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NOVEMBER 14, 2021 – Angelus
To base one’s life on the Word of God, therefore, is not an escape from history, but an immersion into earthly realities in order to…
The Gospel passage of today’s liturgy opens with a phrase of Jesus that leaves us astonished: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven” (Mk 13:24-25). But what now, even the Lord was a doomsdayer? No, this is certainly not His intention. He wants us to understand that sooner or later everything in this world passes. Even the sun, the moon and the stars that make up the “firmament” – a word that indicates “firmness”, “stability” – are destined to pass away.
In the end, though, Jesus says what does not fall: “Heaven and earth will pass away”, He says, “but my words will not pass away” (v. 31). The Lord’s words will not pass away. He makes a distinction between the penultimate things, which pass, and the ultimate things, that remain. It is a message for us, to guide us in our important decisions in life, to guide us on what it is worth investing our life. In something transitory, or in the words of the Lord that remain forever? Obviously on these. But it is not easy. Indeed, the things that come before our senses and give us immediate satisfaction attract us, while the words of the Lord, although beautiful, go beyond the immediate and require patience. We are tempted to cling to what we see and touch and what seems safer to us. It is human, that is temptation. But this is a deception, because “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”. So, here is the invitation: do not build your life on sand. When someone builds a house, they dig deep and lay a solid foundation. Only a fool would say that money would be wasted on something that cannot be seen. According to Jesus, the faithful disciple is the one who founds his life on the rock, which is his Word (cf. Mt 7:24-27), which does not pass away, on the firmness of the Word of Jesus: this is the foundation of the life that Jesus wants from us, and which will not pass away.
And now we wonder – always, when we read the Word of God, questions arise – what is the centre, what is the beating heart of the Word of God? In short, what is it that gives solidity to life, and will never end? Saint Paul tells us. The very centre, the beating heart, that which gives solidity, is love: “Love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8), says Saint Paul: love. Those who do good, are investing in eternity. When we see a person who is generous and helpful, meek, patient, who is not envious, does not gossip, does not brag, is not puffed-up with pride, does not lack respect (cf. 1 Cor 13:4-7), this is a person who builds Heaven on earth. They may not be noticed or have a career, they will not make the news, and yet, what they do will not be lost because good is never lost, good lasts forever.
And we, brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves: what are we investing our lives in? On things that pass, such as money, success, appearance, physical well-being? We will take away none of these things. Are we attached to earthly things, as if we will live here forever? When we are young and healthy, everything is fine, but when the time comes to depart, we have to leave everything behind.
The Word of God warns us today: this world will pass away. And only love will remain. To base one’s life on the Word of God, therefore, is not an escape from history, but an immersion into earthly realities in order to make them solid, to transform them with love, imprinting on them the sign of eternity, the sign of God. Here then is some advice for making important choices. When I don’t know what to do, how do make a definitive choice, an important decision, a decision that involves Jesus’ love, what must I do? Before deciding, let us imagine that we are standing in front of Jesus, as at the end of life, before Him who is love. And imagining ourselves there, in His presence, at the threshold of eternity, we make the decision for today. We must decide in this way: always looking to eternity, looking at Jesus. It may not be the easiest, it may not be the most immediate, but it will be the right one (cf. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 187), that is sure.
NOVEMBER 18, 2018 – Angelus
He is at our side; he walks with us; he loves us. He wants to remove from his disciples of every age the curiosity about dates, predictions, horoscopes, and focus their attention on the today of history.
In this Sunday’s Gospel passage (cf. Mk 13:24-32), the Lord seeks to instruct his disciples on future events. Firstly, it is not a discourse on the end of the world, but rather an invitation to live the present well, to be vigilant and ever ready for when we will be called to account for our life. Jesus says: “in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven (vv. 24-25). These words make us envision the first page of the Book of Genesis, the narrative of creation: the sun, the moon, the stars — which from the beginning of time shine in their order and bring light, a sign of life — are described here in their decline, as they fall into darkness and chaos, a sign of the end. Instead, the light that shines on that final day will be unique and new: it will be that of the Lord Jesus who will come in glory with all the saints. In that encounter we will at last see his Face in the full light of the Trinity: a Face radiant with love, before which every human being will also appear in absolute truth.
