Dear brothers and sisters

in the last two catecheses we have spoken of the figure of St Peter. Now we want, as far as the sources allow, to get to know the other eleven Apostles a little more closely. Therefore let us speak today of Simon Peter's brother, Saint Andrew, also one of the Twelve. The first striking feature in Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as one would have expected, but Greek, a not inconsiderable sign of a certain cultural openness in his family. We are in Galilee, where the Greek language and culture are quite present. In the lists of the Twelve, Andrew occupies second place, as in Matthew (10:1-4) and Luke (6:13-16), or fourth place as in Mark (3:13-18) and Acts (1:13-14). In any case, he certainly enjoyed great prestige within the early Christian communities.

The blood bond between Peter and Andrew, as well as the common call addressed to them by Jesus, emerge explicitly in the Gospels. We read: 'As Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting their nets into the sea, because they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, I will make you fishers of men'" (Mt 4:18-19; Mk 1:16-17). From the Fourth Gospel we gather another important detail: at first, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist; and this shows us that he was a man who sought, who shared the hope of Israel, who wanted to know more about the word of the Lord, the reality of the Lord present. He was truly a man of faith and hope; and from John the Baptist one day he heard Jesus proclaimed as 'the Lamb of God' (John 1:36); he then moved and, together with another unnamed disciple, followed Jesus, the One who was called by John 'the Lamb of God'. The evangelist relates: they "saw where he was staying and that day they stayed with him" (John 1:37-39). Andrew therefore enjoyed precious moments of intimacy with Jesus. The account continues with a significant note: "One of the two who had heard John's words and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He met his brother Simon first and said to him, "We have found the Messiah, which means the Christ," and led him to Jesus" (John 1:40-43), immediately showing an uncommon apostolic spirit. Andrew, therefore, was the first of the Apostles to be called to follow Jesus. Precisely on this basis, the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honours him with the appellation Protóklitos, which means 'first called'. And it is certain that also because of the fraternal relationship between Peter and Andrew, the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople feel that they are sister Churches in a special way. To underline this relationship, my predecessor Pope Paul VI, in 1964, returned the distinguished relic of St Andrew, until then kept in the Vatican Basilica, to the Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of the city of Patras in Greece, where according to tradition the Apostle was crucified.

Gospel traditions particularly recall the name of Andrew on three other occasions that make us know this man a little more. The first is that of the multiplication of the loaves in Galilee. At that juncture, it was Andrew who pointed out to Jesus the presence of a boy who had with him five barley loaves and two fish: very little - he remarked - for all the people gathered there (cf. Jn 6:8-9). It is worth emphasising, in this case, Andrew's realism: he noticed the boy - so he had already asked the question: "But what is this for so many people?" (ibid.) - and realised the insufficiency of his few resources. Jesus, however, was able to make them sufficient for the multitude of people who had come to listen to him. The second occasion was in Jerusalem. On his way out of the city, a disciple pointed out to Jesus the sight of the mighty walls that supported the Temple. The Master's response was surprising: he said that not stone upon stone would remain of those walls. Andrew then, together with Peter, James and John, questioned him: "Tell us when this will happen and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be fulfilled" (Mk 13:1-4). In response to this question, Jesus gave an important discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, inviting his disciples to read the signs of the times carefully and to remain ever vigilant. From this we can deduce that we must not be afraid to ask Jesus questions, but at the same time we must be ready to accept the teachings, even surprising and difficult ones, that he offers us.

Finally, a third initiative of Andrew is recorded in the Gospels. The setting is Jerusalem again, just before the Passion. For the feast of Passover,' John recounts, 'some Greeks had also come to the holy city, probably proselytes or God-fearers, who had come to worship the God of Israel on the feast of Passover. Andrew and Philip, the two apostles with Greek names, served as interpreters and mediators of this small group of Greeks to Jesus. The Lord's answer to their question appears - as so often in John's Gospel - enigmatic, but it is precisely in this way that it reveals itself to be rich in meaning. Jesus says to the two disciples and, through them, to the Greek world: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, if the grain of wheat that falls into the earth does not die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (12:23-24). What do these words mean in this context? Jesus wants to say: Yes, the meeting between me and the Greeks will take place, but not as a simple and brief conversation between me and some people, driven above all by curiosity. With my death, comparable to the falling of a grain of wheat into the earth, the hour of my glorification will come. From my death on the cross will come the great fruitfulness: the 'dead grain of wheat' - symbol of me crucified - will become in the resurrection bread of life for the world; it will be light for peoples and cultures. Yes, the encounter with the Greek soul, with the Greek world, will take place at that depth alluded to in the story of the grain of wheat that draws to itself the forces of earth and heaven and becomes bread. In other words, Jesus prophesies the Church of the Greeks, the Church of the Gentiles, the Church of the world as the fruit of his Passover.

