Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are now in the heart of summer, at least in the northern hemisphere. This is the period in which schools are closed and the greater part of the holidays are concentrated. Even the pastoral activities in parishes are reduced and I myself have suspended the Audiences for a while. It is therefore a favourable time to give priority to what is effectively most important in life, that is to say, listening to the word of the Lord. We are also reminded of this by this Sunday's Gospel passage with the well known episode of Jesus' visit to the house of Martha and Mary, recounted by St Luke (10: 38-42).
Martha and Mary are two sisters; they also have a brother, Lazarus, but he does not appear on this occasion. Jesus is passing through their village and, the text says, Martha received him at her home (cf. 10: 38). This detail enables us to understand that Martha is the elder of the two, the one in charge of the house. Indeed, when Jesus has been made comfortable, Mary sits at his feet and listens to him while Martha is totally absorbed by her many tasks, certainly due to the special Guest.
We seem to see the scene: one sister bustling about busily and the other, as it were, enraptured by the presence of the Teacher and by his words. A little later Martha, who is evidently resentful, can no longer resist and complains, even feeling that she has a right to criticize Jesus: "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me". Martha would even like to teach the Teacher! Jesus on the other hand answers her very calmly: "Martha, Martha", and the repetition of her name expresses his affection, "you are anxious and troubled about many things; only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her" (10: 41-42). Christ's words are quite clear: there is no contempt for active life, nor even less for generous hospitality; rather, a distinct reminder of the fact that the only really necessary thing is something else: listening to the word of the Lord; and the Lord is there at that moment, present in the Person of Jesus! All the rest will pass away and will be taken from us but the word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily actions.
Dear friends, as I said, this Gospel passage is more than ever in tune with the vacation period, because it recalls the fact that the human person must indeed work and be involved in domestic and professional occupations, but first and foremost needs God, who is the inner light of Love and Truth. Without love, even the most important activities lose their value and give no joy. Without a profound meaning, all our activities are reduced to sterile and unorganised activism. And who, if not Jesus Christ, gives us Love and Truth? Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us learn to help each other, to collaborate, but first of all to choose together the better part which is and always will be our greatest good.
[Pope Benedict, Angelus, 18 July 2010]
We have just read in Luke's Gospel the episode of the hospitality shown to Jesus by Martha and Mary. These two sisters, in the history of Christian spirituality, have been understood as emblematic figures referring, respectively, to action and contemplation: Martha is busy with housework, while Mary sits at Jesus' feet to listen to his words. We can draw two lessons from this Gospel text.
First of all, we should note Jesus' final sentence: "Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her." He thus strongly emphasises the fundamental and irreplaceable value that listening to the Word of God has for our existence: it must be our constant point of reference, our light and our strength. But we must listen to it.
We need to know how to be silent, to create spaces of solitude or, better still, of encounter reserved for intimacy with the Lord. We need to know how to contemplate. People today feel a great need not to limit themselves to purely material concerns, but to integrate their technical culture with higher and detoxifying contributions from the world of the spirit. Unfortunately, our daily life risks or even experiences cases, more or less widespread, of inner pollution. But contact with the word of the Lord through faith purifies us, elevates us and gives us new energy.
Therefore, we must always keep before the eyes of our hearts the mystery of love with which God came to meet us in his Son, Jesus Christ: the object of our contemplation is all here, and from here comes our salvation, our redemption from every form of alienation and above all from that of sin. In essence, we are invited to do as the other Mary, the Mother of Jesus, did, who 'treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart' (Lk 2:19). It is on this condition that we will not be one-dimensional human beings, but rich in the same greatness as God.
But there is a second lesson to be learned, and that is that we must never see a contrast between action and contemplation. In fact, we read in the Gospel that it was "Martha" (and not Mary) who welcomed Jesus "into her home." Moreover, today's first reading suggests the harmony between the two: the episode of Abraham's hospitality towards the three mysterious figures sent by the Lord, who, according to an ancient interpretation, are even an image of the Holy Trinity, teaches us that even in our smallest daily tasks we can serve the Lord and be in contact with him. And, since this year marks the 1,500th anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict, let us remember his famous motto: "Pray and work," Ora et labora! These words contain an entire programme: not one of opposition but of synthesis, not of contrast but of fusion between two equally important elements.
