Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This
celebration has a very beautiful name: “Evangelium Vitae”, the Gospel of Life.
In this Eucharist, in the Year of Faith, let us thank the Lord for the gift of
life in all its forms, and at the same time let us proclaim the Gospel of Life.
On
the basis of the word of God which we have heard, I would like to offer you
three simple points of meditation for our faith: first, the Bible reveals to us
the Living God, the God who is life and the source of life; second, Jesus
Christ bestows life and the Holy Spirit maintains us in life; and third,
following God’s way leads to life, whereas following idols leads to death.
1. The first reading, taken from
the Second Book of Samuel, speaks to us of life and death. King David wants to
hide the act of adultery which he committed with the wife of Uriah the Hittite,
a soldier in his army. To do so, he gives the order that Uriah be placed on the
front lines and so be killed in battle. The Bible shows us the human drama in
all its reality: good and evil, passion, sin and its consequences. Whenever we
want to assert ourselves, when we become wrapped up in our own selfishness and
put ourselves in the place of God, we end up spawning death. King David’s
adultery is one example of this. Selfishness leads to lies, as we attempt to
deceive ourselves and those around us. But God cannot be deceived. We heard how
the prophet says to David: “Why have you done evil in the Lord’s sight? (cf. 2
Sam 12:9). The King is forced to face his deadly deeds; he recognizes them and
he begs forgiveness: “I have sinned against the Lord!” (v. 13). The God of
mercy, who desires life, then forgives David, restores him to life. The prophet
tells him: “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die”.
What is the image we have of God?
Perhaps he appears to us as a severe judge, as someone who curtails our freedom
and the way we live our lives. But the Scriptures everywhere tell us that God
is the Living One, the one who bestows life and points the way to fullness of
life. I think of the beginning of the Book of Genesis: God fashions man out of
the dust of the earth; he breathes in his nostrils the breath of life, and man
becomes a living being (cf. 2:7). God is
the source of life; thanks to his breath, man has life. God’s breath sustains
the entire journey of our life on earth. I also think of the calling of Moses,
where the Lord says that he is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God
of Jacob, the God of the living. When he sends Moses to Pharaoh to set his
people free, he reveals his name: “I am who I am”, the God who enters into our
history, sets us free from slavery and death, and brings life to his people
because he is the Living One. I also think of the gift of the Ten Commandments:
a path God points out to us towards a life which is truly free and fulfilling.
The commandments are not a litany of prohibitions, but a great “Yes!”: a yes to
God, to Love, to life. Dear friends, our lives are fulfilled in God alone. He
is the Living One!
2. Today’s Gospel brings us
another step forward. Jesus allows a woman who was a sinner to approach him
during a meal in the house of a Pharisee, scandalizing those present. Not only
does he let the woman approach but he even forgives her sins, saying: “Her
sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven
little, loves little” (Lk 7:47). Jesus is the incarnation of the Living God,
the one who brings life amid deeds of death, sin, selfishness and
self-absorption. Jesus accepts, loves, uplifts, encourages, forgives, restores
the ability to walk, gives back life. Throughout the Gospels we see how Jesus
by his words and actions brings the transforming life of God. This was the
experience of the woman who anointed the feet of the Lord with ointment: she
felt understood, loved, and she responded by a gesture of love: she let herself
be touched by God’s mercy, she obtained forgiveness and she started a new life.
This
was also the experience of the Apostle Paul, as we heard in the second reading:
“The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved
me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). What is this life? It is God’s own
life. And who brings us this life? It is the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen
Christ. The Spirit leads us into the divine life as true children of God, as
sons and daughters in the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Are we open to the
Holy Spirit? Do we let ourselves be guided by him? Christians are “spiritual”.
This does not mean that we are people who live “in the clouds”, far removed
from real life, as if it were some kind of mirage. No! The Christian is someone
who thinks and acts in everyday life according to God’s will, someone who
allows his or her life to be guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit, to be a
full life, a life worthy of true sons and daughters. And this entails realism
and fruitfulness. Those who let themselves be led by the Holy Spirit are
realists, they know how to survey and assess reality. They are also fruitful;
their lives bring new life to birth all around them.
3. God is the Living One; Jesus
brings us the life of God; the Holy Spirit gives and keeps us in our new life
as true sons and daughters of God. But all too often, people do not choose
life, they do not accept the “Gospel of Life” but let themselves be led by
ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life,
because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and
pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others. It is the eternal
dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and
love – a new Tower
of Babel
Dear
brothers and sisters, let us look to God as the God of Life, let us look to his
law, to the Gospel message, as the way to freedom and life. The Living God sets
us free! Let us say “Yes” to love and not selfishness. Let us say “Yes” to life
and not death. Let us say “Yes” to freedom and not enslavement to the many
idols of our time. In a word, let us say “Yes” to the God who is love, life and
freedom, and who never disappoints (cf. 1 Jn 4:8; Jn 11:2; Jn 8:32). Only faith
in the Living God saves us: in the God who in Jesus Christ has given us his own
life, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit has enabled us to live as true sons
and daughters of God. This faith brings us freedom and happiness. Let us ask
Mary, Mother of Life, to help us receive and bear constant witness to the
“Gospel of Life”.
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment