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Posts tagged "Jesus Christ" (Page 2)

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -7- Easter Sunday

Finally, the most important celebration, which defines the heart of our faith. The Resurrection of the Lord The Mass of Easter Day (Year A) The Resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone event. In order to better appreciate its importance, consider this quotation from St. Paul, who clarifies what’s at stake here (1Cor 15, 17-19): …if Christ has not been raised, your faith is pointless and you have not, after all, been released from your sins. In addition, those who have fallen asleep in Christ are utterly lost. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are of all people the most pitiable. With this,…

Pseudo-Homilies from a Layman -5- Holy Friday

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion Of all the possible topics to explore in this richly detailed account of the Passion, today I’d like to dwell on the words of Jesus who, when interrogated, maintains a superior, almost defiant attitude. One of the guards slaps Jesus in the face to punish his insolence, exclaiming: «Is this the way you answer the high priest?» And Jesus, evidently unfazed, replies: «If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Here he is, Jesus the young protester (!), in whom – unworthily and recklessly – I have always identified. Since I was…

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -4- Holy Thursday

Let’s see if I can pull this off: 4 articles to be published for the Holy Week, possibly somehow being concise. Holy Thursday -Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper Too many interesting topics today! I’ll save any comments on the institution of the Eucharist for another occasion. Deserves a proper dissertation. We’re presented with this unique event, Jesus washing the feet of the Apostles, which I’d describe as quite modern, indeed fashionable. And this episode steals the show a bit from all the rest, especially considering it’s the subject of today’s reading, from the Gospel according to John. A message that evaporates Take a truth that is profound but…

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -3- Palm Sunday

In this third article I will dip my foot in the heart of the Holy Week which is about to begin, but only momentarily, then I’ll steer to a different takeaway message. PALM SUNDAY: PASSION OF THE LORD – YEAR A Today I want to focus only on the introductory reading for this festivity, leaving for another day the magnificent account of the Passion, so full of ideas and inspiration. People acclaim Jesus as a great prophet; while he’s entering Jerusalem the crowd prepares the way for him by spreading tree branches on the street (hence our traditional use of palms and olive trees for the celebration). Many…

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -2- Lazarus

A second installment of my experiment: a commentary on the Sunday readings from a different perspective. Nonetheless I reiterate my opposition to giving space to the laity in Mass or the possibility to hold a sermon. That’s to be reserved to priests, despite the current state of affairs, where conformism and selling out to the enemy are common sights in homilies. As was the case last Sunday, this fifth of Lent presents us with a detailed and sensational story from the Gospel of John, the last one in chronological order. 5TH SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR A A most extraordinary miracle: a poor sap who’s been dead for days…

Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman -1- The Blind Born Man

Introduction I came up with this reckless idea: introducing my take on the readings for the Sunday masses, a quasi-homily if you will. Particularly questionable because I’m verbose, while the goal of homilies should be clarity and conciseness. Furthermore I don’t have much time and I’m a procrastinator. We’ll see. Why the Pseudo-Homilies From a Layman? While I am strongly against allowing lay people to preach during Mass, I do hope I have something meaningful to say in these pages, which represent an entirely different context. At any rate, this will be an interesting personal journey. It’s hard to do worse than those priests who regularly inflict some 20-minute tirades…

Palm Sunday Rivulet of Consciousness

At mass We gather in scattered groups; the place isn’t far from our small church. A nice blue sky. Children carry in their hands the traditional braids made of palm fronds. Every adult holds a bunch of olive branches. I notice -again- a stark contrast with my old parish in Northern Italy: here in the South it seems they love large quantities of stuff. Each of the most resourceful parishioners gathered enough branches to supply the whole congregation back in the North. Odd: people here use to wish a happy Palm Sunday. Never heard of that. After mass we’ll exchange a olive branch with our friends and acquaintances: a nice, simple…

What do you think about the Bible?

Scene: Jehova Witnesses trying to convert Muslims (!) I’ve been asked to give a quick answer to the puzzling question of the title, by a friend who happened to witness a bizarre exchange between J.Witnesses and Muslims. I needed to write this down to try and prove to myself that I can be concise… Observation #1: Evangelize/proselytize. Jehova Witnesses represent a case study in naivete. You wonder how could they possibly convert people, since they are found in jokes alongside doorbells, and they rejoice for every piece of news reporting about plagues, deaths, natural disasters and wars: they’re happy because when the world is in ruins it means Armageddon is…

On Prayers Of The Faithful And Distractions

Painting of the martyrdom of the 7 Maccabees

At Mass Scene: today we went to Mass in a church that we know but isn’t our parish. All went well, no complaints (oh, how grumpy we pew-critters tend to be at times!): a good priest, a beautiful church full of art. Before the beginning of the service, while we are already seated, there comes a guy in charge of organizing stuff. The following exchange ensues: -Anyone wants to read the Readings? The Prayers Of The Faithful? Moment of indecision. I’m pondering the idea of blurting out the appropriate answer for an occasion like this, one I’ve prepared some time ago. -I may read a Reading, but… -Then it’s…

Good Friday

Always a perceivably special day. Maybe the key to my living it as something special is contrast, for the very reason that we are surrounded by people who ignore it: to them it’s just a day like another. God is dead, no Eucharist is celebrated today. The church remains empty, after the triumph of flowers and candles that surrounded the Most Blessed Sacrament since Thursday. The Via Crucis rite had an attendance of 7, including the priest’s striped cat who sneaked in. Come on, I’m not that old, when I was a child I remember my village as a place where the principal religious holidays were a big community event.…

What really matters (Section: God)

How did we develop our vision about life? “This is what really matters!” is a phrase I used often jokingly, for instance during the traditional Christmas Night Risiko (board game) with friends, when I and Mario (truly a character, but not the Nintendo one) let the dice decide who will have the privilege to use the red plastic army… then who cares about winning, the important thing is – i say to myself- being the Red! My “over thirty” generation has a natural sense of humor, a perception of the disjunction, breaking traditional schemes: so the player fakes a disproportionate interest in trivial things, precisely because he can taste the…