Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

In today's Gospel passage, St Luke reproposes the Biblical view of history for our reflection and refers to Jesus' words that invite the disciples not to fear, but to face difficulties, misunderstandings and even persecutions with trust, persevering through faith in him. The Lord says: "When you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once" (Lk 21: 9). Keeping this admonition in mind, from the beginning the Church lives in prayerful waiting for her Lord, scrutinizing the signs of the times and putting the faithful on guard against recurring messiahs, who from time to time announce the world's end as imminent. In reality, history must run its course, which brings with it also human dramas and natural calamities. In it a design of salvation is developed that Christ has already brought to fulfilment in his Incarnation, death and Resurrection. The Church continues to proclaim this mystery and to announce and accomplish it with her preaching, celebration of the sacraments and witness of charity. 

Dear brothers and sisters, let us welcome Christ's invitation to face daily events by trusting in his providential love. Let us not fear the future, even when it can appear with bleak colours, because the God of Jesus Christ, who entered history to open it to its transcendent fulfilment, is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last (cf. Rv 1: 8). He guarantees that in every little but genuine act of love there is the entire sense of the universe, and that the one who does not hesitate to lose his own life for him finds it again in fullness (cf. Mt 16: 25).

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 18 November 2007]

1. After meditating on the eschatological goal of our existence, that is, eternal life, we now reflect on the journey that leads to it. To do this, we develop the perspective presented in the Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente: “The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love for every human creature, and in particular for the ‘prodigal son’ (cf. Lk 15:11-32), we discover anew each day. This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches to the whole of humanity” (n. 49).

In fact, what Christians will one day live to the full is already in some way anticipated today. Indeed, the Passover of the Lord inaugurates the life of the world to come.

2. The Old Testament prepares for the announcement of this truth through the complex theme of the Exodus. The journey of the chosen people to the promised land (cf. Ex 6:6) is like a magnificent icon of the Christian’s journey towards the Father's house. Obviously there is a fundamental difference: while in the ancient Exodus liberation was oriented to the possession of land, a temporary gift like all human realities, the new “Exodus” consists in the journey towards the Father’s house, with the definitive prospect of eternity that transcends human and cosmic history. The promised land of the Old Testament was lost de facto with the fall of the two kingdoms and the Babylonian Exile, after which the idea of returning developed like a new Exodus. However, this journey did not end in another geographical or political settlement, but opened itself to an “eschatological” vision that was henceforth a prelude to full revelation in Christ.  The universalistic images, which in the Book of Isaiah describe the journey of peoples and history towards a new Jerusalem, the centre of the world (cf. Is 56-66), in fact point in this direction.

3. The New Testament announces the fulfilment of this great expectation, holding up Christ as the Saviour of the world: “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5). In the light of this announcement, this life is already under the sign of salvation. It is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, which culminates in the Passover but will have its full realization in the “parousia”, the final coming of Christ.

According to the Apostle Paul, this journey of salvation which links the past to the present, directing it to the future, is the fruit of God's plan, totally focused on the mystery of Christ. This is the “mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:9-10; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1042f.).

In this divine plan, the present is the time of the “already and not yet”. It is the time of salvation already accomplished and the journey towards its full actualization: “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph4:13).

4. Growth towards this perfection in Christ, and  therefore growth towards the experience of the Trinitarian mystery, implies that the Passover will be fulfilled and fully celebrated only in the eschatological kingdom of God (cf. Lk 22:16). But the events of the Incarnation, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection already constitute the definitive revelation of God. The offer of redemption which this event implies is inscribed in the history of our human freedom, called to respond to the call of salvation.

Christian life is a participation in the paschal mystery, like the Way of the Cross and the Resurrection. It is a Way of the Cross, because our life is continually subject to the purification that leads to overcoming the old world marked by sin. It is a way of resurrection, because, in raising Christ, the Father conquered sin, so that for the believer the “justice of the Cross” becomes the “justice of God”, that is, the triumph of his truth and his love over the wickedness of the world.

5. In short, Christian life is growing towards the mystery of the eternal Passover. It therefore requires that we keep our gaze on the goal, the ultimate realities, but at the same time, that we strive for the “penultimate” realities: between these and the eschatological goal there is no opposition, but on the contrary  a mutually fruitful relationship. Although the primacy of the Eternal is always asserted, this does not prevent us from living historical realities righteously in the light of God (cf. CCC, n. 1048f.).

It is a matter of purifying every human activity and every earthly task, so that the Mystery of the Lord’s Passover will increasingly shine through them. As the Council in fact reminded us, human activity which is always marked by the sign of sin is purified and raised to perfection by the paschal mystery, so that “when we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise — human dignity, brotherly communion, and freedom — according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal kingdom” (Gaudium et spes, n. 39).

This eternal light illumines the life and the entire history of humanity on earth.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 11 August 1999]

Today’s Gospel passage contains the first part of Jesus’ discourse on the end times, [according to] the writing of Saint Luke (21:5-19). Jesus made this proclamation while standing before the Temple of Jerusalem, and was prompted by the peoples’ words of admiration for the beauty of the sanctuary and its decorations (cf. v. 5). Then Jesus said: “the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (v. 6). We can imagine the effect these words had on Jesus’ disciples. However, he did not want to insult the temple, but rather make it understood — to them as well as to us today — that human structures, even the most sacred, are fleeting, and we should not place our security in them. How many supposedly definitive certainties have we had in our lives, which later were revealed to be ephemeral! On the other hand, how many problems have appeared to be a dead end, and then were overcome!

