WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERThe Gospel of today’s Liturgy, the Solemnity of the patron saints of Rome, reports the words that Peter addresses to Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. It is a profession of faith, which Peter pronounces not on the basis of his human understanding, but because God…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERThis is Jesus’ style with those who suffer: few words, and concrete deeds. Many times in the Gospel, we see him behave in this way towards those who suffer: deaf people, paralyzed people, and many others in need. He always does this. He speaks little and he promptly follows up his…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERJesus, therefore, “served the people; he explained things so that the people could clearly understand. He was at the service of the people. He had the manner of a servant and this gave him authority”. (…) Jesus, was consistent; he lived as he preached. There was a kind of unity, a…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERWhen Jesus warns people to beware of ‘false prophets’, he says: ‘By their fruits ye shall know them’. And here, by their attitude: so many words, they speak, they do wonders, do great things but they do not have an open heart to hear the Word of God; they are afraid…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERWith these words, Jesus makes it clear that it is not a matter of numbers, there is no “limited number” in Paradise! Rather, it is a case of taking the right way from now, and this right way is for everyone, but it is narrow. This is the problem. Jesus does…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERThe entire event of the birth of John the Baptist is surrounded by a joyous sense of wonder, surprise and gratitude. Wonder, surprise, gratitude. The people are filled with a holy fear of God “and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea” (v. 65). Brothers…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERToday we can ask ourselves: what are the winds that beat against my life? What are the waves that hinder my navigation, and put my spiritual life, my family life, even my psychological life in danger? Let us say all this to Jesus; let us tell him everything. He wants this;…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERJesus persistently exhorts us not to worry about tomorrow (cf. vv. 25, 28, 31), recalling that above everything, there is a loving Father who never forgets his children: entrusting oneself to Him does not magically resolve problems, but allows one to face them with the right attitude, courageously: I am courageous…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERIn this world, at this moment, there are so many wars out of greed for power, for wealth. But we can think about war in our heart: ‘Beware of all covetousness’, the Lord says. Because greed goes forward, it goes on, it goes on: it’s a step, it opens the door,…
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHERHerein lies the matrix of every Christian prayer — I would say of every human prayer — which is always done, on the one hand, as a contemplation of God, of his mystery, of his beauty and goodness, and on the other, as a sincere and courageous request for what we…