Hans U.Balthasar - Thoughts - The Word therefore came into the world. Eternal Life chose for itself the place of a human heart. He decided to dwell in this trembling tent, it pleased Him to let Himself be struck. Thus His death was a decided thing. For unarmed is the source of Life. God in His eternal fortress,in His inaccessible light,was impregnable,as children's gunfire the arrows of sin ticked at the bronze walls of His Glory. But God in the cockpit of a heart, how easy it was to reach Him...He Himself had betrayed the weak point of His Love, it had just been known that He was like a heart among us : already someone or already many sharpen the arrows and set the bow... His heart, which is without defense, will not defend Him. A heart has no intelligence, indeed. There will be no one who sides with Him. They will betray Him (every heart is unfaithful). His delight is to dwell among the sons of man, his passion is to know how much foreign hearts, others, like him. .. will never again forget this savor in the farthest eternities. Only a heart could design such adventures ... follies of the poor heart that from His hidden poverty and dreary earthly field is able to evoke treasures before which the heavenly awe.
A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 7:51—8:1a
Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it.”
When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.
Gospel of the day From the Gospel according to John 6:30-35
The crowd said to Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
So they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The words of the Popes What does bread of life mean? We need bread to live. Those who are hungry do not ask for refined and expensive food, they ask for bread. Those who are unemployed do not ask for enormous wages, but the “bread” of employment. Jesus reveals himself as bread, that is, the essential, what is necessary for everyday life; without Him it does not work. Not one bread among many others, but the bread of life. In other words, without him, rather than living, we get by: because he alone nourishes the soul; he alone forgives us from that evil that we cannot overcome on our own; he alone makes us feel loved even if everyone else disappoints us; he alone gives us the strength to love and, he alone gives us the strength to forgive in difficulties; he alone gives that peace to the heart that it is searching for; he alone gives eternal life when life here on earth ends. He is the essential bread of life. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 August 2021)
Jesus does not eliminate the concern and search for daily food. No, he does not remove the concern for all that can make life more progressive. But Jesus reminds us that the true meaning of our earthly existence lies at the end, in eternity, it lies in the encounter with Him, who is gift and giver. He also reminds us that human history with its suffering and joy must be seen in a horizon of eternity, that is, in that horizon of the definitive encounter with Him. And this encounter illuminates all the days of our life. If we think of this encounter, of this great gift, the small gifts of life, even the suffering, the worries will be illuminated by the hope of this encounter. “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (v. 35). This refers to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that satisfies the soul and the body. Meeting and welcoming within us Jesus, “Bread of Life”, gives meaning and hope to the often winding journey of life. This “Bread of Life” is given to us with a task, namely, that we in our turn satisfy the spiritual and material hunger of our brothers, proclaiming the Gospel the world over. With the witness of our brotherly and solidary attitude toward our neighbour, we render Christ and his love present amid mankind. ( Pope Francis Angelus, 2 August 2015)
BENEDICT XVI - "Man is destined to breathe the infinity of Eternal Love ; not being able to do so, he remains a prisoner of dark depths. Only Faith leads us into open spaces , as the Psalms say" (Diener eurer Freude)
FAUSTI - The Bread of the Son, of which we all need, makes us His interlocutors. Jesus wants to bring-up them from their selfish horizon so that they may embrace His love. The great work that God does is that we accept the gift of the Son (Jn 3:16) in which the salvation of all creation is accomplished. To accept Jesus, the Word of the Father, the Light and Life of creation, is to realize the plan of God, Who wants us all to be children in the Son. Bread from heaven does not come from a man, it is not something from the past and does not concern our fathers: it is from the 'My Father' who gives it to the present to 'you' who listen to me' , says Jesus.... Manna is a bread from heaven, but not the real one. It is a sign that announces the true bread, the one that does not perish and gives eternal life. Jesus helps His listeners to read the gifts of the past as a reference to what God works now for them. Jesus says of Himself: "I am the bread of Life". It is in fact the Son who communicates to His brothers and sisters the life of the Father, His love. This is not something impalpable and vague, but the concrete way of "eating bread", each bread: instead of eating it in solitude, one shares it with one's brothers and sisters around the Father's table, "taking, giving thanks and distributing". The Church lives in ever greater fullness the "surplus" of the bread that she has collected in the gift of Jesus. In memory of this, she makes a continuous exodus from a selfishness that dehumanizes to a love that divinizes man, giving him his true identity as a son in the Son.
Hans U.Balthasar - Thoughts - The Word therefore came into the world. Eternal Life chose for itself the place of a human heart. He decided to dwell in this trembling tent, it pleased Him to let Himself be struck.
