(1Cor 15:1-11)

1Corinthians 15:1 I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I proclaimed to you and which you received, in which you stand firm,

1Corinthians 15:2 and from which also ye receive salvation, if ye hold it in that form in which I have proclaimed it unto you. Otherwise, you would have believed in vain!

This fifteenth chapter is devoted by Paul entirely to the problem and question of faith concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in which he also sees and contemplates ours. It is the last doctrinal topic of the Epistle to the Corinthians, one of the main points of Christian doctrine, namely the resurrection of the dead. This dogma was denied by the Sadducees, mocked by the pagans, interpreted allegorically by some Christians, judged impossible and absurd by some Corinthians imbued with false philosophical ideas. Along with the resurrection, they probably also denied the immortality of the soul, or at least doubted it. The Apostle refutes these errors, proving the reality of the future resurrection, and then explaining the manner in which this mystery will be fulfilled, with the example of the resurrected Jesus and the lives of the believers and apostles.

In the first verse one can already glimpse the seriousness with which the apostle addresses the subject. The resurrection of Jesus is not one of the many tenets of faith, or one of the many truths that make up the revelation he proclaimed. The resurrection of Jesus is the Gospel he proclaimed to the Corinthians. It, alone, is Gospel. It, alone, is sufficient to firmly ground faith in Christ. From the resurrection of Christ, every other mystery of faith is made comprehensible and receives its proper value.

To produce fruits of eternal life, the Gospel must be composed of three essential moments: the proclamation of the Gospel, the acceptance of the Gospel, and standing firm in the Gospel. If any one of these moments is missing, the gospel is also missing. The gift of Christ to man is essential. If the Church does not give Christ to man, man loses Christ. Those who do not have the Church do not have Christ; the Christ they believe they possess is not the true Christ, it is not the Christ of faith, it is their Christ, made in their image and likeness. This 'Christ' that man gives himself is a pure idol. It is not God's gift to man. God gives Christ to man through his Church, starting with his apostles.

But it is not enough to give and receive the gift, it is necessary that in the gift we remain steadfast, anchored. Paul, in this, is of an unprecedented seriousness. He leaves no room for personal thoughts, for spontaneous reflections. The Gospel is proclaimed by the Church and the apostles, from the Church and the apostles one accepts it, one remains firm and well anchored in it, and through this faith, one comes into possession of salvation ('you are saved'), which will be given to us in all its fullness in the life to come.

Having stated the first principle of faith, another follows immediately. "If you keep it in that form in which I have proclaimed it to you". The necessary condition to obtain this salvation is to keep, that is, to firmly believe the Gospel as it was preached, without taking away or falsifying anything. Salvation is from the Gospel on only one condition: that it is maintained, kept intact, in the form in which the Church and the Apostles proclaimed it. If this does not happen, if the Gospel is changed, altered, it becomes ineffective as far as salvation is concerned. Faith placed in it is a vain faith, because it does not grant salvation.

There is an obligation, and it is an obligation of salvation, to keep the Gospel in its original form, to keep it in the heart and mind as it was proclaimed. He who wants salvation must receive the Gospel from the Church, but he must also keep it as the Church has delivered it to him. He cannot make any changes to it, on pain of losing his soul.

To believe in a personal Gospel and then lose one's soul (this means having 'believed in vain'), what is the use? Better to have no gospel than to have a false one; better to live in the way of the world than to live falsely in the way of God.

Paul's principles cannot be adapted to certain modern theology, which has ousted the gospel from its place, replacing it with human thoughts that have only the appearance of truth and faith. In truth they contain nothing of the liberating and redeeming power of the gospel. Much faith today is in vain; much faith does not lead to salvation, because it is founded on a modified Gospel, reduced to human thoughts.

This too must be said for the sake of truth; the salvation of many souls who have fallen into this trap prepared for them by many men who call themselves men of faith, while they have reduced the Gospel of God, the only word of eternal life, to vanity and foolishness.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(Lk 2:22-40)

Luke 2:29 "Now let your servant, O Lord, be

go in peace according to your word;

Luke 2:30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,

Luke 2:31 prepared by you before all peoples,

Luke 2:32 light to enlighten the Gentiles

and the glory of your people Israel".

Very ancient is the liturgical use of the Nunc dimittis, prayed in the evening before going to sleep. What does it mean to pray the Nunc dimittis? It means first of all to confess that, having believed in God, it is now indifferent for us to die or to live, because by faith we know that we no longer see death. For the believer, true death lies behind us and is in baptism (Rom 6:3-11), so that the death that lies before us should no longer be a cause for anguish or fear. To every believer are addressed the words: "whoever lives and believes in me will not die eternally" (Jn 11:26), which Jesus said to Martha.

Repeating Simeon's words leads us to a confession of faith whereby we can tell God that he can now dismiss us from his service. By going to sleep we prepare ourselves for a moment of powerlessness, a moment in which we are not masters of anything, we prepare ourselves for sleep, which is a figure of death. With this canticle we prepare ourselves to welcome in peace the hour when we will die. To die is a difficult thing, and to die well is a rare grace, but if we practise every night to make sleep a prophecy of death, then we prepare ourselves to go towards death as to an encounter with the Lord.

With the Nunc dimittis we confess the Lord as the Master of our lives, he who by his power can call us to himself every day, and so we learn to make our lives a service from which we can ask to be dismissed.

To pray the Nunc dimittis is to thank God for the miracle of making us come to evening still with faith in him: this alone is a great miracle that must be acknowledged with thanksgiving. Asking each evening to be dismissed from the Lord's service teaches us that it is not for us to finish the work, but that it is for us only to believe and confess that God's work has been accomplished and completed in us. It is we who in our little faith think that we always have something to accomplish.