This gives us a very concrete lesson, which can be expressed in the form of a question: to what extent are we able to see in contemplation and prayer a moment of authentic energy for our daily commitments? And, on the other hand, to what extent are we able to imbue our work with a leavening communion with the Lord? These questions can serve as an examination of conscience and become a stimulus for a renewal of our daily life, which is both more contemplative and more active.
[Pope John Paul II, homily, 20 July 1980]
In today’s Gospel the Evangelist Luke writes about Jesus who, on the way to Jerusalem, enters a village and is welcomed into the home of two sisters: Martha and Mary (cf. Lk 10:38-42). Both welcome the Lord, but they do so in different ways. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to his words (cf. v. 39), whereas Martha is completely caught up in preparing things; at a certain point she says to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (v. 40). Jesus responds to her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her” (vv. 41-42).
In bustling about and busying herself, Martha risks forgetting — and this is the problem — the most important thing, which is the presence of the guest, Jesus in this case. She forgets about the presence of the guest. A guest is not merely to be served, fed, looked after in every way. Most importantly he ought to be listened to. Remember this word: Listen! A guest should be welcomed as a person, with a story, his heart rich with feelings and thoughts, so that he may truly feel like he is among family. If you welcome a guest into your home but continue doing other things, letting him just sit there, both of you in silence, it is as if he were of stone: a guest of stone. No. A guest is to be listened to. Of course, Jesus’ response to Martha — when he tells her that there is only one thing that needs to be done — finds its full significance in reference to listening to the very word of Jesus, that word which illuminates and supports all that we are and what we do. If we go to pray, for example, before the Crucifix, and we talk, talk, talk, and then we leave, we do not listen to Jesus. We do not allow him to speak to our heart. Listen: this is the key word. Do not forget! And we must not forget that in the house of Martha and Mary, Jesus, before being Lord and Master, is a pilgrim and guest. Thus, his response has this significance first and foremost: “Martha, Martha why do you busy yourself doing so much for this guest even to the point of forgetting about his presence? — A guest of stone! — Not much is necessary to welcome him; indeed, only one thing is needed: listen to him — this is the word: listen to him — be brotherly to him, let him realize he is among family and not in a temporary shelter.
Understood in this light, hospitality, which is one of the works of mercy, is revealed as a truly human and Christian virtue, a virtue which in today’s world is at risk of being overlooked. In fact, nursing homes and hospices are multiplying, but true hospitality is not always practised in these environments. Various institutions are opened to care for many types of disease, of loneliness, of marginalization, but opportunities are decreasing for those who are foreign, marginalized, excluded, from finding someone ready to listen to them: because they are foreigners, refugees, migrants. Listen to that painful story. Even in one’s own home, among one’s own family members, it might be easier to find services and care of various kinds rather than listening and welcome. Today we are so taken, by excitement, by countless problems — some of which are not important — that we lack the capacity to listen. We are constantly busy and thus we have no time to listen. I would like to ask you, to pose a question to you, each one answer in your own heart: do you, husband, take time to listen to your wife? And do you, woman, take time to listen to your husband? Do you, parents, take time, time to “waste”, to listen to your children? or your grandparents, the elderly? — “But grandparents always say the same things, they are boring...” — But they need to be listened to! Listen. I ask that you learn to listen and to devote more of your time. The root of peace lies in the capacity to listen.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of listening and of service and of attentive care, teach us to be welcoming and hospitable to our brothers and our sisters.
[Pope Francis, Angelus, 17 July 2016]
For a lightness without masks
(Mt 12:14-21)
The authorities condemn Jesus to death. The insignificant people await him, as their only hope.
They feel that there is still much to find, and that only He can inspire their action, thus opening them to Rebirth.
Persons sense harmony with the young Master who has chosen their social class, that of the shaky, considered wrong and disconcerting.
