Book of Isaiah 50,4-7. The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Psalms 22(21) All who see me scoff at me; they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads: "He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, if he loves him."
Indeed, many dogs surround me, a pack of evildoers closes in upon me; They have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.
They divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots. But you, O LORD, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me.
I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you: "You who fear the LORD, praise him; all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him; revere him, all you descendants of Israel!"
Letter to the Philippians 2,6-11. Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Holy GOSPEL of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 26,14-75.27,1-66. One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'" The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born." Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so." While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father." Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them, "This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed'; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee." Peter said to him in reply, "Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be." Jesus said to him, "Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, "Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you." And all the disciples spoke likewise. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me." He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, "So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!" Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open. He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again. Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand." While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people. His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, "The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him." Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, "Hail, Rabbi!" and he kissed him. Jesus answered him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?" At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me. But all this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled. Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest's courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward who stated, "This man said, 'I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.'" The high priest rose and addressed him, "Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?" But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, "I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God."
-->Jesus said to him in reply, "You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see 'the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power' and 'coming on the clouds of heaven.'" Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?" They said in reply, "He deserves to die!" Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, "Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?" Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about!" As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazorean." Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man!" A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away." At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly. When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? Look to it yourself." Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself. The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, "It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood." After consultation, they used it to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites, and they paid it out for the potter's field just as the Lord had commanded me." Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called (Jesus) Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Which one do you want me to release to you, (Jesus) Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?" For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him." The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They answered, "Barabbas!" Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus called Messiah?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!"
-->But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, "Truly, this was the Son of God!" There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it (in) clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb. The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, 'After three days I will be raised up.' Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' This last imposture would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can." So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.
FAUSTI - "Remain here, and stay awake with me!" Jesus asks to his disciples. He wakes them up three times, because at least for a brief moment, before falling again into slumber, it is imprinted in their hearts what is happening in the night. Jesus calls them to contemplate the passion of the Son for the brothers. It is the same of the Father! The disciple is one that makes, of God's love for the world, his own home. The story is a window on the most intimate ego of Jesus : it reveals His relationship with the Father and with us. And it makes it with His own words, at the decisive moment of His life. It is the night when He gives Himself to death, the violent and unjust death, in the leaving of man and of God. Jesus takes upon Himself the evil of the brothers, the abandonment of the Father. His anguish is endless, boundless: He is "the Son", whose being is "the beloved to the Father." But even the being of the Father is "beloved to the Son"! The evil of our abandonment touches the heart itself of God who loves us. He is is the lover who takes upon Himself the abandonment of the beloved! The evil in which Jesus is "baptized" is really absolute, it is impossible to think of a bigger one. On this night are all our nights; and the man knows many nights. The Son dives Himself in them and fills themof His presence. by the extreme distance ,He cries: "My Father!". In any abyss, from side to side of chaos, the voice of the Son resounds to the Father. "Abba" is the word spoken by the Son, the Father says. Jesus in this night, of any abandonment of the Father, He makes the abandon to the Father, making Himself close to any distance. Jesus feels sorrow and distress. The disciples were amazed of it. Although whit the eyes that stubbornly close again, they couldn't forget. "Over the years of His earthly life," the Son "offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and was heard", not because he was released, but because “ He lived well " death, the loud cries and tears, common to all His sinful brothers. For this He became the perfect Son as the Father. For "obedience" in "what He suffered." And so "He became the source of eternal salvation to those who listen to Him" and He was proclaimed "Pope", bridge between every lost man and his God. So he says one of the last writings of the N T providing still alive the memory of this scene. (Hb 5.7 to 10). The old Adam " lived badly " the good: He kidnapped the gift of sonship. The new Adam "lived well" even the evil: He gives Himself up to those who kidnap, bringing upon Himself the violence of theft. Because of this He is the Son equal to the Father: He gives Himself and saves everyone. In the story Jesus addresses continually alternately to the Father and to His disciples, experiencing the silence of everyone. His only anxiety comes from his being between us and the Father, living together His love for Him and our desertion of Him. He is the ' "intercessor," He who gets in the way, weaving in Himself the story between any distance and laceration. Jesus lives His being of the Father, through Him and for Him, in our state of sin and rejection. We have not accepted nor God as Father or ourselves as children. We wanted to own our own life: thus we do not accept to be children. We remove birth and death, we eliminate our beginning and our end. This is why our life is violent, sad and distressed: split from its source, it feels “ thrown" into void.