Jesus knows that there are always those who speculate about the human need for safety. For this reason, he says: “Take heed that you are not led astray” (v. 8), and guard against the many false Messiahs who will appear (v. 9). Even today there are these! And, he adds, do not be frightened and bewildered by wars, revolutions, and disasters, since even these are part of the world’s reality (cf. vv. 10-11). The history of the Church is rich with examples of people who withstood tribulations and terrible suffering with serenity, because they were aware that they were firmly in God’s hands. He is a faithful Father, an attentive Father, who does not abandon his children. God never abandons us! We must have this certainty in our heart: God never abandons us!

Remaining firm in the Lord, in this certainty that he does not abandon us, walking in hope, working to build a better world, despite the difficulties and sad circumstances which mark our personal and collective existence, is what really counts; it is how the Christian community is called to encounter the “day of the Lord”. It is precisely within this context that we want to place the undertaking that we have lived with faith during these months of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which concludes today in the Dioceses of the world with the closing of the Holy Doors in the cathedral Churches. The Holy Year impelled us, on the one hand, to fix our gaze toward the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God and, on the other, to build a future on this earth, working to evangelize the present, so we can make it a time of salvation for everyone. 

In the Gospel Jesus encourages us to keep firmly in mind and in heart the certainty that God guides our history, and that he knows the final end of things and events. Under the the Lord’s merciful gaze, history unravels in flowing uncertainty, and weaves between good and evil. However, all that happens is contained within him. Let us pray to the Virgin Mary that she may help us, through the happy and sad events of this world, to firmly maintain hope in eternity and in the Kingdom of God. Let us pray to the Virgin Mary, that she may help us deeply understand this truth: that God never abandons his children!

[Pope Francis, Angelus 13 November 2016]

Small coins and festival of the voracious God, in solemn appearances

(Lk 21:1-4)

Jesus faces the treasure of the Temple, the true "god" of the whole sanctuary. The comparison is ruthless: one as opposed to the other (v.1; cf. Mk 12:41).

Enigma that could not be solved with a simple "purification" of the sacred place, or a replenishment of devotion.

It will be surprising, but the Gospel passage does not sing praises of individual humility which by faith deprives itself of everything: it’s rather a radical appeal to church leaders and to the sense of institution.

The Lord is saddened by every expropriation conditioned by awe. Indeed, fear takes life from those who do not enjoy fullness.

Christ weeps the subordinate condition of the poor and neglected: He does not make her take the chair. He does not credit the situation. He doesn’t want the woman already naked by two cents to undress all.

He seems distraught for that one silent figure; to underline the difference between the voracious demands of the ancient religions’ God and those of a completely different sign - in our favor - of the Father in the Faith.

While Jesus noticed and was mourning on the minuteous gesture of the little woman, the Apostles did not even notice the irrelevant poor creature, continuing to gape at the magnificence of the Temple.

Who knows what they were dreaming about... seduced by honor.

To divert them from the fever of reputation and considerations they desired to boast of, there was a need for an awareness; but to move them out of their place and yardstick the miracles would not have been enough.

Thus Jesus seeks to convey in conscience the Good News that the Father is the exact opposite of how he had been painted to them by the spiritual guides of the time.

The Eternal disconcerts: He does not take, does not appropriate, does not plunder, nor does absorb or debilitate us - but He is the One who gives.

He does not punish if you do not placate Him with both the little coins you have, without withholding a single one - even if only by doing in half (v.2).

The honour to God is not exclusive, but inclusive.

Paraphrasing the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, we could say that in authentic communities [as in families] «everyone contributes to the common purpose; everyone works for the common good, not denying each person’s individuality but encouraging and supporting it» (n.230).

The Son notes with bitterness that the beautiful protagonists themselves «devour the houses of widows» (Lk 20:47) as vampires. So convincing as to make the souls of the simple even their supporters and victims.

Christ is saddened by such unconscious complicity, induced by the lack of knowledge of the Father’s Face - preached as a leech God.

In fact, in the path of personal Faith true believers are not repeaters of external roles (Lk 20:45-47).

We collaborate with the creative and deifying work of the Eternal in offering ourselves as a vital food for the humanity to which the Bridegroom has been taken away - here in the figure of the poor «widow» who bleed out.

In short, we must no longer macerate and wear ourselves out, because of the glory of the Almighty, but enrich ourselves with Him and pronounce fully!

A God all substance, of little epidermal appearance.

Yet the antithesis of the rich and poor was resurfacing in the early communities... to the detriment of the isolated.

Here, precisely the reversal of the fortunes had to become characteristic of the adoring Church, which is immersed in the same rhythm of the supreme vital Source.

It will therefore be the amiable institution that will remain naked and pilgrim, even in the space of the small and unsteady.

And the action of the assemblies of believers will be able to activate a new, convivial world, humanizing disharmonies.

A reality that beats ‘time’. For a ‘Kingdom’ really not neutral. But where does the soul counts, not the curriculum.

[Monday 34th wk. in O.T.  November 25, 2024]

Pennies and festivals of the voracious God, in solemn appearances

(Lk 21:1-4)

Jesus conveys the Glad Tidings that the Father is the exact opposite of what was imagined.

He does not take, or appropriate, or absorb, or debase, but it is He who gives; He does not chastise unless you appease Him with both coins you have, without withholding even one (v.2).

Honour to God is not exclusive, but inclusive.

Paraphrasing the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, we could say that in authentic communities [as in families] "all contribute to the common project, all work for the common good, but without annulling the individual; on the contrary, they support him, they promote him" (n.230).

In particular, the rich-poor antithesis is heralded by the reversal of lifestyle, situations and destinies: characteristic of the ideal Church, which remains a pilgrim - even in the space of the Person.