The hard and stifled existence of the little ones has taught them to be always ready for surprises, for new actions; even for destabilizing crises:
Best way to stay hooked to life and to the very possibility of achieving it, by activating it from the Hiding.
In the clamor and social approval, which denies the problems, their Mission would remain distorted.
While the externality of the leaders does not give in to dedication, to breaking themselves - even from their innermost.
So it doesn’t become new consciousness.
Sick of grandeur and longing for tranquillity, the ancient political and religious leaders project into the idea of the Messiah their being double, corrupt and artificial, only showy.
Unable to cope with everyday life - and make themselves available.
They do not understand the discreet Power of the Lord, his wise energy [and modest style] with lasting advantages.
They are willing to stun the despondent people, and they gladly do so with models, comparisons, evaluations, empty formulas, and incitements overflowing with reserves.
But they remain at a safe distance as far as living together, sharing, and cheering up others’ lives.
They continue to pass judgement but without giving anything, let alone offering themselves – and converting to the poor, except to manipulate them.
Their aversion to Christ - who came for the redemption of the «multitudes» [vv.15.18.21] - clashed precisely with the incessant need of the persons.
People know their own (all real) mud fabric, and they want emancipation.
Without subterfuge, they present themselves unmasks.
Today, as then, the Silence of the Lord's Anointed One [unmanipulated] is re-proposed in His authentic witnesses - overcoming the temptation of spectacle.
By surpassing the craze for the extraordinary; for propaganda and advertising aimed at proselytism and personal self-interest.
God knows that Shadow side is prophecy and the future germ: best part of His People, and of us.
To internalize and live the message:
Are there ambiguous individuals inclined to value normalised interventions, who consider your Mission distorted by Silence?
Do you think your realization is stifled by the Hiding? Or vice versa activated?
[Saturday 15th wk. in O.T. July 19, 2025]
For lightness without masks
(Mt 12:14-21)
"He will not quarrel or scold, nor will anyone hear his voice in the squares. A cracked reed he will not break and a smoking lamp he will not extinguish, until he has brought judgment to victory. And in his name shall the nations hope" (Mt 12:19-20).
The authorities condemn Jesus to death because He dared to expose the malignity of their mercenary expedients (an art in which they are masters).
Instead of becoming educators, the leaders of official religiosity remain the protagonists of a pyramidal, oppressive structure.
The ostracised and rejected, on the other hand, alienated and outcast from society and from the circle of the 'greats', present themselves to the Lord without masks, with many insecurities and ailments.
They realise that the humanising and divine being remains exactly opposite to that of those who represent them. According to what the people hoped for in their hearts, without subterfuge; at their disposal.
Not an all-powerful master, who would make the path of the elect more comfortable and prestigious.
On the contrary, because there are many daily and inner problems that deserve greater Presence.
The 'best' of the world (even the pious) mock the Father's Face. The little people wait for Him, await Him as their only hope.
They sense that there is still much to be found, and that only He can inspire their actions, thus opening them to Rebirth.
They feel in tune with the young Master who has chosen their social class, that of the unfortunate, considered wrong and disconcerting, but who every day brings up the same problem of God in a forthright manner.
Feeling like a person and letting oneself be set free is the motif of the whole sacred story: the fruit of Exodus that breaks bounded bonds.
It shatters them, because it even favours the itinerant coming and going of the inexperienced person who seeks and allows himself to be questioned - the opposite of the false 'staying put'.
That which is not made of affective tonality and deep emotional weight, yet constantly asks to be taken in charge and in consciousness.
The hard and stifled life of the Little Ones has taught them to always be ready for surprises, for new actions; even for destabilising crises.
This is the best way to stay hooked on life and the very possibility of realising it, activating it from the hiding place.
In the clamour and social approval, which denies the problems, their Mission would remain distorted.
While the outwardness of the leaders does not yield to dedication, to breaking - even from within.
Thus it does not become a new consciousness.
Sick of grandeur and craving for tranquillity, the ancient political and religious leaders project into the idea of the Messiah their own double, corrupt and contrived being, only conspicuous.
