(Mt 11:25-30)

Abstract world and Incarnation

(Mt 11:25-27)

"The world gives credit to the "wise" and the "learned", while God prefers the "little ones". The general teaching that follows from this is that there are two dimensions of reality: one deeper, true and eternal, the other marked by finiteness, impermanence and appearance" [Pope Benedict].

God's broad Reason is not according to 'fortune', or 'measure'

In commenting on the Tao Tê Ching (iv) Master Ho-shang Kung writes:

"Human desires are sharp and subtle, striving to appropriate merit and glory. When they are blunted, man masters them, and in imitation of the Way, does not fill himself'.

The leaders looked at religiosity with an interest. Professors of theology were accustomed to evaluate every comma on the basis of their own ludicrous but supponent knowledge - unrelated to real events.

Jesus finds himself against even his own family. Under the cloak and blackmail of customary social conventions, they too were subjected to the preconception of the opinion of the 'great' and the evasive oral tradition, which did not convey nourishment to the concrete fabric of human time.

The Lord observes: even the Apostles are not free people; that is why they do not emancipate anyone and even prevent any breakthrough (cf. Luke 9).

Their way of being is so grounded in standard attitudes and obligatory behaviour that they result in impermeable mental armour.

Their predictability is too limiting: it gives no breathing space to the path of those who instead want to reactivate themselves, discover and value surprises behind the secret sides of reality and personality.

That which remains bound to ancient customs [or abstractions] and usual protagonists [or sophisticated pseudo-teachers] does not make one dream, is not an apparition and astonishing testimony of the Other; it takes away expressive richness from the Announcement and from life.

The Master rejoices in his own experience, which brings a non-epidermal joy and a teaching from the Spirit - on those who are well disposed, and able to understand the depths of the Kingdom, in ordinary things.

[At a certain point in the spiritual journey, one realises in Christ that one must detach oneself from the idolatry of deference: it stifles and mocks life.

Faith proceeds on the track of the Happiness of the concrete woman and man, conversely made into puppets by a false piety that is all exhibitionist or disembodied].

In short, after an initial moment of enthusiastic crowds, the Master delves deeper into the themes and finds everyone against him, except God and the least: the weightless, but with a great desire to start from scratch.

Gleam of the Mystery that leavens history - without making it a possession.

At the conclusion of the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis cites the figure and experience of Charles de Foucauld, who - subverting everything - "only by identifying himself with the least came to be a brother to all" (no.287).

At first, even Jesus was stunned by the rejection of those who were already satisfied with the official religious structure and no longer expected anything that could oust the beaten track, arousing habits (or fantasies) and profit.

Then he overcomes the initial surprise: he fully grasps, praises and blesses the Father's plan, making it his own, holding it close to him.

He brings to full and proper knowledge his Secret: that the Root of the transformation of being into the Unforeseeable of God is concealment, "tapinōsis" [(tapeínōsis, "lowering"), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, "low") [v.29; Lk 1:48].

Here the Son knows and understands the nucleus of the Expectations and Promises of the Covenant, and its protagonists - on the contrary: the trustworthy Person is born precisely from the lowly, not from the class of elites.

In short, Christ intuits the all-round authenticity precisely of the underdog - the profound impulse, motive, motor, quintessence and unique energy of salvation history.

Transparency of the Eternal, which comes from another elaboration.

Genesis itself that upsets the established religious relationship, which has sometimes become inert and 'reassuring' - never profound nor decisive for human destiny.

God is Simple Relationship: it demythologises the idol of greatness.

The Eternal One is no longer the master of creation [He who manifested Himself strong and peremptory; in His action, still in the ancient Covenant illustrated through the irrepressible powers of nature].

Quite the contrary. In this way, reflexively, and also on the spiritual path, the Father does not lead us to alienation, to the hysteria of forcings we do not want, to inner dissociations.

He is Friend and Refreshment that refreshes, because He makes us feel complete and lovable; He seeks us by Name, He is attentive to the language of the heart.

He is Keeper of the world, even of the unlearned - of the "infants" (v.25) spontaneously empty of boastful spirit, that is, of those who do not remain closed in their sufficient belonging.

As it is, 'perfect' in order to their mission in the world. Not empty glasses, only to be re-educated in institutional function.

No longer souls to be chiselled according to models.

If anything, hearts to be guided to total awareness; souls to be completed in the sense of complete self-discovery, in the opposites of character and vocational essence.

In this way, the Father-Son relationship is communicated to the poor of God: those endowed with a family-like attitude (v.27).

Capable of co-existence, yet more autonomous than the identified and well-integrated... totally committed to the tracing, in order to be recognised.

The poor remain genuine: what they are; not outsiders.

Insignificant and invisible, lacking great gifts, but strangely always filled with an Other 'power'.

It is the 'virtue' of the infirm, who abandon themselves to the proposals of the providential life that comes, like children in the arms of parents.

With a spirit of 'pietas' - which favours those who allow themselves to be filled with innate wisdom.

The only reality that corresponds to us and does not present the 'bill': it does not proceed along the paths of functional thinking, of calculating initiative.

Wisdom that conveys freshness in the readiness to receive, welcome, personally re-fill the Truth as a Gift - and the spontaneous enthusiasm itself, capable of realising it.

A simple prayer of blessing, for the simple - this of Jesus (v.25) - that makes us grow in esteem, fits perfectly with our experience, and agrees with ourselves; starting from the intimate.

But which, strangely enough, the scholars on the ground who do not live 'the spirit of the neighbourhood' (FT no.152) but on the ground claim positions and always play smart, have never wanted to convey to us.

