Scientists and Lowlies: 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 amazing 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 awareness 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 innermost.

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?

Exceptional Faith, ardent Conversion

The Burning Bush

(Exodus 3:2-4)

Conversion in the biblical sense is not turning back, but entering into oneself so as not to become estranged, and rediscovering one's roots in order to know how to intervene, unleashing the flame of one's essential Relationship.

Conversion has nothing to do with the disinterested tactics of those who close themselves off from the world, avoiding involvement until events have negative repercussions on their own interests.

But how can we take the measure of reality, how can we understand it? How can we understand ourselves? And where can we draw guidance, wisdom and strength to propose wise solutions and effective actions?

Moses is an outcast because he is hasty. His impulsive behaviour forced him to flee into the desert. Here he gets into more trouble, again because of his fiery temperament. So he decides to calm down and settle down.

But the solution is not to refrain from getting involved in helping others, forcing himself to choose a quiet life. The fire that burns in his chest and mind does not go out; even when dormant, he always carries it with him.

Only God understands that it is precisely his dark side and his irascible nature - like no other energy - that can make him the protagonist of an absurd plan in favour of the people, and will lead him into difficult situations and territories.

It is a risky task that will force him to draw on his determination, his impulses, his convictions and every resource, even the least virtuous. It is a mission that is uniquely his, impossible for other more balanced and peaceful souls.

How can we explain the passion for freedom of the humiliated?

We find it within ourselves, like a flame that burns relentlessly. It rises spontaneously, despite cautious attempts to stifle it.

For his crazy plans of redemption, God needs someone exactly like us, just as we are. With our immense unexpressed resources, hidden even behind individual bloodshot eyes.

Qualities that arise spontaneously and have their own path of conversion, but which sooner or later must come into play as they are.

They express ourselves deeply, and the Call of the Father.

Various conditioning factors can create errors in the perception of our personal uniqueness, as well as its development and destination.

The great risk is to spend our lives dissipating our character identity in search of induced illusions and conditioned reflexes: of what we are not and do not even want.

Not only distractions, but also too much reasoning can cause us to lose our way to the home that is truly ours.

Continuing to insist on what damages the development of the soul and its full flowering makes it indecisive or cunning and stubborn - especially if it is impressionable, fearful, or even receptive and defenceless.

Our fundamental Eros comes into play when it realises that reality or its (defined) cultural paradigm can cause us to lose our way.

Vocation then manifests itself to our personal 'vision' in a sort of energetic image, reserved and unique, which makes us think with dreams, guides us, draws us along without knowing why or where.

Believers who experience this inner Fire that never goes out are not introduced into a world that only wants to endure, where everything is already carved out and the goal is well known.

The Father's Flame does not express itself through artificial recitations: it wants to recover and bring home all our resources, our essence and its jewels - to be exalted rather than hidden.

These are jewels to be extracted from the world of careless and closed certainties. They are the pride and joy of the soul, often hidden behind aspects and tendencies that appear obscure to eyes worn out by clichés.

Often it is precisely our side unknown to the patterns that is the 'spark' that urges and acts as therapy for the sick soul; it takes it by the hand, and with due energy becomes a guide to the relevant discovery of oneself - and a great service to others.

The burning bush in the flesh - divine revelation - ignites so that we may realise the dream of our dreams. Not so that the soul becomes increasingly uniform and bound, or fundamentalist.

Only our Torch-that-never-burns-out Core, constantly at work, can prevent those who are born revolutionary in spirit from quickly becoming armchair revolutionaries.

This happens in the banality of ideologies as in the conformism of religions, but it cannot happen in the sphere of the life of Faith.

In this way, the dance is not led by external control: goals, intentions, ideas, plans, or codes... but by passionate and pulsating forces that question us every day about the tide that comes to visit us.

Providence acts as director, mysteriously courting and directing unrepeatable strategies that run through history, attracting and dragging us along, unlocking mechanisms and enhancing energies - even making us change, remodel or accentuate our characters.

We must abandon ourselves to these highly personal lines. Not out of need, duty, calculation, or just to understand something more, but to enjoy the spiritual Light; the rays of Love, near and far, creative forces within and around us.

