10 words to fall in love with God and man
by Gianni Gennari
Eighth meeting: we resume the journey to "see better", even with our poor eyes of mind and heart, the reality of the God revealed in history to Abraham and his descendants, and then definitively given as Savior in Jesus, God and Son of God. Faith tells us that He "became man", incarnated in the womb of a woman from Nazareth named Mary, died crucified and rose again for us as Messiah and Savior who, coming out of history redeemed by Him, gave us the Holy Spirit, thus creating a People definitively called to salvation by grace and mercy, that "People of God" that we call "Church".
God in Jesus reveals himself to be unique and true
by Gianni Gennari
7*/ Thinking about faith
Let's continue the discussion. After having searched for the specific meaning of "belief" expressed in actual "faith", we began to talk about that reality that we call "God", the God of Jewish-Christian Revelation who is not that of the "myths", invented by the imagination human as an explanation of incomprehensible natural phenomena, nor that of "rites", conceived by the human need for protection and strength in the face of the needs of personal and community life. The Jewish-Christian faith does not "explain" nature, which is the task of human intelligence through knowledge and science, nor does it "bend" it to the needs of man, which is the task of technology, which uses knowledge of nature to try to dominate it and provide for the concrete needs of men and peoples.
God? He is not seen, but he is heard
by Gianni Gennari
We are therefore, finally - given the long journey already made previously - at a decisive point, which however is only the first, and will be followed by many others: God revealed himself to Abraham, drawing him out of his homeland of origin and making him begin a response to the promise, and in faith Abraham "believed", he left, he lived his adventure as patriarch of his people, known precisely as the patriarch of the promise...
Thus the biblical story reached Moses, to whom the new divine "presence" was revealed on the mountain, which confirmed itself and then invited him to new work: "I am with you!", and now you must free my people, which is also yours, from Egyptian servitude. Centuries of history told like this, in a few pages that express the awareness of a promise and a real journey experienced by men like us...
So finally, and still on the mountain, this new God, Yahweh, presents himself to Moses and speaks. He speaks, but Moses does not see his God, but listens to him... This characteristic is fundamental: the God of Israel is not a God who shows himself, who makes himself seen.
A "father" God attentive to the affairs of his children
by Gianni Gennari
Let's start again with Abraham, the founder of the Jewish-Christian faith. He is the one who "believed" in a word of God the creator and left, leaving everything, towards an unknown reality, strong in listening to the call as a secure basis and foundation (the first sense of "believing", batàh) and confident in the confident momentum that pushed him forward (the second sense of believing, aman), as we saw in previous meetings.
Believe: if there is a word, there is a presence
by Gianni Gennari
4*/ Thinking about faith
A step forward. To "believe" you need something to rely on and trust, and therefore a "communication", a word to listen to or the experience of an event to take note of. Listening therefore, and the experience gained in life, are at the origin of believing. This is why at the end of our second meeting I recalled a book, "Hearers of the Word", by the theologian Karl Rahner: our belief, in the strong sense that is that of "faith", includes someone who "speaks", someone who "works ” and respectively someone who “listens” and someone who “sees” and lives an experience, a life encounter. Therefore: speak, listen, see and understand. This is man's profession: it is us with our lives that are at issue.
The Father of Light illuminates the paths of life
by Gianni Gennari
Again on the first word: “I believe”. Maybe these are difficult conversations. I apologize to those who read, and I will try to simplify, but some thoughts are really needed to move forward together.
When I say "I believe" and the word expresses what "faith" is, I mean both certainty of foundation ("biblical basàh") and the impulse of trust that pushes forward ("amàn") and becomes the ability to respond with life to the "Word" which both announces and reveals the salvation that comes from God and which truly gives ultimate meaning to all human existence, even if as an instrument it "is of no use" to anything worldly, human knowledge and power over nature. Salvation is what gives "ultimate meaning" to everything in time and beyond time, because it consents to the invasion of God himself into our existence and transforms it into a "company" of Father, Son and Holy Spirit until eternal life...