Unable to measure themselves against the summary.
They do not understand the discreet power of the Lord, his wise energy (and dim style), with lasting benefits.
They are willing to stun disheartened people, and they do so gladly with models, comparisons, budgets, empty formulas, and overflowing incitements.
But they remain at a safe distance when it comes to living together, sharing, and cheering up.
They continue to judge, but without giving anything, let alone giving themselves - and converting to the poor, without manipulating them.
Their aversion to Christ - who came for the redemption of the 'multitudes' (vv.15.18.21) - clashes precisely with the people's incessant need.
The people know their own fabric of all-too-real mud, and they long for emancipation.
Today, as then, the Silence of the Lord's true Anointed [who re-proposes himself in his authentic witnesses] overcomes the temptation of the spectacular.
It overcomes the mania of the extraordinary; of that which is propaganda and publicity for the sake of proselytism and currency.
We too preserve the characteristics of the Master's Work, whose universally beneficial Action we continue.
We wish to correspond, in the discretion and small simplicity of an unknown, but forward-looking life.
God knows that the Shadow side is sometimes the best part of His people, and of us.
To internalise and live the message:
Are there ambiguous people inclined to value normalised - i.e. prodigious - interventions who consider your Mission distorted by Silence?
Do you yourself feel that your realisation is stifled by the Silence? Or vice versa activated?
At this point, I would also like to thank most heartily all those people throughout the world who in these recent weeks have sent me moving expressions of concern, friendship and prayer. Yes, the Pope is never alone; now I once again experience this so overwhelmingly that my heart is touched. The Pope belongs to everyone and so many persons feel very close to him. It is true that I receive letters from world leaders – from heads of state, from religious leaders, from representatives of the world of culture, and so on. But I also receive many many letters from ordinary people who write to me simply and from the heart, and who show me their affection, an affection born of our being together with Christ Jesus, in the Church. These people do not write to me in the way one writes, for example, to a prince or some important person whom they do not know. They write to me as brothers and sisters, as sons and daughters, with a sense of a very affectionate family bond. Here one can sense palpably what the Church is – not an organization, an association for religious or humanitarian ends, but a living body, a communion of brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, which makes us all one. To experience the Church in this way and to be able as it were to put one’s finger on the strength of her truth and her love, is a cause for joy at a time when so many people are speaking of her decline. But we see how the Church is alive today! […]
I also thank each and every one of you for the respect and understanding with which you have accepted this important decision. I will continue to accompany the Church’s journey with prayer and reflection, with that devotion to the Lord and his Bride which I have hitherto sought to practise daily and which I would like to practise always.
[Pope Benedict, General Audience 27 February 2013]
He is Son, and he has made himself 'servant'!
Today's liturgy speaks explicitly of this in the words of the book of Isaiah: "Behold my servant whom I uphold, / my chosen one in whom I am well pleased, / I have set my spirit upon him; / he shall bring forth the right to the nations" (Is 42:1).
Jesus Christ: Son who became a servant. The Baptism in the Jordan fully reconfirms this: Jesus presents himself to John to be baptised; but the latter tries to prevent him by saying: "I need to be baptised by you and you come to me?" (Mt 3:14).
As if he wanted to say: "You who are the bearer of saving Grace and Lord of our salvation". Jesus, however, replies: "Let it be for now, for thus we fulfil all righteousness" (Mt 3:15).
Jesus receives Baptism from John: the Baptism of Penance. In this way he manifests himself as the servant of our redemption. He comes as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29, 36). He bears within himself the will of obedience to the Father even unto death.
He comes as the one who "will not break a cracked reed, / will not quench a wick with a dull flame" (Is 42:3).
[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 13 January 1985]
When we allow the convenience of habit and the dictatorship of prejudice to have the upper hand, it is difficult to open ourselves to what is new and allow ourselves to be amazed. We control: through attitudes, through prejudices… It often happens in life that we seek from our experiences and even from people only what conforms to our own ideas and ways of thinking so as never to have to make an effort to change. And this can even happen with God, and even to us believers, to us who think we know Jesus, that we already know so much about Him and that it is enough to repeat the same things as always. And this is not enough with God. But without openness to what is new and, above all – listen well – openness to God’s surprises, without amazement, faith becomes a tiring litany that slowly dies out and becomes a habit, a social habit.