For the Lord we should always be ready, for he returns as a thief in the night. Before sleep, when night comes, we must be ready to lay down our breath in the Lord's hands, handing our existence back to him.

By praying the Nunc dimittis we also confess that we have seen salvation, that we have seen and recognised God's action. Even at the end of a day of suffering, of weeping, with the Nunc dimittis we acknowledge in faith that God works salvation even through events that make us suffer, that constitute a contradiction for us. But from faith descends the peace that makes us confess: 'we have seen with our own eyes the salvation of God'. And so we bring our whole day before the Lord, and if we have been faithful, then we ourselves will have been 'light of the world'. Even our day, though marked by our weaknesses, will have been light to the heathen, to the unbelievers, to all the people we have encountered.

Even the events that have contradicted us must therefore be considered as something good through which the Lord leads us. After all, Simeon, now old and without a relevant role, is contradicted in his life. Anna, in her condition of old age and widowhood, also experiences events of contradiction. In the first two chapters of Luke we encounter barrenness, poverty, irrelevance, all events of contradiction that run through the lives of all men of God in this part of the gospel. Yet it is precisely these who see themselves superabundantly rewarded by the Lord.

So even amidst the events of contradiction we are called to walk and carry out our mission. According to Luke, the mission was carried out by Simeon, by Anna, not by those who had been commissioned. The one who says: "I am the light of the world" (Jn 8:12) is also the one who says: "You are the light of the world" (Mt 5:14), associating us with his mission, which takes place both in our abasement and in our success.

This opens us up to great freedom in our Christian life and in our calling: whether successful or stoned, we must move forward in obedience to God's promise, not stopping at the contradictions of each day.

If we have lived obedience during the day, we have been light in the world. But in this world we are also the glory of Israel, because Christians, the church, are the missionaries of Israel in the world.

Behold, the Nunc dimittis is truly what seals our day. Simeon sang it at the end, at the sunset of his life; we sing it every evening, at the end of our days, waiting to do it at the end of our existence, at the evening of our lives. Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(1Cor 12,12-30)

1Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body, though it is one, has many members, and all the members, though they are many, are one body, so also Christ.

1Corinthians 12:13 And indeed we were all baptized into one Spirit to form one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and we were all watered with one Spirit.

Through the simile of the body, Paul wants the Corinthians to understand the great principle of fellowship that binds all those baptised into Christ. The first rule of the principle of fellowship is this: the body is one, the members are many. No member alone forms the body, no body is formed by a single member. There is no opposition between unity and diversity. On the contrary, unity is given by diversity, and diversity is made for unity, just like in the human body.

Diversity is very important, otherwise, only God would exist. Therefore, the very condition to be able to exist is that we are different and distinct, and woe betide to abolish diversity, because the life of one member, its functionality, derives from the life of the other member and its functionality. No member works for itself, each member works for the other members. Each member receives vital help from the other members and lives as long as it is capable of receiving this vital help. Thus the life of one depends on the life of the other.

There is a reciprocity in the human body that for Paul must also be reciprocity in the body of Christ, which is the Church: 'so also is it of Christ'. Given that Paul used the human body as an analogy of the church, one would have expected him to have concluded by saying, 'so also is it of the church', instead he says, 'so also is it of Christ', and it is precisely this that the Apostle wants to make clear, namely that the 'church' is the body of Christ, so to say that we are of Christ is to say that we are church.

In last Sunday's reading, the Apostle Paul had reminded the Corinthians that there is one God, one Lord, and one Spirit. Now he adds another great truth: there is one body, that is, one church. The body of Christ is one, not two, not three, not many, and will be one until the consummation of history. Everything was made in Christ, for Christ, and with Christ - and we are all in him, members of his body. And the image of the church as one body is not just an image: it is the mystical and profound reality of redeemed humanity.

Unfortunately we experience diversity as a nightmare because we say that the other has something that I do not have, so there is a difference, so I have to appropriate what he has. So the gifts we have become the place of quarrel and fight, and man through gifts dominates and does evil.

The church is not a 'club' formed by people who have decided to agree on what to believe, to all think alike. On the contrary, the church is formed by Christians who have been subjected to a specific divine operation. Baptism symbolises this truth. One is part of the body of Christ the moment one is born of water and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is the sacrament of our incorporation into Jesus Christ. When we come out of the waters we are no longer us, we come forth as the body of Christ, we come forth as his members. This is the new reality that is fulfilled in baptism.

To be baptised is to go deep, to be immersed, in what? In the one Spirit! We are immersed in the life of the Spirit that is given to us by the cross. We immerse ourselves in this love that God has for us; this is what unites us. We live by this love that is one for all. This gives my identity as a son, makes me love the Father, and love my brothers and sisters; this is the profound meaning of baptism. And this makes us one body, because we are united by one breath (the Spirit). One is the breath, one is the life, one is the body.

We form one body where each is a distinct member from the other, whether we are Jews or Greeks (the great religious differences); whether we are slaves or free (the great social differences); whether we are male or female (the great natural differences). Indeed, these differences are fundamental for the body to be articulate. If we are baptised, if we are immersed in the love that God has for us and live from this love that unites us to Christ, we live the life of God, and together with others who live the same life we form one person in God; and that is the total Christ. And this is the Church.

Just as the right hand and the left hand and the other parts of the body are distinct and different from each other, but have one life and form one person, so we have one life and are one person. From this truth comes a twofold obligation for those who have accepted to be part of the body of Christ. The first is to see and think of oneself as the body of Christ, a member of Him. Thinking of oneself as a member of Christ means living the law of communion in all its aspects.