The Flame returns to spur us on to rekindle the personal balm of instinctiveness, the possibilities of realising our nature.

The absurd desire that explodes within us wants to expand the possibilities of Sap - both of the tree and of the roots themselves - to make us become well-rounded people.

Thus, we will no longer try to resemble our 'models':

The principle of this transmutation, which bursts onto the placid and conventional scene, has re-proposed the reason why we are in the world.

It is our task that saves our lives... or the very aridity of the 'types' we are expected to conform to.

Here we are, then, ready to reset and surprise our nostalgic and dead side, or the dark evil of living - and exhausting ourselves for a wisdom that has nothing more than Wisdom.

Once the brilliance and beauty of the Torch are extinguished, its energetic virtue on our flesh fades, dampening the enthusiasm of the soul - extinguishing action (as in a state of starvation).

The passionate state is the force of thought and practical intellect.

Intimate involvement makes our identity-character fly, and has significant repercussions on others.

It is the guardian of independence. It integrates us, overcoming the sense of imperfection or existential emptiness.

Primordial intelligent energy recognises our essence and brings the soul back from external events to the Core: from vicissitudes, things and wounds to our innermost and richest being.

It knows that from the stimulus of this source centre—an intimate, primordial bond with our origins—astonishing events, unknown inclinations and the magic of unexpected occurrences will spring forth.

A new Creation.

From this House of new life and different hymns, a whole world of relationships unfolds... new commitments, brilliant intuitions, practical skills, which weave the magic of the soul's reciprocated love.

It is this Source that takes over again when it realises that we are not fulfilled, or that we feel betrayed by it - that is, to overcome fears, feelings of desolation and bitter abandonment. Like a power that calls us back to ourselves, to our unexpressed talents, to the energy of the gaze that captures the meaning of a story, of the genius of our territory or time. And it crosses them, making us lean forward.

It becomes the daily compass of life and transformation. But it does not tolerate the interference of external judgements, which do not dwell deep within but contribute to creating the atmosphere that surrounds us.

It seems like a force that happens, an energy that cannot be directed or explained by a universe of ready-made meanings, by planned emotions and symbols, or manipulated to obtain submission.

Ready to rise again as, when and why we least expect it; only to regenerate and make exponential the unusual, autonomous seed of the soul. As it is: ascetic effort would yield poor results.

The hidden Source expresses itself in events imbued with the future, steeped in an atmosphere of Presence.

Events imbued with an entire side of our personality, and not just some offshoot of its social meaning [nomenclature].

The Roots manifest themselves in actions that contain knowledge that is still unexpressed but highly potential, emotionally vital. They solve problems by acting in their own way.

Precisely what we do not yet know about ourselves (aptitudes, desires) may be the secret, the springboard for our blossoming. A discovery that springs forth innately, not a path taught and recognised as masterful.

The true measure is deeper.

We lose ourselves in banality if we do not discover our personal seed - and assume that we already know the direction: what to love, how to say and do things according to instructions.

The world of acquired knowledge is often the enemy of the hidden process, which continues to want to carry out its theme and reject what it does not want to absorb, because it would counteract it.

And that is the whole game: not to weaken, but to intuit aptitudes and let them be, even if they are contradictory.

And let them dance without placing them, identifying them, or lining them up according to custom or ideal - thus numbing them.

This distinctive feature has the flavour of the Eternal.

It gives rise to a constantly renewed gaze, which forms spontaneously along the way.

Preparing for the New, which cannot bear expectations.

Therefore, the unexpected spark of the heart [which never fits] cannot be humiliated, threatened, shattered, removed or alienated.

It is our consistent Inclination, which releases a clear radiance of Uniqueness.

For Jesus we are not a 'mass', a 'multitude'! We are individual 'persons' with an eternal value, both as creatures and as redeemed persons! He knows us! He knows me, and loves me and gave himself for me! (Gal 2:20) [John Paul II]

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. Sofìa and 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]

So for Jesus, God is not only "the Father of Israel, the Father of men", but "my Father"! "My": that is precisely why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus, because "he called God his Father" (Jn 5:18). "His" in the most literal sense: He whom only the Son knows as Father, and by whom alone he is mutually known. We are now on the same ground from which the prologue of John's Gospel will later arise.