I said a word: amazement. What is amazement? Amazement happens when we meet God: “I met the Lord”. But we read in the Gospel: many times the people who encountered Jesus and recognised him felt amazed. And we, by encountering God, must follow this path: to feel amazement. It is like the guarantee certificate that the encounter is true and not habitual.
In the end, why didn’t Jesus’s fellow villagers recognise and believe in Him? But why? What is the reason? In a few words, we can say that they did not accept the scandal of the Incarnation. They did not know this mystery of the Incarnation, but they did not accept the mystery: they did not know it. They did not know the reason and they thought it was scandalous that the immensity of God should be revealed in the smallness of our flesh, that the Son of God should be the son of a carpenter, that the divine should be hidden in the human, that God should inhabit a face, the words, the gestures of a simple man. This is the scandal: the incarnation of God, his concreteness, his ‘daily life’. And God became concrete in a man, Jesus of Nazareth, he became a companion on the way, he made himself one of us. “You are one of us”, we can say to Jesus. What a beautiful prayer! It is because one of us understands us, accompanies us, forgives us, loves us so much. In reality, an abstract, distant god is more comfortable, one that doesn’t get himself involved in situations and who accepts a faith that is far from life, from problems, from society. Or we would even like to believe in a ‘special effects’ god who does only exceptional things and always provokes strong emotions.
[Pope Francis, Angelus 4 July 2021]
Incarnation, or emptiness of humanity
(Mt 12:1-8)
On the conversion’s journey, conflicts of conscience are not parentheses or accidents of the path, but crucial knots.
The genuineness of believing then generates implicative strenght and new expressive abilities.
The alternative is between Intimacy and practice of Faith, or religion that condemns people without fault (v.7):
According to ordinary religious assessments, the legislation was worth more than hunger... but God’s experience in the life overturns ideas elaborated by experts.
To be honest, observance of the Sabbath had become a central law not because of theological subtleties, very well because in the period of the Exile the weekly rest had allowed believers to gather, share hopes, encourage each other, maintain the identity of the people.
But legalism ended up stifling the spirit of the day of worship, once a sign of a freedom in the service of people’s faith and happiness.
Thus where Jesus arrives, every spiritual module empty of humanity crumbles, and the Incarnation takes hold: the place where God and man seriously ‘rest’ [other than the saturday!].
Therefore the Lord quotes the prophet Hosea, a man with a raw experience, but who clearly defines the summit of intimacy with God: an authentic Rite is to realize the needs of our neighbour and to have the heart in the others’ hopes.
The archaic «sacrifice» [‘sacrum-facere’, making sacred] reflected an idea of cutting, separation and distance between the perfect world of "heaven" and the profane existence of people.
But after the coming of the «Son of Man» (v.8) the new consecrated persons will not live far from the day-to-day existence.
Rather, they will be the first to welcome and relieve those in need.
Sign of the Covenant with God, and Encounter [authentic sanctification] is an ‘adherence’ that continues in the plot of days.
After the Messianic Hymn of Jubilation and the «Gladness of the Simple» that supplants the «yoke» of the ancient religion (Mt 11:25-30), the Master presents himself to the Pharisees in the (stand-in) regal guise of David, who sets out to conquer the alternative Kingdom, even with a small handful of followers.
To the slavery of customs, Christ opposes a looseness that makes the encounter between God and his people more agile, more spontaneous, richer and more personal.
A trail of light - even for us - in the face of the current pastoral collapse (despite the plethora of structures on the ground!).
In the time of the global crisis that seems to mortgage the future [and there is still an attempt to calculate it by directing it a priori, according to selective interests] the challenge is more open than ever.
To internalize and live the message:
How did you perceive that you were reliving Christ in the fluency of the norms?