Its good reason, virtuous practices and public implications are immersed in the same rhythm as the supreme Life Source - which loves uniqueness, for the sake of common wealth.

With the exception of good relations, the institution can appear unattractive. It does not impose itself by force of 'favourable' social conditions, but is Presence on the plane of Faith.

Friendship that contemplates a new world, capable of humanising disharmonies.

Reality that beats time - because it is inside and outside of it, like Love.

It is the soul that counts, not the curriculum; not even conditioning influences, which only make things difficult.

Indeed, the feeling of being poor or late starts with making comparisons - and wanting to add, to anticipate, to demand an external more.

But what counts in the relationship with oneself, with others and with God is only being able to express one's own nature. Making choices in tune with the essence that characterises.

Calculations are deviant, not consonant; so are comparisons. The small fleeting but personal detail is decisive.

It is only important to coincide with what we are, in that present; in synchrony with one's character.

We are what we are. The development will go well.

Jesus confronts the treasure of the Temple, the true 'god' of the whole sanctuary. The confrontation is merciless: one pitted against the other [v.1; cf. Mk 12:41].

An enigma that could not be resolved by a simple "purification" of the sacred place, or a rekindling of devotion.

The Son announces a Father: he is not the one who sucks the resources and energies of creatures, to the point of plucking them out.

The great places of worship of antiquity were veritable banks, the proceeds of which were to provide in part for the needs of the poor.

Fear of divine chastisements inculcated by false spiritual leaders had perverted the situation: even the needy felt they had to provide for the pomp, worship, the decorations of the sacred buildings, and the livelihood of the practitioners of the ritual.

Jesus here does not praise the austerity and humility of an outcast, but looks with sadness at the poor woman who allowed herself to be cheated out of her thoughts, becoming a paradoxical accomplice of the diseducational system.

She could have kept a coin; she throws them both away in vain, and with them "her whole life" (v.4 Greek text).

The original and Jesuit episode is taken up by Lk for a catechesis to his communities, based on events [cf. the ancient writings of James and Paul] under the eyes of second and third generation Christians.

The first fraternities were composed of simple people, but with the entry of the first well-to-do and their magnificent offerings, the same social frictions that were present in the life of the empire began to reappear.

Tensions became more and more evident at both meetings and the breaking of the Bread.

The teaching of the widow's gesture was meant to be a warning to the Royal Communion.

In short, the Kingdom of God is penetration into the depths of life; with dedication that is not reduced to material quantities, nor to handing over what one advances - but what one is.

In the context of the plural society [of the Roman empire and today] from the responsible and motivated Faith arises the elemental Call of the Gospels.

Ancient and current call - for a singular and common experience. Truly non-neutral.

To internalise and live the message:

Who do you consider to be the outstanding characters in your community?

What about your two cents? Do you withhold at least one?

What do you put in the most?

Can people's problems only be solved with a lot of money?

Are the coins of the notable really more useful than your few pennies?

Church, and Light

In the widow who throws her two coins into the treasury in the temple, we can see the "image of the Church" that must be poor, humble and faithful. Pope Francis began from the Gospel of the day, taken from Luke chapter 21 (1-4), his reflection during the Mass at Santa Marta on Monday 24 November. The homily recalls the passage in which Jesus, "after lengthy discussions" with the Sadducees and disciples about the Pharisees and scribes who "take pleasure in having the first places, the first seats in the synagogues, in the banquets, in being greeted", looked up and "saw the widow". The "contrast" is immediate and "strong" compared to the "rich who threw their offerings into the temple treasury". And it is precisely the widow "who is the strongest person here, in this passage".

Of the widow, the Pontiff explained, 'it is said twice that she is poor: twice. And that she is in misery'. It is as if the Lord wanted to emphasise to the doctors of the law: 'You have so many riches of vanity, of appearance, or even of pride. This one is poor. You, who eat widows' houses...". But "in the Bible, the orphan and the widow are the figures of the most marginalised" as well as lepers, and "that is why there are so many commandments to help, to care for widows, for orphans". And Jesus "looks at this woman alone, simply clothed" and "who throws away everything she has to live on: two coins". The thought also runs to another widow, that of Sarepta, "who had received the prophet Elijah and gave everything she had before she died: a little flour with oil...".

The Pontiff recounted the scene narrated by the Gospel: "A poor woman in the midst of the powerful, in the midst of doctors, priests, scribes... also in the midst of the rich who were throwing their offerings, and even some to be seen". To them Jesus says: "This is the way, this is the example. This is the way by which you must go". The "gesture of this woman who was all for God, like the widow Anna who received Jesus in the Temple: all for God. Her hope was only in the Lord".

"The Lord emphasises the person of the widow", Francis said, and continued: "I like to see here, in this woman an image of the Church". First of all the "poor Church, because the Church must have no other riches than her Bridegroom"; then the "humble Church, as the widows of that time were, because at that time there was no pension, no social aid, nothing". In a certain sense the Church 'is a bit of a widow, because she is waiting for her Bridegroom who will return'. Of course, 'she has her Bridegroom in the Eucharist, in the word of God, in the poor: but she waits for him to return'.

And what drives the Pope to "see in this woman the figure of the Church"? The fact that 'she was not important: this widow's name did not appear in the newspapers, nobody knew her, she had no degrees... nothing. Nothing. She did not shine by her own light'. And the 'great virtue of the Church' must be precisely that of 'not shining with her own light', but of reflecting 'the light that comes from her Bridegroom'. All the more so because "over the centuries, when the Church has wanted to have its own light, it has erred". The 'early Fathers' also said so, the Church is 'a mystery like that of the moon. They called it mysterium lunae: the moon has no light of its own; it always receives it from the sun".

