A Lamb as a King, a Cros as a Throne.

 Roman rite

XXXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C - Solemnity of Christ the King - November 23rd, 2025

2 Sam 5, 1-3; Ps 122; Col 1, 12-20; Lk 23, 35-43

 

Ambrosian rite

II Sunday of Advent 

Bar 4.36-5.9; Ps 99; Rm 15.1-13; Lk 3,1-18

The children of the Kingdom

 

1) A strange king: the immolated Lamb

            The Kingdom of God is founded on his love and Christ, the innocent Lamb slain for us, “sits” on the throne of the Cross. This King shows that God is love. His kingdom is based on his love and is rooted in the heart giving to those who receive it peace, freedom and fullness of life. All of us want peace, freedom and fullness of life. Let Christ reign in our hearts, and we will have peace, freedom and fullness of life.

            The Gospel of today, the Solemnity of Christ the King, presents Jesus not as a King who will reign by force at the end of time. It shows us Christ who is placed on the throne of the Cross from where he begins to reign with love. From there he begins to reign, making the regal gesture of granting to the good thief the certainty of being "today with Him in Heaven". This sinner is the first man to enter heaven following Christ the King.

 To that criminal who implores him and recognizes him as Lord on the Cross, Christ grants his forgiveness and his friendship.

The Cross, this act of infinite love that we have removed from public places and schools with superficiality and presumed civism, continues to be the only true answer to the profound suffering of humanity. It continues to be the definitive call of God to all to make themselves a gift, and, like God, an offer to the others. Without it only the bitterness of the last, the poor, the defeated remains. If man does not make himself a gift for the others, he becomes, even not willing, an instrument of torture. The fact is that either we are crushed under the cross or, on the cross, we reign with Christ (as the liturgy sings: "God reigns from the wood of the cross"). Certainly, the Kingdom of Christ is not of this world, but of the other world, of the true and holy world, and it is the kingdom of truth, love and eternal life.

Therefore, before continuing our meditation, let us make our own the words of St. John Paul II: "While we pray that your kingdom will come, we realize that your promise becomes reality: after following you, we come to you, in your kingdom, attracted to You raised on the cross (see Jn 12: 32), to You, lifted up on history and at the center of it, alpha and omega, beginning and end (see Rev 22,13), Lord of time and of the centuries

Let us address You with the words of an ancient hymn:

 “It is for your painful death, King of eternal glory,

 that you have obtained eternal life for the people, 

 therefore, the whole world calls you King of men.

 May Christ the Lord reign over us!”.

 

2) The important thing is not to be like Jesus, but to be with Jesus, like the good thief.

Jesus, during his earthly life, reigned[1] supported his friends by telling them words of truth, making gestures of charity, serving them up to washing their feet, and showing his infinite love by going to the throne of the Cross after being crowned with thorns by Pontius Pilate. Doing so, Jesus responds to the call to guide the people of God, to be their leader (see today's first reading). His kingship is of divine origin and has primacy over everything because in him the Father has placed the fullness of all things (second reading). Yet the Gospel of Luke presents the kingship of Jesus narrating his humanly scandalous investiture on the cross as king of Jews. Two pieces of wood embedded one in the other are the paradoxical throne of the Lord of peace and unity, who - let us not forget it - had as a cradle a manger in a poor stable where he was honored as a man, God and  King by the shepherds and by the Magi (myrrh for humanity, incense for divinity and gold for royalty).

However, let us not forget that, if Christ the King goes on the cross, it is not to give a show of humility, but to reveal God's passionate love for us. His passion is not so much the scourging, to which spits and nails followed, as his heart, which is only and "passionate" love for each of us. The Cross is the rigorous and necessary conclusion of the discourse of the Kingdom of Heaven made on the Mount of Beatitudes.

 The One who carries the Love is at the mercy of hate which is overcome only by accepting condemnation and forgiving. The One who is Love, forgives and declares it "Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing".

I believe that the thief who was on the cross next to the Cross-Throne of Christ felt this declaration of love, was shocked to the point that he converted[2], and asked Christ to remember him. We can consider him the last person converted by Jesus during his earthly life.

This forgiving prayer of Christ the King was so new to the thief that he felt called to feelings foreign to his spirit and to his whole life. This intercession of forgiveness brought the "good" thief back to the most forgotten age of childhood, when he too was innocent and knew that there was a God to whom one could ask for peace, as the poor ask for bread at the door of the lords. Nowhere, no matter how much he remembered, there was a question of forgiveness like that, so out of the ordinary, so absurd on the mouth of someone who is about to be killed. And yet those unbelievable words found, in the desiccated heart of the thief, a connection with something he would have liked to believe, especially at the time when he was about to appear before a Judge more terrible than that of the courts.

He remembered what he had heard of Jesus, few things and, for him, unclear. But he knew that he had spoken of a Kingdom of peace and that he himself would return to rule it. Then, in a fit of faith as if invoking the commonality of that blood that was dripping at the same time from his criminal hands and from those blameless hands, he outburst these words: "Lord, remember me in your Kingdom!” And Jesus, who had not answered anyone who questioned him under the Cross, turned his head, as much as he could, towards the pitiful thief and replied: "I tell you the truth that today you will be with me in Paradise". The humble request of the good Thief was enough to obtain his acquittal.

This man was saved because he knew how to transform the condemnation to the cross into a gesture of piety. He was with Christ and Christ right away (“today”, Jesus said to him) welcomed him in his piety[3]

 

3) The continuation of the amorous way of the Cross.

            If the Church, and we with this great and beautiful Mother, wants to celebrate the royalty of the Lord, it must retrace the way of the Cross.

Jesus is an innocently condemned king and in the eyes of men his seems to be a mock royalty: men are accustomed to other kings and to other manifestations of royalty. Jesus had already made it clear earlier: " The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as ‘Benefactors’, but among you it shall not be so. "I am among you as one who serves" (Lk 22: 25-27) .There is therefore a radical difference between the royalty of the world and the kingship of God, between the manifestations of the first and the manifestations of the second. The scene of the crucifixion of today's Gospel (Lk 23: 33-43) gathers the dispersed motives bringing them to completion. First, the kingship of Christ is affirmed. St. Luke uses an emphatic construction: "This is the king of the Jews" (v. 38). This is the reason for the condemnation that would mean, in the minds of the leaders, the end of the absurd claim of Jesus. Instead, it is the unconscious affirmation that right there, on the Cross, the kingship of Jesus manifests itself in all its splendor.

Jesus dies between two condemned men (throughout his life he was always accused of going with publicans and sinners). One of them does not understand because he is prisoner - like everyone else - of the worldly scheme of royalty ("Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us"), but the other sees, behind the weakness of the Cross, the power of love that shines through. "Remember me when you come in your royal majesty" (v. 42). Now, the central motive is clear to us: the kingship of Jesus shines in the obstinacy of love and in the refusal of the power to save himself and to escape contradiction.

Here is what is unheard of: Jesus does not use his divine power to save himself, to escape the complete gift of himself and to force those who refuse to admit their wrong. Jesus abandons himself totally to the apparent weakness of non-violence and love.