Jesus traces back the path of Adam, returning to the Father any abandonment of the Father. Jesus keeps vigil and prays: prostrated He has the power of the Spirit to cry. "My Father!" and to do His will. Instead the disciples are sleeping , sat in the weakness of their flesh, locked in the sleep of their death. The Son lives the drama that makes children those who are not children: the passage (baptismal) from my will to the will of the Father. Jesus wins the fight, and He heals us from the evil that is at the origin of our evils: the contrast between our and His will.Because of this it comes " the hour ", in view of which the world was created: that in which the Son of Man gives Himself to the Father in His surrendering to the lost brothers: it is the hour of salvation !. After this "good night" there is no more night. The light of the Son came into our darkness. Because of this,, to the end, after having repeaded to watch, Jesus says " to sleep and take their rest" and "to rise up and to go ." Every our sleep is not more an anticipation of the death, but " a way" in the new life of children. In fact every night of us is as clear as day, every our distance now anchored to the Father in the Son.
CELEBRATION OF PALM SUNDAY AND OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS XXXV World Youth Day April 5, 2020
Jesus "emptied himself and became a servant" (Phil 2:7). Let us be introduced to the Holy Days by these words of the Apostle Paul, in which the Word of God, like a refrain, shows Jesus as a servant: on Holy Thursday he is the servant who washes the feet of his disciples; on Good Friday he is presented as the suffering and victorious servant (cf. Is 52:13); and already tomorrow, Isaiah will prophesy of him: "This is my servant whom I uphold" (Is 42:1). God has saved us by serving us. We usually think that it is up to us to serve God. No, it is he who has served us freely, because he loved us first. It is difficult to love without being loved. And it is even more difficult to serve if we do not allow ourselves to be served by God.
But - a question - in what way did the Lord serve us? By giving his life for us. We are dear to him and we have cost him dearly. St. Angela of Foligno testified that she heard Jesus say: "I did not love you for laughing". His love led him to sacrifice himself for us, to take upon himself all our evil. It is something that leaves us astonished: God saved us by accepting that our evil was directed at him. Without reacting, with only the humility, patience and obedience of the servant, exclusively with the strength of love. And the Father supported Jesus' service: he did not defeat the evil that was coming against him, but supported his suffering, so that our evil would be overcome only by good, so that it would be crossed to the bottom by love. To the very bottom.
The Lord served us to the point of experiencing the most painful situations for those who love: betrayal and abandonment.
Betrayal. Jesus suffered the betrayal of the disciple who sold him and the disciple who denied him. He was betrayed by the people who acclaimed him and then shouted, "Let him be crucified" (Mt 27:22). He was betrayed by the religious institution that condemned him unjustly and by the political institution that washed its hands of him. Let us think of the small and great betrayals that we have suffered in life. It is terrible when we discover that our well-placed trust has been deceived. A disappointment is born in the heart so that life seems to have no meaning anymore. This happens because we were born to be loved and to love, and the most painful thing is to be betrayed by the one who promised to be loyal and close to us. We cannot imagine how painful it was for God, who is love.
Let's look inside. If we are honest with ourselves, we will see our unfaithfulness. How many falsehoods, hypocrisies and duplicities! How many good intentions betrayed! How many broken promises! How many resolutions left to fade away! The Lord knows our hearts better than we do, he knows how weak and fickle we are, how often we fall, how hard we have to get up and how difficult it is to heal certain wounds. And what did he do to come to meet us, to serve us? What he said through the prophet: "I will heal them of their unfaithfulness, I will love them freely" (Hos 14:5). He healed us by taking our unfaithfulness upon himself, by removing our betrayals. So instead of being discouraged by the fear of not succeeding, we can look up to the Crucified One, receive his embrace and say: "There, my infidelity is there, you have taken it, you, Jesus. You open your arms to me, you serve me with your love, you continue to support me...So I go forward! "
--->Abandonment. On the cross, in today's Gospel, Jesus says one sentence, only one: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It is a powerful sentence. Jesus had suffered the abandonment of his own, who had fled. But he still had the Father. Now, in the abyss of solitude, for the first time he calls him by the generic name of "God". And He cries out to him "with a loud voice" the "why", the most heartbreaking "why": "Why have you also abandoned me? ". These are actually the words of a Psalm (cf. 21:2): it says that Jesus also bore in prayer the extreme desolation. But the fact remains that he experienced it: he experienced the greatest abandonment, to which the Gospels bear witness by reporting his original words.