Very ancient traditions see in Andrew, who transmitted this word to the Greeks, not only the interpreter of some Greeks in the encounter with Jesus now mentioned, but they consider him to be the apostle of the Greeks in the years that followed Pentecost; they let us know that in the rest of his life he was the announcer and interpreter of Jesus for the Greek world. Peter, his brother, came from Jerusalem via Antioch to Rome to exercise his universal mission there; Andrew, on the other hand, was the apostle to the Greek world: they thus appear in life and in death as true brothers - a brotherhood that is symbolically expressed in the special relationship of the Sees of Rome and Constantinople, truly sister Churches.

A later tradition, as mentioned, tells of Andrew's death in Patras, where he too suffered the torture of crucifixion. At that supreme moment, however, similarly to his brother Peter, he asked to be placed on a different cross from that of Jesus. In his case, it was a decussate cross, i.e. a cross with an inclined cross, which was therefore called 'St Andrew's cross'. Here is what the Apostle is said to have said on that occasion, according to an ancient account (early 6th century) entitled Andrew's Passion: "Hail, O Cross, inaugurated by the body of Christ and adorned with its members, as if they were precious pearls. Before the Lord ascended thee, thou inculcatedst an earthly fear. Now instead, endowed with a heavenly love, you are received as a gift. Believers know, in your regard, how much joy you possess, how many gifts you keep prepared. Surely therefore and full of joy I come to thee, that thou also mayest receive me exultant as a disciple of him who was suspended to thee ... O blessed Cross, who received the majesty and beauty of the Lord's limbs! ... Take me and bear me away from men and render me to my Master, that through thee I may be received by him who by thee redeemed me. Hail, O Cross; yes, hail indeed!". As we can see, there is here a very profound Christian spirituality, which sees in the Cross not so much an instrument of torture as the incomparable means of a full assimilation to the Redeemer, to the Grain of wheat fallen to the earth. We must learn from here a very important lesson: our crosses acquire value if they are considered and accepted as part of the cross of Christ, if they are reached by the reverberation of his light. Only from that Cross are even our sufferings ennobled and acquire their true meaning.

May the Apostle Andrew, therefore, teach us to follow Jesus promptly (cf. Mt 4:20; Mk 1:18), to speak enthusiastically of Him to all we meet, and above all to cultivate a relationship of true familiarity with Him, well aware that only in Him can we find the ultimate meaning of our life and death.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 14 June 2006]

Christ, who commanded to pray for the labourers of the harvest, also called them personally. His words of call are preserved in the treasury of the Gospel: "Come after me and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt 4:19). "Come and follow me" (Mt 19:21). "If any man will serve me, let him follow me" (Jn 12:26). These words of call are entrusted to our apostolic ministry and we must make them heard, like the other words of the Gospel, "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It is Christ's will that we make them heard. The People of God have a right to hear them from us.

The admirable pastoral programmes of the individual Churches, the Vocations Works which, according to the Council, must dispose and promote all pastoral activity for vocations (cf. Optatam Totius, 2) open the way, prepare the good ground for the Lord's grace. God is always free to call whom he wills and when he wills, according to the "extraordinary riches of his grace through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2, 7). But ordinarily he calls through our persons and our word. Therefore, do not be afraid to call. Go down among your young people. Go out personally to them and call. The hearts of many young, and not so young, are predisposed to listen to you. Many of them are looking for a purpose to live for; they are waiting to discover a worthwhile mission, to consecrate their lives to it. Christ has tuned them in to his and your call. We must call. The rest will be done by the Lord, who offers each one his particular gift, according to the grace he has been given (cf. 1 Cor 7:7; Rom 12:6).

[Pope John Paul II, Message for the 16th World Day for Vocations]

"Today, in this Mass, we will make ourselves close to the Church of Constantinople, the Church of Andrew, we will pray for the Church, for the unity of the Churches". With these words, at the beginning of the celebration on Friday 30 at Santa Marta, Pope Francis wished to recall the liturgical feast of Saint Andrew. And the vocation of "Peter and Andrew" was recalled by the Pontiff with the words of the entrance antiphon: "On the shores of the Sea of Galilee the Lord saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew, and he called them: "Come after me, I will make you fishers of men" (cf. Matthew 4:18-19)". The proclamation of the Gospel, the Pope went on to say, is "testimony" and "consistency" even to the point of martyrdom: it is a mission that involves "a single ticket". And it has nothing to do with 'proselytism' and the 'logic of marketing'.