Therefore, the kingship of Jesus is linked to the Cross. However, even those aspects that we indicate as splendor, glory, victory and power are not absent. In fact, the Crucifix is ​​risen, and the Son of man will return in the majesty of his glory. But it is always a question of the glory of love, of the triumph of the way of the Cross. Resurrection and the return of Jesus are the revelation of the splendor and of the victorious power that the way of the Cross hides. It is in this perspective that the affirmation of St. Luke must be understood, that is, that the Christ, crucified and risen, reigns already now.

 

4) Spouses of Christ, the crucified King.

It is indeed worthwhile to follow such a King and to respond to the spousal vocation that makes people co-redeemers, bearing with him on the Cross the weight of the world. The most natural answer to God who says, "Do not be afraid, do not fear because I am with you and I love you" (Is 43, 45), is "yes". Example and testimony of this are "the consecrated virgins who celebrate a mystical marriage with Jesus Christ son of God and dedicate themselves to the service of the Church" (Canon 604 of the Code of Canon Law). In the Rite of consecration of the Virgins the Bishop asks the candidate: "Do you want to consecrate yourself and be solemnly married with our Lord Jesus, supreme son of God?" "And, in the prayer of consecration, the Bishop says, "May you always remain faithful to Christ your bridegroom and imitate the fidelity that is required from married people ". And then: "Lord, you that glorify yourself with the sanctity of the body and with the purity of the soul… be her love, her joy, her will, her comfort in pain, her advice in uncertainty, her defense in injury, her strength in tribulation, her abundance in poverty, her nourishment in fasting, her medicine in infirmity.  May she who has chosen you, find everything in you.".

Saint Teresa of Jesus, speaking of the religious profession, wrote:

"Oh, consecrated marriage!

The king of majesty has married.

Oh, lucky girl, because she took as a husband

he who reigns and who must reign.

Rich jewels will give you this groom,

king of heaven, who is king and can do it well.

Oh, what a splendid fate

had been prepared for you!

That God willing loves you!

In serving, be very strong,

since you have professed him.

The King of Majesty

is already married to you! "

Let us not forget, however, that we are all chosen from eternity (see Ephesians 1: 4) so ​​that we may reign with Him, "in praise of his glory" (Eph 1:12). To each of us he says: "All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine" (Jn 17:10) and we pray "Thy Kingdom come" into our heart, into our mind and into our will to support with Christ the world that yearns to rise again. As sons and daughters of the King let us pray "Thy kingdom come", that is, may Your power of love, O Lord, save the whole world.

 

 

Patristic reading

From a notebook On Prayer

by Origen, priest

(Cap. 25: PG 11, 495-499)

 

Your kingdom come

 

The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Savior, does not come for all to see; nor shall they say: Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is; but the kingdom of God is within us, for the word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it might grow and bear fruit and become perfect. For God reigns in each of his holy ones. Anyone who is holy obeys the spiritual laws of God, who dwells in him as in a well-ordered city. The Father is present in the perfect soul, and with him Christ reigns, according to the words: We shall come to him and make our home with him.

 

Thus, the kingdom of God within us, as we continue to make progress, will reach its highest point when the Apostle’s words are fulfilled, and Christ, having subjected all his enemies to himself, will hand over his kingdom to God the Father, that God may be all in all. Therefore, let us pray unceasingly with that disposition of soul which the Word may make divine, saying to our Father who is in heaven: Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come.

 

Note this too about the kingdom of God. It is not a sharing of justice with iniquity, nor a society of light with darkness, nor a meeting of Christ with Belial. The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin.

 

Therefore, if we wish God to reign in us, in no way should sin reign in our mortal body; rather we should mortify our members which are upon the earth and bear fruit in the Spirit. There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with his Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And he will sit there until all his enemies who are within us become his footstool, and every principality, power and virtue in us is cast out.

 

All this can happen in each one of us, and the last enemy, death, can be destroyed; then Christ will say in us: O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory? And so what is corruptible in us must be clothed with holiness and incorruptibility; and what is mortal must be clothed, now that death has been conquered, in the Father’s immortality. Then God will reign in us, and we shall enjoy even now the blessings of rebirth and resurrection.

 

---

[1] To reign comes from the Latin verb "règere" = 1. to rule, to govern, to dominate, to administer to command; 2. to direct, to drive; 3. to adjust, to correct, to guide on the right path; 4. to establish, to trace the borders

 

[2] Converting in Greek is indicated with two verbs. The first is epistréfo which means turning towards, the second is metanoéo which means "to change mentality, thought". Christian conversion involves the two things: turning to Christ and assuming His mentality.

[3] The word piety means first "custom of love" so much so that with the expression "practices of piety" we mean "prayers".

Un Agneau comme Roi, une Croix comme trône

XXXIV Dimanche du Temps Ordinaire - Année C - Solennité de Jésus Christ, Roi de l'Univers, 23 novembre 2015

 2 Sam 5, 1-3; Ps 121; Col 1, 12-20; Lc 23, 35-43

               1) Un roi bizarre: l'Agneau immolé.

             Le Règne de Dieu est fondé sur son amour et sur le trône de la Croix "siège" le Christ, innocent Agneau immolé pour nous. Ce Roi montre que Dieu est amour, que son Royaume est fondé sur son amour et qu'il s'enracine dans le cœur en donnant à celui qui l'accueille, paix, liberté et plénitude.

            Pour cette raison la liturgie d'aujourd'hui, Solennité du Christ Roi, l'évangile nous présente Jésus non pas comme un Roi qui règnera à la fin des temps avec la force, mais avec la gorce. Il nous montre le Christ installé sur le trône de la Croix, d'où il commence à régner, faisant un geste royal de concéder au bon larron d’être « aujourd’hui avec Lui au paradis ». Ce pécheur est le premier homme qui entre au paradis à la suite du Christ Roi. Le Christ donne son pardon et son amitié au délinquant qui l'implore et le reconnait comme Seigneur sur la Croix. Cette Croix, cet acte d'amour infini que, nous avons retirée des lieux publics et des écoles, avec beaucoup de superficialité et de faux sens civique, continue à être la seule et vraie réponse à la profonde souffrance de l'homme. Elle continue à être l'appel définitif de Dieu à l'homme à se faire don, à se faire offrande à l'autre, comme le Christ. Sans la Croix, il ne reste à l'homme que l'amertume des derniers, des pauvres et des vaincus. Si l'homme ne se fait pas don à l'autre, il se fait instrument de torture même contre sa volonté. En effet, ou nous en sommes écrasés sous la croix, ou nous régnons sur la Croix avec le Christ d'où il règne. Certes le Règne du Christ n'est pas de ce monde, mais de l'autre monde, du monde vrai et saint., et il est le règne de la vérité, de l'amour et de la vie éternelle.

           Donc, avant de continuer notre méditation, faisons nôtres les paroles de Saint Jean Paul II: "Pendant que nous prions que ton règne vienne, nous nous apercevons que ta promesse devient réalité. Après t'avoir suivi, nous venons chez Toi élevé sur la Croix (cf Jn 12, 12). A Toi, élevé sur l'histoire et au centre d'elle, alfa et omega, principe et fin (cf Ap 12, 32), Seigneur du temps et des siècles, à Toi nous nous adressons avec les paroles d’un ancien hymne:

"C'est par ta mort douloureuse, Roi de gloire éternelle

que tu as obtenu pour les peuples la vie éternelle,

c'est pour cela que le monde entier t'appelle Roi des hommes.

