Pierangelo Sequeri

Pierangelo Sequeri (born 26 December 1944) is an Italian theologian of the Catholic Church who has been dean of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences since August 2016.

Quotes

• Then there are believers who start asking themselves: 'What does Mass give me?' Some (the younger ones) are drifting away. For the sake of 'consistency'. What is the point of doing something out of mere duty if, in reality, I feel it means nothing to me? It's better to do something for others. That's right. In fact, celebrating the Eucharist as an alternative to practising charity is a sign of a barren life (and indeed, I have yet to see anyone who, by saving on Mass, increases their charity towards their neighbour by even a good half an hour). Others (who are older) develop a kind of resignation, not without the hope that something might eventually happen. They go to Mass out of 'respect' for religion. When they can, of course. After all, what is the point of trying to engage your life in the celebration of the Eucharist, when life's problems are of a completely different nature? That's right. That's right, because without a connection to life, the sacrament becomes a dead ritual. And everyone is minding their own business.
  

But what do you contribute to the shared celebration? The Lord Jesus is able to turn a few pieces of bread and a few fish into food for a huge crowd. But the beauty of the sign is that he 'doesn't actually multiply food', but rather 'the willingness of some people to take care of the hunger of others'. The hunger of others, you see?

Someone has to reach beyond their own hunger so that everyone can be fed.

During the Eucharist, the disciples celebrate their willingness to reach out, in their lives, beyond their own hunger. And this must be evident in the celebration of the Eucharist. At the supper, Jesus reaches beyond his own life. And beyond death. The disciples 'argued among themselves as to which of them was the greatest' in the kingdom to come. The Eucharist did not give them anything that could support this excitement and this need for help. No hope, no encouragement. In fact, when the Lord was truly dead, all that remained was fear.

The Eucharist is the good bread that nourishes us. It is the broken bread that gives us the grace to reach far beyond our own lives, for the sake of the lives of others. It needs our desire to be with the Lord and to eat the Passover with Him, so that we can learn to live for Him. And to die for others. What we bring to the Eucharist will always be little. And there, as we listen to the Word, we will always find ourselves distracted. However, if we also want to listen on behalf of others, the Word will reach us too. If we want others to have food, we ourselves be abundantly nourished. We must stop seeing the Eucharist as a generous gesture we make for the Lord, even when we 'get little out of it' for ourselves. As Paul said, anyone who comes just to eat should eat at home.

• «Ma che cos'è questo per tanta gente?», Glossa, Milano 1989, 60-61

• For A. (Adrienne von Speyr)'s Christian and spiritual life, her knowledge of the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar is undoubtedly crucial. He [...] brings together [...] her insights, her meditations and her extraordinary experiences of identification in relation to many aspects of the Christian mystery (especially concerning the Passion of Christ, the prayer of the saints, the 'mutual obedience of love' of the Trinitarian Persons, and the mystical self-denial for the sake of the Church). Overall, A.'s special spiritual vocation can be broadly recognised in her unique progression from mystical.

• Speyr von Adrienne, in Aa. Vv., Dizionario di Mistica, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 1998. ISBN 88-209-2482-X.

• This man is an open letter, speaking directly from the peripheries of the world. An open letter that arrives at the perfect moment, precisely timed to the millimetre. Brother Charles de Foucauld, 'le petit frère Charles', is an open letter to the many seemingly invisible men and women who have kept alive a very special faith in the evangelical work of sowing seeds. It is a dedication that is consumed by a passion for humanity, reaching deep into the very heart of the earth inhabited by our species, so tender when it is tender, so hard when it is hard. It is an appreciation of that miraculous tenacity – not ostentatious, not arrogant, not violent, yet invincible – of the living thread that is the divine origin of humanity, capable of permeating the desert, the tarmac, the rubble, and even the refuse. The most populated parts of today's human city.

• Avvenire, 13 November 2005.

• Paul's humble and fervent prayer feeds into this high-voltage current that makes a mockery of geographical distances, ethnic boundaries and political structures.

• Avvenire, 4 September 2008.

• Music also makes dry wood and donkey skin sing. And it makes tangible the subtle connections between the spirit, bodies and things, which we never tire of seeking, with all due respect to the mathematicians of sensory well-being.

• Avvenire, 13 September 2008.

• Against the backdrop of the manifest crisis in the Western (and therefore global) 'financial system', the contrast between the 'fragility' of money and the solidity of the 'Word of God' appears with the striking clarity of plain evidence.

• Avvenire, 7 October 2008.

• Money has its own 'inherent' voracity. At a certain point, it develops the insane tendency to eat itself, in order to nourish itself and multiply more quickly.

• Avvenire, 7 October 2008.

• Unlike 'magic' words, the 'Word of God' presents itself to the 'intelligibility' of upright people, so that they may discern their greatest riches.

• Avvenire, 7 October 2008.

• Humanity is distributed differently, but it is profoundly shared. And when it is shared, no handicap can stand in the way.

• Avvenire, 10 September 2010.

Interviews

Costruire la «pace giusta» il cammino della Chiesa, Avvenire, 20 August 2014.

• In the transition from the justice of war to a just peace, we must not forget the sacrosanct reasons for safeguarding the defenceless and protecting the powerless.
• We believe, without hesitation, in praying for protection and in calling on God to enlighten minds and bring shame to hearts.
• We believe in the power of a faith that freely dares to submit itself to the test of the greatest love.
• Because, thanks to God, every time a single human being frees themselves from evil, many, many more will find the courage to keep it at bay.