[Friday 15th wk. in O.T. July 18, 2025]
Incarnation for the sake of self and the world, or the spiritual form empty of humanity
(Mt 12:1-8)
On the path to conversion, conflicts of conscience are not parentheses or accidents of the way, but crucial nodes.
The genuineness of belief then generates implicative force and new expressive capacities.
The alternative is between Intimacy and the practice of Faith, or religion that condemns blameless people (v.7):
According to ordinary religious assessments, regulation was worth more than hunger....
Yes, there is much to dialogue, simply, but little to argue about: God's experience in life overturns the ideas developed by experts.
To be fair, Sabbath observance had become a central law, not because of theological niceties, but because in the period of the Exile, weekly rest had made it possible to come together, to share hopes, to encourage one another, to maintain identity as a people.
But legalism ended up stifling the spirit of the day of worship, once a sign of a freedom at the service of faith and man, both of which could not be enslaved.
So where Jesus arrives, every spiritual module empty of humanity crumbles, and the Incarnation takes hold: the place where God and man rest in earnest [other than on the Sabbath!]
The litmus test of the breaking in of the new kingdom is the flaring up of contrasts with leaders, managers, court intellectuals and executives!
They built their prestige on a patchwork of false teachings, which had nothing to do with the objective of the divine Law.
Dog doesn't eat dog, so the wranglers of tradition and provision had never commented on David's transgressive behaviour.
It just so happens that the masters of steam and the unsavoury fundamentalists do not go against each other....
On the Sabbath day the priests had many more sacred and preparation, slaughtering and tidying up of the sanctuary than on other days of the week, and the Torah obliged them... it happens to us too.
So the Lord quotes the prophet Hosea, a man of raw experience, but one who well defines the pinnacle of intimacy with God: Authentic ritual is to notice the needs of one's neighbour and to have one's heart in the needs of others.
The archaic 'sacrifice' [sacrum facere, to make sacred] reflected an idea of cut-off, separation and distance between the perfect world of 'heaven' and the profane life of people.
But after the coming of the "Son of Man" (v.8), the new consecrated will not live secluded, above the lines, far from summary existence.
Rather, they will be the first to welcome and lift up those in need.
Christ emphasises the poverty of any legalistic and hypocritical attachment in the way of conceiving relations with the Father.
A sign of the Covenant with God, and an encounter (authentic sanctification) is the adherence that continues in the pattern of days and in His active Person - not a ridiculous idolatry of observances or cultic parentheses.
Facts and rituals celebrate love; and outspoken adherence does not trace the pedantic 'how we should be', but expresses a Liberation of the person.
The biblical episode that Jesus cites might perhaps have seemed not entirely relevant to the theoretical question: his disciples did not seem to be kings or even priests.
Instead, in the new time that is impending, yes: 'sovereigns' of their own lives by Gift and Calling, as well as 'mediators' [of divine blessings on humanity] - and prophets too.
Authentic ones will no longer play the double game of the old theatrics, susceptible practitioners of the sacred - nor will they condemn the innocent and needy (v.7).
In Mk 2:27 Jesus relativises the commandment: 'The Sabbath was [instituted, has its meaning] for man, and not man for the Sabbath'.
The lovable God establishes a dialogue and friendship with us that invites, gives impetus, gives gusto.
The Tao Tê Ching (xiii) writes:
"To him who makes merit of himself for the sake of the world, the world can be entrusted. To him who cares for himself for the sake of the world, one can trust the world'.
To the bondage of customs, Christ opposes a looseness that makes the encounter between God and his people more agile, more spontaneous, richer and more personal.
It is the outcome of a messianic consciousness that is precisely that of a "Son of Man" (v.8): greater than the Temple (v.6) because incarnate.
In this way, transmissible to us, His brothers and friends - united to Him and intimate by faith.
After the Messianic Hymn of Jubilation and the "Joy of the simple" that supplants the "yoke" of the ancient religion (Mt 11:25-30), the Master presents himself to the Pharisees in the regal stature of David, who sets out to conquer the alternative "Kingdom", even with a small handful of followers.
A trail of light - even for us - in the face of the current pastoral collapse (despite the plethora of structures on the ground!).