Why all this? Once again, to serve us. Because when we feel our backs against the wall, when we find ourselves in a dead end, without light and without a way out, when it seems that even God does not answer, we remember that we are not alone. Jesus experienced total abandonment, the situation that is most foreign to Him, in order to be in solidarity with us in everything. He did it for me, for you, for all of us, he did it to tell us: "Do not be afraid, you are not alone. I have experienced all your desolation so that I may always be at your side. This is how far Jesus has served us, descending into the abyss of our most atrocious sufferings, to the point of betrayal and abandonment. Today, in the drama of the pandemic, in the face of so many certainties that are crumbling, in the face of so many betrayed expectations, in the sense of abandonment that grips our hearts, Jesus says to each one of us: "Courage: open your heart to my love. You will feel the comfort of God, who sustains you.
Dear brothers and sisters, what can we do before God who has served us to the point of betrayal and abandonment? We can not betray the one for whom we were created, not abandon what matters. We are in the world to love him and others. The rest passes, it remains. The drama we are going through at the moment urges us to take seriously what is serious, and not to lose ourselves in things of little value; to rediscover that life is useless if we do not serve. Because life is measured by love. So, in these holy days, at home, let us stand before the Crucified - look, look at the Crucified! -the measure of God's love for us. Before God who serves us to the point of giving his life, let us ask, looking at the Crucified One, for the grace to live to serve. Let us seek to contact the one who suffers, the one who is alone and in need. Let us not only think of what we lack, let us think of the good we can do.
This is my servant whom I support. The Father who supported Jesus in his Passion, encourages us also in service. Certainly, loving, praying, forgiving, caring for others, in the family as well as in society, can be costly. It may seem like a way of the cross. But the way of service is the way of victory, which has saved us and which saves us, which saves our lives. I would like to say this especially to young people, on this day which for thirty-five years has been dedicated to them. Dear friends, look at the real heroes who are appearing in these days: not those who have fame, money and success, but those who give themselves to serve others. Feel called to put your life on the line. Don't be afraid to spend it for God and for others, you will win! Because life is a gift that is received by giving. And because the greatest joy is to say yes to love, without ifs or buts. To say yes to love, without ifs and buts. As Jesus did for us.
Book of Isaiah 50,4-7.
RispondiEliminaThe Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled, have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Psalms 22(21)
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
"He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him."
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
"You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!"
Letter to the Philippians
2,6-11.
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Holy GOSPEL of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew 26,14-75.27,1-66.
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?"
He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body."
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you,
for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.
I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father."
Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them, "This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed';
RispondiEliminabut after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee."
Peter said to him in reply, "Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be."
Jesus said to him, "Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times."
Peter said to him, "Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you." And all the disciples spoke likewise.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress.
Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me."
He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will."
When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, "So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!"
Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open.
He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.
Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand."
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, "The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him."
Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, "Hail, Rabbi!" and he kissed him.
Jesus answered him, "Friend, do what you have come for." Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear.
Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?
But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?"
At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me.
But all this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest's courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome.
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death,
but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward
who stated, "This man said, 'I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.'"
The high priest rose and addressed him, "Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?"
But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, "I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God."
-->Jesus said to him in reply, "You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see 'the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power' and 'coming on the clouds of heaven.'"
RispondiEliminaThen the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy;
what is your opinion?" They said in reply, "He deserves to die!"
Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him,
saying, "Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?"
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean."
But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about!"
As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazorean."
Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man!"
A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away."
At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly.
When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
saying, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? Look to it yourself."
Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself.
The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, "It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood."
After consultation, they used it to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.
That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites,
and they paid it out for the potter's field just as the Lord had commanded me."
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so."
And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer.
Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?"
But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished.
And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called (Jesus) Barabbas.
So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Which one do you want me to release to you, (Jesus) Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?"
For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over.
While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him."
The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.
The governor said to them in reply, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They answered, "Barabbas!"
Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus called Messiah?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!"
-->But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
RispondiEliminaAnd behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split,
tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, "Truly, this was the Son of God!"
There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.
Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus.
He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.
Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it (in) clean linen
and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.
But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.
The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
and said, "Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, 'After three days I will be raised up.'
Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' This last imposture would be worse than the first."
Pilate said to them, "The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can."
So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.
FAUSTI - "Remain here, and stay awake with me!" Jesus asks to his disciples. He wakes them up three times, because at least for a brief moment, before falling again into slumber, it is imprinted in their hearts what is happening in the night. Jesus calls them to contemplate the passion of the Son for the brothers.
RispondiEliminaIt is the same of the Father! The disciple is one that makes, of God's love for the world, his own home.
The story is a window on the most intimate ego of Jesus : it reveals His relationship with the Father and with us. And it makes it with His own words, at the decisive moment of His life.