Human history, like the personal history of each of us, cannot be understood as a simple succession of meaningless words and facts. Nor can it be interpreted in the light of a fatalistic vision, as if all were already preordained according to a fate that removes any space for freedom, preventing us from making choices as the fruit of true decision. In today’s Gospel passage, however, Jesus says that the history of peoples and that of individuals have a purpose and an aim to fulfil: the definitive encounter with the Lord. We know neither the time nor the way in which it will come about: the Lord emphasized that “no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son” (v. 32); all is safeguarded in the secret of the mystery of the Father. We know, however, a basic principle with which we must confront ourselves: “Heaven and earth will pass away”, Jesus says, “but my words will not pass away” (v. 31). This is the true crux. On that day, each of us will have to understand whether the Word of the Son of God has illuminated our personal existence, or whether we turned our back to it, preferring to trust in our own words. More than ever, it will be the moment in which to abandon ourselves definitively to the Father’s love and to entrust ourselves to his mercy.
No one can escape this moment, none of us!.
No one can escape this moment, none of us! Shrewdness, which we often instil in our conduct in order to validate the image we wish to offer, will no longer be useful; likewise, the power of money and of economic means with which we pretentiously presume to buy everything and everyone, will no longer be of use. We will have with us nothing more than what we have accomplished in this life by believing in his Word: the all and nothing of what we have lived or neglected to fulfil. We will take with us only what we have given.
Let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary that, with the verification of our impermanence on earth and of our limitations, she not allow us to collapse into anguish, but call us back to responsibility for ourselves, for our neighbour, for the entire world.
NOVEMBER 15, 2015 – ANGELUS
And this is our goal: the encounter. We do not await a time or a place, but we are going to encounter a person: Jesus. Thus the problem is not “when” these premonitory signs of the last days will occur, but rather our being prepared.
The Gospel of this penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year offers us part of Jesus’ discourse regarding the last events of human history, oriented toward the complete fulfillment of the reign of God (cf. Mk 13:24-32). It is the talk that Jesus gave in Jerusalem before his last Passover. It has certain apocalyptic elements, such as wars, famine, cosmic catastrophes: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (vv. 24-25). However, these segments are not the essential part of the message. The core around which Jesus’ words turn is he himself, the mystery of his person, and of his death and resurrection, and his return at the end of time.
Our final goal is the encounter with the Risen Lord. I would like to ask how many of you think about this. “There will be a day in which I meet the Lord face to face”. And this is our goal: the encounter. We do not await a time or a place, but we are going to encounter a person: Jesus. Thus the problem is not “when” these premonitory signs of the last days will occur, but rather our being prepared. Neither is it about knowing “how” these things will happen, but instead “how” we have to act today, in awaiting these things. We are called to live the present, building our future with serenity and trust in God. The parable of the fig tree that sprouts, as a sign of the approaching summer (cf. vv. 28-29), teaches that the perspective of the end doesn’t distract us from the present life, but rather brings us to look at our current days with an outlook of hope. This virtue of hope that is so hard to live. The smallest but strongest of the virtues. And our hope has a face: the face of the Risen Lord, who comes “with great power and glory” (v. 26), which will manifest his love, crucified and transfigured in the Resurrection. The triumph of Jesus at the end of time will be the triumph of the Cross, the demonstration that the sacrifice of oneself for love of neighbour, in imitation of Christ, is the only victorious power, the only stable point in the midst of the upheavals and tragedies of the world.
The Lord Jesus is not only the destination of our earthly pilgrimage, but also a constant presence in our lives; he is also beside us, he always accompanies.
