Orașul bucuriei

CUVÂNTUL ACUM PE CITITURILE DE MASĂ
pentru 5 decembrie 2013

Textele liturgice aici

ISAIA scrie:

Un oraș puternic avem; el ridică ziduri și metereze pentru a ne proteja. Deschideți porțile pentru a permite intrarea unei națiuni care este dreaptă, una care păstrează credința. O națiune cu scop ferm pe care o păstrezi în pace; în pace, pentru încrederea în tine. (Isaia 26)

Atâția creștini de astăzi și-au pierdut pacea! Atât de mulți și-au pierdut bucuria! Astfel, lumea consideră că creștinismul pare oarecum neatractiv.

…an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! …they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”. —PAPA FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 10, 15

But to recover joy, we must enter Isaiah’s “strong city”… the City of Joy.

The entrance into the City is through its gates. Now, Isaiah says that the gates are only open to the “just.” Who are the just? Jesus said to St. Faustina,

Nu pot pedepsi nici măcar pe cel mai mare păcătos dacă face apel la compasiunea Mea, ci dimpotrivă, îl justific în mila Mea de neînțeles și de neîncercat. -Mila divină în sufletul meu, Jurnalul Sf. Faustina, n. 1146

Thus, as today’s Psalm says,

This gate is the LORD’s; the just shall enter it.

To enter into this City, then, we need to turn to the Lord’s mercy, ever open to the contrite and broken heart.

If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. (1 John 1:9).

But once we enter the gates of this City, Isaiah says we must be of “firm purpose”. That is, we must be determined to keep God’s will. The “walls and ramparts to “protect us” are God’s laws—both the natural laws that govern the universe and the moral laws that govern man’s behavior. They proceed from the charity of God, and thus, are pure goodness itself. As Jesus says in the Gospel today,

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. (Matt 7)

Such a soul, the Lord will “keep in peace; in peace for its trust in you.”

And so, there are three things that give birth to bucurie in Isaiah’s city. The first is knowing that we are loved because Jesus prevents no one from entering its gates.

God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18: 22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. —PAPA FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 3

The second is knowing that God has a plan for your life that is protected by the walls and ramparts of His will. Even when terrible storms come into your life, there is still a path for you to walk, God’s holy will.

The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock… It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. (Matt 7; Psalm 118)

So knowing that I’m loved, knowing that He has a plan for me, I then trust in Him by keeping His will.

I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. (James 2:18)

This alone brings tremendous peace since, to keep His will is to dragoste Him and others, which is what I was created for. 

The commandments of God are like the strings in a musical chord. As soon as one string goes out of tune, the chord become ugly, discordant, tense—it loses its harmony. So too, when we break the laws of God, we lose our harmony with Him and creation—when we keep His word, it brings us peace.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. (1 John 3:21-22)

To be loved by Him, to trust in Him, to follow Him… this is the “strong city” that will, if you enter it, become for you the City of Joy.