News in Homilies

Commentary to the 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year C

Commentary to the 2nd Sunday of Advent - Year C

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Commentary to the 1st Sunday in Advent – YearEAR C

Commentary to the 1st Sunday in Advent – YearEAR C

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

There is no condition of slavery from which the Lord cannot free us; there is no abyss of guilt from which He does not want to lift us up. He expects that we become aware of our condition and turn to him the words of the psalmist: "From the depths, I cry to you, O Lord." "I am sure: the Lord will fulfill the promises of good that he has made."

Commentary to the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Commentary to the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

One can bet on the greatness, on the royalties of this world, or follow him, renouncing all goods and preferring defeat for love. On this choice depends the success or failure of a life. "He reigns with Christ who becomes with him a servant of his brothers and sisters."

Commentary to the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – YEAR B

Commentary to the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – YEAR B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

These were not omens of doom but oracles intended to instill joy and hope. Isaiah did not mean to affirm that cosmic forces would be upset but that the pagan world, represented by these stars, would be annihilated, and people would no longer be enslaved to idols. Jesus takes up these images not to frighten the disciples but to comfort them.

Commentarty to the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Commentarty to the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The widow is presented as a model of this love. Unlike the rich who "threw into the treasury many coins," she does not put much; she throws everything she has, indeed, as the Greek text specifies, "in her poverty she threw her whole life into it" (v. 44). The disciple is not the one who puts a part of himself or what he has at stake but sells everything he has to give it to the poor and offers his whole life as the Master did. Like the widow in today's Gospel, even those who are poor are called to give everything.

Commentary to the Comemoration of all Faithful departed (November 2)

Commentary to the Comemoration of all Faithful departed (November 2)

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

If death is the moment of encounter with Christ and an entry into the wedding banquet hall, it cannot be a dreaded event. It is something we expect. The exclamation of Paul: “For me, dying is a gain. I desire greatly to leave this life and to be with Christ” (Phil 1:21,23) should be uttered by every believer. To interiorize the message, we repeat: “Teach us, O Lord, to count our days.”

Commentary: The feast of all Saints  - November 1

Commentary: The feast of all Saints - November 1

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The word “saint” indicates the presence in the persons of a divine and beneficial force that allows one to stand out, to distance oneself from what is imperfect, weak, ephemeral. Among the people who appeared in this world, only Christ has possessed the fullness of this force of goodness and only he can be declared saint, as we sing in the Gloria: “You alone are holy.” But we, too, can rise up to him and become partakers of his holiness. 

Commentary to the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Commentary to the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

 "Only those who have understood that God is love become capable of loving." Only after realizing this perennial and gratuitous love did Israel feel the need to correspond to it and understand that a God who loves in this way, without conditions, has the right to command even the heart and to demand even what humanly seems impossible: "If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat, if thirsty, give something to drink".

Commentary to the Gospel for Mission Sunday

Commentary to the Gospel for Mission Sunday

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

Jesus said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be  condemned.”  "Go" said the Risen One to the Eleven. They have to go out, they have to start moving,  and he who goes away departs from a certain place, from a certain people, from a certain  environment.

Commentary to the 29th Sunday In Ordinary Time - Year B

Commentary to the 29th Sunday In Ordinary Time - Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The first schism in the Church occurred before the eyes of Jesus: two disciples against ten and ten against two (Mk 10:35-41). The reason for the dispute: not a theological discussion or the rejection of some dogma, but the eagerness for power, the competition for the first places. It was the beginning of a painful history of ecclesial divisions and conflicts, always determined by petty rivalries.

Commentary to the 28th Sunday in the ordinary Time – B

Commentary to the 28th Sunday in the ordinary Time – B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The insatiable covetousness of gold, the greed for goods, the idolatry of money cause worry, restlessness, and anxiety. They take away one's breath and make life impossible, but they are still considered goals for which it is worth living. Everything you touch—your profession, scientific research, friendships, family, and sometimes religion itself—is valued... if it produces gold. That's the madness.

