The Lenten battle against the spirit of evil (video)

Early Lent retreat preached to the Salesian Philosophical Studentate Community at the Catacombs of San Callisto in ROME (17-2-21) Fr Luigi Maria Epicoco.

A Christianity without the person of Jesus is smoke without roast. It would be just one ideology among the others or a set of moralisms suitable only to complicate people's lives. In fact, not infrequently I hear it said: “but why do you Christians complicate your existence so much?”. Whoever does not grasp the person of Jesus behind the Christian faith has only the impression of being in one of the many religious schemes which one must free oneself from in order to be free.

“Do not think that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father; there are already those who accuse you: Moses, in whom you place your hope. For if you believed in Moses, you would also believe in me; because he wrote about me. But if you don't believe his writings, how can you believe my words? ”.

The beauty (indeed the worst) is precisely this: having everything in front of our eyes and not realizing the essential: returning to the person of Christ. All the rest is chatter or waste of time embellished with religiosity and fanta-theologies. The conversion to which today's Gospel invites us does not only involve us personally but also questions us as a community, as a Church.

We are building around His Person or around pastoral strategies, initiatives, concepts, even laudable attempts in the charitable field but which are not a stronger and more decisive way of clinging to Him. There is still Jesus there where everything speaks of Christianity? Is there still Him or only the shadow of His ideas? Everyone with loyalty must try to respond without fear and with a lot of humility. (Don Luigi Maria Epicoco)