In the time of the global crisis that seems to mortgage the future (we still try to calculate it by directing it a priori, according to selective interests), the challenge is more open than ever.The opposition on Justice
"It is precisely because of this personal experience of his relationship with Jesus Christ that Paul now places at the heart of his Gospel an irreducible opposition between two alternative paths to justice: one built on the works of the Law, the other founded on the grace of faith in Christ. The alternative between righteousness by the works of the Law and righteousness by faith in Christ thus becomes one of the dominant motifs running through his Epistles: "We, who by birth are Jews and not sinful pagans, yet knowing that man is not justified by the works of the Law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ, have also believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; for by the works of the Law no one will ever be justified" (Gal 2:15-16). And to the Christians of Rome he reiterates that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:23-24). He adds, "For we hold that man is justified by faith, regardless of the works of the Law" (Ibid 28). Luther at this point translated: 'justified by faith alone'. I will return to this point at the end of the catechesis. First we must clarify what this "Law" is from which we are liberated and what those "works of the Law" are that do not justify. Already in the community of Corinth there was an opinion that would later return systematically in history; the opinion was that it was the moral law and that Christian freedom therefore consisted in liberation from ethics. Thus the word 'πάντα μοι έξεστιν' (everything is permissible to me) circulated in Corinth. It is obvious that this interpretation is wrong: Christian freedom is not libertinism, the liberation of which St Paul speaks is not liberation from doing good.
But what then is the Law from which we are liberated and which does not save? For St Paul, as for all his contemporaries, the word Law meant the Torah in its entirety, that is, the five books of Moses. The Torah implied, in the Pharisaic interpretation, the one studied and made his own by Paul, a complex of behaviours ranging from the ethical core to the ritual and cultic observances that substantially determined the identity of the righteous man. Particularly circumcision, observances about pure food and generally ritual purity, rules about Sabbath observance, etc. Behaviours that also frequently appear in the debates between Jesus and his contemporaries. All these observances expressing a social, cultural and religious identity had become singularly important by the time of the Hellenistic culture, beginning in the 3rd century BC. This culture, which had become the universal culture of the time, and was an apparently rational, polytheistic, apparently tolerant culture, constituted a strong pressure towards cultural uniformity and thus threatened the identity of Israel, which was politically forced into this common identity of the Hellenistic culture, resulting in the loss of its own identity, and thus also the loss of the precious inheritance of the faith of the Fathers, of faith in the one God and the promises of God.
Against this cultural pressure, which threatened not only Israelite identity, but also faith in the one God and His promises, it was necessary to create a wall of distinction, a shield of defence to protect the precious inheritance of faith; this wall consisted precisely of Jewish observances and prescriptions. Paul, who had learnt of these observances precisely in their defensive function of God's gift, of the inheritance of faith in one God, saw this identity threatened by the freedom of Christians: he therefore persecuted them. At the moment of his encounter with the Risen One he realised that with Christ's resurrection the situation had changed radically. With Christ, the God of Israel, the one true God, became the God of all peoples. The wall - so he says in the Letter to the Ephesians - between Israel and the pagans was no longer necessary: it is Christ who protects us against polytheism and all its deviations; it is Christ who unites us with and in the one God; it is Christ who guarantees our true identity in the diversity of cultures. The wall is no longer necessary; our common identity in the diversity of cultures is Christ, and it is he who makes us righteous. To be just is simply to be with Christ and in Christ. And that is enough. Other observances are no longer necessary. That is why Luther's expression 'sola fide' is true, if faith is not opposed to charity, to love. Faith is to look to Christ, to entrust oneself to Christ, to attach oneself to Christ, to conform oneself to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ is love; therefore to believe is to conform oneself to Christ and to enter into his love. That is why St Paul in the Epistle to the Galatians, in which he especially developed his doctrine on justification, speaks of faith working through charity (cf. Gal 5:14).
Paul knows that in the twofold love of God and neighbour the whole Law is present and fulfilled. Thus in communion with Christ, in the faith that creates charity, the whole Law is fulfilled. We become righteous by entering into communion with Christ who is love".