The second obligation is to nourish oneself daily with the Holy Spirit, through personal and community prayer, and especially through the Eucharist - the sacrament of new life - so that assimilation to Christ occurs in a perfect manner; whole, without gaps. This configuration to Christ is necessary to abolish that past that could always return and enslave us, and feed the thoughts of the old man. Instead, the strength of the new man is in constantly drinking from the waters of the Holy Spirit. This is the secret of the saints. This must be the secret of every member of the body of Christ. If he constantly drinks of the water of the Spirit, the old man will have less and less strength, and Christ will grow more and more in him.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(1Cor 12:4-11)

2nd Sunday in O.T. (C)

1Corinthians 12:4 There are diversities of charisms, but one is the Spirit;

1Corinthians 12:5 there are diversities of ministries, but one is the Lord;

1Corinthians 12:6 there are diversities of operations, but one is God, who works all things in all.

1Corinthians 12:7 And to each is given a particular manifestation of the Spirit for the common good:

Three times diversity is spoken of and three times unity. Unity is attributed to the Spirit who is the Holy Spirit, to the Lord who is Jesus, and to God who is the Father. Practically, the Trinity underlies our diversity and unity, because the Trinity is the first place of diversity and unity. Distinction, diversity is necessary for relationship, for love. Diversity, in love, becomes unity, which maintains diversity. Since God is love, then love needs diversity; and diversity is the very place of unity, whereas very often for us diversity is the place of quarrel, because we do not accept diversity.

"There is diversity of gifts, but there is one and the same Spirit". Here we have the word charismatōn. Derived from the same root as the word 'grace', charis, it means 'manifestations of grace' and therefore 'gifts'. Charisma is a particular grace through which we can manifest God's richness to the world. Charisma is grace because it is freely given to man. No one can make a personal boast of it.

Having affirmed this first truth, Paul immediately affirms another. If charisms are many, only one is their author: the Holy Spirit of God. Why does Paul wish to specify this truth? The pagans believed that a person's different gifts should be attributed to different gods, one of whom gave wisdom, the other strength, etc. So that Christians would not think that something similar was happening with the different gifts given to them, the apostle warns them that although the gifts are different, one is the Spirit from whom they proceed.

"There is diversity of ministries. Ministries, diakoniōn, means: diakonia, services (those of the apostles, bishops, presbyters, etc.). So it introduces another concept: every charisma, every gift we have is a service to others. So there is a diversity of services because the gifts are manifested in the service one does to one's brothers.

"There is but one and the same Lord". All these services are established and regulated by the supreme will of the one head of the Church: the Lord Jesus. Thus every service finds its origin in Jesus, who made himself the servant of all, and every gift finds its model in Jesus.

'And there is a variety of operations'. Operations translates the term energēmàtōn, which comes from the word normally used for 'work'. The works we do for the service of the Kingdom are to be traced back to God the Father Almighty, who from the heights of heaven strengthens our will, infuses energy and vigour into the body, holiness into the soul so that we may work according to God.

"But there is but one and the same God". For the third time Paul asserts that there can be no divisions between Christians on the basis of 'gifts', because it is the same God who bestows the gifts in all their diversity. And precisely because all gifts proceed from God, they can only be directed to an end worthy of God.

Every man is an instrument in God's hands. If God uses one instrument for one thing and another instrument for another thing, may the instrument enter into jealousy, may behave with envy, may say to the Lord why do you use me and not the other, or why do you use the other and not me? If God has arranged for one to exercise a ministry with a particular charisma and another to act according to another ministry and with a different charisma, who is the man so that he can say to God why did you make me this way and why did you make me differently from others?

If it is God who works in us, then it is right to pray to God to act in us according to the gift with which he has enriched us, but also to empower the gift with which he has enriched others.

In these verses we have the deep scaffolding of the structure of a community life and also of a couple, that is, diversity and unity. They are not an obstacle to each other, but are necessary to each other, otherwise, it is impossible to live. The discourse is a grade because it applies both on a strictly personal level and on a social level. These are core values in which the fate of humanity is at stake, that is, how you live what you are. Today there is an attempt to abolish diversity. There is unity, but in foolishness, in non-identity, in the destruction of the person.

"Now to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good". This is a criterion for discerning gifts: common utility. Everything I have and am is for the purpose of loving God and neighbour, and if it does not lead in this direction, I am misappropriating it, and therefore I am using it diabolically. All gifts are gifts from God, but we can make right or wrong use of them. A ministry, a gift, a charisma, a grace are not for the person who receives them, they are for the common good. Everyone must feel enriched by the charisma of the other, because the other, his charisma, God has not given him for himself, but for the good of the Church.

From this principle enunciated by Paul, a serious problem of conscience arises for every Christian. If the charisma of the other is for my own benefit, can I disregard it, can I not make use of it if it is necessary to me? Ignoring the other's charism, not making use of it, not wanting this charism to bear fruit, is a sin that pours against me. If the charisma of the other is for me, by depriving myself of it, I deprive myself of the nourishment I need.

Rejection of the other's charism, and especially rejection for reasons of bad conscience, places me in serious danger of failing in my Christian life, because I deprive myself of the support and nourishment that the Lord has placed beside me.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(Lk 3:15-16.21-22)

Luke 3:15 For the people were waiting, and all wondered in their hearts concerning John, whether he was not the Christ,

Luke 3:16 And John answered them all, saying, I baptize you with water: but there cometh one mightier than I, unto whom I am not worthy to untie even the strap of his sandals: he shall baptize you in Holy Spirit and fire.

Luke 3:21 And when all the people were baptized, and while Jesus, having also received baptism, stood praying, the heaven was opened

Luke 3:22 and there descended upon him the Holy Spirit in bodily appearance, as of a dove, and there was a voice from heaven, "You are my beloved son; in you I am well pleased."

