Book of Sirach 15,15-20. If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the LORD; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God see all he has made; he understands man's every deed. No man does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.
Psalms 119(118) Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, Who seek him with all their heart.
You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes!
Be good to your servant, that I may live And keep your words. Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law.
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly observe them. Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart.
First Letter to the Corinthians 2,6-10. Brothers and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him," this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5,17-37.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven." I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny." You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.' But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one."
Today’s Gospel reading ( Mt 5:17-37) is on the “Sermon on the Mount” and deals with the subject of the fulfilment of the Law: how should I fulfil the Law, how can I do it? Jesus wants to help his listeners take the right approach to the prescriptions of the Commandments given to Moses, urging them to be open to God who teaches us true freedom and responsibility through the Law. It is a matter of living it as an instrument of freedom. Let us not forget this: to live the Law as an instrument of freedom, which helps me to be freer, which helps me not to be a slave to passion and sin. Let us think about war, let us think about the consequences of war, let us think of that little girl who died due to the cold [temperatures], in Syria the day before yesterday. So many calamities, so many. This is the result of passion, and people who wage war do not know how to master their passions. They do not comply with the law. When one gives in to temptation and passion, one is not the master and agent of one’s own life, but rather one becomes incapable of managing it with willingness and responsibility.
Jesus’ discourse is divided into four antitheses, each one expressed by the formula: “You have heard that it was said... But I say to you”. These antitheses refer to as many situations in daily life: murder, adultery, divorce and swearing. Jesus does not abolish the prescriptions concerning these issues, but he explains their full meaning and indicates the spirit in which they must be observed. He encourages us to move away from the formal observance of the Law to substantive observance, accepting the Law in our hearts, which is the centre of the intentions, decisions, words and gestures of each of us. From the heart come good and bad deeds.
By accepting the Law of God in our heart, one understands that, when one does not love one’s neighbour, to some extent one kills oneself and others, because hatred, rivalry and division kill the fraternal charity that is the basis of interpersonal relationships. And this applies to what I have said about war and also about gossip, because words kill. By accepting the Law of God in our heart one understands that desires must be guided, because one cannot obtain everything one desires, and it is not good to give in to selfish and possessive feelings. When one accepts the Law of God in one’s heart, one understands that one must give up a lifestyle of broken promises, as well as move from the prohibition of perjury to the decision not to swear at all, behaving sincerely to everyone.
And Jesus is aware that it is not easy to live the Commandments in such an all-encompassing way. That is why he offers us the help of his love: he came into the world not only to fulfil the Law, but also to give us his grace, so that we can do God’s will, loving him and our brothers and sisters. We can do everything, everything, with the grace of God! Indeed, holiness is none other than guarding God’s freely given grace. It is a matter of trusting and entrusting ourselves to him, to his Grace, to that freedom that he has given us, and welcoming the hand he constantly extends to us, so that our efforts and our necessary commitment can be sustained by his help, overflowing with goodness and mercy.
Today Jesus asks us to continue on the path of love that he has indicated to us and which begins from the heart. This is the path to follow in order to live as Christians. May the Virgin Mary help us to follow the path traced by her Son, to reach true joy and to spread justice and peace everywhere.
