Jun 24, 2025 Written by 

Illness, and being made for life

Despite the fact that illness is part of human experience, we do not succeed in becoming accustomed to it, not only because it is sometimes truly burdensome and grave, but also essentially because we are made for life, for a full life. Our "internal instinct" rightly makes us think of God as fullness of life indeed, as eternal and perfect Life. When we are tried by evil and our prayers seem to be in vain, then doubt besets us and we ask ourselves in anguish: what is God's will? We find the answer to this very question in the Gospel. For example, in today's passage we read that Jesus "healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons" (Mk 1: 34); in another passage from St Matthew it says that Jesus "went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people" (Mt 4: 23). Jesus leaves no room for doubt: God whose Face he himself revealed is the God of life, who frees us from every evil. The signs of his power of love are the healings he performed. He thus shows that the Kingdom of God is close at hand by restoring men and women to their full spiritual and physical integrity. I maintain that these cures are signs: they are not complete in themselves but guide us towards Christ's message, they guide us towards God and make us understand that man's truest and deepest illness is the absence of God, who is the source of truth and love. Only reconciliation with God can give us true healing, true life, because a life without love and without truth would not be life. The Kingdom of God is precisely the presence of truth and love and thus is healing in the depths of our being. One therefore understands why his preaching and the cures he works always go together: in fact, they form one message of hope and salvation.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus, 8 February 2009]

76 Last modified on Tuesday, 24 June 2025 03:46
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Saint John Chrysostom affirms that all of the apostles were imperfect, whether it was the two who wished to lift themselves above the other ten, or whether it was the ten who were jealous of them (“Commentary on Matthew”, 65, 4: PG 58, 619-622) [Pope Benedict]
San Giovanni Crisostomo afferma che tutti gli apostoli erano ancora imperfetti, sia i due che vogliono innalzarsi sopra i dieci, sia gli altri che hanno invidia di loro (cfr Commento a Matteo, 65, 4: PG 58, 622) [Papa Benedetto]
St John Chrysostom explained: “And this he [Jesus] says to draw them unto him, and to provoke them and to signify that if they would covert he would heal them” (cf. Homily on the Gospel of Matthew, 45, 1-2). Basically, God's true “Parable” is Jesus himself, his Person who, in the sign of humanity, hides and at the same time reveals his divinity. In this manner God does not force us to believe in him but attracts us to him with the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son [Pope Benedict]
Spiega San Giovanni Crisostomo: “Gesù ha pronunciato queste parole con l’intento di attirare a sé i suoi ascoltatori e di sollecitarli assicurando che, se si rivolgeranno a Lui, Egli li guarirà” (Comm. al Vang. di Matt., 45,1-2). In fondo, la vera “Parabola” di Dio è Gesù stesso, la sua Persona che, nel segno dell’umanità, nasconde e al tempo stesso rivela la divinità. In questo modo Dio non ci costringe a credere in Lui, ma ci attira a Sé con la verità e la bontà del suo Figlio incarnato [Papa Benedetto]
This belonging to each other and to him is not some ideal, imaginary, symbolic relationship, but – I would almost want to say – a biological, life-transmitting state of belonging to Jesus Christ (Pope Benedict)
Questo appartenere l’uno all’altro e a Lui non è una qualsiasi relazione ideale, immaginaria, simbolica, ma – vorrei quasi dire – un appartenere a Gesù Cristo in senso biologico, pienamente vitale (Papa Benedetto)
She is finally called by her name: “Mary!” (v. 16). How nice it is to think that the first apparition of the Risen One — according to the Gospels — took place in such a personal way! [Pope Francis]
Viene chiamata per nome: «Maria!» (v. 16). Com’è bello pensare che la prima apparizione del Risorto – secondo i Vangeli – sia avvenuta in un modo così personale! [Papa Francesco]
Jesus invites us to discern the words and deeds which bear witness to the imminent coming of the Father’s kingdom. Indeed, he indicates and concentrates all the signs in the enigmatic “sign of Jonah”. By doing so, he overturns the worldly logic aimed at seeking signs that would confirm the human desire for self-affirmation and power (Pope John Paul II)
Gesù invita al discernimento in rapporto alle parole ed opere, che testimoniano l'imminente avvento del Regno del Padre. Anzi, Egli indirizza e concentra tutti i segni nell'enigmatico "segno di Giona". E con ciò rovescia la logica mondana tesa a cercare segni che confermino il desiderio di autoaffermazione e di potenza dell'uomo (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Without love, even the most important activities lose their value and give no joy. Without a profound meaning, all our activities are reduced to sterile and unorganised activism (Pope Benedict)
Senza amore, anche le attività più importanti perdono di valore, e non danno gioia. Senza un significato profondo, tutto il nostro fare si riduce ad attivismo sterile e disordinato (Papa Benedetto)
In reality, an abstract, distant god is more comfortable, one that doesn’t get himself involved in situations and who accepts a faith that is far from life, from problems, from society. Or we would even like to believe in a ‘special effects’ god (Pope Francis)

Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 1 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 2 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 3 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 4 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 5 Dialogo e Solstizio I fiammiferi di Maria

duevie.art

don Giuseppe Nespeca

Tel. 333-1329741


Disclaimer

Questo blog non rappresenta una testata giornalistica in quanto viene aggiornato senza alcuna periodicità. Non può pertanto considerarsi un prodotto editoriale ai sensi della legge N°62 del 07/03/2001.
Le immagini sono tratte da internet, ma se il loro uso violasse diritti d'autore, lo si comunichi all'autore del blog che provvederà alla loro pronta rimozione.
L'autore dichiara di non essere responsabile dei commenti lasciati nei post. Eventuali commenti dei lettori, lesivi dell'immagine o dell'onorabilità di persone terze, il cui contenuto fosse ritenuto non idoneo alla pubblicazione verranno insindacabilmente rimossi.