The Homily of Marco Impagliazzo during the Te Deum Mass at Santa Maria in Trastevere
Dear brothers and sisters,
how fragile and how precious life is. The Gospel can make her shine in all her beauty; evil can humiliate and hurt her. But in Bethlehem, God demonstrated the power of his love in the most humble place, thanks to the motherhood of Mary, when he gave us baby Jesus, the light of the nations, the prince of peace, the wonderful counselor.
How beautiful and how fragile is the life of our beloved brother Ellard, who was injured in a serious car accident in Blantyre. Together with the Community in Malawi, we ask to God preserve and heal him, in these delicate hours.
How precious and fragile is the life of the poor, the weakest brothers and sisters, in this group of messianic people gathered around the table of Mercy, in this bright basilica and the four corners of the earth, in prisons, in schools, in churches, in the streets, wherever there is a son or daughter of the Community.
How beautiful and fragile is the Church, which Fifty years ago gathered in the Second Vatican Council, pervaded by a great sympathy for mankind, convinced that nothing was stranger to her humble hopes, her sorrows, and that could she could offer the light of Christ to everyone. The dreams of unity of mankind, of peace, of brotherhood of the peoples and the embrace between Christians, of the meeting between people of different faiths, and, after the horrors of the Second World War, victory of anti-Semitism and the creation of a new relationship with the Jewish people, the bread of the Word for all … Enlightened by the Spirit has differed from the prophets of misfortune and the spirit of time and instead regenerated itself in a bold and prophetic vision of its mission; one without pride, but with the strength and humility of love. The bride of Christ has chosen, by means of Pope John, the medicine of mercy and not the severity of weapons, and has claimed, by Paul VI, herself as an expert of humanity.
And today, at the end of an extraordinary year for all of the trials the world had to endure, all of the wounds of civilization, the upheavals of terrorism and conflict; after all of its epochal and cosmic changes, the mass number of fleeing people, the refugees’ faces close to Europeans …. after a year, we who live, we who are loved and forgiven, to whom a message full of hope was unceasingly preached… we who have been helped read the signs of the times, we sing the Te Deum. Not only because that the recent past we has demonstrated the presence and protection of God, but because everything prepares us for the future. Mary, in fact, continues to guard the mystery all these things in her heart, meditates on them, in order to offer us the mystery of the life of God in our midst. Today, our times await the revelation of the Gospel of Bethlehem, the strength of a powerful dream. Mary, with the Magnificat – her Te Deum – exhorts us to believe and to choose, because in God everything is possible: that the humble be exalted, that the proud be put down, that the promises of Mercy made to our fathers in the long the history of God’s people may be carried out and that we may witness a return of the Council of Fathers of the past and present century.
By sending the Son, God has said enough to the madness of evil and to ignorance of his mercy, and has put the whole Gospel of Bethlehem in our hands, so that we may recreate the world. So why should we not do as the shepherds? Not only did they cease to fear, believing in the angels, but they found a new language: they reported all that the child had been told them. Guardians and witnesses of a joy that would communicate to all the people. They returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as they had been told. All were amazed at the things said to them. Now they are truly children of the Gospel of Bethlehem!
We hear the voice of a believer who has made mission his life. Paul, with a strong voice speaks to the Galatians, but also to us if we have ever doubted or preferred other “gospels”: “That you are sons proves that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, who cries: Abba Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son.”
How fragile and how precious is the life of the Church and of the Community: the Lord has shaken it so that it may know the Lord’s face and his mercy in the world. Let us love her, in her we had life; let us support her, for in her we found forgiveness; let us let her grow, for in her nations and the poor will find peace. “Under the protection of your mercy, we take refuge, Mother of God. Do not dismay in times of troubles, our petitions, but deliver us from all evil, you the only holy and blessed one. Amen”Dear brothers and sisters,
how fragile and how precious life is. The Gospel can make her shine in all her beauty; evil can humiliate and hurt her. But in Bethlehem, God demonstrated the power of his love in the most humble place, thanks to the motherhood of Mary, when he gave us baby Jesus, the light of the nations, the prince of peace, the wonderful counselor.
How beautiful and how fragile is the life of our beloved brother Ellard, who was injured in a serious car accident in Blantyre. Together with the Community in Malawi, we ask to God preserve and heal him, in these delicate hours.
How precious and fragile is the life of the poor, the weakest brothers and sisters, in this group of messianic people gathered around the table of Mercy, in this bright basilica and the four corners of the earth, in prisons, in schools, in churches, in the streets, wherever there is a son or daughter of the Community.
How beautiful and fragile is the Church, which Fifty years ago gathered in the Second Vatican Council, pervaded by a great sympathy for mankind, convinced that nothing was stranger to her humble hopes, her sorrows, and that could she could offer the light of Christ to everyone. The dreams of unity of mankind, of peace, of brotherhood of the peoples and the embrace between Christians, of the meeting between people of different faiths, and, after the horrors of the Second World War, victory of anti-Semitism and the creation of a new relationship with the Jewish people, the bread of the Word for all … Enlightened by the Spirit has differed from the prophets of misfortune and the spirit of time and instead regenerated itself in a bold and prophetic vision of its mission; one without pride, but with the strength and humility of love. The bride of Christ has chosen, by means of Pope John, the medicine of mercy and not the severity of weapons, and has claimed, by Paul VI, herself as an expert of humanity.
And today, at the end of an extraordinary year for all of the trials the world had to endure, all of the wounds of civilization, the upheavals of terrorism and conflict; after all of its epochal and cosmic changes, the mass number of fleeing people, the refugees’ faces close to Europeans …. after a year, we who live, we who are loved and forgiven, to whom a message full of hope was unceasingly preached… we who have been helped read the signs of the times, we sing the Te Deum. Not only because that the recent past we has demonstrated the presence and protection of God, but because everything prepares us for the future. Mary, in fact, continues to guard the mystery all these things in her heart, meditates on them, in order to offer us the mystery of the life of God in our midst. Today, our times await the revelation of the Gospel of Bethlehem, the strength of a powerful dream. Mary, with the Magnificat – her Te Deum – exhorts us to believe and to choose, because in God everything is possible: that the humble be exalted, that the proud be put down, that the promises of Mercy made to our fathers in the long the history of God’s people may be carried out and that we may witness a return of the Council of Fathers of the past and present century.
By sending the Son, God has said enough to the madness of evil and to ignorance of his mercy, and has put the whole Gospel of Bethlehem in our hands, so that we may recreate the world. So why should we not do as the shepherds? Not only did they cease to fear, believing in the angels, but they found a new language: they reported all that the child had been told them. Guardians and witnesses of a joy that would communicate to all the people. They returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as they had been told. All were amazed at the things said to them. Now they are truly children of the Gospel of Bethlehem!
We hear the voice of a believer who has made mission his life. Paul, with a strong voice speaks to the Galatians, but also to us if we have ever doubted or preferred other “gospels”: “That you are sons proves that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, who cries: Abba Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son.”
How fragile and how precious is the life of the Church and of the Community: the Lord has shaken it so that it may know the Lord’s face and his mercy in the world. Let us love her, in her we had life; let us support her, for in her we found forgiveness; let us let her grow, for in her nations and the poor will find peace. “Under the protection of your mercy, we take refuge, Mother of God. Do not dismay in times of troubles, our petitions, but deliver us from all evil, you the only holy and blessed one. Amen”