FAUSTI - Jesus came to free us from the slavery of the law, not to abolish it - it would be to turn good into evil and vice versa - but to accomplish it, and in a superior, divine way. Jesus is not the end, but the aim of the law and the prophets: not abolition, but fulfillment. He lives the Word given to Moses and recalled by the prophets: it is the Son who does the Father's Will. "But I say to you" says Jesus declaring the "excessive" righteousness of the Son who brings into the Kingdom of the Father. The norm of His action is to become like the Father. Be what you are: you are son, be therefore son, equal to the Father who loves everyone. The discourse on the mountain rereads, in this light, our relations with our brothers and sisters. The scribes teach the justice of the law, the Pharisees do it. Jesus says that to enter the Kingdom it is not enough to know and execute the law. You need justice that goes beyond the limits of the law. It is that of the Father, who loves, forgives and saves His children freely. It is an "excessive" justice, because the love that moves it has no measure. The Kingdom of Heaven is that of God the Father: children enter it, those who love others as brothers and sisters, beyond any goodness or quality. If our salvation consists in being perfect like God, His perfection is that of the Father who loves everyone. Jesus speaks with equal authority to the One who gave the 10 Words. "But I say to you," It does not contradict what has been said, but it clarifies it, it modifies it in what it sounds concession, and passes from simple actions to the desires of the heart, from which everything emanates. But what He says is not a legalistic imposition, even stricter than the previous one, which judges not only actions, but even intentions. Instead, it is the "good news" of what God works in us through these very words, which have the authority to do what they are sent for. They should therefore be understood not as "a code" of beautiful, but inhuman, divinely impossible laws, but as "revelation" and gift of God's very life for us. In the light of the Kingdom of the Father, proclaimed in the Beatitudes, relations with others and with the Other are now being reviewed. The two tables of the Decalogue must be revisited with the new heart of the Son. "You", who have the Wisdom of the Beatitudes, are salt of the earth and light of the world precisely because you live with others as brothers and sisters who know the common Father. By denying fraternity, I kill my identity as a son. That is why the wrath of man does not fulfill God's justice. Contempt is the inner killing, which allows the outer one. The esteem that I must award to the other is the same as that of God, who has not hesitated to give His life for him. Jesus four times speaks of the other as "brother". To deny him fraternity is to lose one's filiality. Fraternal agreement is so important that reconciliation takes precedence over any religious cult. Before you turn to the Father, you must not only forgive the brother against whom you have something, but also reconcile yourself with the brother who has something against you, even if you have nothing against him. You cannot celebrate fatherhood unless you first try to re-establish brotherhood. "Go and reconcile with your brother first" If you do not reconcile with the brother who has something against you, you are responsible, even if you have nothing against him. You can't say you're right or you don't care. Not agreeing is already "evil"; and if you don't care about him, you have already killed him as a brother and yourself as a son.
--->Life is a path of reconciliation with the other. It has as its goal your truth as a son in your life as a brother. If you do not do this, you lose time and life; you lose the meaning of your existence. It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong. If you don't get along with your brother, you are not a son. With your life you write the sentence that the judge will eventually read. Jesus reads it to you now, because you change what you're writing! If you don't move from the logic of debt to that of gift and forgiveness, you lose your life as a child of the Father. The spouses are each other's and vice versa, in the mutual gift of love. To break this union means to halve the person, to break the image of God who is Communion of Love. The eye that desires to possess is already adultery. Jesus shifts the attention from the eye to the heart. A fidelity that is not of the eye and of the heart is a whitewashed tomb. The eye to desire and the hand to take are the origin of all good and all evil, not only of adultery. So that the eye and the hand are not for death, it is necessary to de-cide (cut) that which does not lead to life. "Who repudiates" This is divorce, failure of a union. Repudiation is not adultery. Adultery is changing partners. The law supposes evil and remedies the worst. Jesus instead proposes the " Gospel", the Good News of the victory over evil and the possibility of the best. "Let it be your word." Our speaking does not call God as a witness, but witnesses God. Let it be like His: always true, transparency of heart. Let our speaking be yes, if it is yes, no if it is no. In between there can only be the "don't know", but not as cunning or laziness, but as a commitment to search for the truth or silence of charity. The word, the origin of all good if it is yes to yes and no to no, is the principle of all evil if it is no to yes and yes to no. God, infinite, is all and only "yes" (2 Cor 1:19) ; man, finite, also knows no, and this is true man when it is yes to yes and no to no. Every word must precede and follow silence: Will the capacity for silence bring us back life?
Book of Sirach 15,15-20.
RispondiEliminaIf you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live;
There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him.
Immense is the wisdom of the LORD; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
The eyes of God see all he has made; he understands man's every deed.