The new, the voiceless and invisible do not reason in terms of doctrine and laws - vv.29-30: unbearable "yoke" that crushes people and concrete, particular vocations - but of life and humanity.

Thus they enrich the fundamental and spontaneous experience of Faith-Love, fulfilling it without mannerisms or intimate forcing that then pulls us out of ourselves.

Because the exteriority of the pyramidal world, the distrust of those who want to "count", the anxiety of the competitive and epidermic society, impoverish the gaze; they contaminate the vital wave.

For God, it is better to 'count' little.

He does not force us into the energy of models, nor does He propose as an ideal the aggressive power of the 'big shots'.

In this way, his intimates, instead of only with the 'big' and external, will live of Communion even with the 'small' in themselves; or they will not enjoy amiability, nor authentic life.

To internalise and live the message:

What do you feel when you are told: 'You do not count'?

Does it remain a humiliating contempt or do you consider it a great Light received, as Jesus did?

The Yoke on the Little Ones

Religion turned into obsession (for "held back")

(Mt 11:28-30)

The rabbis chose disciples from among those who had greater intellectual and ascetic abilities. Jesus, on the other hand, goes looking for the outcasts, the "infants" (v.25) who did not even have self-esteem.

Even for today's rebirth, Christ has no need of fake phenomena; on the contrary, it is He who frees from external constraints; He unleashes inner strength (and heals the brain too). 

Into the intimacy of the Mystery of divine life enters he who knows how to receive everything and lets go - but remains himself.

God is not distant, but very close; he is not great, but small: the effective itinerary for becoming intimate with the Father is not to make oneself subordinate with effort, but to know how to be dissolved family members.

Only here can we grasp him in the centre of his unveiling: wise power, succouring, united; for us, as we are.

The pundits of official religion - overflowing with self-love and a sense of election - preached a God to be persuaded with confident attitudes and contrived, edgy, imperious actions.

They allowed neither being nor becoming. Their intransigence was a sign that they did not know the Father.

The Eternal One transformed into the Controller had become a source of discrimination and obsession for the intimate lives of minute people, harassed by the insecurity of distinguish-avoid-observe, and by doubts of conscience.

Discouraged from experiencing first-hand (and as a class) the conversion they preached to others, the professors did not realise that they had to empty themselves of absurd presumptions and become - they - pupils of ordinary people.

In short, as children we are incessantly invited to build a multifaceted Family, where we are not always on the alert.

We are not the subordinates of a frowning and all-distant - but manipulative - Lord.

Rather, we are called to a paradoxical, personal and class choice: without forcing ourselves, to recognise and stand alongside the humiliated and harassed.

This while provincial false piety continues to drag burdens - precisely those of the thwarted and weary, of existence made more hesitant rather than free; obsessed and heavy, rather than light.

Why? Without mincing words, the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti would answer:

"The best way to dominate and advance without limits is to sow hopelessness and arouse constant distrust, albeit masked by the defence of certain values" (no.15).

As if to say: when the authorities and the leaders have little credibility, only the sowing of fear produces significant conditioning in the people, and puts them on a leash.

In the widespread Church, only a few decades ago we overcame the cliché of moralistic and terroristic preaching, (e.g. even at Advent time) divorced from a meridian sense of humanisation.

The excluded, dejected and exhausted by meaningless fulfilments have nevertheless continued to meet the Saviour frankly, finding rest of soul, conviction, peace, balance, hope.

Instinctively, they were able to carve out what no pyramid religion had ever been able to provide and deploy.

In fact, the new, the voiceless, the inadequate and invisible do not know how to calculate in terms of doctrine and laws, norm and code - unbearable ancient 'yoke' (vv.29-30), which crushes people and concrete vocations; particular autonomies or communions.

In short, no 'patriarch' is empowered by God to pack up our souls, force directions and keep a maniacal, perfectionist, meticulous eye on us.

Exacerbating failures, across the board.

Everyone has an innate way of being in the world, all their own - even if it is habitual. It is an opportunity of impulse and richness for everyone.

We ourselves do not want to exacerbate events by regulating every detail, even 'spiritual' ones, from irritating patterns of vigilance that do not belong to us.

We prefer to let personal ways of dealing with reality flow; thus tracing its essential and spontaneous energies.

We reason according to codes of life and humanisation: temperament, unrepeatable history, cultural influences, broad friendships. We do not live to prevent.

Only in this way can we enrich the fundamental experience: Love - which does not come from judgements, cuts and separations, but from the Father-Son relationship. The only one that does not stigmatise.

The root of the transformation of being in God's unpredictable is precisely concealment, "tapinōsis" [(tapeínōsis, "lowering"), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, "low") [v.29 Greek text; Lk 1:48].

Only those who love strength start from the too far from themselves.

To internalise and live the message:

Do you find yourself more or less free and serene in community?

Does your Calling gain breath or do you feel the burden of others' doubts, judgements, prohibitions and prescriptions?

Do you suffer from some guide or from yourself a kind of controller complex?

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

The Lord's words that we have just heard in the Gospel passage challenge us as theologians or, perhaps better, invite us to make an examination of conscience. What is theology? What is our role as theologians? How can theology be done well? We have heard that our Lord praises the Father because he concealed the great mystery of the Son the Trinitarian mystery, the Christological mystery from the wise and the learned, from those who did not recognize him. Instead he revealed it to children, the nèpioi, to those who are not learned, who are not very cultured. It was to them that this great mystery was revealed. 

