March 1^st 2020. First Sunday of Lent

GOSPEL: Mt 4:1-11

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Mt 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written: One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . .  When Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden, Satan was using the same strategy that he would use once again with Jesus in the desert. One of the traps hidden in every temptation is the false idea that fidelity to God is incompatible with fidelity to ourselves. In other words, the idea that obeying God means hurting yourself, curtailing yourself, diminishing yourself. The reality is the exact opposite: sin is the tragic road to self-destruction. Temptation makes us pursue an idolatrous image of ourselves which is at odds with the true dignity and beauty that God has given us. In order to follow that image, we are encouraged to make ourselves the focal point of our lives and the masters of our own destiny. The three temptations of Jesus in the desert share similar characteristics to the temptation in the garden. Through these temptations, Satan tries to tell Jesus that it is ok for the Son of God to exploit objects to satisfy his own needs; he is told that God ought to be ready to facilitate and support his most frivolous decisions; he is assured that possessions and worldly power are a worthy goal in themselves. Temptations such as these alienate us from our true identity as children of God. They make us feel inadequate and dissatisfied with who we are and with what we possess. They make us lose sight of our deepest identity. In place of that identity, they set up a deceitful image of the human being as an absolute in himself, absolute in his individual rights, and in the way he can manipulate things for his own ends. Satan encourages us not to accept our condition as creatures of God. His temptations proceed by making us feel ashamed and inadequate for who we are. The Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help restore us to the right relationship with God that can be destroyed through temptation. The sobriety, generosity and walking in right relationship with God that are typical of Lent restore us to our proper place in creation. They fill us with the peace, freedom and beauty that are integral to our true identity as God’s children.

The obedience that restores our true identity

Lent is a journey to freedom and truth; the journey involves the struggle described in the text of the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew. This story is prepared for us in Sunday’s liturgy by the first reading recounting the fall of Adam and Eve. One of the traps hidden in every temptation is the false idea that fidelity to God is incompatible with fidelity to ourselves. In other words, the idea that obeying God means hurting yourself, curtailing yourself, diminishing yourself. The reality is the exact opposite: sin is the tragic road to self-destruction. The temptations of Jesus use the same strategy used with Eve: Satan tells a lie according to which the affirmation of self is the real urgency. In the first temptation, Satan says: "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread". It would be like saying that the true children of God have the right to manipulate reality; stones cannot remain stones; their existence must be changed to respond to our hunger, therefore they must become loaves of bread. The idea of ​​the second temptation, that of throwing oneself from the top of the temple, is that the true children of God can expect the Lord to go along with their initiatives. Whatever looks like a good plan should be possible, even if it's a jump from the roof. The third temptation concerns the possession, power and splendor of the world: Satan claims that it is beneficial to compromise with evil in order to have power and possessions, perhaps even to achieve things that are “worthwhile”. These temptations assign absolute roles to appetites, projects and possessions. Satan tells us that these ways we can obtain satisfactory results, but we only become slaves to cravings, ideas and things. All this is hidden in the invitation to Eve to make the grotesque attempt to become "like God". This temptation is an escape from reality, it represents an elaborate and desperate process of alienation from ourselves.

Lent is not simply about rules and practices. It restores us to our true identity and brings happiness.

In fact, what should be noted is that Eve, in the end, tries to be different from what she is, and enters into a state of self-deception. Her attempt to be something "more" ultimately leads to shame, to the loss of the happy relationship with oneself, to the loss of one's true identity. Eve is ashamed of being Eve, what a curious thing! During Lent the Church asks us to perform acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These works are real calls to return to the truth and beauty of our dignity, a dignity that is threatened by the deception implicit in every temptation. Sobriety, generosity and walking in the right relationship with God - typical of Lent - bring us back to our true place in the world. They fill us with that peace, with that freedom from ourselves which are integral parts of our true identity. Temptation tries to transform our dignity into pretence, pride and greed. Obedience to God restores us to ourselves. Fasting makes us clear and free from our ego, prayer breaks the pattern of loneliness, almsgiving is a way for us to show love to our brothers and sisters. Lenten practices are not a question of perfectionism or rules, but of happiness.