The question that is posed here and that will be the reason for revelation is the identity of John: "whether he was not the Christ", i.e. the Messiah awaited by Israel. V. 16 places John in direct confrontation with Jesus on the one hand, and with two different types of baptism on the other. Jesus is presented as the 'stronger' one. The title of "the stronger" is recognised in the Old Testament to God (Deut 10:17). If, therefore, Jesus is referred to as 'the strongest', Luke now quantifies the distance between John and the one who is 'the strongest', measuring it with the expression: 'I am not worthy to untie even the lace of my sandals'. Slave labour. Well, the distance is such that compared to 'the Strongest', John is not even worthy to be qualified as a slave. This is the distance that separates John from Jesus.

The effects of this gap between the two are indicated by comparing the modalities of the two baptisms: 'I baptise you with water [...] he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire'. The latter expression can be read as an endiad: the Holy Spirit who is fire. God appears to Moses on Mount Horeb in the form of a fire that does not burn and guides his people in the desert in the form of a pillar of fire that enlightens them and protects them from their enemies. A fire that also expresses both God's wrath and justice against the infidelities and enemies of his people. This fire is juxtaposed with the Holy Spirit and, read as an endiad, is the Holy Spirit and expresses the power of his disruptive nature, but at the same time it is placed in the midst of men as an action of divine judgement.

Note Luke's use of the tenses of the verb to baptise: the baptism of water is governed by the indicative present tense and says the present state of things; a baptism of penance and preparation in view of another baptism, but in itself devoid of any regenerating force. A baptism, therefore, still imperfect. On the other hand, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire is governed by the verb in the future tense, since it concerns the times after John, inaugurated by "the stronger" of him.

A Holy Spirit whom all evangelists describe with reference to the dove. The reference to the dove is somewhat peculiar, since nowhere in the Bible is God referred to the dove. The choice of the dove probably stems from two biblical images: from Gen 1:2 where it is said that "the spirit of God hovered over the waters"; and in the account of the universal flood, where it is said that Noah released a dove to see if the earth was still covered by water. In both cases Noah's hovering and the dove have to do with water, just as the Spirit has to do with the baptismal waters, those of the Jordan.

V. 22 presents the public investiture of Jesus, a kind of prophetic anointing in the Spirit, giving him all divine authority and power, with which he is clothed not only by mandate but also by his nature. Luke provides here the key to understanding not only the person of Jesus, but also his own mission: Jesus does not work on his own, but in a Trinitarian form. There is in fact here the presence both of the Father, in the form of a voice, who recognises in Jesus his Son: 'You are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased'; there is the Holy Spirit who descends upon Jesus and remains there; and finally, there is Jesus himself, the Son of the Father. Father and Holy Spirit, therefore, work in and with Jesus, who is the action of the Father, the historical space where the Father works with the power of his Spirit. The entire mission of Jesus therefore acquires a markedly Trinitarian significance.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(Jn 1:1-18)

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word,

the Word was with God

and the Word was God.

John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God:

John 1:3 all things were made through him,

and without him nothing was made of all that exists.

John 1:4 In him was life

and the life was the light of men;

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness,

but the darkness did not receive it.

In vv. 1-5 there is a descending logic, which sees the Logos, first, in relationship with God (vv. 1-2), then, in relationship with himself (vv. 3-4), finally, in relationship with men (v. 5), so that from his being with God he finds himself being with men. A descent, therefore, spent on behalf of men.

We speak of a principle, which recalls by its formulation - "En archē" - the Genesis principle (Gen 1:1) and intentionally refers back to it. Here (Jn 1:1), in fact, as there (Gen 1:1), it begins with "En archē"; it continues with a reference to light and darkness (Jn 1:5), which in some way reflect Gen 1:3-5; the Word of the prologue is the exclusive creator protagonist of all that exists, possessing life in itself; similarly, the Genesis Word, which is repeated, almost like a litany, nine times ("And God said"), is creative power, which emanates life. There is in John a clear intentionality in assimilating the events of the beginnings of his Gospel to those of the Genesis creation, as if to indicate to the reader how the occurrence of the Jesus event constitutes the beginning of a New Creation.

Although there is a substantial reference to the first chapter of Genesis, the two "En archē" are substantially different, constituting two completely different contexts. The Genesian 'En archē' constitutes the temporal beginning of creation, merely indicating its divine origin. It is not a metaphysical origin, but a historical one. Of a different nature is John's "En archē", whose content is the transcendent, metaphysical existence of the Word. It is an absolute principle, which takes us not to the origins of creation, but to the very life of God. There is no longer the doing of God, but the Being of God, which is Word. The single and dominant verb in vv. 1-2, in fact, is the verb 'to be', which by its very nature always indicates the essence of its subject, always says something about its being and transports us into the area of ontology. It is here always placed in the imperfect indicative ("was"), highlighting the persistence of the Word's Being, which is placed in a principle that has no beginning, but which indicates the Word's absoluteness and its pre-eminence.

V. 1 presents the Word, or Word, in its relationality with God, which in John indicates the Father: 'the Word was with God'. Here too the verb 'to be' appears to indicate a constitutive aspect of the Word's being. Here too the verb is placed in the imperfect indicative, to signify how the Word's being with God is a permanent and persistent condition, the proprium of the Word's existence, highlighting its co-eternity. Its relationship with God is qualified by the particle "pros", which here holds the accusative ("ton theon", God), thus opening the relationship to a plurality of meanings, describing in different ways the relationship of the Word with the Father. The particle expresses a motion in place; it possesses, therefore, in itself a dynamism of its own, which indicates the direction of the Word: it is not only at the Father, from whom it comes, but is directed, by its very nature, towards the Father, expressing a strong relational tension, which attracts it towards Him and binds it inseparably to Him. The particle "pros", moreover, also takes on the meaning of cause, reason, purpose, highlighting another aspect of the Word in its relationship with the Father: its reason for being is its being for the Father, in His function and in His favour; in Him it finds the meaning of its existence and in Her the Father is reflected and found. She is a Word that is nourished by the Father's will, so that doing His will becomes an essential and constitutive element of her very living and being, indeed she is the very Dabar (Heb.: = word) of the Father. There are no personalisms or private initiatives, but the Dabar of the Father, by its very nature, reflects the Father in itself and gives effect to it in its saying/acting, becoming its witness and revealer in the midst of men.

