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Raniero Cantalamessa is a Franciscan
Capuchin Catholic Priest. Born in Ascoli Piceno, Italy,
22 July 1934, ordained priest in 1958. Divinity Doctor
and Doctor in classical literature. Former Ordinary
Professor of History of Ancient Christianity and Director
of the Department of religious sciences at the Catholic
University of Milan. Member of the International Theological
Commission (1975-1981).
In 1979 he resigned his teaching position
to become a full time preacher of the Gospel. In 1980
he was appointed by Pope John Paul II Preacher to the
Papal Household in which capacity he still serves, preaching
a weekly sermon in Advent and Lent in the presence of
the Pope, the cardinals, bishops an prelates of the
Roman Curia and the general superiors of religious orders.
He is frequently invited to speak at international and
ecumenical conferences and rallies. He is has been member
of Catholic delegation for the Dialogue with the Pentecostal
Churches for the last ten years. He runs a weekly program
on the first channel of the Italian state television
(RAI) on the Gospel of the following Sunday [more...]
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Pentecost!
In the time of Jesus, Pentecost was the feast celebrating the giving of the law on Mount Sinai and of the covenant, the feast, that is, that commemorated the events described in Exodus 19‑20. It would seem that in Acts, St. Luke deliberately describes the descent of the Holy Spirit so as to evoke the theophany of Sinai. What is the significance of the fact that the Holy Spirit descends on the Church precisely on the day Israel recalls the gift of the law and the covenant? The answer is clear. It was to show that he is the new law, written not on tablets of stone but on the hearts of people, which seals the new and eternal covenant and who consecrates the royal and priestly people that form the Church. St. Augustine said: “Fifty days pass between the celebration of the Passover and the day on which Moses received the law written by God's finger on tablets of stone; similarly, fifty days after the death and resurrection of the one who like a lamb was slaughtered, the finger of God, that is the Holy Spirit, filled the faithful who were gathered together”. Suddenly the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel on the new covenant become clear: A This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their hearts” (Jer 31:33; cf. Ez 36:27). What St. Paul says about the gift of the Spirit in chapter eight of his Letter to the Romans can only be understood in the light of these premises on the meaning of Pentecost and the new covenant: AThe law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). “The law of the Spirit” means “the law which is the Spirit!”.
( Foto: Vie de Jesus Mafa, 24, rue Maréchal Joffre, 78000 Versailles)
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