2. My Father' is the Father of Jesus Christ, he who is the origin of his being, of his messianic mission, of his teaching. The evangelist John has abundantly reported the messianic teaching that allows us to fathom in depth the mystery of God the Father and Jesus Christ, his only Son.

Jesus says: "Whoever believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me" (John 12: 44). "I did not speak from me, but the Father who sent me, he himself commanded me what I should say and proclaim" (Jn 12:49). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son of himself can do nothing except what he sees the Father do; what he does, the Son also does" (Jn 5:19). "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself" (Jn 5:26). And finally: ". . the Father, who has life, has sent me, and I live for the Father" (Jn 6:57).

The Son lives for the Father first of all because he was begotten by him. There is a very close correlation between fatherhood and sonship precisely because of generation: "You are my Son; today I have begotten you" (Heb 1:5). When at Caesarea Philippi Simon Peter confesses: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God", Jesus answers him: "Blessed are you . . . for neither flesh nor blood has revealed it to you, but my Father . . ." (Mt 16:16-17), for only "the Father knows the Son" just as only the "Son knows the Father" (Mt 11:27). Only the Son makes the Father known: the visible Son makes the invisible Father seen. "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9).

3. A careful reading of the Gospels shows that Jesus lives and works in constant and fundamental reference to the Father. He often addresses him with the word full of filial love: "Abba"; even during the prayer in Gethsemane this same word returns to his lips (cf. Mk 14:36). When the disciples ask him to teach them to pray, he teaches them the "Our Father" (cf. Mt 6:9-13). After the resurrection, at the moment of leaving the earth, he seems to refer once again to this prayer, when he says: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God" (Jn 20, 17).

Thus through the Son (cf. Heb 1:2), God revealed Himself in the fullness of the mystery of His fatherhood. Only the Son could reveal this fullness of the mystery, for only "the Son knows the Father" (Mt 11:27). "God no one has ever seen him: it is the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, who has revealed him" (Jn 1:18).

4. Who is the Father? In the light of the definitive witness we have received through the Son, Jesus Christ, we have the full knowledge of faith that the Fatherhood of God belongs first of all to the fundamental mystery of God's intimate life, to the Trinitarian mystery. The Father is the one who eternally begets the Word, the Son consubstantial with him. In union with the Son, the Father eternally "breathes forth" the Holy Spirit, who is the love in which the Father and the Son mutually remain united (cf. Jn 14:10).

Thus the Father is in the Trinitarian mystery the "beginning-without-beginning". "The Father by none is made, nor created, nor begotten" (Quicumque symbol). He alone is the beginning of life, which God has in Himself. This life - that is, the very divinity - the Father possesses in absolute communion with the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are consubstantial with him.

Paul, an apostle of the mystery of Christ, falls in adoration and prayer "before the Father from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth takes its name" (Eph 3:15), the beginning and model.

For there is "one God the Father of all, who is above all, who acts through all and is present in all" (Eph 4:6).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 23 October 1985]

Let us continue our catechesis on prayer, and today we will give space to the dimension of praise.

We will take our cue from a critical passage in the life of Jesus. After the first miracles and the involvement of the disciples in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, the mission of the Messiah undergoes a crisis. John the Baptist has doubts and makes Him receive this message — John is in jail: “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Mt 11:3). He feels this anguish of not knowing whether he is mistaken in his proclamation. There are always dark moments, moments of spiritual nighttime, and John is going through this moment. There is hostility in the villages along the lake, where Jesus had performed so many prodigious signs (cf. Mt 11:20-24). Now, precisely in this disappointing moment, Matthew relates a truly surprising fact: Jesus does not raise a lament to the Father but, rather, a hymn of jubilation: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25). Thus, in the midst of a crisis, amid the darkness of the soul of so many people, such as John the Baptist, Jesus blesses the Father, Jesus praises the Father. But why?

First and foremost, he praises Him for who He is : “Father, Lord of heaven and earth”. Jesus rejoices in his spirit because he knows and feels that his Father is the God of the Universe, and vice versa, the Lord of all that exists is the Father, “My Father”. Praise springs from this experience of feeling that he is “Son of the Most High”. Jesus feels he is Son of the Most High.

