FAUSTI - The previous text is about the Word, this about testimony, that gives voice to the Word here and now. The poetic prologue is followed by a narrative prologue, in the form of process, with questions and answers. In it the characters of the drama enter in scene. On the one hand there are the protagonists and on the other hand the antagonists of the Word. On the one hand John and Jesus, respectively the witness of the Word and the Word witnessed - man before God and God before man - and on the other hand Jews, priests, Levites and Pharisees, the dominant power, adversary of the Word. This process, which begins here against the Baptist, will continue against Jesus and then against His disciples. It is the same that takes place in those who, listening to the Word, find themselves in the situation of being his adversary or his witness, called to decide between lie and truth, slavery and freedom, darkness and light, life and death. The other Synoptics describe John in more details. Here everything is essential, with the result of making him the typical representative of the Word: he waits for it, he perceives it present, it is revealed to him in Jesus, he recognizes it and points it out to others. In Him we see the path that leads to the discovery of the Logos Becomed Flesh, with the necessary dispositions to meet the only-begotten Son, the narrator of the Father to His brothers and sisters, the fulfilment of every promise of God for mankind. John is the Israel that believes in the God who promises and he knows that there is a fulfillment to His promise. He is first of all one who seeks. But he is not satisfied however with his search - it would be a frustration - but finds what he desires and communicates to others the joy of his discovery. The witness is a free spirit, in contradiction with the dominant mentality. He is a restless and lucid conscience, in search of the truth, once he has found it, he lives it and proclaims it, anticipating what, sooner or later, will also be welcomed by others. It does not say "I am", reserved in the Gospel for Jesus, but "I, voice". After the triple denial, his "I", his identity, is to be a "voice" that cries out the "Word" of which he is witness. John lends voice to the expectation both of Israel and of all humanity in seeking its light. Each cry of man, who has not ceased to hope, finds in him his own voice. The voice prepares the way of the Lord through which we go to Him and He comes to us. John is sent to baptize; only afterwards will he understand the deep meaning. He proclaims "a baptism of conversion for the forgiveness of sins". His baptism can be part of a common religious symbolism. To immerse oneself and to emerge from the water means to die to a dead life in order to be reborn to a beautiful and just existence. If the immersing expresses the reality of death, the surfacing expresses the desire for life. The very conscience of death and injustice is already protesting against injustice and death, yearning for a full and just life. With his baptism John intends to prepare that of the Messiah, who will be baptized in the Spirit: "In your midst there is the One whom you do not know" In the world there is always a presence of the Unknown who is waiting to reveal Himself. John calls it to all.
Karol Wojtyla Enchantment Bosom of woodlands descends to the rhythm of mountainous rivers. This rhythm reveals to me You, eternal Word. How wonderful is Your silence in everything that from all over the world offers a real world... which, together with the bosom of the forest, descends from every side... in all that drags with it the silvery waterfall of the stream, that from the mountain falls rhythmic, transported by its own current ... - where transported? What do you say, mountain stream? Where do you meet me? With me who am also an accomplished like you, such ... But so such as you? ( To stop here, consent - allow me to stop at the threshold of one of these simple amazement.) No wonder a descending stream and silently the woodlands descend to the rhythm of the creek - but man is amazed! The threshold that the world passes through in man is of amazement the threshold Once upon a time, this very wonder was called Adam. And he was alone, with his amazement, among the creatures who were not surprised for which it was enough to exist and flow. The man, with them, flowed on the wave of amazement. As he marveled, he always emerged from the wave that carried him, as if to say to the whole world: "Stop! - in me you have a port, in me there is the place of the encounter with the eternal Word - Stop. That makes sense, makes sense... makes sense... makes sense!"