No man does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.
Psalms 119(118)
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
Who seek him with all their heart.
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
And keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
First Letter
to the Corinthians 2,6-10.
Brothers and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,
and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,"
this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
RispondiEliminaaccording to Saint Matthew 5,17-37.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.'
But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.'
But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one."
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaANGELUS 16 February 2020
Today’s Gospel reading ( Mt 5:17-37) is on the “Sermon on the Mount” and deals with the subject of the fulfilment of the Law: how should I fulfil the Law, how can I do it? Jesus wants to help his listeners take the right approach to the prescriptions of the Commandments given to Moses, urging them to be open to God who teaches us true freedom and responsibility through the Law. It is a matter of living it as an instrument of freedom. Let us not forget this: to live the Law as an instrument of freedom, which helps me to be freer, which helps me not to be a slave to passion and sin. Let us think about war, let us think about the consequences of war, let us think of that little girl who died due to the cold [temperatures], in Syria the day before yesterday. So many calamities, so many. This is the result of passion, and people who wage war do not know how to master their passions. They do not comply with the law. When one gives in to temptation and passion, one is not the master and agent of one’s own life, but rather one becomes incapable of managing it with willingness and responsibility.
Jesus’ discourse is divided into four antitheses, each one expressed by the formula: “You have heard that it was said... But I say to you”. These antitheses refer to as many situations in daily life: murder, adultery, divorce and swearing. Jesus does not abolish the prescriptions concerning these issues, but he explains their full meaning and indicates the spirit in which they must be observed. He encourages us to move away from the formal observance of the Law to substantive observance, accepting the Law in our hearts, which is the centre of the intentions, decisions, words and gestures of each of us. From the heart come good and bad deeds.
By accepting the Law of God in our heart, one understands that, when one does not love one’s neighbour, to some extent one kills oneself and others, because hatred, rivalry and division kill the fraternal charity that is the basis of interpersonal relationships. And this applies to what I have said about war and also about gossip, because words kill. By accepting the Law of God in our heart one understands that desires must be guided, because one cannot obtain everything one desires, and it is not good to give in to selfish and possessive feelings. When one accepts the Law of God in one’s heart, one understands that one must give up a lifestyle of broken promises, as well as move from the prohibition of perjury to the decision not to swear at all, behaving sincerely to everyone.
And Jesus is aware that it is not easy to live the Commandments in such an all-encompassing way. That is why he offers us the help of his love: he came into the world not only to fulfil the Law, but also to give us his grace, so that we can do God’s will, loving him and our brothers and sisters. We can do everything, everything, with the grace of God! Indeed, holiness is none other than guarding God’s freely given grace. It is a matter of trusting and entrusting ourselves to him, to his Grace, to that freedom that he has given us, and welcoming the hand he constantly extends to us, so that our efforts and our necessary commitment can be sustained by his help, overflowing with goodness and mercy.
Today Jesus asks us to continue on the path of love that he has indicated to us and which begins from the heart. This is the path to follow in order to live as Christians. May the Virgin Mary help us to follow the path traced by her Son, to reach true joy and to spread justice and peace everywhere.
FAUSTI - Jesus came to free us from the slavery of the law, not to abolish it - it would be to turn good into evil and vice versa - but to accomplish it, and in a superior, divine way.
RispondiEliminaJesus is not the end, but the aim of the law and the prophets: not abolition, but fulfillment.
He lives the Word given to Moses and recalled by the prophets: it is the Son who does the Father's Will.
"But I say to you" says Jesus declaring the "excessive" righteousness of the Son who brings into the Kingdom of the Father. The norm of His action is to become like the Father.
Be what you are: you are son, be therefore son, equal to the Father who loves everyone.
The discourse on the mountain rereads, in this light, our relations with our brothers and sisters.
The scribes teach the justice of the law, the Pharisees do it.
Jesus says that to enter the Kingdom it is not enough to know and execute the law.