And then Jesus praises the Father for favouring the little ones. It is what he himself experiences, preaching in the villages: the “learned” and the “wise” remain suspicious and closed; they make calculations; while the “little ones” open themselves and welcome his message. This can only be the will of the Father, and Jesus rejoices in this. We too must rejoice and praise God because humble and simple people welcome the Gospel. When I see these simple people, these humble people who go on pilgrimages, who go to pray, who sing, who praise, people who perhaps lack many things but whose humility leads them to praise God. In the future of the world and in the hopes of the Church there are always the “little ones”: those who do not consider themselves better than others, who are aware of their own limitations and their sins, who do not want to lord it over others, who, in God the Father, recognize that we are all brothers and sisters.

Therefore, in that moment of apparent failure, where everything is dark, Jesus prays, praising the Father. And his prayer also leads us, readers of the Gospel, to judge our personal defeats in a different way, to judge differently the situations in which we do not see clearly the presence and action of God, when it seems that evil prevails and there is no way to stop it. Jesus, who highly recommended the prayer of asking, at the very moment when he would have had reason to ask the Father for explanations, instead begins to praise him. It seems to be a contradiction, but therein lies the truth.

To whom is praise helpful? To us or to God? A text of the Eucharistic liturgy invites us to pray to God in this way, it says this: “Although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your greatness, but profit us for salvation” (Roman Missal , Common Preface IV). By giving praise, we are saved.

The prayer of praise is helpful to us. The Catechism defines it this way: it “shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart who love God in faith before seeing him in glory” (no. 2639). Paradoxically it must be practised not only when life fills us with happiness, but above all in difficult moments, in moments of darkness when the path becomes an uphill climb. That too is the time for praise, like Jesus who in the dark moment praises the Father. Because we learn that, through that ascent, that difficult path, that wearisome path, those demanding passages, we get to see a new panorama, a broader horizon. Giving praise is like breathing pure oxygen: it purifies the soul, it makes you look far ahead, it does not leave you imprisoned in the difficult and dark moment of hardship.

There is a great teaching in that prayer that for eight centuries has never lost its beat, that Saint Francis composed at the end of his life: the “Canticle of Brother Sun” or “of the creatures”. The Poverello did not compose it in a moment of joy, of well-being, but on the contrary, in the midst of difficulty. Francis was by then almost blind, and he felt in his soul the weight of a solitude he had never before experienced: the world had not changed since the beginning of his preaching, there were still those who let themselves be torn apart by quarrels, and in addition he was aware that death was approaching ever nearer.

It may have been a moment of disillusionment, of that extreme disillusionment and the perception of his own failure. But at that instant of sadness, in that dark instant Francis prays. How does he pray? “Praised be You, my Lord…”. He prays by giving praise. Francis praises God for everything, for all the gifts of creation, and even for death, which he courageously calls “sister”, “sister death”. These examples of saints, of Christians, and also of Jesus, of praising God in difficult moments, open to us the gates of a great road towards the Lord, and they always purify us. Praise always purifies.

The Saints show us that we can always give praise, in good times and bad, because God is the faithful Friend. This is the foundation of praise: God is the faithful Friend, and his love never fails. He is always beside us. He always awaits us. It has been said that “he is the sentinel who is close to you and keeps you going forward with confidence”. In difficult and dark moments, let us have the courage to say: “Blessed are you, O Lord”. Praising the Lord. This will do us much good.

[Pope Francis, General Audience, 13 January 2021]

What about established praises?

(Mt 11:20-24)

Whoever enters himself on a path of following Christ, experiences «Prodigies» (vv.20-21.23). Wonders of the Spirit who works, and doesn’t stray from the present; thus preparing the future.

There are those who look at the Lord with the eyes of the past, or with those of a preconceived, theoretical and sophisticated, unreal worldview.

Only the principle of Incarnation [which upsets us] broadens horizons even charismatic ones - and gives breath.

Here in practice, no one needs to remodulate the bottlenecks of the soul.