From the first letter of Saint John the Apostle 1 John 2,22-28
Little children, who is the liar if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? The antichrist is he who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not even possess the Father; whoever professes faith in him in the Son also possesses the Father. As for you, let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise he made to us: eternal life. This I have written to you concerning those who seek to deceive you. And as for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as his anointing teaches you everything and is true and does not lie, so you remain in him as he has taught you. And now, little children, abide in him, that we may have confidence when he shall appear, and that we may not be put to shame by him at his coming. Gospel of the Day
From the Gospel according to John John 1,19-28
This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent him priests from Jerusalem and stood up to question him: "Who are you?". He confessed and did not deny. He confessed: "I am not the Christ." Then they asked him: «Who are you, then? Are you Elia?». “I'm not,” he said. «Are you the prophet?». “No,” he replied. They then said to him: «Who are you? So that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He replied: "I am the voice of one crying in the desert: Make the way of the Lord straight, as the prophet Isaiah said." Those who were sent were from the Pharisees. They questioned him and said to him: "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?". John answered them: «I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who comes after me: I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This happened in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Words of the Holy Father
It is a voice that shouts where it seems that no one can listen - but who can listen in the desert? - who cries out in confusion due to a crisis of faith. We cannot deny that today's world is in a crisis of faith. It is said “I believe in God, I am a Christian” – “I am of that religion…”. But your life is far from being Christian; it is far from God! Religion, faith has fallen into an expression: “Do I believe?” - "Yes!". But here it is a question of returning to God, converting the heart to God and going along this path to find Him. He is waiting for us. This is the preaching of John the Baptist: prepare. Prepare the meeting with this Child who will give us our smile back. (General Audience, 7 December 2016)
FAUSTI – Jews, priests, Levites and Pharisees are the recognized authorities of the people. Instead of making him grow in the way of the Lord, they suffocate him under their power. The relationship between prophecy and institution is always "critical". In fact, the prophet calls us to obey and serve the truth, not to use it to make people obey us and, if possible, by God himself. John is sent to baptize; only then will he understand the profound why. He proclaims “a baptism of conversion for the forgiveness of sins.” His baptism may be part of a common religious symbolism. Diving into and out of the water means dying to a dead life to be reborn into a beautiful and just existence. If immersion expresses the reality of death, emergence expresses the desire for life. The very awareness of death and injustice is already a protest against injustice and death, an aspiration for a full and just life. With his baptism John intends to prepare that of the Messiah, whom he will baptize in the Spirit. "Among you is he whom you do not know." In the world there is always a presence of the Unknown waiting to reveal itself. Giovanni calls her back to everyone.
FAUSTI - The previous text is about the Word, this about testimony, that gives voice to the Word here and now. The poetic prologue is followed by a narrative prologue, in the form of process, with questions and answers. In it the characters of the drama enter in scene. On the one hand there are the protagonists and on the other hand the antagonists of the Word. On the one hand John and Jesus, respectively the witness of the Word and the Word witnessed - man before God and God before man - and on the other hand Jews, priests, Levites and Pharisees, the dominant power, adversary of the Word.
RispondiEliminaThis process, which begins here against the Baptist, will continue against Jesus and then against His disciples. It is the same that takes place in those who, listening to the Word, find themselves in the situation of being his adversary or his witness, called to decide between lie and truth, slavery and freedom, darkness and light, life and death. The other Synoptics describe John in more details. Here everything is essential, with the result of making him the typical representative of the Word: he waits for it, he perceives it present, it is revealed to him in Jesus, he recognizes it and points it out to others.
In Him we see the path that leads to the discovery of the Logos Becomed Flesh, with the necessary dispositions to meet the only-begotten Son, the narrator of the Father to His brothers and sisters, the fulfilment of every promise of God for mankind.
John is the Israel that believes in the God who promises and he knows that there is a fulfillment to His promise. He is first of all one who seeks. But he is not satisfied however with his search - it would be a frustration - but finds what he desires and communicates to others the joy of his discovery.
The witness is a free spirit, in contradiction with the dominant mentality. He is a restless and lucid conscience, in search of the truth, once he has found it, he lives it and proclaims it, anticipating what, sooner or later, will also be welcomed by others. It does not say "I am", reserved in the Gospel for Jesus, but "I, voice". After the triple denial, his "I", his identity, is to be a "voice" that cries out the "Word" of which he is witness. John lends voice to the expectation both of Israel and of all humanity in seeking its light. Each cry of man, who has not ceased to hope, finds in him his own voice.
The voice prepares the way of the Lord through which we go to Him and He comes to us.
John is sent to baptize; only afterwards will he understand the deep meaning. He proclaims "a baptism of conversion for the forgiveness of sins". His baptism can be part of a common religious symbolism. To immerse oneself and to emerge from the water means to die to a dead life in order to be reborn to a beautiful and just existence. If the immersing expresses the reality of death, the surfacing expresses the desire for life. The very conscience of death and injustice is already protesting against injustice and death, yearning for a full and just life.