It is the night when He gives Himself to death, the violent and unjust death, in the leaving of man and of God. Jesus takes upon Himself the evil of the brothers, the abandonment of the Father.
His anguish is endless, boundless: He is "the Son", whose being is "the beloved to the Father."
But even the being of the Father is "beloved to the Son"!
The evil of our abandonment touches the heart itself of God who loves us.
He is is the lover who takes upon Himself the abandonment of the beloved!
The evil in which Jesus is "baptized" is really absolute, it is impossible to think of a bigger one.
On this night are all our nights; and the man knows many nights.
The Son dives Himself in them and fills themof His presence. by the extreme distance ,He cries: "My Father!".
In any abyss, from side to side of chaos, the voice of the Son resounds to the Father.
"Abba" is the word spoken by the Son, the Father says.
Jesus in this night, of any abandonment of the Father, He makes the abandon to the Father, making Himself close to any distance. Jesus feels sorrow and distress. The disciples were amazed of it.
Although whit the eyes that stubbornly close again, they couldn't forget.
"Over the years of His earthly life," the Son "offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and was heard", not because he was released, but because “ He lived well " death, the loud cries and tears, common to all His sinful brothers. For this He became the perfect Son as the Father.
For "obedience" in "what He suffered." And so "He became the source of eternal salvation to those who listen to Him" and He was proclaimed "Pope", bridge between every lost man and his God.
So he says one of the last writings of the N T providing still alive the memory of this scene. (Hb 5.7 to 10).
The old Adam " lived badly " the good: He kidnapped the gift of sonship.
The new Adam "lived well" even the evil: He gives Himself up to those who kidnap, bringing upon Himself the violence of theft. Because of this He is the Son equal to the Father: He gives Himself and saves everyone.
In the story Jesus addresses continually alternately to the Father and to His disciples, experiencing the silence of everyone.
His only anxiety comes from his being between us and the Father, living together His love for Him and our desertion of Him. He is the ' "intercessor," He who gets in the way, weaving in Himself the story between any distance and laceration. Jesus lives His being of the Father, through Him and for Him, in our state of sin and rejection. We have not accepted nor God as Father or ourselves as children.
We wanted to own our own life: thus we do not accept to be children. We remove birth and death, we eliminate our beginning and our end. This is why our life is violent, sad and distressed: split from its source, it feels “ thrown" into void.
Jesus traces back the path of Adam, returning to the Father any abandonment of the Father.
RispondiEliminaJesus keeps vigil and prays: prostrated He has the power of the Spirit to cry. "My Father!" and to do His will.
Instead the disciples are sleeping , sat in the weakness of their flesh, locked in the sleep of their death.
The Son lives the drama that makes children those who are not children: the passage (baptismal) from my will to the will of the Father.
Jesus wins the fight, and He heals us from the evil that is at the origin of our evils: the contrast between our and His will.Because of this it comes " the hour ", in view of which the world was created: that in which the Son of Man gives Himself to the Father in His surrendering to the lost brothers: it is the hour of salvation !.
After this "good night" there is no more night. The light of the Son came into our darkness.
Because of this,, to the end, after having repeaded to watch, Jesus says " to sleep and take their rest" and "to rise up and to go ."
Every our sleep is not more an anticipation of the death, but " a way" in the new life of children.
In fact every night of us is as clear as day, every our distance now anchored to the Father in the Son.
CELEBRATION OF PALM SUNDAY
RispondiEliminaAND OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
XXXV World Youth Day
April 5, 2020
Jesus "emptied himself and became a servant" (Phil 2:7). Let us be introduced to the Holy Days by these words of the Apostle Paul, in which the Word of God, like a refrain, shows Jesus as a servant: on Holy Thursday he is the servant who washes the feet of his disciples; on Good Friday he is presented as the suffering and victorious servant (cf. Is 52:13); and already tomorrow, Isaiah will prophesy of him: "This is my servant whom I uphold" (Is 42:1). God has saved us by serving us. We usually think that it is up to us to serve God. No, it is he who has served us freely, because he loved us first. It is difficult to love without being loved. And it is even more difficult to serve if we do not allow ourselves to be served by God.
But - a question - in what way did the Lord serve us? By giving his life for us. We are dear to him and we have cost him dearly. St. Angela of Foligno testified that she heard Jesus say: "I did not love you for laughing". His love led him to sacrifice himself for us, to take upon himself all our evil. It is something that leaves us astonished: God saved us by accepting that our evil was directed at him. Without reacting, with only the humility, patience and obedience of the servant, exclusively with the strength of love. And the Father supported Jesus' service: he did not defeat the evil that was coming against him, but supported his suffering, so that our evil would be overcome only by good, so that it would be crossed to the bottom by love. To the very bottom.