[Pope Benedict, General Audience 19 November 2008].
To internalise and live the message:
Have you felt oppression or exclusion in the name of the Law? Do you feel it was for offending God or for daring to disturb something or question someone and their cultural paradigm?
How did you perceive you were reliving Christ in the looseness of norms? What conflicts are a source of discussion and ecclesial controversy that you feel create detachment and suffering around you?
Saint John Chrysostom affirms that all of the apostles were imperfect, whether it was the two who wished to lift themselves above the other ten, or whether it was the ten who were jealous of them (“Commentary on Matthew”, 65, 4: PG 58, 619-622) [Pope Benedict]
San Giovanni Crisostomo afferma che tutti gli apostoli erano ancora imperfetti, sia i due che vogliono innalzarsi sopra i dieci, sia gli altri che hanno invidia di loro (cfr Commento a Matteo, 65, 4: PG 58, 622) [Papa Benedetto]
St John Chrysostom explained: “And this he [Jesus] says to draw them unto him, and to provoke them and to signify that if they would covert he would heal them” (cf. Homily on the Gospel of Matthew, 45, 1-2). Basically, God's true “Parable” is Jesus himself, his Person who, in the sign of humanity, hides and at the same time reveals his divinity. In this manner God does not force us to believe in him but attracts us to him with the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son [Pope Benedict]
Spiega San Giovanni Crisostomo: “Gesù ha pronunciato queste parole con l’intento di attirare a sé i suoi ascoltatori e di sollecitarli assicurando che, se si rivolgeranno a Lui, Egli li guarirà” (Comm. al Vang. di Matt., 45,1-2). In fondo, la vera “Parabola” di Dio è Gesù stesso, la sua Persona che, nel segno dell’umanità, nasconde e al tempo stesso rivela la divinità. In questo modo Dio non ci costringe a credere in Lui, ma ci attira a Sé con la verità e la bontà del suo Figlio incarnato [Papa Benedetto]
This belonging to each other and to him is not some ideal, imaginary, symbolic relationship, but – I would almost want to say – a biological, life-transmitting state of belonging to Jesus Christ (Pope Benedict)
Questo appartenere l’uno all’altro e a Lui non è una qualsiasi relazione ideale, immaginaria, simbolica, ma – vorrei quasi dire – un appartenere a Gesù Cristo in senso biologico, pienamente vitale (Papa Benedetto)
She is finally called by her name: “Mary!” (v. 16). How nice it is to think that the first apparition of the Risen One — according to the Gospels — took place in such a personal way! [Pope Francis]
Viene chiamata per nome: «Maria!» (v. 16). Com’è bello pensare che la prima apparizione del Risorto – secondo i Vangeli – sia avvenuta in un modo così personale! [Papa Francesco]
Jesus invites us to discern the words and deeds which bear witness to the imminent coming of the Father’s kingdom. Indeed, he indicates and concentrates all the signs in the enigmatic “sign of Jonah”. By doing so, he overturns the worldly logic aimed at seeking signs that would confirm the human desire for self-affirmation and power (Pope John Paul II)
Gesù invita al discernimento in rapporto alle parole ed opere, che testimoniano l'imminente avvento del Regno del Padre. Anzi, Egli indirizza e concentra tutti i segni nell'enigmatico "segno di Giona". E con ciò rovescia la logica mondana tesa a cercare segni che confermino il desiderio di autoaffermazione e di potenza dell'uomo (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Without love, even the most important activities lose their value and give no joy. Without a profound meaning, all our activities are reduced to sterile and unorganised activism (Pope Benedict)
Senza amore, anche le attività più importanti perdono di valore, e non danno gioia. Senza un significato profondo, tutto il nostro fare si riduce ad attivismo sterile e disordinato (Papa Benedetto)
In reality, an abstract, distant god is more comfortable, one that doesn’t get himself involved in situations and who accepts a faith that is far from life, from problems, from society. Or we would even like to believe in a ‘special effects’ god (Pope Francis)
don Giuseppe Nespeca
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