the Colossians
COL 3:12-21
Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.
Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to Matthew
MT 2:13-15, 19-23
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child's life are dead."
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled,
He shall be called a Nazorean.
Words of the Holy Father
And today the Gospel presents the Holy Family to us on the sorrowful road of exile, seeking refuge in Egypt. Joseph, Mary and Jesus experienced the tragic fate of refugees, which is marked by fear, uncertainty and unease (cf. Mt 2:13-15; 19-23).Therefore, as we fix our gaze on the Holy Family of Nazareth, let us think of the tragedy of those migrants and refugees who are victims of rejection and exploitation, who are victims of human trafficking and of slave labour. But let us also think of the other “exiles”: I would call them “hidden exiles”, those exiles who can be found within their own families. Jesus wanted to belong to a family who experienced these hardships, so that no one would feel excluded from the loving closeness of God. (Angelus, 29 december 2013)
S. FAUSTI - Joseph, like his homonym sold by his brothers, is a dreamer: in the depths of his pure heart he can feel and see God.
RispondiEliminaAnd God's dreams always come true in the end, even if they to us. seem impossible
The Angel says the Word that awakens him to life.
Joseph does not respond to the Word by words, but by himself. He executes to the letter, realizes the Word, offering his body to it. This is love in deeds and in truth, the worship pleasing to God.
In this way it fulfills punctually what "is written".
"The Nazorean", as Jesus will be called, is the fulfilment of what was said through the prophets. Welcomed by Joseph and the Magi, rejected by the wise and powerful,
In this passage the story of Jesus is presented as a journey.
It is the journey of the Son, who meets His lost brothers and sisters, walking along the same path. He who descends and ascends from Egypt, He is the Son who realizes the new definitive exodus. He relives the history of His people: through Egypt and exile - with the killing of the innocent, an anticipation of His own - He returns in the promised land.
The shoà of the innocents, prelude of that of the Just, is seen as the supreme evil of exile (Jer 31:15). Egypt and exile are the twofold experience of slavery, one caused by the sin of others and the other by one's own sin: from both frees Jesus, Who is the "therefore" of the promise.
The "Nazorean" is, in the same way as the people of Israel, the Son freed from the hand of Egypt and the exiled who returns to the native land.
In Jeremiah, the exile is the place of definitive liberation. He Who loves us of Eternal Love says we do not weep, for He will rebuild us, He will forgive us, He will make with us an eternal Covenant, and thus we shall all know the Lord. (Jer 31:3 s).
On leaving exile, the Just One will die, and the Almighty will make a New Covenant with us.
The true exile is the death of the Son: infidelity reduces Him to no longer being.
I Am, in His Love, will lead Him back to existence; but no longer with signs of power, as from the slavery of His people in Egypt, but rather with the powerlessness of the Cross, prefigured in the shoà of child-servants.
The journey of the Son passes through solidarity with His brothers and sisters in their oppression and their sin, to the curse of their non-being, by making Himself abandonment, curse and sin (Gal 3:13), so that all abandonment is no longer abandoned, not even the abandonment of God. The cross will be God's closeness to every one abandoned by God.
The fourth dream then leads Joseph to the last " retreat", where the "Nazorean" takes "home" and "name" in the " Land"!
The four phases of his listening / doing are the same as for every man: to take in marriage Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, and to call Him by name (1:24), to make with them both the entrance and the exit from Egypt and from exile - a prefiguration of the journey from the cross to the resurrection - until "making home" in the "land of Nazareth". and here, finally, live with discernment.
The whole Bible, from Moses to John the Baptist, prophesied of Him, the Son begotten before every creature, in Whom, through Whom and for Whom everything was made (Col 1:15-17).
Matthew, starting from Jesus and looking at Him, rereads past history, and sees how God truly accomplishes all His Word in Him, without letting go empty even one (1 Sam 3:19).
What matters is that the Nazorean is the "therefore" of the history of God and of man.
This "retreat" of His in humble daily life is the very mystery of God-with-us, which makes every daily life divine: every rest and toil, every joy and pain, every love and fear, every work and fruit produced by man.