Règne sur nous, Christ Seigneur"

 

            2) L’important n’est pas d’être comme Jésus, mais d’être avec Jésus, comme le bon larron

            Pendant sa vie terrestre Jésus régna[1], soutint les siens en leur disant des paroles de vérité, accomplissant des gestes de charité, les servant jusqu’à leur laver les pieds et leur montrant son amour infini en allant sur le trône de la croix, après avoir été couronné d’épines par Ponce Pilate. De cette façon Jésus répond donc à la demande de guider le peuple de Dieu, d’être le conducteur (cf.  la première lecture « romaine » d’aujourd’hui). Sa royauté est d’origine divine et elle a la suprématie sur tout parce que le Père a posé la plénitude de toutes les choses en Lui (deuxième lecture) même si l’évangile de Luc présente la royauté de Jésus en mentionnant la scandaleuse investiture du Roi des juifs en croix. Deux morceaux de bois encastrés l’un sur l’autre sont le trône paradoxal du Seigneur de la paix et de l’unité qui –ne l’oublions pas- eût comme berceau une crèche dans une pauvre étable, où il fut honoré comme Homme, comme Dieu et comme Roi par des pasteurs et par des Rois mages (myrrhe pour l’humanité, encens pour la divinité et or pour la royauté).

            N’oublions pas, pour autant, que si le Christ Roi va sur la croix, ce n’est pas pour donner un spectacle d’humilité, mais pour révéler l’amour passionné de Dieu pour nous. Sa passion n’est pas tant la flagellation suivie de crachats et de clous, quand son cœur qui est tout et seulement Amour « passionnel » pour chacun de nous. La croix est la conclusion rigoureuse et nécessaire du discours sur le Mont des Béatitudes du Règne des cieux.

            Celui qui porte l’Amour est à la merci de la haine et ne surmonte la haine qu’en acceptant la condamnation et en pardonnant. Celui qui est Amour pardonne et le déclare : « Père, pardonne-les parce qu’ils ne savent pas ce qu’ils font ».

            A mon avis, lorsque le larron qui était en croix à côté de la Croix-Trône du Christ, entendit cette déclaration d’amour, il fut bouleversé à tel point qu’il se convertit [2] et demanda au Christ de se souvenir de lui. Nous pouvons considérer qu’il est le dernier converti par le Christ pendant Sa vie terrestre.

            Cette prière du Christ-Roi qui pardonne, était si neuve pour le « bon » malfaiteur, qu’il ressentit des sentiments étrangers à son esprit et à toute sa vie. Cette intercession de pardon reporta le « bon » larron à l’âge le plus oublié de son enfance, lorsqu’il était innocent et savait qu’il existait un Dieu auquel on pouvait demander la paix comme les pauvres demandent le pain à la porte des riches. Mais en aucun lieu, aussi loin qu’il ait été possible de se souvenir, il n’existait de demande de pardon comme celle-là, à la fois tellement en dehors de l’ordinaire et tellement absurde sur les lèvres d’une personne qui va être tuée. Et pourtant, ces paroles invraisemblables trouvent dans le cœur desséché de ce larron un lien à quelque chose à laquelle il voulait croire, particulièrement en ce moment où il était en train de comparaitre devant un Juge plus important que celui des tribunaux humains.

            Il lui revint à l’esprit ce qu’il avait entendu raconter de Jésus: peu de choses, et peu claires, pour lui. Il savait qu’Il avait parlé d’un royaume de paix et qu’il serait revenu pour le gouverner.

Alors, dans une impulsion soudaine de foi, comme s’il revendiquait la communion de ce sang qui coulait en même temps de ses mains de criminel et des mains de l’Innocent, il prononça ces paroles : « Seigneur, souviens-toi de moi quand tu viendras inaugurer ton règne ».

            Et Jésus qui n’avait répondu à personne pendant qu’Il était en Croix, tourna sa tête vers le pieu larron, autant qu’Il le pouvait, et lui répondit : « Moi, je te dis en vérité qu’aujourd’hui, tu seras avec moi au paradis ». L’humble demande du bon malfaiteur avait suffit pour obtenir l’absolution.

            Cet homme se sauva parce qu’il sut transformer la condamnation sur la croix en un geste de piété. Il fut avec le Christ, et le Christ, tout de suite (Jésus lui dit : « aujourd’hui ») accueillit dans Sa piété[3].

            

            3) La poursuite du chemin amoureux de la Croix

            Si l’Eglise, cette grande et belle mère, et nous-mêmes, nous voulons fêter la royauté du Seigneur, nous devons parcourir le chemin de Croix.

            Jésus est un roi, innocent, condamné. Et aux yeux des hommes, il semble que sa royauté soit un pouvoir burlesque : les hommes sont habitués à bien d’autres rois et à bien d’autres manifestations de la royauté. Jésus avait déjà fait comprendre cela précédemment : « Les Rois des nations païennes leur commandent en maîtres et ceux qui exercent le pouvoir sur elles se font appeler bienfaiteurs. » (Lc22,25-27). Il y a donc une différence entre la royauté du monde et la royauté de Dieu entre les manifestations de la première et celles de la deuxième. La scène de la crucifixion de l’Evangile d’aujourd’hui (Lc 23,33-43) rassemble toutes les raisons de cette différence et les explique de façon complète. Avant tout, la royauté du Christ est affirmée. Saint Luc utilise une construction emphatique : « Il est le roi des juifs » (v 38). La motivation de la condamnation qui signifierait, dans la tête des chefs, la fin de l’absurde prétention de Jésus : en fait, c’est l’affirmation inconsciente que la royauté de Jésus se manifeste vraiment là, en croix, en toute splendeur.

            Jésus meurt entre deux condamnés (tout au long de sa vie, il fut accusé d’être avec des publicains et des pêcheurs): un, le mauvais, ne comprend pas, prisonnier -comme tous- du schéma mondain de la royauté (« ce n’est pas toi le Messie? Sauve-toi et nous aussi »); mais l’autre, le bon, entrevoit, derrière la faiblesse de la croix, la puissance de l’amour qui y transparait : « Jésus, souviens-toi de moi quand tu viendras inaugurer ton règne » (v.42). Maintenant, le motif central est clair : la royauté de Jésus resplendit dans l’obstination de l’amour. Il resplendit dans le refus  d’utiliser Sa puissance[OPdS1] [OPdS2]  pour se sauver Lui-même, sans se soustraire  à la contradiction d’un roi « battu ».

            Voici ce qui est inouï : Jésus ne se sert pas de sa puissance divine pour se sauver lui-même, pour se soustraire au don entier total de Lui-même. Il n’utilise pas son pouvoir pour contraindre ceux qui le refusent à admettre leur tort.

            Jésus s’abandonne totalement à l’apparente faiblesse de la non-violence et de l’amour.

            La royauté de Jésus est donc liée à la croix. Toutefois, même les aspects que nous indiquons comme la splendeur, la gloire, la victoire et la puissance, ne sont pas absents. En fait, le Crucifié est ressuscité et le Fils de l’homme reviendra dans la majesté de sa gloire. Mais il s’agit toujours de la gloire de l’amour, du triomphe du chemin de la Croix. La résurrection et le retour de Jésus sont la révélation de la splendeur et de la force victorieuse que le chemin de la Croix cache.

