Jun 19, 2026 Written by 
Angolo dell'apripista

With our defences down

With our defences down

Let us allow Jesus to meet us ‘with our defences down, with open hearts’, so that he may renew us from the depths of our souls. This is Pope Francis’s invitation at the start of Advent. The Pontiff addressed these words to the faithful during Mass celebrated this morning, Monday 2 December, in the Chapel of Santa Marta.

The journey we are beginning in these days, he began, is ‘a new journey for the Church, a journey of the People of God, towards Christmas. And we are journeying to meet the Lord’. Christmas is, in fact, an encounter: not merely ‘a seasonal celebration or — as the Pontiff specified — a memory of something beautiful. Christmas is more than that. We are travelling this path to meet the Lord’. Thus, during Advent, ‘we journey to meet him. To meet him with our hearts, with our lives; to meet him as he truly is; to meet him with faith’.

In truth, it is not ‘easy to live by faith’, noted the Bishop of Rome. And he recalled the story of the centurion who, according to the account in the Gospel of Matthew (8:5–11), fell prostrate before Jesus to ask him to heal his servant. ‘The Lord, in the passage we have just heard,’ explained the Pope, ‘was amazed by this centurion. He was amazed by the faith he possessed. He had set out on a journey to meet the Lord. But he had done so with faith. That is why not only did he meet the Lord, but he also experienced the joy of being met by the Lord. And this is precisely the encounter we desire: the encounter of faith. To encounter the Lord, but to allow ourselves to be encountered by him. This is very important!’

When we limit ourselves merely to encountering the Lord, he pointed out, ‘we are — though let us put this in inverted commas — the “masters” of this encounter’. When, on the other hand, ‘we allow ourselves to be encountered by him, it is he who enters into us’ and renews us completely.

‘This,’ the Holy Father reiterated, ‘is what it means when Christ comes: to make everything new again, to renew the heart, the soul, life, hope and the journey.’

At this time of the liturgical year, therefore, we are on a journey to encounter the Lord, but also and above all ‘to allow ourselves to be encountered by him’. And we must do so with an open heart, “so that he may meet me, tell me what he wants to say to me—which is not always what I want him to say to me!” Let us not forget, then, that “he is the Lord and he will tell me what he has in store for me”, for each one of us, because “the Lord,” the Pontiff pointed out, “does not look at us all together, as a mass: no, no! He looks at us one by one, in the face, in the eyes, because love is not an abstract love but a concrete love. Person by person. The Lord, a person, looks at me, a person’. That is why allowing ourselves to be met by the Lord ultimately means ‘allowing ourselves to be loved by the Lord’.

‘In the prayer at the beginning of Mass,’ the Pope recalled, ‘we asked for the grace to undertake this journey with certain attitudes that will help us. Perseverance in prayer: to pray more. Diligence in fraternal charity: to draw a little closer to those in need. And joy in praising the Lord.’ So “let us begin this journey with prayer, charity and praise, with open hearts, so that the Lord may meet us”. But, the Pope asked in conclusion, “please, let him meet us with our defences down, open to him!”

[Pope Francis, homily at Santa Marta, in L’Osservatore Romano, 3 December 2013]

105 Last modified on Friday, 19 June 2026 10:42
Rate this item
(0 votes)
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.

Latest from don Giuseppe Nespeca

Previous
« Small Prayer
Next
Living Life to the Full »
back to top
The grain of wheat that "falls to the ground and dies" becomes the promise of bread (Pope John Paul II)
Il chicco di grano che “cade in terra e muore” diventa la promessa del pane (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
The power of faith can move mountains (cf. Mt 17:20): the Lord can illuminate even the deepest darkness [Pope Benedict]
La forza della fede può spostare le montagne (cfr Mt 17,20): il Signore può illuminare anche la tenebra più profonda [Papa Benedetto]
By willingly accepting death, Jesus carries the cross of all human beings and becomes a source of salvation for the whole of humanity. St Cyril of Jerusalem commented: “The glory of the Cross led those who were blind through ignorance into light, loosed all who were held fast by sin and brought redemption to the whole world of mankind” (Catechesis Illuminandorum XIII, 1: de Christo crucifixo et sepulto: PG 33, 772 B) [Pope Benedict]
Accettando volontariamente la morte, Gesù porta la croce di tutti gli uomini e diventa fonte di salvezza per tutta l’umanità. San Cirillo di Gerusalemme commenta: «La croce vittoriosa ha illuminato chi era accecato dall’ignoranza, ha liberato chi era prigioniero del peccato, ha portato la redenzione all’intera umanità» (Catechesis Illuminandorum XIII,1: de Christo crucifixo et sepulto: PG 33, 772 B) [Papa Benedetto]
In the New Testament, it is Christ who constitutes the full manifestation of God's light [Pope Benedict]
Nel Nuovo Testamento è Cristo a costituire la piena manifestazione della luce di Dio [Papa Benedetto]
Faith opens us to knowing and welcoming the real identity of Jesus, his newness and oneness, his word, as a source of life, in order to live a personal relationship with him. Knowledge of the faith grows, it grows with the desire to find the way and in the end it is a gift of God who does not reveal himself to us as an abstract thing without a face or a name, because faith responds to a Person who wants to enter into a relationship of deep love with us and to involve our whole life (Pope Benedict)
La fede ci apre a conoscere e ad accogliere la reale identità di Gesù, la sua novità e unicità, la sua Parola, come fonte di vita, per vivere una relazione personale con Lui. Il conoscere della fede cresce, cresce con il desiderio di trovare la strada, ed è finalmente un dono di Dio, che si rivela a noi non come una cosa astratta senza volto e senza nome, ma la fede risponde a una Persona, che vuole entrare in un rapporto di amore profondo con noi e coinvolgere tutta la nostra vita (Papa Benedetto)
Jesus Christ clearly indicates that even acts of devotion and penance (such as fasting, almsgiving, prayer), which by their religious purpose are primarily 'interior', can succumb to current 'externalism', and can therefore be falsified [John Paul II]
Gesù Cristo indica chiaramente che anche gli atti di devozione e di penitenza (come digiuno, elemosina, preghiera) che per la loro finalità religiosa sono principalmente “interiori”, possono cedere all’“esteriorismo” corrente, e quindi possono essere falsificati [Giovanni Paolo II]
Today’s Gospel reminds us that faith in the Lord and in his Word does not open a way for us where everything is easy and calm; it does not rescue us from life’s storms. Faith gives us the assurance of a Presence (Pope Francis)
He does so in many situations of daily life - He holds his hand out to us. And only if we take the Lord's hand, if we let ourselves be guided by him, will the path we take be right and good [Pope Benedict]

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.