With these words the Lord describes in simple terms an episode in his life that already began at the time of his birth, when the Magi from the East ask those who are competent the scribes, the exegetes where the birthplace of the Saviour, of the King of Israel, is located. The scribes know because they are great specialists; they can say immediately where the Messiah is born: in Bethlehem! But they do not feel it concerns them. For them it remains academic knowledge that does not affect their lives; they stay away. They can provide information, but they do not assimilate it and it has no part in the formation of their own lives. 

Then throughout the Lord's public life we encounter the same thing. It is beyond the learned to comprehend that this man, a Galilean who is not educated, can truly be the Son of God. It is unacceptable to them that God the great, the one, the God of Heaven and earth could be present in this man. They know everything, they know all of the great prophecies; they even know Isaiah 53, but the mystery remains hidden to them. Instead it is revealed to the lowly, starting from Our Lady to the fishermen of the Sea of Galilee. They know, just as the Roman centurion beneath the Cross knew: this is the Son of God. 

The basic events of Jesus' life do not only belong to the past but are also present in various ways to all generations. And thus also in our time in the past 200 years we see the same thing. There have been great scholars, great experts, great theologians, teachers of faith who have taught us many things. They have gone into the details of Sacred Scripture, of the history of salvation but have been unable to see the mystery itself, its central nucleus: that Jesus was really the Son of God, that at a given moment in history the Trinitarian God entered our history, as a man like us. The essential has remained hidden! One could easily mention the great names in the history of theology over the past 200 years from whom we have learned much; but the eyes of their hearts were not open to the mystery. 

On the other hand, in our time there have also been "little ones" who have understood this mystery. Let us think of St Bernadette Soubirous; of St Thérèse of Lisieux, with her new interpretation of the Bible that is "non-scientific" but goes to the heart of Sacred Scripture; of the saints and blessed of our time: St Josephine Bakhita, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta and St Damien de Veuster. We could list so many! 

But from all this the question arises: "Why should this be so?". Is Christianity the religion of the foolish, of people with no culture or who are uneducated? Is faith extinguished where reason is kindled? How can this be explained? Perhaps we should take another look at history. What Jesus said, what can be noted in all the centuries, is true. Nevertheless, there is a "type" of lowly person who is also learned. Our Lady stood beneath the Cross, the humble handmaid of the Lord and the great woman illumined by God. And John was there too, a fisherman from the Sea of Galilee. He is the John whom the Church was rightly to call "the theologian", for he was really able to see the mystery of God and proclaim it: eagled-eyed he entered into the inaccessible light of the divine mystery. So it was too that after his Resurrection, the Lord, on the road to Damascus, touches the heart of Saul, one of those learned people who cannot see. He himself, in his First Letter to Timothy, writes that he was "acting ignorantly" at that time, despite his knowledge. But the Risen One touches him: he is blinded. Yet at the same time, he truly gains sight; he begins to see. The great scholar becomes a "little one" and for this very reason perceives the folly of God as wisdom, a wisdom far greater than all human wisdom. 

We could continue to interpret the holy story in this way. Just one more observation. These erudite terms, sofòi and sinetòi, in the First Reading are used in a different way. Here sofia and sìnesis are gifts of the Holy Spirit which descend upon the Messiah, upon Christ. What does this mean? It turns out that there is a dual use of reason and a dual way of being either wise or little. In the whole range of sciences, starting with the natural sciences, where a suitable method for the research of matter is universalized, there is a way of using reason that is autonomous, that places itself above God. God has no part in this method, so God does not exist. And, in the end, this is so in theology too: one fishes in the waters of Sacred Scripture using a net in which only fish of a certain size may be caught. Therefore a fish exceeding this size is too big for the net and hence cannot exist. It is in this way that the great mystery of Jesus, the Son made Man, is reduced to a historical Jesus: a tragic figure; a ghost, not of flesh and blood; a man who stays in the tomb, whose body is corrupt and who is truly dead. The method is able to "catch" certain fish but the great mystery eludes it, because the human being himself established the measure. He takes pride in this which is the same time great foolishness, because it renders absolute certain methods that are unsuitable for treating the great realities. He enters into this academic spirit that we have seen in the scribes, who answered the Magi Kings: it does not concern me. I remain closed into my own life that will not be affected. It is a specialization that sees all the details but can no longer discern the whole. 

Then there is the other way of using reason, of being wise that of the man who recognizes who he is; he recognizes the proper measure and greatness of God, opening himself in humility to the newness of God's action. It is in this way, precisely by accepting his own smallness, making himself little as he really is, that he arrives at the truth. Thus reason too can express all its possibilities; it is not extinguished but rather grows and becomes greater. Sofìaand sìnesis in this context do not exclude one from the mystery that is real communion with the Lord, in whom reside wisdom and knowledge and their truth. 

Let us now pray that the Lord will give us true humility. May he give us the grace of being little in order to be truly wise; may he illumine us, enable us to see his mystery in the joy of the Holy Spirit. May he help us to be true theologians who can proclaim his mystery because we are touched in the depths of our hearts, of our very existence. Amen.

[Pope Benedict, homily to the members of the International Theological Commission, 1 December 2009]

1. "Bless you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have kept these things hidden from the wise and the learned and revealed them to babes" (Mt 11:25).

We come here, dear brothers, to repeat with Christ the Lord these words, to "bless the Father".

- We come to bless him because of what he revealed, eight centuries ago, to a "Little One", to the Poverello of Assisi;

- the things in heaven and on earth, which the philosophers "had not even dreamed of";

- the things hidden from those who are only humanly "wise", and only humanly "intelligent";

- these "things" the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth, has revealed to Francis and through Francis.