"And the Word was God". The noun "God" is not preceded by the determinative article as is the case with "The Word" (kai theos ēn ho logos), suggesting that the noun "God" is predicate of the Word, which is the subject of the verb, thus emphasising its divinity on a par with the Father.

The intention of v. 2, "He was in the beginning with God", is to focus attention on the Word-Father relationality, a relationship that was such from the beginning. The focus, therefore, shifts to the relationality of the Word with the Father, whose eternity is attested with the expression "en archē". No longer the Word, therefore, is "en archē", but rather the relationship of This with God.

If vv. 1-2 contemplate the Word in its triple condition of eternity, of relationality with God, and of divine nature, focusing attention on the relational aspect, vv. 3-5 highlight the Word's double dynamism, placing it in close relation to men (v. 4), which is realised in its appearance among them (v. 5).

V. 3 opens with an absolute in the plural "panta" (all things), devoid of a determinative article, therefore all-encompassing, which has no limits and embraces everything without excluding anything, making the Word the exclusive source, first and last, of everything that exists. This exclusivity of this originative source of the All is reinforced by the following expression, placed in negative form, which excludes anything from occurring without its intervention. This absoluteness goes far beyond mere creation, to embrace the whole of what exists either as already in being, becoming or simply in potency. But what is most emphasised is the mediating action proper to the Word. The emphasis, therefore, falls not so much on the "panta" as on the prepositions "dià" (through) and "chōrìs" (without), which emphasise the mediating nature of the Word.

"In him [the Word] was life and the life was the light of men". Light and life, a binomial that closely recalls the very dimension of the divine Being. Light because by its appearance it has made itself visible and accessible to men; light because it becomes the revelation of God's will towards men; light because this is God's dimension, in which the new creation is placed, to which men are called to adhere existentially. A light that recalls Genesis v. 1:3. There, too, light appears, which constitutes the environmental context within which the first creation was placed. It is not the light of the stars, which will only appear on the fourth day, but the very dimension of God, in which the Genesis creation was placed, clothed and permeated. That is why, at its end, God will find himself in it and be reflected in it, recognising that "what he had made was a very good thing" (Gen 1:31). A creation, then, clothed and glowing - of God.

V. 5 closes the descending concatenation of the Word, which, contemplated in its being in the beginning with God, now appears in the midst of darkness. This bipolarity is part of the pattern of the human mind, which by contrast associates the positive with the negative, opening up a wide range of nuances between these two poles. The coexistence and co-existence of light with darkness belong to the primordial context of the Genesis creation. There, too, light appeared in the midst of darkness. It did not dissolve the darkness, but created a new context, a new reality, which contrasted with it, so that God separated them (Gen 1:4), assigning them their own role (Gen 1:5). Light and darkness, therefore, stand at the origins of life as two separate and irreconcilable entities, since they have to do with the deepest dynamics of man and life. Light and darkness speak of the dialectic of opposing views between God and fallen man. Darkness, as well as describing man's condition after the primordial fall, speaks of his inability to grasp the light, since darkness, by its very nature, is blind and encloses everything in its blindness. It is precisely this dialectic of contrasting light and darkness that characterises the history of salvation. That is why "darkness did not receive it" (v. 5).

There are two meanings of darkness in v. 5: in the first part, it indicates in a general sense the fallen human condition, shrouded in ignorance of God, so that the appearance of light in this context emphasises the illuminating and revelatory function of the incarnate Word, taking away all alibis from fallen man, bringing him to the knowledge of the divine will, before which he is called to take a stand. In the second part of v. 5, darkness is historicised and embodied in the pagan and Jewish worlds, as the historical places where it took root and opposed the Word. The first 'darkness', therefore, indicates the state, the condition of man before the coming of the Word; the second 'darkness' historically identifies the actors who embody it.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

Ps 17 (18)

This monumental ode, which the title attributes to David, is a Te Deum of the king of Israel, it is his hymn of thanksgiving to God because he has been delivered from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. David acknowledges that God alone was his Deliverer, his Saviour.

David begins with a profession of love (v. 2). He shouts to the world his love for the Lord. The word he uses is 'rāḥam', meaning to love very tenderly, as in the case of a mother's love. The Lord is his strength. David is weak as a man. With God, who is his strength, he is strong. It is God's strength that makes him strong. This truth applies to every man. Every man is weak, and remains so unless God becomes his strength.

God for David is everything (v.3). The Lord for David is rock, fortress. He is his Deliverer. He is the rock in which he takes refuge. He is the shield that defends him from the enemy. The Lord is his mighty salvation and his bulwark. The Lord is simply his life, his protection, his defence. It is a true declaration of love and truth.

David's salvation is from the Lord (v. 4). It is not from his worthiness. The Lord is worthy of praise. God cannot but be praised. He does everything well. It is enough for David to call upon the Lord and he will be saved from his enemies. Always the Lord answers when David calls upon him. David's salvation is from his prayer, from his invocation.

Then David describes from what dangers the Lord delivered him. He was surrounded by billows of death, like a drowning man swept away by waves. He was overwhelmed by raging torrents. From these things no one can free himself. From these things only the Lord delivers and saves.

David's winning weapon is faith that is transformed into heartfelt prayer to be raised to the Lord, because only the Lord could help him, and it is to Him that David cries out in his distress. This is what David does: in his distress, he does not lose himself, he does not lose his faith, he remains whole. He turns his faith into prayer. He invokes the Lord. He cries out to Him. He asks Him for help and succour. God hears David's voice, hears it from his temple. His cry reaches him.