            C’est dans cette perspective que l’on comprend l’affirmation de Saint Luc, celle où le Christ crucifié et ressuscité règne déjà maintenant : « aujourd’hui ».

 

            4) Epouses de Christ-Roi crucifié

            Un Roi comme lui vaut la peine de le suivre et de répondre à la vocation de l’accepter comme Epoux et de devenir co-rédempteur en portant avec lui le poids du monde. A Dieu qui dit : « N’ayez pas peur, ne craignez pas parce que je suis avec toi et que je t’aime ». (Is 43,45), la réponse la plus naturelle est « oui ». Pour cela, il y a des exemples et des témoignages : « Les vierges consacrées qui célèbrent des noces mystiques avec Jésus Christ, fils de Dieu et se mettent au service de l’Eglise » (can. 604 du Code du Droit Canon)

            Dans le Rituel de la Consécration des Vierges (Ordo 1970), on demande à la candidate : 

            « Veux-tu être consacrée ai Seigneur Jésus Christ, le Fils du Dieu Très-Haut, et le reconnaître comme ton époux ? » (n. 17). Et dans la prière de consécration l’Evêque proclame : « Heureuse celle qui consacre sa vie au Christ et le reconnaît comme source et raison d’être de la virginité. Elle a choisi d’aimer celui qui est l’Epoux de l’Eglise et le Fils de la Vierge Mère … Et toi, Dieu toujours fidèle, sois sa fierté, sa joie et son amour, sois pour elle consolation dans la peine, lumière dans le doute, recours dans l’injustice, dans l’épreuve, sois sa patience, dans la pauvreté, sa richesse, dans la pauvreté, sa richesse, dans la privation, sa nourriture, dans la maladie, sa guérison. En toi qu’elle possède tout, puisque c’est toi qu’elle préfère à tout » (n. 24)

            N’oublions pas que nous sommes tous choisis depuis toute Eternité (Cf. Eph 1,4) pour régner avec lui, « à la louange de sa gloire » (Eph 1,12). Il dit à chacun de nous : « tout ce qui est à moi est à toi, et tout ce qui est à toi est à moi » (Jn 17,10), et nous prions : « Que ton règne vienne » dans notre coeur, dans notre mémoire et dans notre volonté pour soutenir, avec Christ, le monde qui désire fortement se relever

            En tant que fils et filles du Roi, prions : « Que ton Règne vienne » c’est à dire que ta puissance d’amour, Seigneur, sauve le monde entier.

Lectures spirituelles

Sainte Thérèse de l’enfant Jésus priait :

            « O Jésus, mon divin époux: que jamais je ne perde la seconde robe de mon Baptême, prends-moi avant-que je fasse la plus légère faute volontaire. Que je ne cherche et ne trouve jamais que toi seul, que les créatures ne soient rien pour moi et que je ne sois rien pour elles mais toi Jésus soit tout!… Que les choses de la terre ne puissent jamais troubler mon âme que rien ne trouble ma paix, Jésus je ne te demande que la paix, et aussi l’amour, l’amour infini sans limite autre que toi, l’amour qui ne soit plus moi mais toi, mon Jésus. Jésus que pour toi je meure martyre, le martyre du cœur ou du corps, ou plutôt tous les deux….. Donne-moi de remplir mes vœux dans toute leur perfection et fais-moi comprendre ce que doit être une épouse à toi. Fais que je ne sois jamais à charge à la communauté mais que personne ne s’occupe de moi, que je sois regardée foulée aux pieds oubliée comme un petit grain de sable à toi, Jésus. Que ta volonté soit faite en moi parfaitement, que j’arrive à la place que tu as été devant me préparer…… (Mt 6,10 ; Jn 14,2-3) Jésus fais que je sauve beaucoup d’âmes, qu’aujourd’hui il n’y en ait pas une seule de damnée et que toutes les âmes du purgatoire soient sauvées…. Jésus pardonne-moi si je dis des choses qu’il ne faut pas dire, je ne veux que te réjouir et te consoler. »

Lecture Patristique

D’après le ch. 25 de « La prière » par Origène

            “Que vienne Ton Règne! Comme l’a dit notre Seigneur et Sauveur, le Règne de Dieu « ne vient pas de manière à frapper le regard, et on ne saurait dire : le voici, le voilà! mais le Règne de Dieu est au-dedans de nous » (Lc 17:20-21); le mot au-dedans signifie : dans notre bouche, dans notre coeur (Rom 10:8). Il est donc évident que celui qui prie pour que vienne le Royaume de Dieu prie avec raison qu’en lui s’élève, fructifie, s’achève le Règne de Dieu. Dans tous les saints qui ont Dieu pour Roi et qui obéissent à ses lois spirituelles, le Seigneur habite comme dans une cité bien administrée. Le Père est présent et le Christ règne avec le Père dans l’âme accomplie, selon la parole […] : « Nous viendrons en lui et en lui nous établirons notre demeure » (Jn 14, 22). […] Le Royaume de Dieu en nous, alors que nous progressons toujours, atteindra sa perfection, quand s’accomplira la parole de l’apôtre : « lorsqu’Il aura soumis tous Ses ennemis, le Christ remettra le Royaume à Dieu le Père, afin que Dieu soit tout en tous » (1 Co 15, 24-28). Aussi prierons-nous sans cesse avec les dispositions divinisées par le Verbe, en disant à notre Père qui est dans les Cieux : « Que Ton Nom soit sanctifié, que Ton Règne arrive! »

            Il faut noter encore, à propos du Règne de Dieu : il n’est pas possible de concilier la justice avec l’iniquité, la lumière et l’ombre, le Christ et Bélial; de même le règne du péché est inconciliable avec le Règne de Dieu. Si nous voulons que Dieu règne sur nous, que jamais le péché ne règne sur notre corps mortel. Ne suivons pas les appels du péché qui sollicite notre âme aux oeuvres de la chair et aux actes qui sont étrangers à Dieu. Faisons mourir nos membres charnels pour produire les fruits de l’Esprit; le Seigneur se promènera en nous comme en un paradis spirituel, il règnera seul en nous avec Son Christ, à la droite de la puissance spirituelle que nous demandons de recevoir, jusqu’à ce que Ses ennemis deviennent en nous l’escabeau de Ses pieds et que soit écartée de nous toute principauté, puissance et souveraineté. Tout cela peut se réaliser en chacun de nous, la mort est vaincue, afin que le Christ puisse dire en nous : « Mort, où est ton aiguillon, enfer, où est ta victoire? » (Os 13:14, 1 Cor 15, 55).

            Il faut donc que ce qui est corruptible en nous révèle la sainteté et l’incorruptibilité dans la pureté; et ce qui est mortel, en dépouillant la mort, révèle l’immortalité du Père. De cette manière, Dieu règnera en nous et déjà nous entrons en possession des biens de l’engendrement d’en haut et de la résurrection.”

[1] Règner dérive du verbe latin « regere » qui signifie 1. Régir, gouverner, dominer, administrer, commander ; 2. Diriger, guider ; 3. Régler, corriger, guider sur la droite ; 4. Stabiliser, fixer, tracer les limites.