In his homily, the Pontiff first of all took up the contents of Paul's letter to the Romans (10:9-18) proposed as the first reading. The apostle, he explained, "tells the Romans that the proclamation of the Gospel is important: to bring this proclamation, that Christ has saved us, that Christ has died, risen for us". But the apostle also says "how these people must invoke the name of the Lord in order to be saved: 'how will they invoke him in whom they have not believed?'". For "without faith one cannot invoke". And again, the Pope went on to repeat Paul's words, "how will they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How will they hear of him without someone announcing him? And how will they proclaim him, if they have not been sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good!'"

"The proclamation of Jesus Christ is to bring, yes, news, but not simple, common news: the good news," Francis explained, adding that in reality it is "not even good news" but the news, "the only great good news".

And "this announcing of Jesus Christ for the disciples of the first times and also of this time," said the Pontiff, "is not a job of publicity: to advertise a very good person, who did good, healed many people and taught us beautiful things". Advertising, he insisted, 'is not publicity, nor is it proselytism'. So much so that 'if someone goes to speak about Jesus Christ, to preach Jesus Christ in order to proselytise, no, this is not the proclamation of Christ: this is the work of a preacher, governed by the logic of marketing'.

So, the Pope asked, 'what is the proclamation of Christ, which is neither proselytism, nor advertising, nor marketing, and how to describe it?' It is, he replied, 'first of all, to be sent, but not like the head of a company looking for new partners', but rather as 'sent to the mission'. And 'the proper sign, that one is sent to the mission' is 'when one's own life comes into play: the apostle, the envoy, who carries out the proclamation of Jesus Christ does so on condition that he puts his own life, his own time, his own interests, his own flesh on the line'. And 'there is a saying that can explain it, a common saying said by simple people from my land, which says: "to do this you have to put your own flesh on the grill"'. The question, Francis reiterated, is 'to put oneself at stake and this journey of going to the proclamation risking one's life - because I put my life, my flesh at stake - has only the outward ticket, not the return'. Because "to return is apostasy".

"Announcing Jesus Christ with witness" therefore. And "testimony means putting one's life on the line: what I say I do," the Pontiff reiterated. Moreover, "Jesus rebuked the doctors of the law of that time who said many good things, but did the opposite". Not by chance, "the advice Jesus gave the people was: 'Do whatever they say, but do not imitate what they do'". Indeed, he added, 'the word to be proclamation must be testimony'.

But "how much of a scandal we Christians give when we say we are Christians and then live as pagans, as non-believers, as if we had no faith", the Pope acknowledged, inviting people to have "coherence between the word and their own life: this is called witness". And so "the apostle, the one who brings, the announcer, the one who brings the word of God, is a witness who plays his life to the end". And 'he is also a martyr'.

At this point, Francis suggested, 'someone may wonder who invented this method of making a person like Jesus known: it is a method proper to Christianity. Who invented it? Perhaps St Peter or St Andrew? No, God the Father, because it was his own method of making himself known: sending his Son in the flesh, risking his own life'.

In fact, the Pontiff pointed out, 'the first act of faith is: "I believe that the Son became flesh"'. And even this statement 'scandalised so much and continues to scandalise: God became one of us". This too 'was a journey,' Francis said, 'with a one-way ticket only: the devil tried to convince him to take another road and he did not want to, he did the Father's will to the end'. But his 'proclamation must go the same way, the witness, because he was the witness of the Father made flesh'. And also "we must make ourselves flesh, that is, make ourselves witnesses: do, do what we say, and this is the proclamation of Christ".

"Martyrs are those who prove that the proclamation was true," the Pope explained. They are "men and women who gave their lives - the apostles gave their lives - with blood". But they are "also many men and women hidden in our society and in our families, who give witness every day in silence to Jesus Christ, but with their own lives, with that consistency of doing what they say".

"All of us are baptised and have with our baptism the mission of proclaiming Jesus Christ," the Pontiff relaunched. Therefore "if we live as Jesus taught us to live, live in harmony with what we preach, the proclamation will be fruitful". But "if we live without coherence, saying one thing and doing another contrary thing, the result will be scandal; and the scandal of Christians does so much harm, so much harm to the people of God".

"Let us ask the Lord for the grace" - Francis concluded - to do "like Peter and Andrew, James and John who left boat, net, father, family: to leave everything that prevents us from going forward in the proclamation of witness". Because "we all have something to leave inside, all of us. We look for what? We leave. That attitude, that sin, that vice: everyone knows his own". That is why, he repeated, we ask for "the grace to leave in order to be more consistent and to announce Jesus Christ, so that people will believe with our witness."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 01/12/2018]

XXXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time (year B) [24 November 2024]