Through Francis of Pietro di Bernardone, that is, the son of a rich merchant of Assisi, who abandoned all the inheritance of his earthly father and married "Lady Poverty", the inheritance of the heavenly Father offered to him in Christ crucified and risen.

The primary purpose of our pilgrimage to Assisi this year is to give glory to God.

In a spirit of veneration, let us also celebrate the Eucharist together, all of us, Pastors of the Church in Italy with the Bishop of Rome, successor of Peter.

2. "Yes, O Father, for it pleased thee" (Mt 11:26).

After eight centuries, relics and memories remain. The whole of Assisi is a living relic and a testimony of man. Of man alone? Of the unusual man alone?

- It is the testimony of a particular delight that the Heavenly Father, through his Only-Begotten Son, had in this man, in this "little one", in the "Poverello", in Francis who - like very few throughout the history of the Church and of humanity - learned from Christ to be meek and humble of heart.

Yes, Father, such was your contentment. So many men come here to follow in the footsteps of your complacency. Today we come, Bishops of Italy.

We have come to close and, at the same time, crown in this Jubilee Year of St Francis of Assisi the work carried out during the entire year of the visit "ad limina Apostolorum" to which the tradition and the law of the Church have invited our episcopate at this time.

3. We find ourselves in the presence of the Saint, who at the same time is the patron saint of Italy, hence the one who, among the many canonised and beatified sons and daughters of this land, unites Italy with the Church in a special way. In fact, the Church's task is to proclaim and realise in every nation that vocation to holiness that we have from the Father in the Holy Spirit through the work of Christ crucified and risen; of this Christ, whose wounds St Francis of Assisi bore in his body: 'For I bear the stigmata of Jesus in my body' (Gal 6:17).

So we stand in his presence and meditate on the words of the Gospel, sentence after sentence:

"Everything has been given to me by my Father; no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal him" (Mt 11:27).

Here, we find ourselves before a man, to whom the Son of God wished to reveal, in a particular measure and with particular abundance, what has been given to him by the Father for all men, for all times. Certainly, Francis was sent with the Gospel of Christ especially in his own time, in the transition from the 12th to the 13th century, in the midst of the Italian Middle Ages, which was a splendid and at the same time difficult period: but every age has retained something of it. However, the Franciscan mission did not end then; it continues to this day.

And here we, Bishops and Pastors of the Church, to whom are entrusted the Gospel and the Church of our times - how apparently splendid, how far removed from the Middle Ages according to the measure of earthly progress! and at the same time how, how difficult! - we Bishops and Pastors of the Church in this same Italy, pray above all for one thing. Let us pray that the same words of our Master, which were fulfilled on Saint Francis, be fulfilled upon us; that we be the sure depositories of the Revelation of the Son! That we be the faithful stewards of what the Father Himself handed down to the Only-Begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. That we are stewards of this truth and this love, of this word and this salvation, which all mankind and every man and every nation have in him and from him; for "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him" (Matthew 11: 27).

Such is the pastoral and apostolic purpose of our pilgrimage today.

4. And behold, Francis seems to address us and speak to us with the accents of Paul the Apostle: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers" (Gal 6:18)!

Thank you, holy Poverello, for these good wishes with which you are receiving us!Looking with the eyes of the spirit

your figure 

and meditating on the words of the letter to the Galatians 

with which today's liturgy speaks to us, 

we wish to learn from you 

this 'belonging to Jesus 

of which your whole life constitutes 

such a perfect example and model. 

"As for me... 

let there be no other boast than in the cross 

of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through whom the world for me 

was crucified as I for the world" (Gal 6:14).

Let us hear Paul's words, 

which are also, Francis, 

your words. 

Your spirit is expressed in them. 

Jesus Christ has allowed you, 

just as he once 

had allowed that Apostle 

who became a "chosen instrument" (Acts 9:15), 

to "boast", solely and exclusively, 

in the Cross of our Redemption.

In this way you have arrived at the very heart 

of the knowledge of the truth about God 

about the world and man; 

truth that can only be seen 

only with the eyes of love.

Now that we stand before you 

as successors of the Apostles 

sent to the men of our time 

with the same Gospel of the Cross of Christ, 

we ask: teach us, just as the Apostle Paul 

taught you 

to have "no other boast than 

in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ".

May each one of us, 

with all the insight of the gift of fear, 

of wisdom and fortitude 

know how to penetrate the truth 

of these words about the Cross 

in which the "new creature" begins, 

about the Cross that constantly brings 

to humanity "peace and mercy".

Through the Cross, God has expressed himself to the end in human history; God who is "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4). In the Cross, the glory of Love willing to do everything is revealed. Only with the Cross in his hand - like an open book - can man learn to the full about himself and his dignity.

He must finally, fixing his eyes on the Cross, ask himself: 'who am I', man, in the eyes of God, if he pays such a price for me and my love!

"The Cross on Calvary," I wrote in the encyclical "Redemptor Hominis", "by which Jesus Christ - man, son of the Virgin Mary, putative son of Joseph of Nazareth - 'leaves' this world, is at the same time a new manifestation of the eternal fatherhood of God, who in him draws near once again to humanity, to every man, giving him the thrice holy 'Spirit of Truth' (cf. Jn 16:13)... His is love that does not recoil from anything that in Himself demands justice.

And for this reason the Son 

"who had known no sin, 

God treated him as sin for our sake" (2 Cor 5:21; cf. Gal 3:13). 

If he "dealt from sin" 

He who was absolutely 

without any sin, 

he did so to reveal the love 

which is always greater 

than all creation, 

the love that is himself, 

for 'God is love' (1 Jn 4:8, 16)" (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 9).