Commentary to the 27th Sunday in the Ordinary Time – Year B

Commentary to the 27th Sunday in the Ordinary Time – Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

In no other field, as in that of sexual ethics, is a person tempted to give himself his morality, and so the salt of the evangelicaIt is necessary to "become like children" to enter the kingdom of heaven, to understand the difficult, demanding proposal of Christ. Only those who feel small, who believe in the love of the Father and trust him, are in the proper disposition to welcome God's thoughts. 

Commentary to the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B -

Commentary to the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B -

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

It is not always easy to distinguish friends from enemies; sometimes we are deceived: the most trusted person, the one chosen as a confidant, may one day betray us, while the one we kept under control because we judged him dangerous, in the end, may turn out to be the most loyal companion. How do we understand who is with us and who is against us? At certain moments, Christians feel that they are walking alone along the straight path traced out by Christ, and they are seized by discouragement. 

Commentary to the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

Commentary to the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

Once in Capernaum, the Master asks them, "What were you discussing on the way?" (v. 33). His is not a question but an accusation. He is aware of the heated dispute in which all got involved during the journey.

The disciples are silent, they feel exposed, ashamed. They realize that they have committed something senseless. They know that, on the subject of seeking the first places, the Master does not agree and always speaks firmly.

Commentary to the 24th Sunday in the Ordinary Time – Year B

Commentary to the 24th Sunday in the Ordinary Time – Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The cross is the sign of God's love and the ultimate gift of self. To carry it behind Jesus means to join him in making one self available to others, even to martyrdom. The third imperative, "follow me," does not mean "take me as a model," but share my choice, make my project yours, risk your life for the love of people, along with me. The debates about the identity of Jesus continue to this day. No one denies that he has marked the history of the world more than any other person. But not enough to cultivate this belief to be regarded as his disciples. To admire Christ is not to be his disciples.

Commentary to the 23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B

Commentary to the 23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The verb "to listen" occurs 1159 times in the Old Testament. It often refers to God who—Isaiah assures—is not deaf (Is 59:1). But unlike people, who often close their ears to the cry of the poor who cries out for help and immediately they pay attention to as soon as they hear praises and compliments. God is attentive only to prayers, cries lament of his people. "When he cries to me I will hear him, for I am full of pity" (Ex 22:26). No text of the Old Testament says that "he hears the praises" addressed to him.

Commentary to the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time -Year B

Commentary to the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time -Year B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

After meditating for five consecutive Sundays on Jesus' discourse on the bread of life, we resume reading the gospel of Mark that will be with us until the end of the liturgical year. In today's passage, a question that touches on a central element of the Jewish religion, "the purifications," is raised. To the ancient, the world is divided into two opposing spheres. One is pure in which the forces of life operate, and the other is impure where the seeds of death are present.

Commentary to the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - B

Commentary to the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The disciple who has "tasted the beauty of the Word of God and the wonders of the supernatural world" (Heb 6:5) resists the temptation to turn away from Christ and to be "in love with this present world" (2 Tim 4:9). The Eucharist is a proposal. The one who decides to receive it says yes to the light and rejects the darkness. This is the choice that qualifies a Christian.

Commenatry to the ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Commenatry to the ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

The believers’ reflection on the fate of Mary after death continued to grow over the centuries. It led to the belief in her assumption and, on 1 November 1950, to the papal definition: “The Immaculate Conception Mother of God ever Virgin, finished the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”


Commentary the the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B

Commentary the the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B

by: Fernando Armellini in Homilies,

esus recognizes that no one has seen the Father (v. 46) but shows how to be able to contemplate him. He ensures that one can see God through him, seeing his actions because his gestures, choices, and preferences are those of God the Father. For some, the humanity of Christ is the intermediary that leads to God; for others, it is an impediment.