sussidio may 2016

   “What I want is mercy, not sacrifice”

From the WORD of GOD

As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. Now while he was at table in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’
When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.’ (Mt 9: 9-13)

From the DOCUMENTS of the CHURCH
By calling Matthew, Jesus shows sinners that he does not look at their past, at their social status, at external conventions, but rather, he opens a new future to them. Such behaviour is not understood by those who have the arrogance to believe they are “just” and to believe they are better than others. Hubris and pride do not allow one to recognize him- or herself as in need of salvation, but rather prevent one from seeing the merciful face of God and from acting with mercy. Yet, this is precisely Jesus’ mission: coming in search of each of us, in order to heal our wounds and to call us to follow him with love. He says so explicitly: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (v. 12). Jesus presents himself as a good physician! He proclaims the Kingdom of God, and the signs of its coming are clear: He heals people from disease, frees them from fear, from death, and from the devil. Before Jesus, no sinner is excluded! Because the healing power of God knows no infirmity that cannot be healed; and this must give us confidence and open our heart to the Lord, that he may come and heal us. When the Pharisees see only sinners among the invited, and refuse to be seated with them, Jesus to the contrary reminds them that they too are guests at God’s table. Thus, sitting at the table with Jesus means being transformed and saved by him. In the Christian community the table of Jesus is twofold: there is the table of the Word and there is the table of the Eucharist (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 21). With the first — the Word — He reveals himself and invites us to a dialogue among friends. Jesus was not afraid to dialogue with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes…. No, he was not afraid: he loved everyone! His Word permeates us and, like a scalpel, operates deep in the heart so as to free us from the evil lurking in our life. At times this Word is painful because it discloses deception, reveals false excuses, lays bare hidden truths; but at the same time it illuminates and purifies, gives strength and hope; it is an invaluable tonic on our journey of faith. The Eucharist, for its part, nourishes us with the very life of Jesus, like an immensely powerful remedy and, in a mysterious way, it continuously renews the grace of our Baptism. (Pope Francis, General Audience, 13 April 2016)

From the WRITINGS of Blessed A. ROSMINI
We have to be convinced that whatever we do, we shall never be entirely free of the ills of our present life, whether these come to us from things or from people. Things at times torment us by the disposition of that divine Providence which wishes to urge us to love the greater goods, and to give to these all our affection. The persons who surround us are, unfortunately, defective. Who among us can say that he/she is without sin? And so Holy Scripture tells us that perfection consists in supporting one another’s faults and defects. So a large-hearted and generous forbearance for the faults of our neighbour is both a duty and also the title we have for the right to be sympathetically regarded by others. Finally it is the indispensable means for preserving tranquillity and peace within our hearts. I exhort you, then, and beg you to condone in a magnanimous way, and to forget entirely, the wrongs you may have received from anyone at all; and not only this, but also to resign yourself to putting up with the defects of the people you have to live with, since these cannot be quickly put right, when we remember that they are merely human beings, and we have to say with a meek and compassionate heart: I am a person and I do not consider anything human as alien to me. Let the tranquillity of reason overcome in us the impetus to passion; may the light of truth triumph; may the ineffable beauty of virtue, of that sublime virtue which our Lord Jesus Christ taught us by his example and his words. Here is our true friend; here is our comfort in the sorrows and troubles of the soul; here is the source of our strength. This divine friend can live with us if we so wish; he can calm the tumult of our hearts, diffusing in them the sweet balsam of his unconquerable love. He is omnipotent, and he asks no more of us, in order to come to our help with his light and strength, than that we turn to him, take refuge in him. Return to this consoling peace, and then you will no longer have any conflict with other people. Your thoughts will be concerned only with sympathizing with them, with doing good to them. With God, with religion faithfully practised, any person can do everything – he/she can and must aspire even to the heroism of virtue. (Ascetical Letters, translated by John Morris IC, Vol. VI, Let. 87, pp. 109-111, to Doctor Giovanni Piccardi at Stresa, Naples, 13 February1849)

LET US PRAY (Ps 3:3-9)
How many are they who say of my soul:
“There is no help for him in God”.
But you are my shield, O Lord,
my glory, you lift up my head.
Aloud I cry to the Lord,
and from his holy hill he answers me.
If I lie down to sleep,
again I awake , for the Lord supports me;
no fear of the thousands standing against me.
Arise, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
Salvation comes from the Lord.
May your blessing be upon your people!

PASTORAL YEAR 2015 – 2016
ON-GOING FORMATION
INSTITUTE OF CHARITY
ROSMINIAN SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE

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