Of course, the Pope specified, "it is true that sometimes the Lord may ask his Church to have, to take a little light of its own," as when he asked "the widow Judith to lay down her widow's robes and put on the robes of a feast to go on a mission". But, he reiterated, 'always remains the attitude of the Church towards her Bridegroom, towards the Lord'. The Church 'receives light from there, from the Lord' and 'all the services we do' in it serve to 'receive that light'. When a service lacks this light "it is not good", because "it causes the Church to become either rich, or powerful, or to seek power, or to take the wrong path, as has happened so many times, in history, and as happens in our lives when we want to have another light, which is not the Lord's: a light of our own".

The Gospel, the Pope noted, presents the image of the widow at the very moment when "Jesus begins to feel the resistance of the ruling class of his people: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the scribes, the doctors of the law. And it is as if he were saying, "All this is happening, but look there!" to that widow. The comparison is fundamental in order to recognise the true reality of the Church that 'when she is faithful to hope and to her Bridegroom, she is joyful to receive light from him, to be - in this sense - a widow: waiting for that sun that will come'.

Moreover, 'it is no coincidence that the first strong confrontation, after the one with Satan, that Jesus had in Nazareth, was for naming a widow and for naming a leper: two outcasts'. There were "many widows in Israel at that time, but only Elijah was sent to that widow of Sarepta. And they became angry and wanted to kill him'.

When the Church, Francis concluded, is 'humble' and 'poor', and also when it 'confesses its miseries - then we all have them - the Church is faithful'. It is as if she were saying: 'I am dark, but the light comes to me!' And this, the Pontiff added, 'does us so much good'. So 'let us pray to this widow who is in heaven, safe', that 'she may teach us to be Church like this', renouncing 'everything we have' and keeping 'nothing for ourselves' but 'everything for the Lord and for our neighbour'. Always "humble" and "without boasting that we have light of our own", but "always seeking the light that comes from the Lord."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 25/11/2014]

At the heart of the Liturgy of the Word […] we find the figure of the poor widow or, more precisely, we find her gesture when she dropped her last coins into the collection box of the Temple treasury. Thanks to Jesus' attentive look it has become the proverbial "widow's mite" and indeed is synonymous with the generosity of those who give unsparingly the little they possess. However, I would like first of all to emphasize the importance of the atmosphere in which this Gospel episode takes place, that is, the Temple of Jerusalem, the religious centre of the People of Israel and the heart of its whole life. The Temple was the place of public and solemn worship, but also of pilgrimage, of the traditional rites and of rabbinical disputations such as those recorded in the Gospel between Jesus and the rabbis of that time in which, however, Jesus teaches with unique authority as the Son of God. He judges the scribes severely as we have heard because of their hypocrisy: indeed, while they display great piety they are exploiting the poor, imposing obligations that they themselves do not observe. Indeed, Jesus shows his affection for the Temple as a house of prayer but for this very reason wishes to cleanse it from improper practices; actually he wants to reveal its deepest meaning which is linked to the fulfilment of his own Mystery, the Mystery of his death and Resurrection, in which he himself becomes the new and definitive Temple, the place where God and man, the Creator and his creature, meet. 

The episode of the widow's mite fits into this context and leads us, through Jesus' gaze itself, to focus our attention on a transient but crucial detail: the action of the widow, who is very poor and yet puts two coins into the collection box of the Temple treasury. Jesus is saying to us too, just as he said to his disciples that day: Pay attention! Take note of what this widow has done, because her act contains a great teaching; in fact, it expresses the fundamental characteristic of those who are the "living stones" of this new Temple, namely the total gift of themselves to the Lord and to their neighbour; the widow of the Gospel, and likewise the widow in the Old Testament, gives everything, gives herself, putting herself in God's hands for others. This is the everlasting meaning of the poor widow's offering which Jesus praises; for she has given more than the rich, who offer part of what is superfluous to them, whereas she gave all that she had to live on (cf. Mk 12: 44), hence she gave herself. 

Dear friends, starting with this Gospel icon I would like to meditate briefly on the mystery of the Church, the living Temple of God, and thereby pay homage to the memory of the great Pope Paul VI who dedicated his entire life to the Church. The Church is a real spiritual organism that prolongs in space and time the sacrifice of the Son of God, an apparently insignificant sacrifice in comparison with the dimensions of the world and of history but in God's eyes crucial. As the Letter to the Hebrews says and also the text we have just heard Jesus' sacrifice offered "once" sufficed for God to save the whole world (cf. Heb 9: 26, 28), because all the Love of the Son of God made man is condensed in that single oblation, just as all the widow's love for God and for her brethren is concentrated in this woman's action; nothing is lacking and there is nothing to add. The Church, which is ceaselessly born from the Eucharist, from Jesus' gift of self, is the continuation of this gift, this superabundance which is expressed in poverty, in the all that is offered in the fragment. It is Christ's Body that is given entirely, a body broken and shared in constant adherence to the will of its Head.

[Pope Benedict, homily Brescia 8 November 2009]

2. Let us praise God together with the psalmist: he "is faithful for ever": the God of the covenant. He is the one who "brings justice to the oppressed", who "gives bread to the hungry" - as we ask him every day. God is the one who 'restores sight to the blind': he restores the sight of the spirit. He "raises up the fallen". He "upholds the orphan and the widow" . . . (Ps 146 [145]:6-9).

