Teresa Girolami
Teresa Girolami è laureata in Materie letterarie e Teologia. Ha pubblicato vari testi, fra cui: "Pellegrinaggio del cuore" (Ed. Piemme); "I Fiammiferi di Maria - La Madre di Dio in prosa e poesia"; "Tenerezza Scalza - Natura di donna"; co-autrice di "Dialogo e Solstizio".
Today's Gospel passage speaks of persecution and hatred towards the witnesses of Jesus.
The Poor Man of Assisi, having known Christ, well knew that following in His footsteps would also entail insults and persecution, starting with his family.
In fact, the people of Assisi and his father, a shrewd merchant, could not bear his radical change, and thought him mad.
But Francis, Herald of Christ, did not let himself be intimidated, guided by divine Wisdom, which suggests to those who welcome it every response appropriate to the moment.
The Franciscan Sources, a place of special evangelical training, narrate:
"One day, inflamed with enthusiasm, the Saint left the cave and set out towards Assisi, lively, quick-witted and joyful.
Armed with confidence in Christ and inflamed with heavenly love, he reproached himself for cowardice and vain trepidation, and boldly decided to expose himself to the hands and blows of his persecutors.
At the first sight of him, those who knew him as he was before, began to insult him, shouting that he was a madman and a fool, throwing mud and stones at him.
Seeing him so changed, exhausted by penances, they attributed his change to exhaustion and dementia.
But the Knight of Christ passed through that storm without paying any attention to it, not allowing himself to be struck and agitated by the insults, giving thanks to God instead.
News of what was happening spread through the squares and streets of the city, until it came to the ears of his father.
Hearing how they were mistreating him, he immediately went out to get him, intending not to free him but to end it.
Out of his mind, he pounced on him like a wolf on a sheep, and staring at him with grim eyes and a face contracted in fury, he seized him and dragged him home.
There he locked him up in a dark cubbyhole for several days, doing everything, with words and blows, to bring him back to worldly vanity" (FF 1417).
But "Francis did not let himself be moved neither by words, nor by chains, nor by beatings. He endured everything with patience, indeed becoming more agile and stronger in following his ideal" (FF 1418).
«Now before all these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you by delivering you to synagogues and prisons» (Lk 21:12).
«And you will be hated by all because of my name» (Lk 21:17).
Wednesday 34th wk in O.T. (Lk 21,12-19)
When the ephemeral is no more. Detractors glitter
In today's Gospel, while some were thinking of the beautiful stones of the temple, Jesus announces that nothing would remain of what they admired.
Francis and Clare of Assisi, with different paths, lived with the final horizon of life always before them.
By divine revelation and by unquestioned intuition they understood that the glitter of this world would be the first detractors of souls.
They knew that of all they saw, nothing would remain at the end of days.
And every day, from the first light of dawn, this thought guided them in the work of witnessing.
The Sources, a bottomless vein of the Gospel events experienced by these Giants of the Gospel, proclaim beginning with the Canticle of Brother Sun
"Be praised, my Lord, for sister our death of the body/ from which no man can escape/ woe to those who die in mortal sins;/ blessed are those who find in your most holy will,/ for the second death will do them no harm" (FF 263).
Nevertheless, Clare reminded her sisters of the ultimate goal of life:
"Blessed, however, are those to whom it is granted to walk this way and persevere in it to the end" (FF 2850).
Again in one of her letters to Agnes of Bohemia, she recalls:
"How many times do kings and queens of this world deceive themselves in this regard!
Even if they raise their pride up to heaven and almost touch the clouds with their heads, in the end they will be dissolved into nothingness, like rubbish' (FF 2894).
They always threw their hearts over the hurdle, trusting in God.
As Jesus announces in the Gospel: «These things you observe, there will come days when no stone will be left upon stone, which will not be destroyed» (Lk 21:6)
Tuesday 34th wk. in O.T. (Lk 21:5-11)
Christ the King: Throne of the Cross and Jesus mocked, Herald
All Saints, like burning coals. And the ultimate Day
Pharisee, Publican: presumption and contempt, humility and Justification
Healing on the Way: the new Light that shines in the outsider
Christ and his intimates tried to strengthen the sense of sharing, returning to the profound spirit of what once the clan, the family, the community were - expressions of God's love that manifests itself...
Cristo e i suoi intimi tentavano di rafforzare il senso di condivisione, tornando allo spirito profondo di ciò che un tempo erano appunto il clan, la famiglia, la comunità - espressioni dell’amore di Dio che si manifesta…
The Church was built on the foundation of the Apostles as a community of faith, hope and charity. Through the Apostles, we come to Jesus himself. Therefore, a slogan that was popular some years back: "Jesus yes, Church no", is totally inconceivable with the intention of Christ (Pope Benedict)
La Chiesa è stata costituita sul fondamento degli Apostoli come comunità di fede, di speranza e di carità. Attraverso gli Apostoli, risaliamo a Gesù stesso. È pertanto del tutto inconciliabile con l'intenzione di Cristo uno slogan di moda alcuni anni fa: "Gesù sì, Chiesa no" (Papa Benedetto)
Intimidated by the nightmare of demons and concrete dangers, the crowds could not see the possibility of emancipation from an existence of obsessions - slavish, frightened, lost, overwhelmed...
Intimidite dall’incubo di demoni e pericoli concreti, le folle non riuscivano a vedere possibilità di emancipazione da un’esistenza di ossessioni - pedissequa, spaventata, smarrita, sopraffatta…
Justification incorporates us into the long history of salvation that demonstrates God’s justice: faced with our continual falls and inadequacies, he did not give up, but wanted to make us righteous (Pope Francis)
La giustificazione ci inserisce nella lunga storia della salvezza, che mostra la giustizia di Dio: di fronte alle nostre continue cadute e alle nostre insufficienze, Egli non si è rassegnato, ma ha voluto renderci giusti (Papa Francesco)
Against this cultural pressure, which not only threatened the Israelite identity but also the faith in the one God and in his promises, it was necessary to create a wall of distinction, a shield of defence to protect the precious heritage of the faith; this wall consisted precisely in the Judaic observances and prescriptions (Pope Benedict)
Contro questa pressione culturale, che minacciava non solo l’identità israelitica, ma anche la fede nell’unico Dio e nelle sue promesse, era necessario creare un muro di distinzione, uno scudo di difesa a protezione della preziosa eredità della fede; tale muro consisteva proprio nelle osservanze e prescrizioni giudaiche (Papa Benedetto)
It is not an anecdote. It is a decisive historical fact! This scene is decisive for our faith; and it is also decisive for the Church’s mission (Pope Francis)
Non è un aneddoto. E’ un fatto storico decisivo! Questa scena è decisiva per la nostra fede; ed è decisiva anche per la missione della Chiesa (Papa Francesco)
Being considered strong, capable of commanding, excellent, pristine, magnificent, performing, extraordinary, glorious… harms people. It puts a mask on us, makes us one-sided; takes away understanding. It floats the character we are sitting in, above reality
Essere considerati forti, capaci di comandare, eccellenti, incontaminati, magnifici, performanti, straordinari, gloriosi… danneggia le persone. Ci mette una maschera, rende unilaterali; toglie la comprensione. Fa galleggiare il personaggio in cui siamo seduti, al di sopra della realtà
The paralytic is not a paralytic
Il paralitico non è un paralitico
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