The Lord Jesus is not only the destination of our earthly pilgrimage, but also a constant presence in our lives; he is also beside us, he always accompanies. That’s why, when we speak of the future and project ourselves toward it, it is always in order to lead us back to the present. He counters the false prophets, the fortune-tellers who predict that the end of the world is near; he sets himself against fatalism. He is at our side; he walks with us; he loves us. He wants to remove from his disciples of every age the curiosity about dates, predictions, horoscopes, and focus their attention on the today of history. I would like to ask you — don’t answer out loud, each one answer to himself — how many of you read your horoscope every day? Each one answer, and when you feel like reading your horoscope, look to Jesus who is with you. This is better and will be better for you. This presence of Jesus calls us to the anticipation and vigilance that exclude both impatience and lethargy, both the escaping to the future and the becoming prisoners of the current moment and of worldliness.
In our days, too, there is no lack of natural and moral disasters, nor of adversities and difficulties of every kind. Everything passes, the Lord reminds us; he alone, his Word remains as the light that guides and encourages our steps. He always forgives us because he is at our side. We need only look at him and he changes our hearts. May the Virgin Mary help us to trust in Jesus, the firm foundation of our life, and to persevere with joy in his love.
March 13, 2013 - APRIL 19, 2005
November 18, 2012 – ANGELUS
Everything passes away, the Lord reminds us, but the word of God does not change and before it each one of us is responsible for his or her own behaviour. We are judged on this basis.
St Mark’s version of a part of Jesus’ discourse on the end times is proclaimed on this penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year (cf. Mk 13:24-32). This discourse is also found in Matthew and Luke, with some variations, and is probably the most difficult Gospel text. This difficulty stems from both its content and its language: in fact, it speaks of a future that exceeds our own categories and for this reason Jesus uses images and words taken from the Old Testament; but above all he introduces a new centre, which is he himself, the mystery of his Person and of his death and Resurrection.
Today’s passage also opens with certain cosmic images that are apocalyptic in character: “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (vv. 24-25); but this element is relativized by what follows: “then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (v. 26). The “Son of man” is Jesus himself who links the present and the future; the ancient words of the prophets have finally found a centre in the Person of the Nazarene Messiah: he is the True Event which remains the firm and enduring point in the midst of the world’s upheavals.
Other words in today’s Gospel confirm this. Jesus says: “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (v. 31) Indeed we know that in the Bible the word of God is at the origin of the Creation: all the creatures, starting with the cosmic elements — sun, moon, the firmament — obey the word of God, they exist since they have been “called into being” by it. This creative force of the divine word is concentrated in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, and also passes through his human words, which are the true “firmament” that directs the thought and journey of man on earth.
For this reason Jesus does not describe the end of the world and when he uses apocalyptic images, he does not act as a “seer”. On the contrary, he wishes to prevent his disciples in every epoch from being curious about dates and predictions; he wants instead to provide them with a key to a profound, essential interpretation and, above all, to point out to them the right way on which to walk, today and in the future, to enter eternal life.
Everything passes away, the Lord reminds us, but the word of God does not change and before it each one of us is responsible for his or her own behaviour. We are judged on this basis.
Dear friends, in our day too there is no lack of natural disasters nor, unfortunately, of war and violence. Today too we need a permanent foundation for our life and our hope, especially because of the relativism in which we are immersed. May the Virgin Mary help us to accept this centre in the Person of Christ and in his word.
November 15, 2009 – ANGELUS
There is no confusion between Creation and the Creator but rather a decided difference.
We have reached the last two weeks of the liturgical year. Let us thank the Lord who has once again granted us to make this journey of faith old and ever new in the great spiritual family of the Church! It is a precious gift, which enables us to live the mystery of Christ in history, receiving in the furrows of our personal and community existence the seed of the word of God, a seed of eternity that transforms this world from within and opens it to the Kingdom of Heaven. This year, we have been accompanied along our itinerary through the Sunday biblical Readings by St Mark’s Gospel, which today presents to us part of Jesus’ discourse on the end of times. In this discourse is a phrase whose terse clarity is striking: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mk 13: 31). Let us pause a moment to reflect on this prophecy of Christ.