3. It is precisely the widow who is at the centre of today's liturgy of the Word. This is a well-known figure from the Gospel: the poor widow who threw into the treasury "two pennies, that is, one quintrin" (Mk 12:42) - (what is the approximate value of this coin?). Jesus observed "how the crowd threw coins into the treasury. And many rich people were throwing a lot of them" (Mk 12:41).

Seeing the widow and her offering he said to the disciples: "This widow has thrown more into the treasury than all the others . . . They all gave of their surplus; she, on the other hand, in her poverty, put in all she had, all she had to live on" (Mk 12:43-44).

4. The widow of the Gospel has her parallel in the old covenant. The first reading of the liturgy from the book of Kings, recalls another widow, that of Zarepta, who at the request of the prophet Elijah shared with him all that she had for herself and her son: bread and oil, even though what she had was only enough for the two of them.

And behold - according to Elijah's prediction - the miracle happened: the flour in the jar did not run out and the jar of oil was not emptied . . . and so it was for several days (cf. 1 Kings 17: 14-17).

5. A common characteristic unites both widows - the widow of the old covenant and the widow of the new covenant -. Both are poor and at the same time generous: they give all that is in their power. Everything they possess. Such generosity of heart is a manifestation of total reliance on God. And so today's liturgy rightly links these two figures with the first beatitude of Christ's Sermon on the Mount:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:3). The 'poor in spirit' - like that widow of Zarepta in the time of Elijah, and that other in the temple of Jerusalem in the time of Christ - demonstrate in their poverty a great richness of spirit. For: the poor in spirit is rich in spirit. And only he who is rich in spirit can enrich others. Christ teaches that "theirs is the kingdom of heaven".

6. For us who participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice, this instruction is particularly important. Only when our presence here reveals that 'poverty in spirit' of which Christ's beatitude speaks, only then can we offer our offering to the great 'spiritual treasure' of the Church: can we bring this offering to the altar in that spirit which God, our creator, and Christ, our redeemer, expect from us.

The letter to the Hebrews speaks of Christ, the eternal priest, interceding on our behalf by presenting before God the Father the sacrifice of the cross on Golgotha. And this unique, most holy and indefinite value of Christ's sacrifice also embraces the offerings we bring to the altar. It is necessary that these offerings be similar to the offering of that widow in the Jerusalem temple, and also to the offering of the widow of Zarepta from the time of Elijah. It is necessary that these offerings of ours presented to the altar - our participation in the Eucharist - carry within them a sign of Christ's blessedness about the "poor in spirit".

7. The whole Church today meditates on the truth contained in these words of the liturgy. It is given to me today, as Bishop of Rome, to meditate on them together with you, the faithful of the parish of St Louis Gonzaga, at Parioli. Your patron, St Louis, lived to the full the evangelical beatitude of poverty in spirit, that is, of stripping oneself of earthly honours and goods in order to conquer true wealth, which is the Kingdom of God. In fact, he said to his father, Marquis of Castiglione delle Stiviere: 'A marquisate is not enough for me, I aim for a kingdom'; he was evidently referring to the Kingdom of Heaven. To realise his wish, Louis renounced his father's title and inheritance to enter the Roman novitiate of the Society of Jesus. He made himself poor in order to become rich. He would later note in one of his writings: 'Even princes are ashes, like the poor'. Just like the 'poor widow', he gave everything to the Lord with generosity and zeal, which has something of the heroic about it. She chose the humblest tasks for herself, dedicating herself to serving the sick, especially during the plague epidemic that struck Rome in 1590, and giving her life for them.

[Pope John Paul II, homily at the parish s. Luigi Gonzaga, 6 November 1988]

Gospel passage is composed of two parts: one that describes how not to be followers of Christ; the other offers an example of a Christian. 

Let’s start with the first: what not to do. In the first part, Jesus accuses the scribes, the teachers of the law, of having three defects in their lifestyle: pride, greed and hypocrisy. They like “to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts” (Mk 12:38-39). But beneath such solemn appearances they are hiding falsehood and injustice.

While flaunting themselves in public, they use their authority — as Jesus says — to devour “the houses of widows” (cf. v. 40); those who, along with orphans and foreigners, were considered to be the people most vulnerable and least protected. Lastly, Jesus says that the scribes, “for a pretence make long prayers” (v. 40). Even today we risk taking on these attitudes. For example, when prayer is separate from justice so that God cannot be worshiped, and causing harm to the poor. Or when one claims to love God, but instead offers him only grandiosity for one’s own advantage.

The second part of the Gospel follows this line of thinking. The scene is set in the temple of Jerusalem, precisely in the place where people are tossing coins as offerings. There are many rich people putting in large sums, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who contributes only two bits, two small coins. Jesus observes the woman carefully and calls the disciples’ attention to the sharp contrast of the scene.

The wealthy contributed with great ostentation what for them was superfluous, while the widow, Jesus says, “put in everything she had, her whole living” (v. 44). For this reason, Jesus says, she gave the most of all. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have offered a single coin to the temple and kept the other for herself. But she did not want to give just half to God; she divested herself of everything. In her poverty she understood that in having God, she had everything; she felt completely loved by him and in turn loved him completely. What a beautiful example this little old woman offers us! 

Today Jesus also tells us that the benchmark is not quantity but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart. This week, think about the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a matter of the wallet, but of the heart. There is a difference between the wallet and the heart.... There are diseases of the heart, which reduce the heart to the wallet.... This is not good! To love God “with all your heart” means to trust in him, in his providence, and to serve him in the poorest brothers and sisters without expecting anything in return.