[2] Se convertir en grec est indiqué à l’aide de deux verbes : Le premier est epistréfo qui signifie se tourner vers, le second est metanoéo qui veut dire « changer de mentalité, de façon de penser ». La conversion chrétienne implique les deux choses : se tourner vers le Christ et assumer Sa mentalité.

[3] Le mot piété signifie avant tout « habitude d’amour », tant est si bien que l’expression « les pratiques de  piété » s’entend comme les « prières »

 

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 [OPdS1]

 [OPdS2]

Un Agnello come Re, una Croce come trono

 

XXXIV Domenica del Tempo Ordinario - Anno C - Solennità di Gesù Cristo, Re dell'Universo

 

2 Sam 5, 1-3; Sal 121; Col 1, 12-20; Lc 23, 35-43

 

 

            1) Un re strano: l'Agnello immolato

  

           Il Regno di Dio è fondato sul suo amore e sul trono della Croce "siede" Cristo, innocente Agnello immolato per noi. Questo Re mostra che Dio è amore e il suo regno è fondato sul suo amore e si radica nel  cuore, conferendo a chi lo accoglie pace, libertà pienezza di vita. Tutti noi vogliano, pace, libertà e pienezza: lasciamo che Cristo regni nel nostro cuore e avremo pace, libertò e pienezza.

           Per questo la liturgia ci oggi, Solennità di Cristo Re, il Vangelo ci presenta Gesà non come  un Re che regnerà con la forza  alla fine dei tempi. Ci mostra Cristo che è messo sul trono della Croce, dove comincia a regnare con l'amore. Infatti , e da dove comincia a regnare, compiendo il gesto regale di concedere al buon ladrone di essere "oggi con Lui in Paradiso". Questo peccatore è il primo uomo che entra in paradiso al seguito di Cristo Re.

Verso quel deliquente che lo implora e lo riconosce come Signore sulla Croce, Cristo concede il suo perdono e la sua amicizia. 

     Questa Croce, questo atto d’amore infinito, che con tanta superficialità e presunto civismo abbiamo tolto dai luoghi pubblici e dalle scuole, continua ad essere l’unica risposta vera alla sofferenza profonda dell’uomo, continua ad essere la chiamata definitiva di Dio all’uomo a farsi dono, a farsi, come Dio, offerta all’altro. Senza di essa rimane solo l’amarezza degli ultimi, dei poveri, degli sconfitti. Se l’uomo non si fa dono per l’altro, si fa, anche non volente, strumento di tortura. Perché: o sotto la croce ne siamo schiacciati, o sulla croce regniamo con Cristo (come canta la liturgia: “Dio regna dal legno della croce”).Certo il Regno di Cristo non è di questo mondo, ma dell'altro mondo, del nondo vero e santo, ed è il regno della verità, dell'amore e della vita eterna.

   Quindi, prima di continuare la nostra meditazione, facciamo nostre le parole di San Giovanni Paolo II: "Mentre preghiamo che il tuo regno venga, noi ci accorgiamo che la tua promessa diventa realtà: dopo averti seguito, veniamo a Te, nel tuo regno, attirati da Te innalzato sulla croce (cfr Gv 12,32); a Te, innalzato sulla storia e al centro di essa, alfa e omega, principio e fine (cfr Ap 22,13), Signore del tempo e dei secoli!

A Te ci rivolgiamo con le parole di un antico inno:

E' per la tua morte dolorosa, Re di eterna gloria, 
che hai ottenuto per i popoli la vita eterna, 
perciò il mondo intero ti chiama Re degli uomini. 
Regna su di noi, Cristo Signore!".

  

            2) L’importante non è essere come Gesù, ma essere con Gesù, come il buon ladrone.

            Gesù durante la sua vita terrena regnò[1], sostenne i suoi dicendo loro parole di verità, compiendo gesti di carità, servendoli fino a lavare loro i piedi e mostrando il suo infinito amore andando sul trono della Croce, dopo essere stato incoronato di spine da Ponzio Pilato. Gesù in questo modo risponde alla chiamata di guidare il popolo di Dio, ad esserne condottiero (cfr. prima lettura “romana” di oggi). La sua regalità è di origine divina ed ha il primato su tutto, perché in lui il Padre ha posto la pienezza di tutte le cose (seconda lettura), eppure il vangelo di Luca presenta la regalità di Gesù riportando la umanamente scandalosa investitura a re dei Giudei sulla croce. Due pezzi di legno incastrati uno sull’altro sono il trono paradossale del Signore della pace e dell’unità, che –non dimentichiamolo- ebbe come culla una mangiatoia in un povera stalla, dove fu onorato come uomo, come Dio e come Re dai pastori e dai Re Magi (mirra per l’umanità, incenso per la divinità e oro per la regalità).

            Non dimentichiamo però che se Cristo Re va in croce non è per dare uno spettacolo di umiltà, ma per rivelare l’amore appassionato di Dio per noi. La sua passione non è tanto la flagellazione, a cui sono seguiti gli sputi e i chiodi, quanto il suo cuore, che è tutto e solo amore “passionale” per ciascuno di noi. La Croce è la conclusione rigorosa e necessaria del discorso sul Monte delle Beatitudini del Regno dei cieli.

            Chi porta l’Amore è in balìa dell’odio e non si vince l’odio che accettando la condanna e perdonando. Chi è Amore perdona e lo dichiara: “Padre, perdona loro perché non sanno quello che fanno”.

            Secondo me, quando il ladrone, che era accanto in croce accanto alla Croce-Trono di Cristo, senti questa dichiarazione di amore, credo che ne fu sconvolto al punto che si convertì[2] e domandò a Cristo di ricordarsi di lui, che possiamo considerare l’ultimo convertito da Gesù durante la sua vita terrena.

            Questa preghiera di Cristo Re che perdona era così nuova per il ladrone che si sentì richiamato a sentimenti così estranei al suo spirito e a tutta la sua vita. Questa intercessione di perdono riportò il “buon” ladrone” all'età più dimenticata dell’infanzia, quando era innocente anche lui e sapeva che c’era un Dio al quale si poteva chiedere la pace come i poveri chiedono il pane alla porta dei signori. Ma in nessun luogo, per quanto si ricordasse, c’era una  domanda di perdono come quella, così fuori dell'ordinario, così assurda sulla bocca ad uno che sta per essere ammazzato. Eppure quelle parole inverosimili trovavano, nel cuore disseccato del Ladro, una connessione con qualcosa alla quale avrebbe voluto credere, specie in quel  momento che stava per comparire dinanzi a un Giudice più terribile di quello dei tribunali.

            Gli ritornò in mente quel che aveva sentito raccontare di Gesù; poche cose e, per lui, poco chiare. Ma sapeva che aveva parlato di un Regno di pace e che lui stesso sarebbe tornato a governarlo. Allora, in un impeto di fede, come se invocasse la comunanza di quel sangue che grondava nello stesso  momento dalle sue mani di criminale e da quelle mani d’incolpevole, proruppe in queste parole: “Signore, ricordati di me nel tuo Regno!”. E Gesù, che non aveva risposto a nessuno che lo interpellava sotto la Croce, volse la testa, quanto poteva, verso il Ladrone pietoso, e gli rispose: “Io ti dico in verità che oggi sarai con me in Paradiso”. L’umile domanda del buon Ladrone bastò per ottenere l’assoluzione.

