I of 14 November 2010 Advent
1. Ambrosian Rite
Gospel according to Matthew 24: 1-31
at that time. While the Lord Jesus left the temple, he went, he came to his disciples to him the buildings of the temple. He told them: "Do not you see all these things? Verily I say unto you, do not be left here one stone upon another that will not be destroyed. " At the Mount of Olives, then sat down, his disciples came to him and, on the sidelines, they said, 'Tell us when these things happen and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world. " Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no man deceive you! In fact, many will come in my name, saying: "I am the Christ, and shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. Take care not to alarm you, because it must happen, but it is not the end. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and earthquakes in various places, but this is just the beginning of sorrows. Then we will leave up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. Many will fall, and will betray and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray for the spread of iniquity, the love of many shall wax cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. This gospel the Kingdom will be announced around the world as a witness is given to all people, and then shall the end. So when you see this in the holy place the abomination of the devastation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet - who read, understand - then those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, who is on the housetop not come down to take things in her house and who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. In those days, and woe to the pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight be not in winter or on Saturday. Since then there will be great tribulation, such as there has ever been since the world until now, nor ever there will be. And except those days should be shortened, no one would be saved, but, thanks to the elect, those days shall be shortened. So if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is Christ, "or" is there ", do not believe, because there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect . Behold, I have told you before. If then you say, "Well, it's in the desert," Do not go, "Here, at home, do not believe them. As the lightning comes from the east and shines even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there will flock vultures. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, "the sun will be darkened, / the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken." And then shall appear in heaven the sign of the Son of man and then we mourn all the tribes of the earth, and they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven. "
Comment
The Gospel of Matthew begins the liturgy of this fifth discourse of Jesus (chapters 24-25)
according to the criteria of Matthew (in the words of Jesus are, in fact, in this Gospel
grouped in five long courses for a reminder of the "Law" which was guarded Jewish
in the first five books of the Bible ). The basic argument in this speech is the end of the world
which is identified with the coming (parousia ) the Son of Man (Jesus
risen). It uses a special language called "apocalyptic," used at that time to indicate
new facts and shocking.
Jesus definitively abandoned the Temple and the holy city to go up the Mount of Olives
right in front of the city and the temple that shines in the sun like a jewel more precious and sacred
(see l). And the disciples in the temple shows the pride of being part of a people who
houses and God is able to offer a beautiful house, worthy of God
But the fate of these holy places is marked: "There will stone by stone. " Jesus announces a conclusion
impressive upsets and create together a lot of curiosity: "When
destruction? When your coming? When the end of the world?" In v.
3 shows the plot well plans, they speak, on the one hand, the collapse of the temple,
shot down by the Romans in 70 AD and dedicated to the "Jewish dedication" at the time of Herod the Great
Set in 18 BC, is reflected in the comprehensive settlement of the whole history of
world.
to Jesus asking "when?" But the teacher wants to do more than curiosity about the weather.
does not offer dates or holds, but it does bring the discussion on "how" you walk in
history. How to deal with the waiting time that is the only concrete reality on which
play our individual freedoms and the presence of God?
He develops the signs of the coming, announcing to the disciples the deception of false prophets,
wars, the tragedies of fratricidal strife, famine and earthquakes. All of this is the life
daily and at the same time, the effort planned for the birth of a new world.
The onset of pain is like the pain of childbirth (Jn 16:21). The suffering of persecution
will add also the effort of the conflict within the church itself, because of the cooling
love.
But every believer is called to be faithful to Jesus until the final victory as
such loyalty will, thus, to participate in triumph with him. In this looming cataclysm
But the great joy and the rich vitality of the "Gospel of the Kingdom". It will be announced
around the world from a community that does not allow itself to be overwhelmed by fear and
from evil.
When the Lord comes, there will be disasters in the sky (but it is a language
not be taken literally, it is also used to talk about the fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13:10) and
people of Edom (Isaiah 34.4).
will the Son of man with his sign. It may be that the cross was the instrument of
death and rejection, pride of power and a sign of love. It turns out that the draft
the cross God has materialized the faithfulness of Jesus to the Father and guaranteeing
showing it to us. He won the criteria of power that have developed in history and has
triumphed over the world.
images used alongside the cross, are: the gathering and the sound of the trumpet (for
Jews served as a reminder of who's in charge because he has the power to collect).
The Lord is powerful and great. He left in the hearts of the disciples the secret of his
power and salvation. Therefore we must consider the world with the criteria of the Gospel
of Jesus and " watching."
The Liturgical Year: to know the riches of Christ's person
The liturgical year is the articulation of the annual calendar of the liturgy of the Catholic Church. Start with the first Sunday of Advent (in mid-November for us Ambrosian) and ends with the final week of Ordinary Time.
It consists of: *
a calendar of celebrations organized around the paschal mystery of Christ, with the greater cycle of Easter and the minor cycle of the Nativity
* a cycle of biblical readings for the celebration Eucharist every day of the year;
* a series of biblical and patristic readings, as well as other texts for the Liturgy of the Hours.
walk spiritually living the liturgical year the various moments in the life of Jesus, therefore, the liturgical year is the main way in which the Church brings us the person and the face of Jesus, so we can accept, love and follow. The constant repetition of the liturgical year with a sense of us grow in relationship with the Lord, so that each one of us is called to grow in relationships of love with the groom, the bride, parents, children and the next . Do not you give love relationship true if not growing. The liturgical year is to service this growth in love for God and for men.