February 22^nd 2020. Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Mt 5:38-48

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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GOSPEL: Mt 5:38-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus asks us to love our enemies. Does he really mean that? Maybe this text needs to be interpreted in a less radical way? How can we hope to forgive others the hurt they have done us? How can we learn to love unconditionally? But, if we think about it, each one of us longs to be loved, forgiven and accepted completely in just this way! The human heart needs to encounter exactly this kind of love. Also, we need to be able to give this type of love and forgiveness. It is only when we forgive others that we are able to let go of the hurt they have inflicted upon us. How can we achieve this kind of love, however? Surely it is impossible?  Too often, we fail to achieve this level of “perfection” or completion because we rely on our own efforts. If my love is the fruit of my own efforts, my own discipline, my own commitment, then I will fail miserably! It is my Father in heaven that is the origin of unconditional love! We are only creatures and cannot love by our own efforts. Our love is a love of response, a love that replicates the love we have been shown by our heavenly Father. He loves us unconditionally and forgives all our faults. When I remember how many times God has loved and forgiven me, then I become capable of loving and forgiving others. The evil and unjust people that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel are us! God makes his sun shine upon us despite our faults. He makes the rain fall upon us despite out sins. We are the ones who stripped Jesus of his tunic before his crucifixion. We are the ones who made Jesus walk the extra mile that he refers to in this Gospel passage. Yet he is holy and full of love and has forgiven us completely. If our image of God is one of a cold and distant judge, then we will not find it in us to be loving and merciful. But if we contemplate that our God is loving and merciful, then we will discover the strength to do likewise. If we wish to be perfect, if we wish to be complete, then let us meditate on the holiness, mercy and paternity of God.

We all long to be loved unconditionally, to be forgiven completely, to be accepted just as we are. Each one of us longs to encounter perfect love.

"Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". The Greek term used by Matthew to express "perfection" indicates the moment when something or someone reaches its goal, hits the target, reaches its authentic end. Jesus, therefore, is saying that love for enemies is not only a sublime attitude, but is the very goal of our existence. We were born to arrive at the point of loving like this. Each one of us has the hope in our hearts to be loved in this way by others! We all wish to be accepted unconditionally and be forgiven without limits. In fact, we all need it, because forgiveness is the only thing that unravels the knot of unsolvable things that we carry inside.

How can we learn to love unconditionally? How can we hope to love our enemies? Is it a matter of gritting my teeth and making a big effort?

And even more than this, our hearts hope to be capable of this quality of love, because it is only then that we are really healed from our wounds. When we forgive, in fact, we become free from the violence we have suffered. But how do we get to this state of perfection? How can I ever hope to love my enemy? If I try to make this sort of love a duty, an ethical need, something that I resolve to apply myself to, then I will fail miserably! How many times we have faltered when we have tried to achieve this kind of love and forgiveness through our own efforts alone! What we end up with is something insincere, words only and little more.

Our Father in heaven is the origin of love. If I look to him, make him my model, then I become capable of loving my enemies. Our love is a love in response to the love of God for us. Such love does not originate in my own efforts and sweat, but in the love of the Father. As a child of God, who has loved me unconditionally, then I become capable of forgiving those who hurt me.

The Lord Jesus points out the only way to this level of perfection: our Father in heaven. It is not a question of trying to achieve the greatest love by forcing it out from our incompleteness, unleashing it from our hopeless insufficiency. Rather, it is a question of returning to the origin of love, starting from the Father himself. Love of our enemies is a consequence of being a child of God! It is a matter of regeneration. If the origin of my action is my own effort and commitment, I will never reach my target, because I am only a creature. But if I start from the Father, then I have a chance of loving perfectly because He is perfect. He is Almighty Father and my Creator. And he loves me tenderly. When I forgive those who have hurt me, I express my baptismal nature as a child of God. I am born from the love, generosity and patience of the one who "makes his sun shine over the bad and the good, and makes it rain on the righteous and the unjust”. My perfection does not originate from me. It comes from the Father.