            Questo uomo si salvò perché seppe trasformare la condanna in croce in un gesto di pietà. Fu con Cristo e Cristo da subito (oggi, gli disse Gesù) lo accolse nella sua pietà[3].

 

            3) La continuazione della via amorosa della Croce.

            La Chiesa e noi con questa grande e bella Madre, si vuole festeggiare la regalità del Signore, dobbiamo ripercorrere la via della Croce.

            Gesù è un re condannato innocente. E agli occhi degli uomini la sua sembra una regalità da burla: gli uomini sono abituati a ben altri re e a ben altre manifestazioni della regalità. Questo Gesù lo aveva fatto già capire in precedenza: «I re delle genti le signoreggiano e coloro i quali dominano su di esse si fanno chiamare benefattori. Ma non così voi" io sono in mezzo a voi come colui che serve» (Lc 22,25-27). C'è dunque una radicale differenza fra la regalità del mondo e la regalità di Dio, fra le manifestazioni della prima e le manifestazioni della seconda. La scena della crocifissione del Vangelo di oggi (Lc23,33-43) raduna i motivi dispersi portandoli a compimento. Anzitutto la regalità di Cristo è affermata. San Luca usa una costruzione enfatica: «Questi è il re dei giudei» (v. 38). È il motivo della condanna che vorrebbe significare, nella mente dei capi, la fine dell'assurda pretesa di Gesù: invece è l'affermazione inconsapevole che proprio lì, sulla Croce, la regalità di Gesù si manifesta in tutto il suo splendore.

            Gesù muore fra due condannati (lungo la sua vita egli fu sempre accusato di andare con pubblicani e peccatori): uno non comprende, prigioniero - come tutti - dello schema mondano della regalità («Non sei tu il Messia? Salva te stesso e noi»); ma l'altro intravede, dietro la debolezza della Croce, la potenza dell'amore che vi traspare: “Ricordati di me quando verrai nella tua regale maestà” (v. 42). Ora il motivo centrale ci è chiaro: la regalità di Gesù risplende nell'ostinazione dell'amore, nel rifiuto della potenza per salvare se stesso e per sottrarsi alla contraddizione.

            Ecco ciò che è inaudito: Gesù non si serve della sua potenza divina per salvare se stesso, per sottrarsi al completo dono di sé, per costringere coloro che lo rifiutano ad ammettere il loro torto. Gesù si abbandona totalmente all'apparente debolezza della non violenza e dell'amore.

            Dunque la regalità di Gesù è legata alla Croce. Tuttavia anche quegli aspetti che noi indichiamo come splendore, gloria, vittoria e potenza, non sono assenti. E difatti il Crocifisso è risorto e il Figlio dell'uomo tornerà nella maestà della sua gloria. Ma si tratta sempre della gloria dell'amore, del trionfo della via della Croce. Risurrezione e ritorno di Gesù sono la rivelazione dello splendore e della forza vittoriosa che la via della Croce nasconde. È in questa prospettiva che va compresa l'affermazione di San Luca, che cioè il Cristo, crocifisso e risorto, regna già ora: oggi.

         

             4) Spose di Cristo Re crocifisso.

            Un Re così vale  davvero la pena seguirlo e  rispondere alla vocazione sponsale che rende le persone corredentrici, portando, reggendo con lui in Croce il peso del mondo. A Dio che dice “Non avere paura, non temere perché io sono con te e ti amo” (Is 43, 45), la risposte più naturale è “sì”. In questo ci sono esempio e testimonianza : “Le vergini consacrate che celebrano nozze mistiche con Gesù Cristo figlio di Dio e si dedicano al servizio della Chiesa” (Canone 604 del Codice di Diritto canonico). Nel rito della consacrazione delle vergini il Vescovo chiede alla candidata: «Vuoi consacrarti ed essere sposata solennemente con nostro Signore Gesù, sommo figlio di Dio? » E, nell’orazione di consacrazione, il Vescovo le dice: «Che tu rimanga sempre fedele a Cristo tuo sposo e imiti la fedeltà che si esige agli sposati ». E poi prega così: «Signore, che ti glorifichi con la santità del corpo e con la purezza dell’anima... Sii tu il suo amore, la sua gioia, il suo volere, tu il conforto nel dolore, tu il consiglio nell’incertezza, tu la difesa nell’ingiuria, la fortezza nella tribolazione, l’abbondanza nella povertà, il nutrimento nel digiuno, la medicina nell’infermità. Essa, che ha scelto te, soprattutto in te trovi tutto» (n 24).

Santa Teresa di Gesù, parlando della professione religiosa, scriveva:

«Oh matrimonio consacrato!

Il re della maestà è stato sposato.

Oh fortunata quella fanciulla,

poiché ha preso, come marito,

colui che regna e che deve regnare.

Ricchi gioielli vi darà questo sposo,

re del cielo, che è re e farlo ben potrà.

Oh che splendida sorte

vi era stata preparata!

Che Dio vi volesse per amata!

Nel servirlo siate molto forti,

poiché l’avete professato.

Che il Re della Maestà

è già da voi sposato!»

            Non dimentichiamo però che noi tutti siamo scelti da tutta l’eternità (cfr. Ef 1, 4) perché regnassimo con Lui, “a lode della sua gloria” (Ef 1, 12). A ciascuno di noi dice: “Tutto ciò che è mio è tuo, e tutto ciò che è tuo è mio” (Gv 17, 10), e noi preghiamo: “Venga il tuo Regno” nel nostro cuore, nella nostra mente e nella nostra volontà per sostenere con Cristo il mondo che anela risollevarsi.  Quali figli e figlie del Re preghiamo: “Venga il tuo Regno” cioè la Tua potenza di amore, o Signore, salvi il mondo intero.

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LETTURA PATRISTICA

Venga il tuo regno

Dall'opuscolo «La preghiera» di Origene, sacerdote

(Cap. 25; PG 11, 495-499)