Intention of the month of December 2013
General Intention
«Children who are victims of abandonment and all forms of violence can find the love and protection they need»
Missionary intention
«Let Christians, enlightened by the light of the incarnate Word, prepare humanity for the advent of the Savior»
Intention of the Bishops
«May the Church be the family in which all men feel expected and welcomed to encounter the love of God the Father and experience salvation»
Intention of the Pious Union:
«For children without families»
«Hello Jesus! Here we are in front of you, no one is missing. We are children without families. In the sense that ours is unknown to us, absent, broken, due to drama or desperation, due to loneliness or abandonment. We are witnesses of pain and loss, but also of the miracle that can always happen when someone - a man and a woman - gathers us to hold us close to their chest, like fragrant bread that has just come out of the oven. Without saying: "Who is this?".
We are without family and difficulty is our daily grace; for some it is also the surprise of a couple who bends over our fragility to make us experience what is good and true in their life, without asking for anything in return, as a pure gesture of love that brings nothing except the emotion of learn to call ourselves children.
Whoever welcomes us learns another thing: reality changes outline, everything takes on new value: it is You, Jesus, who manifests Yourself in their eyes. Yes, because we are your presence. We are Christmas every day and whoever bends over this Bethlehem manger gets up with a different look, capable of welcoming the destiny of another."
Prayer intention for November 2013
GENERAL INTENTION
Priests who experience difficulties are comforted in their suffering, supported in their doubts and confirmed in their faithfulness.
MISSIONARY INTENTION
The Churches of Latin America, as a fruit of the continental mission, send missionaries to other Churches.
INTENTION OF THE BISHOPS
Faith in eternal life makes us free from attachment to money and more capable of gestures of solidarity and sharing.
INTENTION OF THE PIOUS UNION
«For our deceased» «So that no deceased in this time is forgotten and everyone can feel relief and the comfort of the unanimous prayer of the people of God». O God of goodness, we pray for all the people who are going through a moment of mourning and suffering due to the passing of loved ones. We also pray to you for the orphans: may the lack of their loved ones be made up for by your paternal benevolence and through the charity and closeness of the Christian community, so that they feel comforted and animated by a hope that does not disappoint.
September prayer intention
General Intention
«Young people who are unable to enter the world of work should not be discouraged and can achieve their rightful aspirations»
Missionary intention
«May Christians who suffer persecution in numerous regions of the world be, with their testimony, prophets of the love of Christ»
Intention of the Bishops
«Let the men of our time rediscover the value of silence and know how to listen to the voice of God and their brothers»
Intention of the Pious Union:
«For the end of wars»
Compared to "old" situations of armed conflict, which degenerated into real wars, there is the presence of 3 new conflicts started during 2011, which can be classified as part of the "Arab Spring", and located in the Maghreb and Middle Eastern regions : these are the wars in Yemen, Libya and Syria. In 2011, 20 wars were detected by the Conflict Barometer (University of Heidelberg), referring to 14 countries. This is actually the tip of the iceberg, as, in the same year, a total of 388 situations of war and armed conflict were recorded. The most lethal situations are equal to 38 (“war and limited war”). Another 148 conflicts were classified under the terms of "violent crisis". The remaining 202 conflicts developed without violent means (87 “non-violent crises” and 115 “disputes”).
God of peace, bring Your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the Nations of the Earth.
Intention of the month of August 2013
General Intention
«Parents and educators help the new generations to grow with an upright conscience and a coherent life»
Missionary intention
«The particular Churches of the African continent, faithful to the evangelical message, promote the building of peace and justice»
Intention of the Bishops
«Those who are in search of God should recognize the signs of his goodness and, stimulated by the testimony of believers, open their hearts to the gift of faith»
Intention of the Pious Union:
«For the mother of a priest»
God of eternal love, I thank you for making me the mother of a priest. Like Mary, the mother of your Son Jesus, I sing my hymn of thanksgiving to your paternal mercy for having placed your gaze of love on our family, calling our son to continue the same mission of Jesus in history: minister of mercy, herald of hope and ring of communion between You, O eternal Father, and the faithful.
Alongside the gratitude of every mother for the gift of life, I will not hide from you the concern for the mission of my son called to live his priestly ministry in a time of profound and rapid changes.
Let him keep a strong desire for holiness in his soul to be able to radiate it.
May he, in imitation of Jesus, be a good Samaritan for those wounded in life.
Let his heart be open to all, a path that everyone can travel and on which everyone will be able to encounter the very face of Jesus.