OMELIE / Omelie EN

26/6/2016

05/01/2017 – 5th Sunday of Ordinary time - anno A

05/02/2017 – 5th Sunday of Ordinary time - anno A 

1st reading  Is 58,7-10 * from Psalm 111/112 * 2^nd reading 1Cor 2,1-5 * Gospel Mt 5,13-16

Everything upside down! What should we do so that God listens to our wishes? Isaiah tells us this with clarity: you must satisfy the needs of those in need; for the poor and for those who suffer become yourself an help, the same help that you want from God. How can you announce the great mysteries of God to men? Do not show yourself to be neither intelligent nor informed neither knowledgeable. Announce what the Lord did for you, how He lived and how he offered his life on the cross. How can you make yourself useful to the world? Follow Jesus, without hiccups and do not doubt.

Today we have received these indications from the biblical readings. It is all simpler of that which we can imagine! “Invoke and the Lord will answer you, ask for his help and he will tell you: “Here I am!”: it is marvelous how the Lord hears our voice and our supplication. But how is this possible? If you love without pretending recompense, if you have your eyes open to see the sufferings of the others, if you live the works of mercy you can be sure that God will not close his ears to your voice neither your heart to your own sufferings. He sees that you are collaborating with him, that you do that which he wants you to realize, that your life is a manifestation of his life or better it is the realization of his desires here on earth. He will answer you, as he answered to Moses, Samuel and Elijah, and how he answered to the Saints who even you know.

Saint Paul wanted to announce the God’s mysteries. He in some occasion had tempted to do it keeping in mind the philosophies and the religions, using them at times, but he was derided and did not obtain any result, only some humble and simple person listened to him. He was pushed to change his mind and thus from then onwards he tried to abstain from preoccupying himself. The Gospel, that is the great love of God realized by Jesus, must be announced as it has been given. Since that moment he does not feel ashamed of announcing the cross of Jesus. For someone Jesus’ cross is scandal and repugnant discourse. However the cross attract the attention and the affection of men. Jesus himself said that he would attract everyone to himself from the cross. We see that if the Church preoccupies itself to “sweeten” and to make less demanding the life of the Christians it is abandoned and is no longer listened.

“The only knowledge I would have while I was with you was knowledge of Jesus, and of him as the Crucified Christ”: and this not only in words but also with fatigue, without saving sufferings and afflictions. Where the Christians suffer and work for their own faith, there they see their own communities getting stronger. Where everything is made easier, (for example about the hours of liturgical celebrations or the practices of fasting, with regard to delegate the works of mercy to the civil authorities…), there the Church is vanishing.

Whoever makes speeches in order to please lazy and ambitious people  does not have then the interior strength to transform in prayer and in an act of faith his own words. The apostle Paul in his letters must repeat many times the teachings that we have heard today. The Holy Spirit must show himself, and he is manifested there where other spiritual forces (like spirit of ambition, pride, vainglory and laziness) don’t have the strength. The Gospel needs Christians who do not feel ashamed to be different from the others. How can then they be “the salt of the earth”? Jesus sees that when his disciples live as “blessed”, without the fear of persecutions and slandering, they are the ‘salt of the earth”. The salt must be hidden in the food and thus because it is different from food adds taste and conserves food. Jesus uses this image to help us see what is our vocation and our duty and value. We are not Christians in order to be similar and like all the others, to do what the others do, neither to show off, but we are Christians, namely we follow Jesus, in order to put into the world his wisdom, love, awareness of the Father, the beauty of the life lived in love and in the service. Thus let us look to live in hidden, not to leave our own duties, but we must be present without pushing ourselves on others, and without seeking to have glory and to receive good and nice comment or approval from someone. If someone praises us  let us thank Jesus! Someone told to Saint Leopold Mandic, “See what are they saying about you? They say that you are a saint!”. Leopold answered : “If this is helpful to the Kingdom of God, let them say it!

Jesus uses also the image of the light to describe the presence of his disciples: “You are the light of the world”: it is a very courageous image, because the Hebrews knew that in Holy Scriptures was written that the light of the world is the Word of God. The disciples of Jesus are really the Word of God when they obey him. Light is necessary to all, otherwise every step that we make will be dangerous; without light there is no beauty, and it becomes very difficult to practice and to enjoy even the goodness. How precious are the disciples, if they are true disciples! They are necessary to the world, to society, in every place and time. They, even if they are despised, are the true richness of the world!