Il regno di Dio, secondo la parola del nostro Signore e Salvatore, non viene in modo da attirare l'attenzione e nessuno dirà: Eccolo qui o eccolo là; il regno di Dio è in mezzo a noi (cfr. Lc 16, 21), poiché assai vicina è la sua parola sulla nostra bocca e nel nostro cuore (cfr. Rm 10, 8). Perciò, senza dubbio, colui che prega che venga il regno di Dio, prega in realtà che si sviluppi, produca i suoi frutti e giunga al suo compimento quel regno di Dio che egli ha in sé. Dio regna nell'anima dei santi ed essi obbediscono alle leggi spirituali di Dio che in lui abita. Così l'anima del santo diventa proprio come una città ben governata. Nell'anima dei giusti è presente il Padre e col Padre anche Cristo, secondo quell'affermazione: «Verremo a lui e prenderemo dimora presso di lui» (Gv 14, 23).
Ma questo regno di Dio, che è in noi, col nostro instancabile procedere giungerà al suo compimento, quando si avvererà ciò che afferma l'Apostolo del Cristo. Quando cioè egli, dopo aver sottomesso tutti i suoi nemici, consegnerà il regno a Dio Padre, perché Dio sia tutto in tutti (cfr. 1 Cor 15, 24. 28). Perciò preghiamo senza stancarci. Facciamolo con una disposizione interiore sublimata e come divinizzata dalla presenza del
Verbo. Diciamo al nostro Padre che è in cielo: «Sia santificato il tuo nome; venga il tuo regno» (Mt 6, 9-10). Ricordiamo che il regno di Dio non può accordarsi con il regno del peccato, come non vi è rapporto tra la giustizia e l'iniquità né unione tra la luce e le tenebre né intesa tra Cristo e Beliar (cfr. 2 Cor 6, 14-15).
Se vogliamo quindi che Dio regni in noi, in nessun modo «regni il peccato nel nostro corpo mortale» (Rm 6, 12). Mortifichiamo le nostre « membra che appartengono alla terra» ( Col 3, 5). Facciamo frutti nello Spirito, perché Dio possa dimorare in noi come in un paradiso spirituale. Regni in noi solo Dio Padre col suo Cristo. Sia in noi Cristo assiso alla destra di quella potenza spirituale che pure noi desideriamo ricevere. Rimanga finché tutti i suoi nemici, che si trovano in noi, diventino «sgabello dei suoi piedi» (Sal 98, 5), e così sia allontanato da noi ogni loro dominio, potere ed influsso. Tutto ciò può avvenire in ognuno di noi. Allora, alla fine, «ultima nemica sarà distrutta la morte» (1 Cor 25, 26). Allora Cristo potrà dire dentro di noi: «Dov'è , o morte, il tuo pungiglione? Dov'è , o morte, la tua vittoria? » ( Os 13, 14; 1 Cor 15, 55). Fin d'ora perciò il nostro «corpo corruttibile» si rivesta di santità e di « incorruttibilità; e ciò che è mortale cacci via la morte, si ricopra dell'immortalità» del Padre (1 Cor 15, 54). Così regnando Dio in noi, possiamo già godere dei beni della rigenerazione e della risurrezione.

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NOTE

[1] Regnare deriva dal verbo latino “règere” = 1. reggere, governare, dominare, amministrare, comandare; 2. dirigere, guidare; 3. regolare, correggere, guidare sulla retta via; 4. stabilire, fissare, tracciare i confini.

[2] Convertirsi in greco è indicato con due verbi. Il primo è epistréfo che vuol dire voltarsi verso, il secondo è metanoéo che vuol dire “cambiare mentalità, pensiero”. La conversione cristiana implica le due cose: il voltarsi verso Cristo e assumere la Sua mentalità.

[3] La parola pietà vuol dire prima di tutto “consuetudine di amore”, tant’è vero che con l’espressione “pratiche di pietà” si intende le “preghiere”.

 

 

 

The Gospel does not anticipate the last things, it reveals the ultimate meaning of things

Roman rite

XXXIII Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C – November 16, 2025

Mal 3, 19-20; Ps 98; 2 Ts 3, 7-12; Lk 21, 5-19

Fidelity in expectation lived as advent of Christ

 

 Ambrosian rite

First Sunday of Advent [1] - 

Is 51, 4-8; Ps 49; 2Ts 2,1-14; Mt 24.1-31

Advent: waiting time for God's tenderness.

 

 Foreground:

At the end of the liturgical year, on this penultimate Sunday, the word of God, above all in the Gospel, makes us reflect on the end of the world and on the second and final coming of Christ to judge the living and the dead. This coming has always been seen as imminent in time frames, marked by seers or other figures who say they can foresee the future. This is because of dramatic events that are related to natural phenomena and to human behavior, such as wars or earthquakes, that have been relevant in the past months. Jesus warns us of the easy prophecies that speak of the end of the world.

In fact, this Sunday's Gospel passage is about the beginning of Jesus' discourse on the end of time. 

The Gospel of Luke tells us that there is no relationship between the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the end of the world, as believed by the Jews and his contemporaries. This gospel announces that, before the consummation of the centuries, Jesus' disciples must face many persecutions, which, if overcome, become a guarantee of salvation because they highlight the constancy of faith that is necessary in all circumstances and moments of history. Even if many things collapse, remaining steadfast in the Lord is what never disappoints. In fact, Jesus reveals that the ultimate end of the world is not death but life.

 

1)    The question is to understand what to do now and not to know what will happen at the end

Reading the text of today’s Gospel (Luke 21:5-19), it is easy to think almost exclusively of the events of the end of the world that will also be the end of human history: the end of the world, the victory of the Lord and the last judgment. However, the aim of Jesus’ speech is not to satisfy the curiosity of those who want to know how the “otherworld” will be, but to enlighten the present world. Listening to these words allows the disciple to “see” the ephemeral world as a “sign” of a reality that lasts forever. Jesus, his person and his word are the key to interpret reality and history. He is the Son of God who became man, he is the incarnate Word, he is the passing fragility and the everlasting life. “He is the new Temple[2] in a new place where we encounter God” (Benedict XVI), and he is the Love that on the Cross is revealed as passion and compassion.

Thanks to Christ, the Cross is no longer a sad instrument of death but a splendid throne irradiating Love. The Cross of Jesus is the most intense moment of the revelation of the meaning of all that exists. It is the most dramatic point of obscurity, of fragility and of nonsense, but it is also the moment of the most intense light and fulfillment of the life that is resurrected and that wins over death. The cross of Jesus is the revelation that the final meaning of everything is Love, the love that humbles itself, that dies to become true love and that empties to become the greatest gift.

 

2)    Love is the truest meaning of this world that passes and dies to be able to enter the infinity of the Love that never ends. 

We don’t know how the “otherworld” will be, but we know that it will be the fullness of love that is already the life of this world.

Jesus invites his disciples (that is us) not to be attached to what passes, not to have illusions, and not to have idols, but to live intensely the “daily life” by beginning to taste the love that will never end and that will become increasingly bigger. To live love, to free and to expand the field of love, is the message of Jesus through his eschatological[3] speech: only Love lasts forever.

This is the reason why the Redeemer invites to “walk in charity” (expression used to indicate the Spiritual Exercises written by Saint Ignatius of Loyola and recalled by Pope Francis).

Let us not forget that charity is not just being charitable to the poor by giving them money or other material help. Charity is also to grow in the Christian hope, in the link of fraternal love and in steady faith. (1 John 2:14). The via amoris dolorosa (the path of love in the complete donation of oneself) that is the Via Crucis, is for the Christian the way that takes him to the complete identification with Christ. To this regard Saint Clare of Assisi said of Saint Francis who was in love with Christ: “He loves him to the point of resembling even physically to Him” and asked herself “Will I be able to do the same?”

The life of this Saint Nun shows that it is possible to resemble Christ if one puts himself at His school of charity and walks always behind the for-so-long-waited Loved One. (I mean to use “to wait” in the original meaning of “to reach to”, “to search for.”)

In conclusion, we “wait for” the Lord:

– Looking for him. Regarding the search for God, very clear it is an apothegm[4] of the Fathers of the desert that says: “A man in search of God asked a Christian “How can I find God?” The Christian replied, “I’ll show you”. He took him to the seashore and plunged his face three times in the water. Then he asked him “What did you wanted most when your face was in the water?” “Air” “When you’ll desire God as much as you have desired air, you’ll find Him,” said the Christian.