Our Oasis is paradoxical, and lies in radical passions; in the concert of their flowering that germinates in a crescendo, and does not want to die out.

Because - although rawer than the homologated "film" we see outside of us - it’s the internal world that pulsates richer in interests.

So the withered quintessence wants to split the conditionings’ surface.

It speaks of a present that no longer nourishes us: too much in the head, too much epidermal and distant, incomplete; without added value.

While in the Spirit the heart incessantly desires to change color. The interior is multifaceted, and it really moves us.

Or the whole intimate malaise will write itself in the search for religiosity-spectacle, in adhering to banners [à la page also] or similar little sops.

Starting from other people’s common knowledge, we no longer have the codes to interpret the genius of time.

With blinkers one cannot evaluate oneself, nor discover the plot of God in history, nor even the not purely earthly dimension of his Gifts, everywhere extraordinary - even evident in their scope.

This is the only reward of vocation: another Vision and ‘intelligence’ of oneself and of the whole world, which regenerates in a growing rhythm - makes us reborn in less established ways; not too directing.

It’s cool to have Faith in the kingdom to come, instead of seeing it black.

Believing only in customs or fashions of thought and taking them for granted doesn’t avoid those mechanisms that make us recede.

So, one would allow oneself to be tied in laces, and guide by calculations; to start the personal path not by one’s own Name - but by some synthesis or other people’s science.

Authentic ‘praise’ is in us, and it’s only of the Lord.

He’s the Only One who turns to «cities» perhaps considered enemies and wicked, yet deprived of those convictions that would block them in another kind of perversion.

Absorbed in the «borning life» we let ourselves be overwhelmed by the germinal energy of this Eros, always unprecedented.

We don’t entrust outside - only to breastplates - the spiritual well-being, and our growth.

It is not we who conduct Love.

To internalize and live the message:

Do the signs of Jesus in you debase and fall on deaf ears?

Has the reality in which you live saved and built you up [fetching yourself] or homologated you?

[Tuesday 15th wk. in O.T.  July 15, 2025]

What about established praise?

(Mt 11:20-24)

The new CEI [official Italian] translation makes it clear that Jesus' is not the Face of a capricious, manipulative God.

Whoever embarks on a journey of following in Christ experiences not 'miracles' [by lottery or territory], but 'Prodigies' (vv.20-21.23), Wonders of the Spirit working in the world and for all.

A cousin of mine who was a cloistered nun [once very close and in fact pre-conciliar - now more balanced] told me:

"We had such a closed and severe type of life that we saw Angels by force".

An unfounded visionary paroxysm, or one that abused the forces of the simple - of palliative self-healing, and only compensatory; one that wanders from the present and does not prepare the future.

There are those who look at the Lord with the eyes of the past, or with those of a preconceived, theoretical and sophisticated, unreal worldview.

Only the principle of Incarnation [which turns us upside down] expands horizons, even charismatic ones - and gives breath.

Here in the concrete, no one needs to reshape the narrows of the soul, taking refuge in do-it-yourself mysticism.

Our Oasis is paradoxical, and lies in the radical passions; in the concert of their flowering that germinates in a crescendo, and does not want to die out.

Because - although cruder than the homologised 'film' we witness outside ourselves - it is the inner world that pulsates, rich with interest.

So the withered quintessence wants to crack the surface of conditioning.

It speaks of a present that no longer nourishes us: too much in the head, too epidermic and distant, incomplete; without added value.

Whereas in the Spirit, the heart yearns incessantly to change colour. The interior is multifaceted, and it really moves.

Or else the inner malaise will write itself into the pursuit of religiosity-entertainment, into adherence to banners (even à la page), or similar contentions.

Starting not from the awareness of one's own resources and cosmic vitality, but from the knowledge and disciplines of others - strongly observant or abstract [ancient or all future] - we no longer have the codes to interpret the genius of time.

With blinders on, one cannot evaluate oneself, nor discover God's weave in history, nor even the not purely earthly dimension of his Gifts, everywhere extraordinary - even manifest in their bearing.

This is the only reward of the vocation: another vision and intelligence of oneself and of the whole world, which in an increasing rhythm regenerates - revives in the least established ways; not too directive.