God becomes angry because He sees His elect in danger. The Lord's anger produces an upheaval of the whole earth. The earth trembles and shakes. The foundations of the mountains shake. It is as if a mighty earthquake turned the globe upside down. The spiritual fact is translated into such a profound upheaval of nature that one has the impression that creation itself is about to cease to exist. In this catastrophe that strikes terror, the righteous is rescued.

The Lord frees David because he loves him. Here is the secret of the answer to the prayer: the Lord loves David (v. 20). The Lord loves David because David loves the Lord. Prayer is a relationship of love between man and God. David invokes God's love. God's love responds and draws him to safety.

"Wholesome have I been with him, and I have guarded myself from guilt" (v. 24). David's conscience testifies for him. David prayed with an upright conscience, with a pure heart. This he says not only to God, but to every man. Everyone must know that the righteous is truly righteous. The world must know the integrity of God's children. We have a duty to confess it. It is on integrity that truly human relationships can be built. Without integrity, every relationship is tightened on falsehood and lies.

"The way of God is straight, the word of the Lord is tried by fire" (v. 31). What is the secret because God is with David? It is David's abiding in the Word of God. David has a certainty: the way indicated by the Word of God is straight. One only has to follow it. This certainty is lacking in the hearts of many today. Many do not believe in the purity of God's Word. Many think that it is now outdated. Modernity cannot stand under the Word of God.

"For who is God, if not the Lord? Or who is rock, if not our God?" Now David professes his faith in the Lord for all to know. Is there any other God but the Lord? God alone is the Lord. God alone is the rock of salvation. To seek another God is idolatry. This profession of faith must always be made aloud (remember the 'Creed'). Convinced people are needed. A faith hidden in the heart is dead. A seed placed in the ground springs up and reveals the nature of the tree. Faith that is in the heart must sprout up and reveal its nature of truth, holiness, righteousness, love and hope. A faith that does not reveal its nature is dead. It is a useless faith.

"He grants his king great victories; he shows himself faithful to his anointed, to David and his seed for ever" (v. 51). In this Psalm, David sees himself as the work of God's hands. That is why he blesses him, praises him, magnifies him. God's faithfulness and great favours for David do not end with David. God's faithfulness is for all his descendants. We know that David's descendants are Jesus Christ. With Jesus God is faithful for ever. With the other descendants, God will be faithful if they are faithful to Jesus Christ.

Here, then, the figure of David disappears to make way for that of the perfect king in whom the saving action that God offers the world is concentrated. In the light of this reinterpretation, the ode entered the Christian liturgy as a victory song of Christ, the 'son of David', over the forces of evil and as a hymn of the salvation he offered.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon) 

1Th 5:16-24

1Thessalonians 5:16 Be joyful always,

1Thessalonians 5:17 pray unceasingly,

1Tessalonians 5:18 in all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.

1Thessalonians 5:19 quench not the Spirit,

"Be joyful always". The theme of joy is the spiritual climate of the Christian community. Christianity is joy, spiritual gladness, joy of the heart, serenity of the mind. 'Always' means in all circumstances. From an outward point of view, there was little for which believers in those days could rejoice. But joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not something the Christian can procure from his own resources.

The Christian is called to always be joyful. This quality of his new being is only possible on one condition: that there is such a strong faith in his heart that he thinks at all times that everything that happens, happens for a greater good for us. Whoever does not possess this faith is lost, because tribulation, without faith, does not generate hope, but disappointment, sadness, tears and every other kind of bitterness.

Gladness ripens only on the tree of faith, and he who falls from faith also falls from gladness and falls into sadness. Knowing that physical or moral evil permitted by God must generate sanctification in us, the Christian accepts it in faith and lives it in prayer.

In fact, the apostle adds: 'pray unceasingly'. In this very brief exhortation is hidden the secret of the Christian's life. Prayer must punctuate the life of the community and of individuals; a continuous attitude. It is not the little prayer done every now and then, but a regular prayer, done according to a constant rhythm. If we do this we can go even further, and that is to live in a spirit of prayer, aware of God's presence with us wherever we are.

The moment is lost that is without prayer. It is a moment entrusted only to our will, rationality, it is a moment lost because it is not done according to God's will but according to our own. Lost is that moment lived but not entrusted to God in prayer. Lost is that moment made by ourselves, but not made as a gift of God for us and for others. This is the truth of our life.

Because today we no longer pray, or we only pray for some personal interest, so much of our life is wasted, it is lost, it is not lived either for our own good or for the good of our brothers. Learning to pray is the most necessary thing for a man. Teaching how to do so is the primary work of the priest, or of those who lead the community.

"In everything give thanks" is the way to live in a joyful and prayerful atmosphere. We have the verb eucharistein ('to give thanks'). In every situation give thanks, because even in our difficulties and trials God teaches us valuable lessons. It is not easy to see the positive side of a trial, but if God is above all things, then He is sovereign even in the trial.

For thanksgiving to be made of everything, the heart must be clothed in humility. It is proper to humility to recognise what the Lord has done and is doing for us. But it is proper to prayer to raise to the Lord the hymn of thanksgiving, of blessing, of glorifying his name that is mighty on earth and in heaven.

He who does not give thanks is an idolater. He thinks that everything is from him, from his abilities, and therefore he attributes to himself what is simply and purely a gift from the Lord. An example of how one thanks the Lord, blesses Him, exalts and magnifies Him is the Virgin Mary. Her Magnificat is recited daily by the Church. It must not only be recited, but also imitated, prayed, made one's own life.