You need justice that goes beyond the limits of the law.
It is that of the Father, who loves, forgives and saves His children freely.
It is an "excessive" justice, because the love that moves it has no measure.
The Kingdom of Heaven is that of God the Father: children enter it, those who love others as brothers and sisters, beyond any goodness or quality. If our salvation consists in being perfect like God, His perfection is that of the Father who loves everyone.
Jesus speaks with equal authority to the One who gave the 10 Words.
"But I say to you," It does not contradict what has been said, but it clarifies it, it modifies it in what it sounds concession, and passes from simple actions to the desires of the heart, from which everything emanates.
But what He says is not a legalistic imposition, even stricter than the previous one, which judges not only actions, but even intentions.
Instead, it is the "good news" of what God works in us through these very words, which have the authority to do what they are sent for.
They should therefore be understood not as "a code" of beautiful, but inhuman, divinely impossible laws, but as "revelation" and gift of God's very life for us.
In the light of the Kingdom of the Father, proclaimed in the Beatitudes, relations with others and with the Other are now being reviewed.
The two tables of the Decalogue must be revisited with the new heart of the Son.
"You", who have the Wisdom of the Beatitudes, are salt of the earth and light of the world precisely because you live with others as brothers and sisters who know the common Father.
By denying fraternity, I kill my identity as a son.
That is why the wrath of man does not fulfill God's justice.
Contempt is the inner killing, which allows the outer one.
The esteem that I must award to the other is the same as that of God, who has not hesitated to give His life for him.
Jesus four times speaks of the other as "brother". To deny him fraternity is to lose one's filiality.
Fraternal agreement is so important that reconciliation takes precedence over any religious cult.
Before you turn to the Father, you must not only forgive the brother against whom you have something, but also reconcile yourself with the brother who has something against you, even if you have nothing against him.
You cannot celebrate fatherhood unless you first try to re-establish brotherhood.
"Go and reconcile with your brother first" If you do not reconcile with the brother who has something against you, you are responsible, even if you have nothing against him.
You can't say you're right or you don't care.
Not agreeing is already "evil"; and if you don't care about him, you have already killed him as a brother and yourself as a son.
--->Life is a path of reconciliation with the other.
RispondiEliminaIt has as its goal your truth as a son in your life as a brother.
If you do not do this, you lose time and life; you lose the meaning of your existence.
It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong. If you don't get along with your brother, you are not a son.
With your life you write the sentence that the judge will eventually read.
Jesus reads it to you now, because you change what you're writing!
If you don't move from the logic of debt to that of gift and forgiveness, you lose your life as a child of the Father.
The spouses are each other's and vice versa, in the mutual gift of love.
To break this union means to halve the person, to break the image of God who is Communion of Love.
The eye that desires to possess is already adultery. Jesus shifts the attention from the eye to the heart.
A fidelity that is not of the eye and of the heart is a whitewashed tomb.
The eye to desire and the hand to take are the origin of all good and all evil, not only of adultery.
So that the eye and the hand are not for death, it is necessary to de-cide (cut) that which does not lead to life.
"Who repudiates" This is divorce, failure of a union. Repudiation is not adultery. Adultery is changing partners.
The law supposes evil and remedies the worst. Jesus instead proposes the " Gospel", the Good News of the victory over evil and the possibility of the best.
"Let it be your word." Our speaking does not call God as a witness, but witnesses God.
Let it be like His: always true, transparency of heart.
Let our speaking be yes, if it is yes, no if it is no.
In between there can only be the "don't know", but not as cunning or laziness, but as a commitment to search for the truth or silence of charity.
The word, the origin of all good if it is yes to yes and no to no, is the principle of all evil if it is no to yes and yes to no.
God, infinite, is all and only "yes" (2 Cor 1:19) ;
man, finite, also knows no, and this is true man when it is yes to yes and no to no.
Every word must precede and follow silence:
Will the capacity for silence bring us back life?