During the summer months and the cycle between Christmas and the Easter is celebrated on Sunday in Ordinary Time, which covers the days when there are no special celebrations or liturgical season. The liturgical year is actually almost three and move in conjunction with the schedule for the calendar year through them not only the faithful can benefit from proper organization of the biblical scriptural heritage for proper meditation on the Scriptures themselves, but they also the chance to swim the entire mystery of Christ and his redemptive work on behalf of humanity: in each of these years, beginning with the first Sunday of Advent and ends with the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Church invites the faithful to understand the various stages of salvation history and especially in the event of salvation through Jesus Christ the itinerary of his Advent of the Incarnation, Public Life, Death and Resurrection to the Ascension and Pentecost. In addition, through the celebration and be present in the News of the Church on such measure of grace from the Lord, so that it can be concluded that the liturgical year is the same Lord over time work is a continuation of his saving action.
not for nothing that the liturgical year as a whole allow the knowledge of all Sacred Scripture is presented in a comprehensive and well-defined.
The Church divides this number of years through the designation of Year A, Year B, Year C, which corresponds to a cycle for the festive readings (Cycle A, Cycle B, Cycle C), each having a peculiar physiognomy. We will restrict ourselves, here, the Gospels, these being the main subject of our festive meditation, without that we will diminish the importance of the texts of the Old Testament and Second Reading (usually detached from the context) that will accompany it. Now, during the year To offer suggestions to the meditation on Christ Jesus is the Evangelist St. Matthew, in the year B San Marco, while the year incarnazionistico C knows the mystery of salvation through the Gospel of St. Luke. St. John, who appears several times in the Liturgy of the Word of the almost all three years, is offered in a special way during the time of the Lord's Passion.
Advent and Christmas
Advent is a celebration of the West's. Already at the end of the fourth century Gaul and in Spain there is a period of preparation for Christmas characterized by a strong ascetic character, called ' Adventus' (This term in the vocabulary are charged means 'event', the anniversary of a given event. In ecclesiastical and liturgical language indicated the first birth of Jesus and his birthday, then the preparation for this event and finally, the wait for the second coming.)
analysis of the liturgical texts of this' great time ', which marks the beginning of' liturgical year, it appears that it has a rich and original theological content: consider in fact the whole mystery of the coming of the Lord in history until its end.
The whole liturgy is a call to live some attitudes essential to the believer: vigilant and joyful expectation, hope, conversion, poverty.
*
At the dawn of the celebration of Christmas have helped many different causes. E 'common ground, however, that 25 December is historically the day of Christ's birth. The most likely explanation for the choice of this date is to be found in the church of Rome in an attempt to supplant the pagan festival of "Natalis (solis) invicti", that emperor. While
economy of the liturgical year, Advent is the time of expectation and hope, Christmas time is the time for implementation, initial but decisive promises.
We face the celebration commemorating the birth of the Lord, the historical memory of the event, which took place at the time of Caesar Augustus, but the celebration of Christmas, from this historical fact dating back to its true foundation: the mystery of the 'Incarnation that still operates in the Church through the liturgical celebration.
A lthough Christmas is born independently of Easter, however, is not a party alternative or parallel to it: the Mystery Incarnation in fact, that the time of Advent and Christmas gives us life, has a decidedly Easter, since it tends to our divine nature, which has its culmination in the Lord's Passover.
2. Roman Rite
At that time, 5 while some spoke of the temple, which was adorned with
beautiful stones and votive offerings, Jesus said 6 'days are coming which, in the
you see, will not be left one stone upon another that will not be destroyed. "
7 they asked him, "Teacher, when therefore will these things and what
will be the sign when they are about to happen?". 8 said, "Take care not to
deceived. In fact, many will come in my name, saying: "I
I" and "The time is near." Do not go after them! 9 When you hear of
wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, because they must first
these things happen, but it's not just the end. "
10 Then he told them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom 11 and there will be earthquakes in various places, famines, and pestilences, and there
will be terrifying events and great signs from heaven.
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you,
delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, and brought before kings and
governors for my name's sake. You then have 13 opportunity to give
testimony. 14 Stand therefore minds not to prepare your
defense 15 I will give you words and wisdom, so that all your adversaries shall not
be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers, relatives and friends, and kill some of you will 17
hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your
head will perish. 19 By your perseverance you will
your life. "
last time I make it reduce the life essentials:
lead a life dedicated to love. The temple, though beautiful in its architecture and full of
riches will not remain standing. It is the place of God's presence and all
go there for the celebration planned, but once before the Lord
had left the temple to live among the people in exile in Babylon
, where it had sent to be purified from their sin. He
leaves only his people in time of purification.
The problem is to know the sign in order to understand when you
this time of trial.
There will be many false prophets, wars and revolutions, but this is not the last time
, because these events are always present in the history of
men.
should not follow the false prophets and not be afraid of the face of wars,
because everything is not the end.
The end will come when there will be love and justice and all will be
against all, no one will care more for the common good and each
seek only to save himself. In this period
who continue to love and practice justice will be persecuted for being non
in line with the times. Those who behave with honesty and love, with only his
life becomes unbearable for an indictment of those who live otherwise.
That time will become a fitting occasion to give witness to
Lord of life. Do not need the wisdom of the world to defend itself, but just simply talk
of trust in the Lord with whom you are
communion. This is the wisdom that will make keyword
to testify of the goodness of God who behaves this way will save his life.
Invitation to go see the movie "Men of God" who tells us about the
evangelical witness of seven Trappist monks in Algeria in 1996. More than
the story of their end (they will be killed and we do not know today
chi), is the tale of discernment if continue to live with it or not
that population in which they are embodied and have ties of alliance. Each
day in various parts of the world, Christians and people of good will,
any religion or not they belong to, are called to bear witness to
peace and justice in the life of the brothers who suffer
violence, so why does the Lord.
we also prepare ourselves to share with Jesus and with all their "martyrdom"
of faith, that the testimony that can be a life of love.
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