It is no small thing to have Faith in the kingdom to come, instead of seeing it black; and to take on too many duties, with artificial fatigue.

Thus clinging to fantasies or paroxysms, old rhythms that are always the same or cerebral avant-gardism (perhaps under the illusion that it is they who guide or console us - even in the rebirth from the global crisis).

Believing only in customs or fashions of thought and taking them for granted does not avoid those mechanisms that cause us to go backwards.

So one would allow oneself to be ensnared in ties, and guided by calculations; to start one's personal journey not from one's own Name - but from some synthesis or science of others.

And adhere to mass idols, repeatedly come to easy and more comfortable compromise with local customs; so on.

The authentic praise is within us, and it is only of the Lord.

He is the One who turns to 'cities' perhaps considered enemy and evil, yet lacking the 'solid' convictions that would lock them into another kind of perversion.

Of such disorders our Core would inexorably take on - and such a root would become deadly.

Worse than the moralistic one that still surrounds the spiritual affair - hitherto considered the most important level.

In this way, the malaise written within would still spill outside, as on a blackboard.

This would also happen inside and outside to those who believe themselves to be well equipped, and have a tendency not to express themselves seriously.

Sometimes annoyance and the search for the external are in fact an expression of the profound need not to want to feel contact with the situations of the world, which challenges and questions us.

In short, God is the One who does not think he understands everything... without grasping anything.

He knows that every (perhaps future) friend and 'saviour' of his neighbour is a simple person freed from slavery.

And we for this are pilgrims of the Exodus. Not refugees in totems that do not keep motives - nor promises left in the past or future, great or small.

Absorbed in the life that is born, we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the germinal energy of such Eros, always unseen.

We do not entrust spiritual well-being, and our growth, to the outside world - only to armour.

We do not lead Love.

To internalise and live the message:

Do the signs of Jesus in you debase and fall on deaf ears?

Has the reality in which you live rescued and built you up [fetching yourself] or homologated you?

Dear friends, the Kingdom of God is not a matter of honours and appearances but, as St Paul writes, it is "righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rm 14: 17). The Lord has our good at heart, that is, that every person should have life, and that especially the "least" of his children may have access to the banquet he has prepared for all. Thus he has no use for the forms of hypocrisy of those who say: "Lord, Lord" and then neglect his commandments (cf. Mt 7: 21). In his eternal Kingdom, God welcomes those who strive day after day to put his Word into practice. For this reason the Virgin Mary, the humblest of all creatures, is the greatest in his eyes and sits as Queen at the right of Christ the King. Let us once again entrust ourselves to her heavenly intercession with filial trust, to be able to carry out our Christian mission in the world.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 23 November 2008]

6. But that 'meekness and humility of heart' in no way means weakness. On the contrary, Jesus is demanding. His Gospel is demanding. Is it not he who admonishes: 'Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me'? And a little later: 'He who finds his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it' (Mt 10:38-39). It is a kind of radicalism not only in the language of the Gospel, but also in the actual demands of following Christ, the full extent of which he does not hesitate to reiterate often: "Do not believe that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace," he says one day, "but a sword" (Mt 10:34). It is a strong way of saying that the Gospel is also a source of "disquiet" for mankind, Jesus wants us to understand that the Gospel is demanding, and that to demand means to stir consciences, not to allow them to settle down in a false "peace", in which they become more and more insensitive and dull, so that in them spiritual realities are emptied of value, losing all resonance. Jesus will say before Pilate: "I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37). These words are also about the light that he brings to the whole field of human actions, breaking through the darkness of thoughts and especially consciences to make truth triumph in every man. It is, however, a matter of placing oneself on the side of truth. "Whoever is of the truth hears my voice," Jesus will say (John 18: 37). That is why Jesus is demanding. Not harsh or inexorably severe: but strong and unequivocal in calling everyone to life in truth.

7. Thus the demands of the Gospel of Christ penetrate the field of law and morality. He who is the "faithful witness" (Rev 1:5) to the divine truth, to the truth of the Father, says from the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: "Whosoever therefore transgresses one of these precepts, even the least, and teaches men to do likewise, he shall be counted the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:19). And in exhorting people to conversion, he does not hesitate to rebuke the very cities where people refuse to believe: "Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida!" (Lk 10:13), while admonishing each and every one: ". . unless you are converted, you will perish" (Lk 13:3).