– Persevering in His love. “As love is strong in the great difficulties, so it is perseverant in the gray, boring daily life. One thing is necessary to please God: to do even the small things for love” (Saint Faustina Kowalska)

– Testifying His truth and not fantasizing about the end of the world

       We find an example of this testimony in the Consecrated Virgins. The virginal consecration grows in them an attitude of trust in the world and in humanity, and a way of listening to history and to the human problems that unit these women to every man and woman through their way of working and living. These Virgins become companions in the journey, instruments of communion and witnesses of love.

       These consecrated women participate to the creative doing of God through their work that allows them to provide for their living and to be open to sharing.

       With their life they give voice to the invocation of the Spirit and of the Church, “‘Maranatha’, come Lord Jesus” (Wis 22:20) keeping alive a vigilant and prophetic[5] waiting.

      The consecrated Virgins recall the desire of God to the men and the women of their time, and they show how God today is present in history and redeems it.

 

                                                         Patristic Reading

                           St Augustine of Hyppo -Exposition on Psalm 121

1. …Let them “lift up their eyes to the hills whence comes their help” (ver. 1).

What means, The hills have been lightened? The San of righteousness has already risen, the Gospel has been already preached by the Apostles, the Scriptures have been preached, all the mysteries have been laid open, the veil has been rent, the secret place of the temple has been revealed: let them now at length lift their eyes up to the hills, whence their help cometh…”Of His fulness have all we received,” John 1:16 he says. Your help therefore is from Him, of whose fulness the hills received, not from the hills; towards which, nevertheless, save thou lift your eyes through the Scriptures, you will not approach, so as to be lighted by Him.

2. Sing therefore what follows; if thou wish to hear how you may most securely set your feet on the steps, so that you may not be fatigued in that ascent, nor stumble and fall: pray in these words: “Suffer not my foot to be moved!” (ver. 3).

Whereby are feet moved; whereby was the foot of him who was in Paradise moved? But first consider whereby the feet of him who was among the Angels were moved: who when his feet were moved fell, and from an Angel became a devil: for when his feet were moved he fell. Seek whereby he fell: he fell through pride. 

Nothing then moves the feet, save pride: nothing moves the feet to a fall, save pride. Charity moves them to walk and to improve and to ascend; pride moves them to fall … 

Rightly therefore the Psalmist, hearing how he may ascend and may not fall, prays unto God that he may profit from the vale of misery, and may not fail in the swelling of pride, in these words, “Suffer not my feet to be moved!” And He replies unto him, “Let him that keeps you not sleep.” Attend, my beloved. 

It is as if one thought were expressed in two sentences; the man while ascending and singing “the song of degrees,” says, “Suffer not my foot to be moved:” and it is as if God answered, You say unto Me, Let not my feet be moved: say also, “Let Him that keeps you not sleep,” and your foot shall not be moved.

3. Choose for yourself Him, who will neither sleep nor slumber, and your foot shall not be moved. 

God is never asleep: if thou dost wish to have a keeper who never sleeps, choose God for your keeper. “Suffer not my feet to be moved,” you say, well, very well: but He also says unto you, “Let not him that keeps you slumber.” 

Thou perhaps wast about to turn yourself unto men as your keepers, and to say, whom shall I find who will not sleep? what man will not slumber? whom do I find? whither shall I go? whither shall I return? The Psalmist tells you: “He that keeps Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep” (ver. 4). 

Do you wish to have a keeper who neither slumbers nor sleeps? Behold, “He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep:” for Christ keeps Israel. Be thou then Israel. 

What means Israel? It is interpreted, Seeing God. 

And how is God seen? First by faith: afterwards by sight. If you can not as yet see Him by sight, see Him by faith… 

Who is there, who will neither slumber nor sleep? when you seek among men, you are deceived; you will never find one. Trust not then in any man: every man slumbers, and will sleep. 

When does he slumber? When he bears the flesh of weakness. When will he sleep? When he is dead. Trust not then in man. A mortal may slumber, he sleeps in death. Seek not a keeper among men.

 

 

 

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[1]  The Ambrosian Advent begins with the first vespers of the Sunday immediately following November 11, the feast of Saint Martin, and this is the reason why it also takes the name of Lent of Saint Martin. It doesn’t last four weeks, as in the Roman Rite, but six weeks. It ends with the feriae de Exceptato ("Holidays of the Welcomed") which essentially constitute the Christmas novena. The Sunday before Christmas is called the Sunday of the Incarnation. in it the priest wears white vestments. In Ambrosian territory the blessing of the houses is done during this period, while in the "Roman" land it is made in the pascal period.

[2] Etymologically, the word "TEMPLE" descends from the Latin "TEMPLUM", in turn derived from "TEM-LO", an ancient Indo-European root word meaning "to cut". "TEM-LO" is akin to the Greek "TéMNO", having the same meaning of TéMENOS", which means "sacred enclosure". In summary, the etymology of the word "TEMPLE" is to designate an area, a portion of space cut out of the world, fenced and destined to host a superhuman presence, a special place dedicated to the worship of God.

 

The Temple is the house of God. By dwelling among his people, God makes himself present to his faithful. In the world of the Bible the temple occupies the center of religious and national life and enjoys a strong symbolic charge. Therefore, the end of the Temple of Jerusalem, the place of God and the principle of life, is a symbol of the end of the world.

 

The Temple for the Christian is the Body of Christ and it is also the Church, the assembly of the faithful. The term Church, in the Italian and French languages, comes ​​from the Latin ecclesĭa, which in turn comes from the classical Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía). In classical Greek, ἐκκλησία was intended as a political, military or civil assembly. 

The English word Church comes from the old English cirice which comes from the German “kirik” which in turn comes from the Greek κυριακή kuriakē, which means “of the Lord”(possessive form of κύριος kurios “, i.e. “lord”).

 

The expression is taken up in the most recent parts of the Bible known as the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Bible) and it is a translation of the Hebrew terms qāhāl and ‛ēdāh, with the sense of" assembly "of the Jewish people, a religious and political assembly. It is therefore in the Septuagint that the term ἐκκλησία begins to take on a specifically "cultic and juridical" meaning. The writers of the New Testament did not derive this term from the use made in Greece, but from the biblical text of the Seventy.

 

[3] Eschatology (with the adjective eschatological) means discourse (logos) on the last things (eschaton), on death and on eternal life. About the eschatological dimension of the Church, we can synthetically say that the Church contains in germ what, through the passage of men and the cosmos, will reach full and definitive maturation in the eternal life. The beatific vision of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit will be the reward of those who in everyday life, often imbued with suffering, tried to welcome the Word of God by living it.

[4] Apoftegma (or apotegma, in Greek αποφθεγμα) is a noun of Greek origin whose meaning is to be traced in relation to the verbs apophthénghesthai, which means "to pronounce a sentence", or apophtheggomai which means "to enunciate a definitive answer". The word, therefore, assumes the meaning of "sentence", "maxim" and it is used for a phrase or sentence of an aphoristic type that carries in extreme synthesis a profound and, at the same time, stringent truth. Apoftegma has traits in common with anecdote, sentence and proverb, although it is not completely attributable to any of them.

 

[5] In this regard, see the article by Maryvonne Gasse” La femme en ligne de front. Un combat eschatologique ”, pp. 395-398 du livre “The Order of the Vierges - A vocation ancienne et nouvelle - Don du Seigneur à son Eglise”, Imprimerie Saint Josephe 2013, pp 463.