At the end of this triad of imperatives on the spiritual life, a motivation is given that encompasses all three exhortations: 'for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards you'. In this context, the expression 'will of God' implies a way of life that corresponds to the plan of salvation revealed in Jesus Christ. God's will is made known in Christ, and in Christ we are given the motivation and strength to do that will.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books

- Revelation - exegetical commentary

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

(Buyable on Amazon)                                                                          

1Ts 5,16-24

1Tessalonicesi 5:16 State sempre lieti,

1Tessalonicesi 5:17 pregate incessantemente,

1Tessalonicesi 5:18 in ogni cosa rendete grazie; questa è infatti la volontà di Dio in Cristo Gesù verso di voi.

1Tessalonicesi 5:19 Non spegnete lo Spirito,

«State sempre lieti». Il tema della gioia è il clima spirituale della comunità cristiana. Il cristianesimo è gioia, letizia spirituale, gaudio del cuore, serenità della mente. «Sempre» significa in ogni circostanza. Da un punto di vista esteriore c’era ben poco per cui i credenti a quei tempi potessero rallegrarsi. Ma la gioia è un frutto dello Spirito, non è qualcosa che il cristiano possa procurarsi traendola fuori dalle proprie risorse.

Il cristiano è chiamato ad essere sempre lieto. Questa qualità del suo nuovo essere è possibile ad una sola condizione: che vi sia nel cuore una fede così forte da pensare in ogni momento che tutto ciò che avviene, avviene per un bene più grande per noi. Chi non possiede questa fede, si perde, perché la tribolazione, senza la fede, non genera speranza, ma delusione, tristezza, lacrime e ogni altra sorta di amarezza.

La letizia matura solo sull’albero della fede e chi cade dalla fede cade anche dalla letizia e precipita nella tristezza. Sapendo che il male fisico o morale permesso da Dio deve generare in noi la santificazione, il cristiano lo accoglie nella fede e lo vive nella preghiera.

Infatti l'apostolo aggiunge: «pregate incessantemente». In questa brevissima esortazione è nascosto il segreto della vita del cristiano. La preghiera deve scandire la vita della comunità e dei singoli; un’attitudine continua. Non è la preghierina fatta ogni tanto, ma è una preghiera regolare, fatta secondo un ritmo costante. Se si fa questo possiamo andare anche oltre, e cioè vivere in uno spirito di preghiera, consci della presenza di Dio con noi ovunque siamo.

È perso quel momento che è senza preghiera. È un momento affidato solo alla nostra volontà, razionalità, è un momento perso perché non fatto secondo la volontà di Dio ma secondo la nostra. È perso quell’attimo vissuto, ma non affidato a Dio nella preghiera. È perso quel momento fatto da noi stessi, ma non fatto come un dono di Dio per noi e per gli altri. Questa è la verità della nostra vita.

Poiché oggi non si prega più, o si prega solo per alcuni interessi personali, tanta parte della nostra vita viene sciupata, è persa, non è vissuta né per il nostro bene, né per il bene dei nostri fratelli. Imparare a pregare è la cosa più necessaria per un uomo. Insegnare a farlo è l’opera primaria del sacerdote, o di chi guida la comunità.

«In ogni cosa rendete grazie», è il modo di vivere in un clima gioioso e orante. Abbiamo il verbo eucharistein («rendere grazie»). In ogni situazione rendere grazie, perché anche nelle nostre difficoltà e nelle nostre prove Dio ci insegna lezioni preziose. Non è facile vedere il lato positivo di una prova, ma se Dio è sopra ogni cosa, allora è sovrano anche nella prova.

Perché di tutto si faccia un rendimento di grazie, occorre che il cuore si rivesta di umiltà. È proprio dell’umiltà riconoscere quanto il Signore ha fatto e fa per noi. Ma è proprio della preghiera innalzare al Signore l’inno per il rendimento di grazie, per la benedizione, per la glorificazione del suo nome che è potente sulla terra e nei cieli.

Chi non rende grazie è un idolatra. Pensa che tutto sia da lui, dalle sue capacità, e quindi si attribuisce ciò che è semplicemente e puramente un dono del Signore. Esempio di come si ringrazi il Signore, lo si benedica, lo si esalti e lo si magnifichi è la Vergine Maria. Il suo Magnificat è quotidianamente recitato dalla Chiesa. Bisogna che non solo venga recitato, quanto imitato, pregato, fatto propria vita.

A chiusura di questa triade di imperativi sulla vita spirituale, si dà una motivazione che abbraccia tutte e tre le esortazioni: «questa è infatti la volontà di Dio in Cristo Gesù verso di voi». In questo contesto l’espressione «volontà di Dio» implica uno stile di vita corrispondente al progetto di salvezza rivelato in Gesù Cristo. La volontà di Dio viene fatta conoscere in Cristo, e in Cristo ci viene data la motivazione e la forza per cui ci è possibile fare quella volontà.

 Argentino Quintavalle, autore dei libri 

- Apocalisse – commento esegetico 

- L'Apostolo Paolo e i giudaizzanti – Legge o Vangelo?

• Gesù Cristo vero Dio e vero Uomo nel mistero trinitario
• Il discorso profetico di Gesù (Matteo 24-25)
• Tutte le generazioni mi chiameranno beata

(Acquistabili su Amazon)

Mc 1,1-8

Marco 1:1 Inizio del vangelo di Gesù Cristo, Figlio di Dio.

Marco 1:2 Come è scritto nel profeta Isaia:

Ecco, io mando il mio messaggero davanti a te,

egli ti preparerà la strada.