8. Thus the Gospel of meekness and humility goes hand in hand with the Gospel of moral demands, and even stern threats to those who do not wish to convert. There is no contradiction between one and the other. Jesus lives by the truth he proclaims and the love he reveals, and this is a love as demanding as the truth from which it emanates. Moreover, love placed the greatest demands on Jesus himself in the hour of Gethsemane, in the hour of Calvary, in the hour of the cross. Jesus accepted and went along with these demands to the end, because, as the evangelist warns us, he "loved to the end" (Jn 13:1). It was a faithful love, for which the day before he died he could say to the Father: "The words you gave me I have given them" (Jn 17:8).

9. As a "faithful witness" Jesus fulfilled the mission he received from the Father in the depths of the Trinitarian mystery. It was an eternal mission, included in the thought of the Father who generated him and predestined him to fulfil it "in the fullness of time" for the salvation of man - of every man - and for the perfect good of all creation. Jesus had the consciousness of this mission at the centre of the Father's creative and redemptive plan; and therefore, with all the realism of truth and love brought to the world, he could say: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself" (Jn 12:32).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 8 June 1988]

Pope Francis, in his homily at the Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, invites us to reflect on the hypocrisy of the righteous, who live Christianity "as a social habit", do not bring Jesus into their daily lives and thus expel him from their hearts. If we do this "we are Christians, but we live like pagans".

We, who are born into a Christian society, risk living Christianity "as a social habit", formally, with "the hypocrisy of the righteous", who are "afraid to let themselves be loved". And when Mass is over, we leave Jesus in church, "he does not come home with us", in daily life. Woe to us, so we drive Jesus out of our hearts: "We are Christians, but we live like pagans". Pope Francis invites everyone to an examination of conscience, in the homily of the morning Mass celebrated at Casa Santa Marta, commenting on the Gospel of St Luke and Jesus' rebuke to the people of Bethsaida, Chorazìn and Capernaum, who did not believe in him despite the miracles.

Jesus weeps for those who are incapable of love

Jesus "is grieved to be rejected", Francis explains, while pagan cities like Tyre and Sidon, seeing his miracles "surely would have believed". And he weeps, "because these people had not been able to love", while He "wanted to reach all hearts, with a message that was not a dictatorial message, but was a message of love".

We, born Christians, who forget Jesus

Instead of the inhabitants of the three cities, put us, put me, continued the Pope. "I who have received so much from the Lord, I was born in a Christian society, I have come to know Jesus Christ, I have come to know salvation," I was educated in the faith. And very easily I forget about Jesus. Then instead 'we hear news of other people who immediately hear the announcement of Jesus, convert and follow him'. But we, comments the Pontiff, are 'used to it'.

And this habit hurts us, because we reduce the Gospel to a social, sociological fact, and not to a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus speaks to me, he speaks to you, he speaks to each one of us. Jesus' sermon is for each and every one of us. How is it that those pagans who, as soon as they hear Jesus' sermon, go with him, and I, who was born, here, in a Christian society, get used to it, and Christianity is like a social habit, a garment that I put on and then leave? And Jesus weeps, over each one of us when we live Christianity formally, not really.

The hypocrisy of the righteous is fear of letting oneself be loved

If we do this, Pope Francis clarifies, we are a little hypocritical, with the hypocrisy of the righteous.

There is the hypocrisy of sinners, but the hypocrisy of the righteous is the fear of Jesus' love, the fear of letting oneself be loved. And actually, when we do this, we are trying to manage our relationship with Jesus. "Yes, I go to Mass but you stay in the church I then go home".

"And Jesus doesn't go home with us: in the family, in the education of the children, in the school, in the neighbourhood..."

We pretend to have Jesus, but we cast him out

So Jesus remains there in the Church, bitterly comments Francis, "Either he remains in the crucifix or the little picture".