The expression “Heaven and earth” recurs frequently in the Bible in reference to the whole universe, the entire cosmos. Jesus declares that all this is destined to “pass away”; not only the earth but also Heaven, which here is meant in a purely cosmic sense and not as synonymous with God. Sacred Scripture knows no ambiguity: all Creation is marked by finitude, including the elements divinized by ancient mythologies; there is no confusion between Creation and the Creator but rather a decided difference. With this clear distinction Jesus says that his words “will not pass away”, that is to say they are part of God and therefore eternal. Even if they were spoken in the concreteness of his earthly existence, they are prophetic words par excellence, as Jesus affirms elsewhere, addressing the heavenly Father: “I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me” (Jn 17: 8). In a well-known parable Christ compares himself to the sower and explains that the seed is the word (see Mk 4: 14); those who hear it, accept it and bear fruit (see Mk 4: 20) take part in the Kingdom of God, that is, they live under his lordship. They remain in the world, but are no longer of the world. They bear within them a seed of eternity a principle of transformation that is already manifest now in a good life, enlivened by charity, and that in the end will produce the resurrection of the flesh. This is the power of Christ’s word.
Dear friends, the Virgin Mary is the living sign of this truth. Her heart was “good soil” that received with complete willingness the Word of God, so that her whole life, transformed according to the image of the Son, was introduced into eternity, body and soul, in anticipation of the eternal vocation of every human being. Let us now make our own in prayer her response to the Angel: “Let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1: 38), so that in following Christ on the way of the Cross we too may be able to attain the glory of the Resurrection.
APRIL 2, 2005 - OCTOBER 16, 1978
November 16, 1997 – HOMILY
Opening Mass of the Synod for America
How eloquent this comparison is! God does not pass away and neither will anything that comes from him. Christ’s sacrifice never passes away, as we read today in the Letter to the Hebrews…
1. “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Gospel acclamation; cf. Mt 24:42, 44).
The prayerful vigilance to which today’s liturgy invites us is well suited to the important event we are experiencing: the opening of the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, with the theme: “Encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: the Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity in America”. This Assembly has gathered the prelates of all the Episcopates of the American continent, from the North to the Centre and the South, including the Caribbean region. I extend my cordial greetings to everyone and a warm welcome to those who have come from overseas.
Today the Word of God offers us a fitting perspective for the work of discernment we are about to undertake: that precisely of a faith-filled look at history, an “eschatological perspective”.
This is the way to consider human events that the Lord teaches believers. We have heard a prophecy from the Book of Daniel, received by the prophet himself from the mouth of a heavenly messenger sent to “show [him] the truth” (Dn 11:2) about historical events. This prophecy tells of anguish and salvation for the people: how can we fail to recognize it as a prediction of the paschal mystery, the unique focus of history and a key to its authentic interpretation?
The Church prepares for and takes every step of her earthly pilgrimage in the light of the paschal mystery. And today she is celebrating the solemn begining of an exceptional time of reflection and exchange on the mission she is called to carry out on the American continent. God’s word offers her the correct faith vision for reading, as the angel tells Daniel, “what is inscribed in the book of truth” (Dn 10:21). With this outlook the Church pauses to consider the road traveled thus far, in order to press onward to the new millennium with renewed missionary zeal.
2. It was only a short while ago, in 1992, that we solemnly recalled the fifth centenary of the evangelization of America. The Synod, which is beginning its work in St Peter’s Basilica today, calls to mind those times when the inhabitants of the so-called “Old World“, thanks to Christopher Colombus’ admirable undertaking, learned of the existence of a “New World” previously unknown to them. The colonizers’ work began on that historic day and so did the evangelizers’ mission of making Christ and his Gospel known to the peoples of that continent.