RispondiEliminaThus His death was a decided thing. For unarmed is the source of Life.
God in His eternal fortress,in His inaccessible light,was impregnable,as children's gunfire the arrows of sin ticked at the bronze walls of His Glory.
But God in the cockpit of a heart, how easy it was to reach Him...He Himself had betrayed the weak point of His Love, it had just been known that He was like a heart among us : already someone or already many sharpen the arrows and set the bow...
His heart, which is without defense, will not defend Him. A heart has no intelligence, indeed.
There will be no one who sides with Him. They will betray Him (every heart is unfaithful).
His delight is to dwell among the sons of man, his passion is to know how much foreign hearts, others, like him. .. will never again forget this savor in the farthest eternities. Only a heart could design such adventures ... follies of the poor heart that from His hidden poverty and dreary earthly field is able to evoke treasures before which the heavenly awe.
A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles
RispondiEliminaActs 7:51—8:1a
Stephen said to the people, the elders, and the scribes:
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit;
you are just like your ancestors.
Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one,
whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
You received the law as transmitted by angels,
but you did not observe it.”
When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice,
covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them”;
and when he said this, he fell asleep.
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.
Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to John
6:30-35
The crowd said to Jesus:
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
The words of the Popes
What does bread of life mean? We need bread to live. Those who are hungry do not ask for refined and expensive food, they ask for bread. Those who are unemployed do not ask for enormous wages, but the “bread” of employment. Jesus reveals himself as bread, that is, the essential, what is necessary for everyday life; without Him it does not work. Not one bread among many others, but the bread of life. In other words, without him, rather than living, we get by: because he alone nourishes the soul; he alone forgives us from that evil that we cannot overcome on our own; he alone makes us feel loved even if everyone else disappoints us; he alone gives us the strength to love and, he alone gives us the strength to forgive in difficulties; he alone gives that peace to the heart that it is searching for; he alone gives eternal life when life here on earth ends. He is the essential bread of life. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 August 2021)
Jesus does not eliminate the concern and search for daily food. No, he does not remove the concern for all that can make life more progressive. But Jesus reminds us that the true meaning of our earthly existence lies at the end, in eternity, it lies in the encounter with Him, who is gift and giver. He also reminds us that human history with its suffering and joy must be seen in a horizon of eternity, that is, in that horizon of the definitive encounter with Him. And this encounter illuminates all the days of our life. If we think of this encounter, of this great gift, the small gifts of life, even the suffering, the worries will be illuminated by the hope of this encounter. “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (v. 35). This refers to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that satisfies the soul and the body. Meeting and welcoming within us Jesus, “Bread of Life”, gives meaning and hope to the often winding journey of life. This “Bread of Life” is given to us with a task, namely, that we in our turn satisfy the spiritual and material hunger of our brothers, proclaiming the Gospel the world over. With the witness of our brotherly and solidary attitude toward our neighbour, we render Christ and his love present amid mankind. ( Pope Francis Angelus, 2 August 2015)
EliminaBENEDICT XVI - "Man is destined to breathe the infinity of Eternal Love ; not being able to do so, he remains a prisoner of dark depths. Only Faith leads us into open spaces , as the Psalms say" (Diener eurer Freude)
FAUSTI - The Bread of the Son, of which we all need, makes us His interlocutors.
RispondiEliminaJesus wants to bring-up them from their selfish horizon so that they may embrace His love. The great work that God does is that we accept the gift of the Son (Jn 3:16) in which the salvation of all creation is accomplished.
To accept Jesus, the Word of the Father, the Light and Life of creation, is to realize the plan of God, Who wants us all to be children in the Son. Bread from heaven does not come from a man, it is not something from the past and does not concern our fathers: it is from the 'My Father' who gives it to the present to 'you' who listen to me' ,
says Jesus....
Manna is a bread from heaven, but not the real one.
It is a sign that announces the true bread, the one that does not perish and gives eternal life. Jesus helps His listeners to read the gifts of the past as a reference to what God works now for them.
Jesus says of Himself: "I am the bread of Life". It is in fact the Son who communicates to His brothers and sisters the life of the Father, His love. This is not something impalpable and vague, but the concrete way of "eating bread", each bread: instead of eating it in solitude, one shares it with one's brothers and sisters around the Father's table, "taking, giving thanks and distributing".
The Church lives in ever greater fullness the "surplus" of the bread that she has collected in the gift of Jesus. In memory of this, she makes a continuous exodus from a selfishness that dehumanizes to a love that divinizes man, giving him his true identity as a son in the Son.