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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…

When even the Pope yelds: Euthanasia for a civilization

We are part of a grand scheme The election of Pope Francis was a shock to me, second only to the death of my closest relatives. When I heard the name “Bergoglio” proclaimed from the balcony, I felt like I had been teleported to a parallel universe, to the other side of the mirror; a place where everything seems slightly out of place. Just slightly. Don’t get me wrong. This event may represent just a step of a wider process: the long and gradual decay of western civilization. But non-Catholics may miss the importance of the Church in Rome as a force capable of halting -or at least slowing down- the fall. The last…