Allow me to tell you a story, which happened in my previous diocese. A mother and her three children were at the table, the father was at work. They were eating Milan-style cutlets.... There was a knock at the door and one of the children — they were young, 5, 6 and the oldest was 7 — comes and says: “Mom, there is a beggar asking for something to eat”. And the mom, a good Christian, asks them: “What shall we do?” — “Let’s give him something, mom…” – “Ok”. She takes her fork and knife and cuts the cutlets in half. “Ah no, mom, no! Not like this! Take something from the fridge” — “No! Let’s make three sandwiches with this!”. The children learned that true charity is given, not with what is left over, but with what we need. That afternoon I am sure that the children were a bit hungry.... But this is how it’s done!

Faced with the needs of our neighbours, we are called — like these children and the halved cutlets — to deprive ourselves of essential things, not only the superfluous; we are called to give the time that is necessary, not only what is extra; we are called to give immediately and unconditionally some of our talent, not after using it for our own purposes or for our own group.

Let us ask the Lord to admit us to the school of this poor widow, whom Jesus places in the cathedra and presents as a teacher of the living Gospel even to the astonishment of the disciples. Through the intercession of Mary, the poor woman who gave her entire life to God for us, let us ask for a heart that is poor, but rich in glad and freely given generosity.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 8 November 2015]

God bless you! For the past few weeks I have chosen to offer not a homily but a service to those who wish: I present the Sunday Bible readings to aid understanding of the biblical text with a short commentary always starting with the word of God. I hope it may be useful to you: if you wish, let me know and I thank you for your attention." The Word of God is an uphill path, the more you strive, the more you advance towards the light " (paraphrase from St John of the Cross) " Each verse of the Bible is like a step: reading it is easy, living it is the real challenge of faith (paraphrase from "the Ladder of Paradise" by St John Climacus). Each week I will send the text on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning to allow time to read and meditate.

Here is next Sunday's.

XXXIII Sunday Ordinary Time (year B) 

Commentary on the readings [17 November 2024]

*First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel 12, 1-3

 *In the storm of persecution Faith in the resurrection is born 

The book of Daniel is named not after its author but after its protagonist, the prophet Daniel who lived in Babylon during the years of the last kings of the Neo-Babylonian empire and was written during the Maccabean revolution (2nd century BC). There are at least two important statements in today's text. First of all, Daniel comforts his contemporaries who were going through a difficult time. When he says: 'It will be a time of distress, such as there had never been', he is speaking of the future, but it is only in appearance because they were under occupation and persecution. Opposition books could not be circulated, so he pretends to speak of the past or the future, but in truth of the present, and readers understand and take the comfort they need. Reigning after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the first rather tolerant successors was Antiochus Epiphanes, sadly famous for his terrible persecution of the Jews. He placed himself at the centre of the Temple as a god and the Jews had to choose: submit or remain faithful to their faith, facing torture and death. Some bent, but many remained faithful and were killed. Daniel tells them that Michael, the leader of the Angels, watches over them and if they are now experiencing defeat and the horror of terror, they are nevertheless victorious in a battle that takes place both on earth and in heaven: the heavenly army has already won. Human history is a gigantic struggle in which the victor is already known, and this particularly concerns the people of the Covenant. 

To the message of comfort for the living Daniel joins a reference to those who sacrificed themselves so as not to betray the living God. Since God does not forsake those who die for him, those who die will thus be resurrected. The word 'resurrection', which is part of our vocabulary today, was virtually unknown at the time. For centuries, the question of individual resurrection did not arise as the focus was on the people and not on the individual, on the present and future of the people and not on the fate of the individual. In the history of Israel, interest in the destiny of the individual emerged as a conquest and progress during the exile linked to the idea of individual responsibility. It must always be remembered that faith in the faithful God matures with the events of history and Israel increasingly understands that God desires the good of man and never abandons him. The experience of the Covenant thus nourished Israel's faith and it was realised that if God wants man free from all bondage, He cannot leave him in the chains of death. Truth exploded when some believers sacrificed their lives for God and their death became a source of faith in eternal life. It was thus understood that martyrs will rise for eternal life: "Many of those who sleep in the region of the dust shall awake: some to eternal life, and some to shame and everlasting infamy". The book of Daniel considers resurrection only for the righteous, but later it will come to be understood that resurrection is promised to all mankind composed of good and bad human beings and indeed no one is totally good or bad. Finally, only when we are enlightened by the certainty that God loves us, can we understand that we will live forever.