The Lord served us to the point of experiencing the most painful situations for those who love: betrayal and abandonment.
Betrayal. Jesus suffered the betrayal of the disciple who sold him and the disciple who denied him. He was betrayed by the people who acclaimed him and then shouted, "Let him be crucified" (Mt 27:22). He was betrayed by the religious institution that condemned him unjustly and by the political institution that washed its hands of him. Let us think of the small and great betrayals that we have suffered in life. It is terrible when we discover that our well-placed trust has been deceived. A disappointment is born in the heart so that life seems to have no meaning anymore. This happens because we were born to be loved and to love, and the most painful thing is to be betrayed by the one who promised to be loyal and close to us. We cannot imagine how painful it was for God, who is love.
Let's look inside. If we are honest with ourselves, we will see our unfaithfulness. How many falsehoods, hypocrisies and duplicities! How many good intentions betrayed! How many broken promises! How many resolutions left to fade away! The Lord knows our hearts better than we do, he knows how weak and fickle we are, how often we fall, how hard we have to get up and how difficult it is to heal certain wounds. And what did he do to come to meet us, to serve us? What he said through the prophet: "I will heal them of their unfaithfulness, I will love them freely" (Hos 14:5). He healed us by taking our unfaithfulness upon himself, by removing our betrayals. So instead of being discouraged by the fear of not succeeding, we can look up to the Crucified One, receive his embrace and say: "There, my infidelity is there, you have taken it, you, Jesus. You open your arms to me, you serve me with your love, you continue to support me...So I go forward! "
--->Abandonment. On the cross, in today's Gospel, Jesus says one sentence, only one: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It is a powerful sentence. Jesus had suffered the abandonment of his own, who had fled. But he still had the Father. Now, in the abyss of solitude, for the first time he calls him by the generic name of "God". And He cries out to him "with a loud voice" the "why", the most heartbreaking "why": "Why have you also abandoned me? ". These are actually the words of a Psalm (cf. 21:2): it says that Jesus also bore in prayer the extreme desolation. But the fact remains that he experienced it: he experienced the greatest abandonment, to which the Gospels bear witness by reporting his original words.
RispondiEliminaWhy all this? Once again, to serve us. Because when we feel our backs against the wall, when we find ourselves in a dead end, without light and without a way out, when it seems that even God does not answer, we remember that we are not alone. Jesus experienced total abandonment, the situation that is most foreign to Him, in order to be in solidarity with us in everything. He did it for me, for you, for all of us, he did it to tell us: "Do not be afraid, you are not alone. I have experienced all your desolation so that I may always be at your side. This is how far Jesus has served us, descending into the abyss of our most atrocious sufferings, to the point of betrayal and abandonment. Today, in the drama of the pandemic, in the face of so many certainties that are crumbling, in the face of so many betrayed expectations, in the sense of abandonment that grips our hearts, Jesus says to each one of us: "Courage: open your heart to my love. You will feel the comfort of God, who sustains you.
Dear brothers and sisters, what can we do before God who has served us to the point of betrayal and abandonment? We can not betray the one for whom we were created, not abandon what matters. We are in the world to love him and others. The rest passes, it remains. The drama we are going through at the moment urges us to take seriously what is serious, and not to lose ourselves in things of little value; to rediscover that life is useless if we do not serve. Because life is measured by love. So, in these holy days, at home, let us stand before the Crucified - look, look at the Crucified! -the measure of God's love for us. Before God who serves us to the point of giving his life, let us ask, looking at the Crucified One, for the grace to live to serve. Let us seek to contact the one who suffers, the one who is alone and in need. Let us not only think of what we lack, let us think of the good we can do.
This is my servant whom I support. The Father who supported Jesus in his Passion, encourages us also in service. Certainly, loving, praying, forgiving, caring for others, in the family as well as in society, can be costly. It may seem like a way of the cross. But the way of service is the way of victory, which has saved us and which saves us, which saves our lives. I would like to say this especially to young people, on this day which for thirty-five years has been dedicated to them. Dear friends, look at the real heroes who are appearing in these days: not those who have fame, money and success, but those who give themselves to serve others. Feel called to put your life on the line. Don't be afraid to spend it for God and for others, you will win! Because life is a gift that is received by giving. And because the greatest joy is to say yes to love, without ifs or buts. To say yes to love, without ifs and buts. As Jesus did for us.