This is exactly how you looked at things 

you, Francis. 

They called you the "Poor Man of Assisi", 

and you were and remained 

one of the men who gave 

most generously to others. 

You had therefore an enormous wealth, 

a great treasure. 

And the secret of your wealth 

was hidden in the Cross of Christ.

Teach us, 

Bishops and Pastors of the 20th century 

which is drawing to an end, 

to boast similarly in the Cross, 

teach us this wealth in poverty 

and this giving in abundance.

5. The first reading from the book of Sirach recalls the words about the high priest Simon, son of Onias, who "in his life repaired the temple and in his days strengthened the sanctuary" (Sir 50:1).

The liturgy refers these words to Francis of Assisi. He remained in tradition, literature and art as the one who 'repaired the temple... and fortified the sanctuary'. As the one who "caring to prevent the fall of his people, fortified the city against a siege (Sir 50:4).

The reading goes on to speak of Simon, son of Onias, and we relate these words to Francis, son of Peter of Bernardone. We also apply these comparisons to him:

"Like a morning star among the clouds, / like the moon in the days when it is full, / like the sun blazing over the temple of the Most High, / like the shining rainbow among clouds of glory" (Sir 50, 6-7).

6. We gladly borrow these words from the book of Sirach to venerate, after eight hundred years, Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy.

That is why we have all come here, Bishops and Pastors of the Church that is in all of Italy together with the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter.

However, the purpose of our pilgrimage is particularly apostolic and pastoral.

When we hear Christ's words about the yoke that is sweet and the burden that is light, (cf. Mt 11:30) we think of our mission as Bishops and pastoral service.

And let us repeat with confidence and joy the words of the Responsorial Psalm: "I said to God: 'You are my Lord, /Without you I have no good. / The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: / in your hands is my life. / I bless the Lord who has given me counsel.... / I always place before me the Lord, / he stands at my right hand, I cannot waver" (Ps 15 [16]).

With joy we have accepted the invitation to come here to Assisi, heard in a certain way in the words of our Lord and Master: "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). Let us hope that they will be fulfilled on us all, as well as the further words: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, who am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Mt 11:29).

So we wish, Christ! Thus we desire! With such a thought we have come to Assisi today. We thank you for the holy "burden" of priesthood and episcopacy. We thank you for Saint Francis, who did not feel worthy to accept priestly ordination. Yet to him you entrusted, in such an exceptional way, your Church.

7. And behold, as we look towards Francis, who "poor and humble, enters richly into heaven, honoured with heavenly hymns" (Cant. ad Evang.), we would still like to apply to him the words of the book of Sirach, which summarise his famous vision so well: "Francis, take care to prevent the fall of your people"!

Francis! As in your life, so also now, repair the temple! Fortify the sanctuary!

For this we pray, we Pastors of the Church, who at the school of the Second Vatican Council have learned anew to surround the Church, Italy and the contemporary world with a common solicitude.

And with our beloved people we repeat:

"The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: / in your hands is my life; / I bless the Lord who has given me counsel;... / I always place before me the Lord'.

Yes, brothers and sisters, always! And so be it.

[Pope John Paul II, homily Assisi 12 March 1982]

“I give you thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25).

Peace and all good to each and every one of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank you for being here, in this Square so full of history and faith, to pray together.

Today, I too have come, like countless other pilgrims, to give thanks to the Father for all that he wished to reveal to one of the “little ones” mentioned in today’s Gospel: Francis, the son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi. His encounter with Jesus led him to strip himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse “Lady Poverty” and to live as a true son of our heavenly Father. This decision of Saint Francis was a radical way of imitating Christ: he clothed himself anew, putting on Christ, who, though he was rich, became poor in order to make us rich by his poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). In all of Francis’ life, love for the poor and the imitation of Christ in his poverty were inseparably united, like the two sides of the same coin.

What does Saint Francis’s witness tell us today? What does he have to say to us, not merely with words – that is easy enough – but by his life? 

1. The first thing he tells us is this: that being a Christian means having a living relationship with the person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him.

Where did Francis’s journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself. Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of San Damiano, as he prayed before the cross which I too will have an opportunity to venerate. On that cross, Jesus is depicted not as dead, but alive! Blood is flowing from his wounded hands, feet and side, but that blood speaks of life. Jesus’ eyes are not closed but open, wide open: he looks at us in a way that touches our hearts. The cross does not speak to us about defeat and failure; paradoxically, it speaks to us about a death which is life, a death which gives life, for it speaks to us of love, the love of God incarnate, a love which does not die, but triumphs over evil and death. When we let the crucified Jesus gaze upon us, we are re-created, we become “a new creation”. Everything else starts with this: the experience of transforming grace, the experience of being loved for no merits of our own, in spite of our being sinners. That is why Saint Francis could say with Saint Paul: “Far be it for me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to remain before the cross, to let the crucified Christ gaze upon us, to let ourselves be forgiven, and recreated by his love.

2. In today’s Gospel we heard these words: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:28-29).

This is the second witness that Francis gives us: that everyone who follows Christ receives true peace, the peace that Christ alone can give, a peace which the world cannot give. Many people, when they think of Saint Francis, think of peace; very few people however go deeper. What is the peace which Francis received, experienced and lived, and which he passes on to us? It is the peace of Christ, which is born of the greatest love of all, the love of the cross. It is the peace which the Risen Jesus gave to his disciples when he stood in their midst (cf. Jn 20:19-20).

Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Hardly! That is not the real Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with forces of the cosmos… That is not Franciscan either! It is not Franciscan, but a notion that some people have invented! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is found by those who “take up” their “yoke”, namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have loved you (cf. Jn 13:34; 15:12). This yoke cannot be borne with arrogance, presumption or pride, but only with meekness and humbleness of heart.

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to be “instruments of peace”, of that peace which has its source in God, the peace which Jesus has brought us.

3. Francis began the Canticle of the Creatures with these words: “Praised may you be, Most High, All-powerful God, good Lord… by all your creatures (FF, 1820). Love for all creation, for its harmony. Saint Francis of Assisi bears witness to the need to respect all that God has created and as he created it, without manipulating and destroying creation; rather to help it grow, to become more beautiful and more like what God created it to be. And above all, Saint Francis witnesses to respect for everyone, he testifies that each of us is called to protect our neighbour, that the human person is at the centre of creation, at the place where God – our creator – willed that we should be. Not at the mercy of the idols we have created! Harmony and peace! Francis was a man of harmony and peace. From this City of Peace, I repeat with all the strength and the meekness of love: Let us respect creation, let us not be instruments of destruction! Let us respect each human being. May there be an end to armed conflicts which cover the earth with blood; may the clash of arms be silenced; and everywhere may hatred yield to love, injury to pardon, and discord to unity. Let us listen to the cry of all those who are weeping, who are suffering and who are dying because of violence, terrorism or war, in the Holy Land, so dear to Saint Francis, in Syria, throughout the Middle East and everywhere in the world. 

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Obtain for us God’s gift of harmony, peace and respect for creation!

Finally, I cannot forget the fact that today Italy celebrates Saint Francis as her patron saint. I greet all the Italian people, represented by the Head of Government, who is present among us. The traditional offering of oil for the votive lamp, which this year is given by the Region of Umbria, is an expression of this. Let us pray for Italy, that everyone will always work for the common good, and look more to what unites us, rather than what divides us.

I make my own the prayer of Saint Francis for Assisi, for Italy and for the world: “I pray to you, Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies: Do not look upon our ingratitude, but always keep in mind the surpassing goodness which you have shown to this City. Grant that it may always be the home of men and women who know you in truth and who glorify your most holy and glorious name, now and for all ages. Amen.” (The Mirror of Perfection, 124: FF, 1824).

[Pope Francis, homily Assisi 4 October 2013]

Why the Announcement, without knots in the throat

(Lk 10:13-16)

Difference between religiosity and Faith is in the Subject, of Life in the Spirit: it’s not we who dispose, set up, new heavens and earth - but the Grace that silently tills and precedes.

That’s why in the Announcement we are not orphans, with so many knots in the throat.

Master himself is not alone. The testimony of even the non disciples is part of the Way of Christ to the Father.

Road that Comes. It is not the established "internal" commitment that builds a more authentic world, with divine traits.

It’s rather the Kingdom - effusive in itself - that gives rise to the path towards the "distant", and activates unthinkable scenarios.

They come to us as a proposal for Peace: openness to a wider Plan, and interhuman justice.

The varied experience, the environment full of surprises of the non followers, generates blooms, of each one - in the discovery of the limit, of their own profound states - for communion.

No elective reserve; no right of pre-emption. Salvation according to the Father, not "in our own way".

Gospel overcomes the peoples barriers and if necessary leaves behind its cradle of mitigating cultures, closed in a cast-in mentality, perhaps intolerant; annoyed with everything.

Whoever in full warning and deliberate consent rejects the Word because the world will no longer be "like before", suddenly finds himself hopeless, without sons, with no possibility of life and expansion.

Without Presence, without the Spirituality of the Covenant - which concatenates every witness to the Son and the Father. And only God can overcome the force of obstacles; internal and external powers.

Only in the torch of divine condition [authentic Source, measure that Christ lives and amazes us] do we learn the meaning of our being, communicate, go.

The inaccessible interrogates, and becomes very close. It annihilates the exclusive ballasts, which remain in vain.

Thus the Proclamation unleashes the Spirit, it opens up unusual doors wide: even a window on the inner world.

Where opposites already have a right to exist. In addition, they call for New Covenant, which teaches to be with sides that do not like.

As such we will investigate and discover: the struggle of blockages, of fears of what we do not want to see outside and inside ourselves, must cease.

The tendencies that we thought should be denied become unpredictable source of other lights and virtues, intimate and in relationships.

Also and above all, the shadows call the Exodus, a new Alliance - where we are absolutely not alone and unilateral, but more complete.

In short, the Mystery that dwells in us goes beyond the snares of convictions, it makes us less divided. Starting from the source of being.

It becomes real, compelling transcendence-immanence; for all. New Life’ Awareness.

«He who listens to you listens to me and he who despises you despises me but he who despises me despises the One who sent me» (v.16).

«The Father in fact does not judge anyone but has given every judgment to the Son so that everyone honors the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him» (Jn 5:22-23).

[Friday 26th wk. in O.T.  October 3, 2025]

Silence and contemplation have a purpose: they serve, in the distractions of daily life, to preserve permanent union with God. This is their purpose: that union with God may always be present in our souls and may transform our entire being. 

Silence and contemplation, characteristic of St Bruno, help us find this profound, continuous union with God in the distractions of every day. Silence and contemplation: speaking is the beautiful vocation of the theologian. This is his mission: in the loquacity of our day and of other times, in the plethora of words, to make the essential words heard. Through words, it means making present the Word, the Word who comes from God, the Word who is God. 

Yet, since we are part of this world with all its words, how can we make the Word present in words other than through a process of purification of our thoughts, which in addition must be above all a process of purification of our words? 