Marco 1:3 Voce di uno che grida nel deserto:

preparate la strada del Signore,

raddrizzate i suoi sentieri,

Il racconto di Marco inizia in un modo insolito e apparentemente banale, dicendo al lettore che quello che sta leggendo è l'inizio del vangelo di Gesù. Un'affermazione questa che lascia perplessi, dato che tutti i libri cominciano dal loro inizio e non è il caso che si sprechi un versetto per dirlo. Ma evidentemente quel “archē” (inizio) assume per l'evangelista un significato del tutto particolare. L'inizio di cui si parla non è soltanto l'inizio di un racconto, ma un "arché", cioè un principio da cui tutto discende. Il termine greco "arché" ci riporta alle origini della creazione: "In principio Dio creò il cielo e la terra" (Gen 1,1) e fu proprio in questo principio, assoluto e unico, che risuonò la parola creatrice. Marco, quindi, vede in Gesù l'inizio di una nuova creazione.

L'inizio di cui si parla è quello di un "vangelo", cioè l'inizio di un lieto annuncio, il cui contenuto è Gesù stesso: «di Gesù Cristo, Figlio di Dio», cioè appartiene a Gesù e si origina da lui. Marco fin da subito mette in chiaro chi è l'eroe del suo racconto e, quindi, come va letta e compresa la sua figura e, di conseguenza, la sua missione. Il suo personaggio è innanzitutto chiamato Gesù, dichiarandone, in tal modo, la dimensione storico-umana: egli è un vero uomo, che si muove ed opera in mezzo agli uomini. Gesù, dunque, non è una realtà metafisica, piovuta dal cielo chissà in quale modo, ma ha profonde radici umane ed è, grazie alla sua umanità, incardinato nella storia, che condivide con il resto degli uomini. In ciò Gesù dimostra tutta la sua solidarietà con il genere umano. In tale nome, poi, è racchiuso il senso più vero e profondo della sua missione. In ebraico, infatti, il nome Gesù (Yeshua) significa "Dio salva"; il lettore, pertanto, è invitato a cogliere in questo uomo l'azione salvifica di Dio stesso.

Ed ecco, quindi, che accanto al nome Gesù compare subito l'attributo "Cristo". Il profeta Natan aveva promesso a Davide una discendenza, che avrebbe reso stabile il suo regno. Da quel momento il popolo ebreo attendeva questa "discendenza", questo "Unto del Signore", a lui consacrato. Nell'immaginario del popolo le attese erano rivolte ad una sorta di super uomo, politico, militare e religioso, che avrebbe dato lustro, splendore e stabilità ad Israele sopra tutti gli altri popoli, e che avrebbe fondato sulla terra il regno di Dio. Marco vede in Gesù il realizzarsi di questa antica profezia, che supera, però, le ristrette visioni storiche e terrene del popolo. Certo, Gesù è il vero Messia atteso, ma la sua messianicità non è così come è sempre stata pensata dagli uomini, ma è posta al servizio di Dio e si rivelerà gradualmente nel doloroso cammino verso la croce, che lascerà sbigottiti, increduli e riluttanti i suoi stessi discepoli. Marco, quindi, vede in Gesù l'Unto di Dio, l'uomo che Dio aveva promesso a Davide e che aveva pensato da sempre per il suo popolo e per l'intera umanità.

Capire, quindi, che Gesù è il Cristo atteso è il primo passo per poter accedere all'altra incredibile realtà, presente in lui: egli è anche Figlio di Dio. L'essere "figlio di Dio" era uno dei titoli attribuiti al Messia; era anche il titolo riconosciuto ai re. Ma Gesù nel corso della sua vita ha dimostrato che il suo essere "Figlio di Dio" aveva radici molto profonde, sconosciute fino ad allora, testimoniando una relazione unica, privilegiata ed esclusiva con Dio, che chiamava "Padre" in senso reale e non metaforico, denunciando, in tal modo la sua vera origine e natura.  

Il vangelo di Marco, quindi, diventa un cammino alla scoperta della vera natura e del vero essere di Gesù. Si parte dalla sua umanità, definita e contenuta nel nome Gesù, per accedere alla sua messianicità, condensata nel titolo di «Cristo», per giungere alla scoperta del titolo dei titoli: «Figlio di Dio» e, quindi, Dio lui stesso.

Il racconto di Marco continua poi con un solenne e autorevole “Come è scritto nel profeta Isaia...”. Alla base di tutto, dunque, ecco la Scrittura, la Parola creatrice di Dio, che trova nell'evento Gesù la sua incarnazione e la sua piena manifestazione. Gesù, dunque, è la Parola del Padre che si fa storia e diviene azione redentrice di Dio in mezzo agli uomini.

Il profeta Isaia esortava il popolo d'Israele, prigioniero a Babilonia, ad aprirsi alla speranza e a preparare la via del ritorno in patria come una sorta di secondo esodo, attraverso il deserto, dove il resto d'Israele, quello rimasto fedele a Dio, avrebbe visto la gloria del Signore.

Ed è proprio sulla spinta del profeta Isaia che il “maestro di Giustizia”, l'enigmatica figura della comunità di Qumran, creò la sua comunità in mezzo al deserto, in attesa della venuta del Messia. Una sorta di comunità monacale animata da forti tensioni escatologiche ed apocalittiche.

Il “deserto” è una parola emblematica e molto significativa nella storia di Israele, perché è da lì che è partita la sua storia della salvezza; lì ha ricevuto la sua identità diventando proprietà di Dio; ed è sempre lì, nel deserto, che Israele viene messo alla prova e trova il suo riscatto e la sua rigenerazione spirituale. In tal guisa, è ancora da qui, dal deserto, che parte ora la storia di un nuovo Israele, a cui Marco allude, richiamandosi ai testi profetici. Ecco perché Marco vede la sua opera come un “archē”, come un inizio.

 Argentino Quintavalle, autore dei libri 

- Apocalisse – commento esegetico 

- L'Apostolo Paolo e i giudaizzanti – Legge o Vangelo?

• Gesù Cristo vero Dio e vero Uomo nel mistero trinitario
• Il discorso profetico di Gesù (Matteo 24-25)
• Tutte le generazioni mi chiameranno beata

(Acquistabili su Amazon)