With his baptism John intends to prepare that of the Messiah, who will be baptized in the Spirit: "In your midst there is the One whom you do not know" In the world there is always a presence of the Unknown who is waiting to reveal Himself. John calls it to all.
Karol Wojtyla Enchantment
RispondiEliminaBosom of woodlands descends to the rhythm of mountainous rivers.
This rhythm reveals to me You, eternal Word.
How wonderful is Your silence in everything that from all over the world offers
a real world... which, together with the bosom of the forest, descends from every side...
in all that drags with it the silvery waterfall of the stream,
that from the mountain falls rhythmic, transported by its own current ... - where transported?
What do you say, mountain stream? Where do you meet me?
With me who am also an accomplished like you, such ... But so such as you?
( To stop here, consent - allow me to stop at the threshold of one of these simple amazement.) No wonder a descending stream and silently the woodlands descend
to the rhythm of the creek - but man is amazed!
The threshold that the world passes through in man is of amazement the threshold
Once upon a time, this very wonder was called Adam.
And he was alone, with his amazement, among the creatures who were not surprised
for which it was enough to exist and flow.
The man, with them, flowed on the wave of amazement.
As he marveled, he always emerged from the wave that carried him,
as if to say to the whole world: "Stop! - in me you have a port, in me there is the place of the encounter with the eternal Word -
Stop. That makes sense,
makes sense... makes sense... makes sense!"
Reading of the Day
RispondiEliminaFrom the first letter of Saint John the Apostle
1 John 2,22-28
Little children, who is the liar if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? The antichrist is he who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not even possess the Father; whoever professes faith in him in the Son also possesses the Father. As for you, let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise he made to us: eternal life. This I have written to you concerning those who seek to deceive you. And as for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as his anointing teaches you everything and is true and does not lie, so you remain in him as he has taught you. And now, little children, abide in him, that we may have confidence when he shall appear, and that we may not be put to shame by him at his coming.
Gospel of the Day
From the Gospel according to John
John 1,19-28
This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent him priests from Jerusalem and stood up to question him: "Who are you?". He confessed and did not deny. He confessed: "I am not the Christ." Then they asked him: «Who are you, then? Are you Elia?». “I'm not,” he said. «Are you the prophet?». “No,” he replied. They then said to him: «Who are you? So that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He replied: "I am the voice of one crying in the desert: Make the way of the Lord straight, as the prophet Isaiah said." Those who were sent were from the Pharisees. They questioned him and said to him: "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?". John answered them: «I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who comes after me: I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This happened in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Words of the Holy Father
It is a voice that shouts where it seems that no one can listen - but who can listen in the desert? - who cries out in confusion due to a crisis of faith. We cannot deny that today's world is in a crisis of faith. It is said “I believe in God, I am a Christian” – “I am of that religion…”. But your life is far from being Christian; it is far from God! Religion, faith has fallen into an expression: “Do I believe?” - "Yes!". But here it is a question of returning to God, converting the heart to God and going along this path to find Him. He is waiting for us. This is the preaching of John the Baptist: prepare. Prepare the meeting with this Child who will give us our smile back. (General Audience, 7 December 2016)
FAUSTI – Jews, priests, Levites and Pharisees are the recognized authorities of the people. Instead of making him grow in the way of the Lord, they suffocate him under their power. The relationship between prophecy and institution is always "critical". In fact, the prophet calls us to obey and serve the truth, not to use it to make people obey us and, if possible, by God himself.
John is sent to baptize; only then will he understand the profound why. He proclaims “a baptism of conversion for the forgiveness of sins.” His baptism may be part of a common religious symbolism. Diving into and out of the water means dying to a dead life to be reborn into a beautiful and just existence. If immersion expresses the reality of death, emergence expresses the desire for life. The very awareness of death and injustice is already a protest against injustice and death, an aspiration for a full and just life.
With his baptism John intends to prepare that of the Messiah, whom he will baptize in the Spirit. "Among you is he whom you do not know." In the world there is always a presence of the Unknown waiting to reveal itself. Giovanni calls her back to everyone.