Responsorial Psalm 15 (16), 5.8, 9-10, 11

*The great commitment in the image of the Levite 

In Psalm 15(16), of which today we meditate on just a few verses, it all seems simple when we take refuge in God because only in him is our good. In verse 5 we read: "The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: in your hands is my life" and continues "my inheritance is great" (v.6) and then states that "for this my heart rejoices and my soul exults; my body also rests secure because you will not forsake my life in hell nor will you let your faithful one see the grave" (v.8,9,10). In reality, under very simple appearances, Psalm 15/16 translates the terrible struggle of faithfulness to the true faith: exactly the same as Daniel's call not to deny the faith despite the persecution of King Antiochus Epiphanes. The struggle for fidelity marks Israel from the very beginning, ever since Moses during the exodus perceived the risk of idolatry: think of the episode of the golden calf when the people convinced Aaron to build it (Ex. 32). When they then entered the land of Canaan (between the 15th and 13th centuries BC), the danger of idolatry remained as they saw that everything was going wrong. War, famine, epidemic aroused the desire to rely on two certainties: The Lord and Baal because, in difficulties, one is tempted to resort to every god possible and imaginable. King Ahaz did it in the 8th century by sacrificing his son to idols, and his grandson Manasseh fifty years later. This is why the prophets fought against idolatry, which is the worst of slavery. This psalm therefore translates the preaching of the prophets in the form of a prayer: there resounds an invitation to the believers to follow the preaching, and at the same time it is a supplication to God to help everyone endure in the time of trial. It would also be helpful to read the verses not found on this Sunday (vv.1-4) where it is said, among other things, that "to the idols of the land, to the mighty gods went all my favour. They multiplied their sorrows those who run after a foreign god" and then states "I will not pour out their libations of blood, nor will I pronounce with my lips their names". In short, it is necessary to turn only to the God of the Covenant as the only one able to guide his people on the difficult path to freedom. Over the centuries, it has been understood that the God of Israel is the only God for all mankind. If there is an exclusivity for Israel, it is because he chose him freely and revealed himself to them as the one true Lord. It is up to Israel to respond to this calling by binding itself exclusively to him and, in so doing, fulfil its mission as a witness to the one God before the other nations. To express this mission, Israel in this psalm compares itself to a Levite: "The Lord is my inheritance and my cup, in your hands is my life" (v.5). It alludes to the singular condition of the Levites that, at the time of the partition of the Promised Land among the tribes of Jacob's descendants, the members of the tribe of Levi had received no part of the land and thus their portion was the House of God (the Temple), the service of God. Their whole life was consecrated to the service of worship; their livelihood was guaranteed by tithes and a portion of the crops and meat offered in sacrifice. Israel is at the heart of humanity as the Levites are the heart of Israel, both called to the direct service of the Lord, the source of joy. Bearing in mind the first reading that speaks of the resurrection of bodies (Dan 12), one understands that the eternity spoken of in this psalm is not about individual resurrection because the true subject of all the psalms is never an individual but the whole of Israel sure to survive being the chosen of the living God. And verse 10: "Thou shalt not forsake my life in hell, nor let thy faithful see the grave" does not express faith in individual resurrection but is an appeal for the survival of the people. Certainly when the prophet Daniel (first reading) proclaimed faith in the resurrection of the dead, this verse made such sense; later Jesus and now all of us can confidently say that our hearts rejoice and our souls are rejoicing because the Lord does not abandon us to death, but rather at his right hand, an eternity of joy awaits us.

*Second Reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews 10:11-14. 18

 Jesus delivers humanity from the fatality of sin 

The letter to the Hebrews, like and more than the other New Testament texts, aims to make it clear that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah-priest, and therefore the Jewish priesthood is superseded. Having ended the role of the priests of the Old Covenant, in the New Covenant the only priest is Christ. But what are the characteristics of the priests of the Old Covenant compared to Christ? The author focuses on two points: the liturgy of the Old Testament priests was daily and they always offered the same sacrifices; Jesus, on the other hand, offered a unique sacrifice. The worship of the Jewish priests was ineffective, since the sacrifices did not have the power to eliminate sins, whereas, with his unique sacrifice, Jesus eliminated the sin of the world once and for all. There are statements here that were important to the Judeo-Christian milieu of the time, such as the expression 'to eliminate sins' because the word 'sin' returns several times in this text. Experience says that after Christ's death/resurrection sins continue to exist in the world, so to say that Jesus took away the sin of the world is to point out that sin is no longer a fatality because, thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome it. Furthermore, when we read that "with one offering he has made perfect for ever those who are sanctified" we must understand that the term "perfect" does not have a moral meaning, but expresses fulfilment, completion. That is, we have been led by Christ to our fulfilment; thanks to him we have become free men and women: free not to relapse into hatred, violence, jealousy; free to live as sons and daughters of God and as brothers and sisters. In the celebration of the Eucharist we keep saying 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world'. This makes one think of the prophet Jeremiah (31: 31-33) who prophesied: "Behold, the days will come - the Lord's oracle - when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah...I will put my law within them, I will write it on their hearts", or of Ezekiel (36: 26-27): "I will take away from you the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and make you live by my laws". The early Christians knew that one must allow oneself to be led by the Holy Spirit, but an essential condition is to remain united to Christ like the branches to the vine.  We read again in the text: "Christ...is seated forever at the right hand of God and is now waiting for his enemies to be placed at the footstool of his feet" (vv12-14). The expression 'seated at the right hand of God' had been a royal title in Israel for centuries. On the day of his coronation, when he took possession of his throne, the new king sat at the right hand of God, and in this context to say that 'Jesus Christ sat forever at the right hand of God' means that Jesus is the true King-Messiah awaited. This concept is reinforced by what follows: "He is now waiting for his enemies to be set at the footstool of his feet". The tradition was that on the steps of the thrones of kings were carved or sculpted figures of chained men representing the enemies of the kingdom, and the king ascending the steps of the throne trampled on them, symbolically crushing his enemies, and this was not gratuitous cruelty but a guarantee of security for his subjects. Signs of these figures can be found in the thrones of Tutankhamun (discovered in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt), while in Israel, the only trace remains of what the prophet pronounced for the king in the coronation rite: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet". If Christ is indeed the Messiah, the awaited eternal king descendant of David, the old world is now over. One last clarification: why is it said: "the sacrifice of the Mass"?  In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read: "Now where there is forgiveness there is no more offering (sacrifice) for sin". The term sacrifice remains even though, with Christ, its meaning has changed: for him, "to sacrifice" (sacrum facere, to perform a sacred act) does not mean to kill one or a thousand animals, but to live in love and to give one's life for one's brethren, as the prophet Hosea already stated in the 8th century B.C.: "I want love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God more than holocausts." (6, 6).