February 16^th 2020. Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Mt 5:17-37

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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GOSPEL: Mt 5:17-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfil.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’
will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said,
You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife -  unless the marriage is unlawful -
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the evil one.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Sometimes people think that Christianity involves the abandonment of the laws of the Old Testament and the taking up of a new life of following the “heart”, a life without rules and regulations. But Jesus tells us in this Gospel that he has come, not to abolish the law, but to bring it to fulfilment. The old rules about adultery, murder, etc., are not to be abolished, but to made even more rigorous! Adultery is prohibited, but so is even an impure glance at another person. Murder is banned, but so are angry thoughts towards others. Maybe Jesus is exaggerating here? Or maybe the translation is bad? But, when we think about it, isn’t this exactly the level of fidelity and nobility that we long to see in others? We want a spouse that is faithful to this degree. We want our friends to be ready to cut off their hands rather than betray us. If a father only did the minimum due to his children, then he would be a very cold and distant father! True love requires that we go beyond the external observance of the rules and that we are faithful to these rules from the heart. But this is not just difficult for us, it is impossible! That is why Jesus opens his discourse by saying, “I have come not to abolish the law, but to bring it to fulfilment”. It is Jesus who makes our fidelity in love possible! It is not that we have to be strong enough to live this fidelity, but that we have to be humble enough, to abandon ourselves into the arms of Jesus and allow ourselves to be led by him.

Jesus tells us that the laws regarding adultery, murder, etc., are much more than limitations on our exterior actions: they require conversion of the heart. They demand that we root out impure glances, angry feelings, loose talk, etc.

“If your righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven". Scribes and Pharisees were good people who observed the Law of Moses. In this text there is not really a criticism of these pious Jews, who were exemplary in their consistency and tenacity of obedience. But the righteousness of those who follow Christ needs to be even greater! Yet, it was difficult to imagine how one might “do” more than these gentlemen. So Jesus begins to explain what this "more" consists in. Do not kill? Certainly, but don't get angry either, don't offend, don't compete with each other, always seek reconciliation, try to get along with your opponents. Don't commit adultery? That is too little: do not even engage in an inappropriate glance. Should we allow divorce? No! Marriage cannot be dissolved and there is no going back. Does your eye or your hand lead you to do harm? Get rid of it! And do not say anything that is not exactly how it is, without words or manipulations. Whoever thinks that the Gospel is easy should read the text of this Sunday!

Is Jesus going over the top here? Maybe it was a bad translation? No! This is exactly the level of fidelity and generosity that we would love to find in others!

But isn't everything that Jesus says in this passage a little exaggerated? Maybe the translation was poor? Maybe it needs to be understood in context? But, when we think about it, isn’t this the level of fidelity and generosity that we hope to find in others?  Each of us hopes to find a spouse who is faithful to this degree of not glancing at another.  We hope to have friends who go the extra mile to resolve differences between us. We hope to have a brother who would cut off his hand rather than hurt us, or who would rather die than fool us or manipulate us. But perhaps we do not find this level of fidelity because people read this Gospel and say: "Well, let's not exaggerate! Let’s not take it literally!" And they don't exaggerate, but it is impossible to truly love another without exaggerating, without being ready to go the extra mile.

Love requires us to go beyond the rules, but this is impossible for us. We can only love in this radical way if we abandon ourselves into the arms of Jesus and follow him

If a father only does the minimum that is due to his children, then the children will experience their father as being very cold and distant. Who can truly love without going beyond the rules? If we merely abide by the law, then we will never be able to forgive others. But as soon as we see a mother, a priest, a young man, a missionary or someone else go beyond the bounds of love in order to take care of someone, then something lights up within us. It is important that we not discount or dismiss this text, and the rest of the Gospel as well! We need these words to become flesh; we need someone to show us love like this. But to love like this is not just difficult, it is impossible, impossible if we try to do it alone without God. In fact, the Gospel begins by saying: "I did not come to abolish the law, but to bring it to complete fulfilment". Jesus came to give us that something "more", that is why he is the Lord, and only he can introduce us into the life of the kingdom of heaven. It is not about being strong enough to love in this radical way, but about being humble enough to allow ourselves to be led by him. He came for this, to "bring things to fulfilment" and allow us to love truly.