Today can be a day of examination of conscience for us, with this refrain: "Woe to you, woe to you", because I have given you so much, I have given myself, I have chosen you to be a Christian, to be a Christian, and you prefer a half-and-half life, a superficial life: a little yes of Christianity and holy water but nothing more. In fact, when we live this Christian hypocrisy, what we do is drive Jesus out of our hearts. We pretend to have him, but we kick him out. "We are Christians, proud to be Christians", but we live like pagans.

Prayer: you have given me much, I am ungrateful

Each one of us, the Pope concludes, thinks: "Am I Corazìn? Am I Bethsaida? Am I Capernaum?" And if Jesus weeps, ask for the grace to weep also. With this prayer: "Lord, you have given me so much. My heart is so hard that it will not let you in. I have sinned in ingratitude, I am ungrateful." "And we ask the Holy Spirit to open wide the doors of our hearts, so that Jesus may enter, so that we may not only hear Jesus," but hear his message of salvation and "give thanks for so many good things he has done for each of us."

[Pope Francis, s. Marta; Alessandro Di Bussolo (ed.)

https://www.vaticannews.va/it/papa-francesco/messa-santa-marta/2018-10/papa-francesco-omelia-messa-santa-marta-guai-cristiani-ipocriti.html]

Reputation and obedience: crossroads of the Truth of Faith

(Mt 10:34-42)

We ask ourselves: what prevents growth? What conversely makes us intimate with the Father?

To bear the Cross is to become "obedient" to one's personal Mission. Christ wants new and free people; not celebrities.

The apostle's identification is with the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the public rebel against official authorities, friend of publicans and sinners (Mt 11:19) condemned for lack of conformity.

Only by pushing down and meeting the same rejection, do we encounter God (v.40) in Freedom from all forms of conditioning.

The faithful is not recognized by heroic deeds (vv.41-42), or prestige - but in social choice.

It is an instinctive predilection for the lower class; the one that does not resist the Newness of God.

The missionary is not characterised by extraordinary qualities: he stands out in smallness (v.42).

Those who only appreciate great things do not build the new Kingdom, because underneath they cultivate the old ideology of power, that condemns only by proclamations.

A comparison of the parallel Greek-language texts of Mt 10:38 and Lk 14:27 (Jn 12:26) gives insight into the meaning of «taking up» or «lifting up the cross» for a disciple who relives Christ and communicates Him in human history.

The friend of Jesus stakes his honour. His source of life achieves total self-giving even in terms of public consideration.

After the court sentence, the condemned man was forced to carry the horizontal arm of the gallows on his shoulders.

It was the most harrowing moment, because of utmost loneliness and perceived failure.

The unfortunate and already shamed man had to thus proceed to the place of crucifixion, passing between two wings of the crowd who, out of religious duty, mocked and battered the wretch - deemed cursed by God.

Therefore, to his intimates Jesus does not point to the Cross in the corny sense of a necessary endurance of life's inevitable contrarieties, which then through forced exercise would chisel out souls more capable of coping [today we say: resilient].

Compared to the usual proposals of healthy outer and inner discipline, which are the same for everyone and only useful to keep things as usual, the Master is instead suggesting a much more radical behaviour.

The Lord points to an asceticism totally different from that of the many ancient beliefs, even inverted: the paradoxical opportunity of contemptuous rejection in public opinion.

The Father does not give any 'cross', nor are we obliged to accept it out of obedience or force majeure: the disciple «takes it up» (v.38) in a non-passive manner, regardless of the credit he expects!

In short, the follower of Christ renounces reputation and any outward showcase of consensus.

It is an essential, propulsive, diriment cue of the person of Faith. Commitment to renown is totally incompatible; it does not spread life without limits.

He who is tied to his good reputation, to the roles, to the character to play, to the task, to the level he has acquired, will never resemble the Lord.

So even today, the announcement of the authentic Messiah creates divisions.

The «sword» of his Person (v.34) separates each one's affair from the world of values of the clan to which he belongs, or from the idea of respectability.

And it charges every apostle of the Cross with consequent mockery.

Yet the 'night' that is pressing in can make us live more daringly, prepared for action and dialogue.

So: no bond of domestication - not even with God.

[Monday 15th wk. in O.T.  July 14, 2025]