How can we open the world, and first of all ourselves, to the Word without entering into the silence of God from which his Word proceeds? For the purification of our words, hence, also for the purification of the words of the world, we need that silence which becomes contemplation, which introduces us into God's silence and brings us to the point where the Word, the redeeming Word, is born. 

St Thomas Aquinas, with a long tradition, says that in theology God is not the object of which we speak. This is our own normal conception. 

God, in reality, is not the object but the subject of theology. The one who speaks through theology, the speaking subject, must be God himself. And our speech and thoughts must always serve to ensure that what God says, the Word of God, is listened to and finds room in the world. 

Thus, once again we find ourselves invited to this process of forfeiting our own words, this process of purification so that our words may be nothing but the instrument through which God can speak, and hence, that he may truly be the subject and not the object of theology.

[Pope Benedict, homily, 6 October 2006]

“Whoever welcomes Christ welcomes the one who sent him, the Father” (cf. Mt 10:40).

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

1. Let us give expression to the joy of welcoming Christ. Let us rejoice in the fact that from apostolic times Rome, the capital of the ancient Empire, accepted Christ. Let us sing our joy that the names of the Apostles Peter and Paul are indelibly linked to this City. They came here sent by the Lord. After the Resurrection, Christ said to the Apostles: "As the Father has sent me... receive the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 20: 21-22). 

And so we believe it was the Holy Spirit who directed the steps of Peter, the fisherman of Galilee, and of Paul, the scholar from Tarsus, to this City of Rome. Through their apostolic ministry and, at the end, through their martyrdomthey confirmed the words of their Lord and Master. 

Christ said: "Anyone who does not take his Cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me" (Mt. 10: 38). And here in Rome, Peter did take up the cross on which he gave his life. Christ also said: "Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Ibid. 10: 39). And so Paul – like Peter – here in Rome, lost his life for the sake of Christ. Sanguis martyrum semen Christianorum (Cf. Tertullian, Apologeticus, 50) – the Church grew strong out of the martyrs’ example. Thus the words of Christ were fulfilled in the Apostles: "Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me" (Mt. 10: 40).

7. "Anyone who welcomes an Apostle welcomes Christ" (Cf. Mt. 10: 40). The Apostles, and in particular Peter and Paul, transmitted the Gospel in the form of an awareness of New Life. This is the New Life which springs from the redeeming death of Christ: "we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him: Christ, as we know, having been raised from the dead will never die again. Death has no more power over him... his life now is life with God; and in that way, we too must consider ourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus" (Cf. Rom. 6: 8-11).

[Pope John Paul II, homily, 27 June 1993]

Man lives 'within himself the drama of not accepting God's salvation', because he would like 'to be saved in his own way'. And Jesus even weeps for this 'resistance' of man, always offering his mercy and forgiveness. In short, we cannot say, 'Save us, Lord, but in our own way!' Pope Francis pointed out during Mass celebrated on Friday, 3 October, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta.
In the Gospel passage proposed by the liturgy, Luke (10:13-16) presents Jesus as "seeming a little angry." And "he speaks to these people to make them see reason," saying, "If the wonders that happened among you had happened in the pagan cities, they would have long since repented, wearing sackcloth and ashes. But you have not.' Thus, Jesus traces 'a summary of the entire history of salvation: it is the drama of not wanting to be saved; it is the drama of not accepting God's salvation.' It is as if we were saying, 'Save us, Lord, but in our own way!'
Jesus himself recalls many times "how this people rejected the prophets, stoned those who were sent to them because they were inconvenient." The thought is always the same: "We want salvation, but as we want it! Not as the Lord wants it."
We are faced, the Pope pointed out, with the "tragedy of resistance to being saved." It is "a legacy that we have all received," because "even in our hearts there is this seed of resistance to being saved as the Lord wants to save us."
The context of Luke's Gospel passage sees Jesus "speaking to his disciples who had returned from a mission." And he also says to them: "Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Your fathers did the same to the prophets." Once again, it is the idea of wanting to "be saved" in our own way. Certainly, "the Lord saves us in our freedom," the Pope pointed out, adding, however, that "we want to be saved not with freedom, but with our own autonomy: we make the rules."
"This," Francis pointed out, "is the drama of the history of salvation, from the very beginning." It is first and foremost "a drama of the people," because "the people rebel many times, in the desert for example." However, he added, "through trials, the people mature: they become more mature." And so "they recognise Jesus as a great prophet and also say: God has visited his people."
Instead, he continued, "it is precisely the ruling class that closes the doors to the way God wants to save us." In this sense, "we understand Jesus' strong dialogues with the ruling class of his time: they argue, they test him, they set traps for him to see if he falls," because in them there is precisely "resistance to being saved."
Faced with this attitude, Jesus says to them: "But I do not understand you! You are like those children: we played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a lament and you did not weep. But what do you want?" The answer is still: "We want to achieve salvation in our own way." So, "this closure" to God's way of working always returns.
Then, "when the Lord goes on," the Pope recalled, "even in the group close to them, doubts begin." John reports this in the sixth chapter of his Gospel, giving voice to those who say of Jesus: "But this man is a bit strange, how can he feed us with his body? But perhaps he is a bit strange." Probably some people were saying these things, Francis said, and even "his disciples began to turn back." So "Jesus looks at the twelve" and says to them, "If you also want to leave..."
There is no doubt, the Pontiff explained, that "these words are harsh: the words of the cross are always harsh." But they are also "the only door to salvation." And "the believing people accept them: they sought Jesus to be healed" and "to hear his words." In fact, they said: "This man speaks with authority. Not like our class, the Pharisees, the doctors of the law, the Sadducees, who spoke a language that no one understood." For them, all salvation lay in the fulfilment of the numerous commandments "that their intellectual and theological fever had created." But "the poor people could not find a way to salvation." Instead, they find it in Jesus.
However, in the end, the Pope said, "they did the same as their fathers: they decided to kill Jesus." The Lord rebukes this way of acting: "Your fathers killed the prophets, but you, to clear your conscience, build them a beautiful monument." So, "they decide to kill Jesus, that is, to do away with him," because, they say, "this man will cause us problems: we do not want this salvation! We want a well-disciplined, secure salvation. We do not want this one!" Consequently, "they also decide to kill Lazarus, because he is a witness to what Jesus brings: life," in that he has "risen from the dead."."With this decision, the ruling class cancels out God's omnipotence," commented the Bishop of Rome, recalling that "today in our prayer at the beginning of Mass, we praised God's omnipotence so well: 'Lord, who reveals your omnipotence, especially in mercy and forgiveness'." The "drama of resistance to salvation" leads to a lack of belief "in mercy and forgiveness" but in sacrifice. And it pushes us to want "everything well organised, everything clear".
It is "a drama," Francis recalled, that "is also within each of us." For this reason, he suggested some questions for an examination of conscience: "How do I want to be saved? In my own way? In the way of a spirituality that is good, that does me good, but that is fixed, has everything clear and there is no risk? Or in the divine way, that is, on the path of Jesus, who always surprises us, who always opens the doors to that mystery of God's omnipotence, which is mercy and forgiveness?"
Jesus, the Pontiff assured us, "when he sees this drama of resistance, even when he sees ours, he weeps." He "wept before Lazarus' tomb; he wept looking at Jerusalem" and saying: "But you who kill the prophets and stone all those who are sent to you, how many times I wanted to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings!". And he also weeps "before this drama of not accepting his salvation, as the Father wants it".
Pope Francis therefore invited us to "think that this tragedy is in our hearts," insisting that each of us ask ourselves: "How do I think the path to my salvation is: that of Jesus or another? Am I free to accept salvation, or do I confuse freedom with autonomy and want my own salvation, the one I believe to be right? Do I believe that Jesus is the teacher who teaches us salvation, or do I go everywhere hiring gurus to teach me another way? A safer path, or do I take refuge under the roof of prescriptions and the many commandments made by men? And so I feel safe, and with this — it's a bit hard to say this — security, I buy my salvation that Jesus gives freely, with God's gratuitousness?"
All these questions, which 'will do us good to ask ourselves today', culminate in the Pope's final proposal: 'Do I resist the salvation of Jesus?'.
[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano, 4 October 2014]