One fruit of this extraordinary missionary effort was the evangelization of America, or more precisely, of the so-called “three Americas”, which today can be considered largely Christian. It is also very important, 500 years later and at the threshold of the new millennium, that we remember the road traveled by Christianity in all these lands. Moreover, it is appropriate not to separate the Christian history of North America from that of Central and South America. It is essential to consider them together, even while safeguarding the originality of each one, because, in the eyes of those who arrived there more than 500 years ago, they appeared as a single reality, and especially because the communion between the local communities is a living sign of the inborn unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ, of which they are an organic part.
3. Everyone is aware that on the great American continent the results of the activity of the colonizers are evident today in the political and economic diversity of the continent, with undoubted cultural and religious repercussions. In comparison to other countries, North America has reached a higher level of technological advancement and economic well-being, and in the development of democratic institutions.
Faced with these realities, we cannot but ask about the historical causes which gave rise to such social differences. To what extent are these differences rooted in the history of the last five centuries? To what extent does the heritage of colonization count in them? And what influence did the first evangelization have?
In order to furnish an exhaustive response to these questions, it will be necessary, during the Synod, to consider the continent as a whole, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, without introducing a separation between the North, the Centre and the South, so as not to risk a contrast between them. On the contrary, we must look for the deeper reasons which prompt this unitary vision, by appealing to the common religious and Christian traditions.
These few indications enable us to understand the importance of the Synod we are inaugurating today.
4. “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”.
This exhortation that we have just heard in the Gospel acclamation refers to the spiritual atmosphere we are experiencing as the liturgical year draws to a close. It is an atmosphere interwoven with eschatological themes, highlighted in particular by the passage from St Mark’s Gospel in which Christ stresses the transitory nature of heaven and earth: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mk 13:31).
The form of this world is passing away, but the Word of God will never pass away. How eloquent this comparison is! God does not pass away and neither will anything that comes from him. Christ’s sacrifice never passes away, as we read today in the Letter to the Hebrews: Jesus “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins” (10:12); and: “for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (10:14).
Throughout this Synod Assembly we will pause to reflect on the past, but especially on the present moment of the American continent. We will attempt to identify in each of its regions the signs of Christ’s saving presence, of his Word and of his sacrifice, so that we may revive our energies for the service of conversion and evangelization.
5. How could we not remember here the comforting intentions especially regarding collaboration between pastors in the new evangelization, which became evident at the end of CELAM’s Fourth General Conference in Santo Domingo in 1992? It was then a question of intensifying the missionary apostolate of every community, in order to renew in consciences the commitment to go beyond our frontiers “to bring to other peoples the faith that reached us 500 years ago” (Message, L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 18 November 1992, p. 7).
Let us give thanks to God because today the wish is fulfilled that I expressed at the opening session of that conference. On that occasion, I stressed: “This General Conference could take the opportunity in the not too distant future of holding a meeting for representatives of the Episcopates of the entire American continent — a meeting which could be synodal in nature — for increased cooperation betwen the various particular Churches in the different areas of pastoral activity and at which, in the context of the new evangelization and as an expression of episcopal communion, the problems relating to justice and solidarity among all the nations of America could be faced” (Insegnamenti, vol. XV, 2, 1992; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 21 October 1992, p. 8), Here we are now gathered together with the intention of carrying out these resolutions of pastoral charity, with concern for the Church in America and in a spirit of affective and effective collegiality among all the Pastors of the particular Churches.
6. Dear brothers and sisters, we open the Synod’s work in the context of the imminent conclusion of the liturgical year, with the beginning of Advent close at hand. May this significant coincidence determine the basic direction of our reflections and decisions!
Dear brothers and sisters, this season truly invites us to great watchfulness. We must watch and pray, remembering that one day we will come before the Son of man as Pastors of the Church on the American continent.
We entrust this Synod Assembly to you, Mary, Mother of hope, beloved and venerated in the many shrines across the American continent. Help the Christians of America to be vigilant witnesses of the Gospel, that they may be found watchful and ready on the great and mysterious day when Christ will come as the glorious Lord of the nations to judge the living and the dead.
Amen!
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