*Gospel according to Saint Mark (13, 24-32)

Jesus uses the apocalyptic style here 

In Mark's gospel Jesus now changes style and approaches in his discourses the divination literature that was then very much in vogue. All religions were asking the same questions: Will mankind go irretrievably to ruin or will Good triumph? What will the end of the world be like and who will be the victor? They used the same images of cosmic upheavals, eclipses of the sun or moon, celestial characters, angels or demons. The Jews first and then the Christians borrowed this style but inserted the Gospel message, i.e. divine revelation. That is why, in the Bible, this literary style is called "apocalyptic" because it brings a "revelation" from God: literally, the Greek verb apocaliptõ means to reveal, in the sense of "lifting the veil that covers the history of mankind". At the time, it was like a cipher language, in code: it speaks of the sun, the stars, the moon and how all this will be shattered, even if it means something else. It is the victory of God and his children in the great battle against evil that they have been waging since the origin of the world. Here is the specificity of the Judeo-Christian faith for which it is a mistake to use the term apocalypse to speak of frightening events because in the language of the Jewish and Christian faith it is exactly the opposite. Revealing the mystery of God does not tend to frighten humanity, but rather to encourage people to face every crisis in history by lifting the corner of the veil that covers history in order to hold on to hope. Already the prophets in the Old Testament used the same imagery to announce the day of God's final victory over every evil force. We find in Joel (2:10-11): "The earth trembles, the sky is shaken, the sun and moon are darkened and the stars cease to shine. The Lord makes his voice heard before his host. Great is his army, mighty in carrying out his commands. Great is the day of the Lord, terrible indeed: who shall be able to sustain it?". I also recommend reading these others from the prophet Joel (3:1-5 and 4:15-16) and Isaiah (12:1-2). These are not stories to instil terror, but to announce the victory of the God who loves us. The message is always this: God will have the last word because, as Isaiah writes, evil will be destroyed and the Lord will punish the wicked for their crimes (cf.13:10); it is the same Isaiah who, a few verses earlier (ch.12:2), announced the salvation of God's children: "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, I will not be afraid, for my strength and my song is the Lord; he has been my salvation." These words, in which praise and faith in God as Saviour resound together with a deep sense of security and trust in divine protection, are part of a song of thanksgiving that celebrates the deliverance and support that God offers his people. In apocalyptic style, to proclaim faith is to assure that God is the master of history and one day evil will disappear. Therefore, rather than 'end of the world', it would be better to say 'transformation of the world' or rather 'renewal of the world'. All this emerges in this Sunday's gospel of Mark with one clarification: the definitive victory of God against evil only takes place in Jesus Christ. In the gospel we are only a few days away from Easter and Jesus resorts to this language because the battle between him and the forces of evil is now at its climax. To understand Jesus' message, we can turn to the gospel of John, when at the conclusion of his long discourse to the apostles he says: "I have spoken these words to you so that you may have peace in me. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world" (John 16: 33). And the parable of the fig tree that sheds its leaves fits well into this message, bearing in mind that the key to understanding is the adjective "near", "near": the signs only herald the nearness of the end, so beware of false prophets who see the end of the world now. Instead, we must watch and pray because the nearness of the end is for every generation - and this invitation is present throughout the Gospel.

Happy Sunday to you all!

+Giovanni D'Ercole

The King of the Universe: perhaps the least gifted?

(Dan 7:13-14; Rev 1:5-8; Jn 18:33-37)

All the kingdoms that followed before Jesus were inspired by the same brutal principle: competition [first Reading].

The strong have subjugated the weak, the rich have imposed themselves on the poor, the swiftest have enslaved the least gifted.

New rulers have installed themselves in place of their predecessors, without making the coexistence of peoples or daily life more human.

Thoughts and feelings remained identical: voracity, cruelty, overpowering.

Jesus interrupted the succession of fierce empires forever. He overturned values by placing not power but Communion at the summit.

He introduced a new criterion, that of the human heart - the opposite of the cruel instinct of beasts.

But Pilate has in mind only the characteristics of the kingdoms «from» (v.36) this world.

Domains brought about by ambition. Realities based on the use of force and the persuasion of money.

Jesus does not kill: He goes to die, He does not command but obeys; He does not ally himself and does not seek the great and powerful but places himself on the side of those who count for nothing.

To possess, to conquer, to exterminate, to flaunt, are not peremptory signs of strength, but of defeat: 'great' is he who serves.

Unfortunately, the script of kingship coming «from» this world is not only played by the leaders: the crowds like it too.

On the Palatine Hill, near the Circus Maximus, a graffito dating from around 200 depicts a person in adoration of the Crucifix portrayed with a donkey's head.

Truth of God, regality of man - and vice versa.

In the Gospel passage, John paints a picture of the underlying perplexities that plague the Proclamation even today.

Jesus asks the Prosecutor to think by himself; to think not as a dominant figure.

[The Lord had made an identical point to the guard who had slapped him].

Everyone turned against him, He even displeased his own people.

Perhaps the masses see the Lord's proposal as a threat to the false security that power is able to provide.

Never affect the petty idleness arising from an established, even resigned or bogus status - as long as it is not alarming.

Sometimes, sadly, the scripts of royalty and subordinates intersect and support each other.

Truth and Kingship.

Among all peoples the ideal of a successful “character” is the Sovereign: rich powerful free ruler.

To Pilate, perfectly placed in the power hierarchy, the Master produces a kind of mental crumbling.

It is the singular - truly Priestly - work of the personal journey of Faith: the invitation to question oneself.

Each one of us, as a King who does not allow himself to be intimidated by the same old sides from without, but demands a full life, his own.

Jesus at the end of his earthly life is quite silent. He waits for each one to speak out and choose.

[34th Sunday (year B)  November 24, 2024]