Face to the Person, Father in relationship

Mt 18:1-5.10.(12-14)

The Gospel passage dictates the line of the entire ecclesial discourse of Mt (18:1-35).

The key term in vv.1-5 is «paidìon» - diminutive of «pàis» - which stands for the shop boy, the little one between 9 and 11 years of age, who also at home had to provide immediately, after every command received.

Jesus crushes the ambitions of greatness of his craving disciples, who would like to seize him and put him on a leash.

The model of the Kingdom is not the commander, but the servant; the one who does not act with a common mindset, out of a spirit of self-interest or promotion.

It is not a sin to desire to give meaning to one's life, but there is a reversal: 'greater' is the 'lesser' - he who does not covet pre-eminent places; remains humble in feeling, condition, and position.

The overt importance is a deception: the true “greats” of the church community do not belong to the world of the perfectly installed, who come forward, who know who to lean on, and thus know how to impose themselves.

From v.6 the author speaks of «mikròi»: the voiceless. They are those who have no weight.

These “little ones” are «tiny ones» who have heard of the spirit of communion that exists between sisters and brothers of Faith…

They would like to experience the benefit of this new Way without mortifying pretensions, a solicitous way to recovery...

They try to begin, but sometimes they shy away from it, fatigued by improper situations.

Jesus displaces us: the 'outcasts' are the only ones who make us shout for joy, and they are worth more than the whole flock of habituals (vv.12-14).

The Recall also applies to us: it is precisely in the isolated, lost and seemingly most insignificant people that the flowering of large spontaneous content is particularly lively..

In them lurks the Sap that regenerates the world, and the Newness of God is revealed [who also wants to guide us today in our vocational and social exodus].

In short: fixed ideas condition life and do not allow the inner organism - psychic and spiritual - to feed on transparent (unprejudiced) truths and sincere feelings, which would like to give us breath.

Freeing oneself from the usual ways of going about things, dissolving prejudices and schematic beliefs, would allow one to break the chains that hold back the faculties, opening up other views.

In fact, the solution to the complications that suffocate the soul and the experience of the fullness of being we seek is not external, but inherent in our own question.

In biblical language, the figure of the Angel (v.10) expresses God Himself in dialogue with the personal soul; His Presence in us, in situation - and here our paradoxical fruitfulness.

The Angel is our own eminent and total Self, who knows how to retrieve opposites, who grasps secrets, suggests, guides; he knows our unique versatility, and in this way knows where to go.

Thus, authentic life is shrouded in Mystery, even in the step-by-step.

Our existence is not all in the circle of visible achievements, apparent affirmations, and material, trivial things, more or less at hand.

Life if complete introduces into the Calling by Name that leads to fulfilment and blossoming, opens us to the Relationship that counts.

To internalize and live the message:

Why do you think Jesus speaks of Angels in heaven, and Joy in reference to the one sheep?

[Holy Guardian Angels, October 2]