Agitated by movements from the deep, sometimes the surface of the earth is torn violently, provoking many tragedies and striking spirits. After the understandable emotions aroused by these geological disasters, scientists analyze them and, based on their knowledge of seismic laws, attempt to protect the populations at risk.
With assured and peaceful step, a discreet man goes his way and nobody notices him. It is true that in him there is nothing outstanding to attract glances. He is not a man of empty activity or flashy appearances. He is a man of mission.
A tomato seedling cannot give fruit if it is not supported by a stake. Without that support, it is likely to rot on the ground and to lose its fruits. It is curious to see how much we resemble a tomato seedling… Like that seedling, we need a stable support. Otherwise, we risk curling up on ourselves, drying up and rotting without giving any fruit. Indeed, since original sin, we manifest an annoying inclination towards low things, taking pleasure in them, rather than elevating ourselves to correspond faithfully to our vocation of free men, of enlightened and dedicated servants of the truth that we know and love.
Christmas approaches, Christmas is near. Hope is reborn in our weary hearts. Many signs show it: in a few days we will have again the joy of celebrating Christmas and of forgetting our discouragements and sorrows. This is a time of truce. We will rediscover our child-like hearts, filled with wonder at the sight of the Child-God; we will sing our wonder in ancient melodies that defy fashions and time. God is among us, as one of us. Who would dare to be against us? A profound joy, an inalienable hope.
At the end of too long a silence, we would like to inform you of some events that have marked the Seminary’s life these last months so that, sharing in our joys, you may also share our concerns which, we hasten to say, do not weaken at all our hope; quite the contrary!
Man is wont to abandon, with a remarkable ease, what is essential, clinging to extravagant dreams that fade into nothing. Is there a greater madness than this quasi-unexplainable thirst for strong pleasures, for self-seeking? As if life had no other goal and reason than to flatter ourselves. And the world in which we live supports admirably well this illusion of happiness. Away from any effort, avoiding any sacrifice, we precipitate ourselves into the transitory, into the day that swiftly passes away, forgetful of what is eternal and remains.
From the dawn rising over the snow-covered peaks of powerful mountains, to the incomparable majesty of the sunset at sea, passing through the intimate and amiable spectacle of our fields, Nature offers us incomparable subjects of contemplation. Such beauty speaks the language of the soul, the language of its Creator – the language of the Beautiful and, consequently, of Truth. But this universal language is not the prerogative of nature alone; it is also that of Art and the Humanities, starting with the noblest of them, Philosophy, which precisely teaches us how from the Beautiful we can arrive at Truth.
Powerful means of communication for some, destruction of any social life for others, the Internet does not leave anybody indifferent. Some praise it as being the only remaining force that allows men who are still free to fight against the despotism of a globalism that controls all the official sources of information. Others, on the contrary, disparage it as being a skillful machine of disinformation. The latter claim that, by exploiting the emotions caused by an excess of information, it prevents man from thinking and judging, thus reducing him to a disjointed puppet in the hands of hidden powers.
Habituated to living according to the frantic rhythm of a disoriented world, we have lost the understanding of sacred things, which requires peace of soul and silence of heart. At best, we content ourselves with glancing over them with a distracted eye. How can we reconcile this superficial approach with the necessary contemplation of the birth of the Infant-God? It is just the opposite: the extreme simplicity that the divine spectacle of the creche offers us must help us to conquer the spiritual self-indulgence that ruins our souls.
Nevertheless, today fear can slip into our hearts. Watching the sorry spectacle offered us by the men of the Church, the vileness that often accompanies their actions, we can imagine that the hour of darkness has already covered the earth; that the Church, like her divine spouse, finds Herself crucified, in Her last agony, and about to show Her infinite love to God the Father in the most complete abandonment.