February 9^th 2020. Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 5, 13-16

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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GOSPEL: Matthew 5, 13-16

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Jesus asks us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Without this light, the world be in darkness. Without this salt, life will have no flavour. But what are we to do so that we can become salt and light for others? We must look to Jesus! He became the light of the world during an eclipse of the sun on Good Friday. He is the light of the world because he allow his relationship with his Father to sine forth and reveal that God is love: he loves each one of us. People are very critical of the Church nowadays. Maybe it is because they expect us to be the light of the world but they see that we are not! If I live a life of egoism, then I am living in darkness. I might think that my life of fun, entertainment, security, good company and success is very illuminated, but it is a life of darkness if it is not lived with reference to Christ. A father who lives this sort of self-referential life leaves emptiness in the hearts of his children. A priest who lives an existence of this sort does not bring life to his parishioners. We can be salt and light for our families and the world only if we do the kind of works that Jesus asks us to do. He says, “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father”. It is very important that these words of Jesus be understood properly! What kinds of works do we need to do? Works that show my great talents and heroism? No, these works do not bring glory to the Father! The works that light up the world are works that shed light on God, that show my relationship to God, that cause people to praise God, not me! By trusting in God, by abandoning myself to God, I show the world the love and power of the Father. When people see works of this sort, they say: I see the power of the Father in you: what you are doing cannot originate in you but must originate in the goodness and glory of God.

We are not just biological organisms. There is something “more” to us. There is substance, life, that goes beyond the biological

St. John Chrysostom says of the Gospel this Sunday that, if the earth needs salt and the world needs light, then it means that the earth is tasteless and the world is dark. Bare existence on earth is not enough: we need to find the “flavour” of life. Just living is not enough. We are not simply a biological organism, made up of four buckets of water combined with the necessary amount of minerals. We have an innate need for something more. We do many things, but what really remains is the meaning of what we do. If salt loses its flavour then it will be trampled on by people, says the Gospel. If a person loses his flavour, others steer away from him. If a father is not a true father, he will leave an emptiness in the hearts of his children. If a priest is bland, people get bored. In fact, the faithful expect substance in their parish priest. Children expect substance in a father, in a friend, in a sister. In everyone. But what flavour does a man's life have if it is truly lived?

Jesus becomes the light of the world on the cross when he died for love of us. If we live lives of egoism then we are in darkness. Success, security, entertainment, good company might fool us into thinking that we live in the light when we are really living in darkness. It is the relationship between Jesus and the Father that is the true source of light.

The same Gospel of Matthew speaks of light and darkness at a precise moment in history: "At midday it became dark over the whole earth, until three in the afternoon" (Mt 27.45). The brightest hours of the day became dark at the moment of Christ's crucifixion; the world revealed its hidden darkness and Jesus of Nazareth was raised as a light to the world upon the chandelier of the cross. There is no other light for humanity: if we really put ourselves first then we are in the dark and only the tenderness of the One who is willing to die for us saves us from our misery. We can delude ourselves that culture, well-being, security, success and good company illuminate life. These things are never enough! Instead, it is the relationship with the Father that shines in Christ who is "the true light, that which illuminates every person" (Jn 1: 9). But this light is seen by the world only if it reverberates in someone.

Why do we have faith? Because the light of Christ has shone through the works of others down the centuries.

We are Christians because we experience the love that illuminates the darkness of our hearts. Yet we were not present on Calvary ... why is that light in us? How did we hear about it and experience it? Because this light has had the opportunity to shine through, to emerge, to manifest itself in the works of Christians over the centuries, and for this we have faith: someone has shown it to us.

The works that show the light of God are not works that highlight my talents and heroism! Rather, the works that give light are those that manifest my relationship of trust and abandonment in the arms of God

How does this light manifest itself? "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven". This saying must be understood properly, because Jesus does not say for us to do works so that others see that we are good. Rather, we must do works that show the glory of the Father. The works that give light and flavour to life are not those that glorify those who do them. Rather, if the works indicate that we have a relationship with the Father, then they give light to others! Such works are not opportunities for us to show our great qualities and personal heroisms. Rather the works that give light are when we perform acts of trust in God, abandonment to God, and mercy towards others. It is those works that make others say: I see the power of the Father in you: what you are doing cannot originate in you but must originate in the goodness and glory of God.