First reading Dn 7:13-14

*A coronation scene

The prophet Daniel describes a coronation scene "in the clouds of heaven", i.e. in God's world with a "son of man" (in Hebrew it simply means a human being) approaching the Old Man, whom a few verses earlier (v.9) he describes seated on a throne: it is understood that he is God. The Son of Man advances to be anointed king: "he was given power, glory and kingdom...his is an eternal power that will never end", a universal and eternal kingship that, however, he does not conquer by force and, as Daniel points out, he does not approach the throne of God on his own initiative. This Sunday's reading stops here, but to better understand, one must go a little further and realise that this "son of man" is not an individual but a people: "I, Daniel, was troubled in my soul .I approached one of the neighbours and asked him the true meaning of all these things, and he gave me this explanation: "The four great beasts represent four kings, who shall arise from the earth; but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess it for ever and ever" (vv15-18). In a few verses later he repeats: 'Then the kingdom and the power and the greatness of the kingdoms that are under heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom shall be eternal, and all empires shall serve and obey him' (v27). This son of man is therefore 'the people of the saints of the Most High' which, in biblical language, means Israel and in the age of persecution, is the small faithful remnant. We are at the most painful time of Antiochus Epiphanes' persecution around 165 B.C. when only a small group really remained. When Daniel states that the people of the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, he means to encourage them to resist because the final deliverance will soon come, and since shortly afterwards Antiochus Epiphanes was driven out, his prophecy was interpreted by some Jews as referring to the expected Messiah-King, who would not be a particular individual, but a people. When Jesus was born centuries later, although everyone in Israel awaited the Messiah, not everyone imagined him in the same way: some awaited a man, others a collective Messiah called 'the little Remnant of Israel' (an expression from the prophet Amos 9.11-15), or 'the son of man' in reference to the prophet Daniel. Jesus is the only one (no one else does this) to use the expression 'Son of Man' coming on the clouds of heaven more than 80 times in the gospels, referring to himself, but his contemporaries could not recognise in Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, the Messiah, i.e. 'the people of the saints of the Most High'. Moreover, Jesus substantially modifies the definition because, referring to Daniel, he says: "Then...you will see the Son of Man coming, surrounded by clouds, in the fullness of power and glory" (Mk 13:26), and again in the Gospel of Mark he adds: "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him" (Mk 9:31). Only after the resurrection will the disciples understand that the title of Son of Man on the clouds of heaven is attributed to Jesus, because he is both man and God, the first-born of the new humanity, the Head who makes us one Body and, at the end of history, we shall be as "one man, grafted into him and thus "the people of the saints of the Most High". While Daniel said a "Son of Man" Jesus changes it to "Son of Man"": son of man meant "one man", while son of man means "Humanity" and therefore "Son of Man" means Humanity. By attributing this title to Himself, Christ reveals Himself to be the bearer of the destiny of the whole of humanity, fulfilling the divine creation project, that is, to make humanity one people: "God created man in His own image...male and female He created them...He said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth" (Gen 1:27-28). For St Paul, Jesus is the new Adam: 'As by one man's disobedience all were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience all will be made righteous' (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45-49), while in the Fourth Gospel, Piato's phrase 'Ecce homo, Behold the man' (19:5) is always striking.

*Responsorial Psalm 92/93 (1,2,5)

*We proclaim God our King 

By proclaiming Christ our King we affirm our faith/hope with the courage to realise his kingdom, certain that by rising he has defeated death and by forgiving the murderers he has destroyed hatred. However, while we dare to say that Christ is already king, everything in the world seems to be going backwards: death kills, hatred spreads in all its forms of violence and injustice. Psalm 92/93 proclaims God's victory over the world in spite of appearances, and the Jews also celebrate God the King by having the same faith and hope as they await God's 'Day'. In proclaiming his victory over the forces of evil, however, they rely on the experience of the Exodus by worshipping God who by freeing Israel offered his Covenant, while we Christians rely on the resurrection of Christ. To sing the kingship of God this psalm looks to the model of the coronation of kings: in the throne room the new king, invested with the royal mantle, sat on the throne and, having signed the enthronement charter, took possession of the royal palace. At this point, the people shouted 'Long live the king,' an acclamation that in Hebrew is called 'térouah' and was originally a cry of victory against the enemy. In this psalm, the acclaimed king is God, and more than others he deserves the terouah because he has defeated the forces of evil: "The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty, he is girded with strength": these are the clothes of the Creator.  The Hebrew expression: "He girded his strength" evokes the gesture of tying a garment to his hips, as the potter does with his apron to work the clay".  Singing that his throne "is stable from everlasting, from eternity thou art", the psalm hints by contrast at idols that are within everyone's reach and evokes the fragility of earthly kingdoms, particularly the kings of Israel, some of whom reigned a few years, even a few days. Throughout the psalm, God is proclaimed king over creation because he dominates the forces of the waters that are often untamable for man: "more than the roar of rushing waters, more mighty than the billows of the sea, mighty on high is the Lord" (v.4). The billows of the sea recall the Sea of Rushes (in Hebrew Yam Suf, and suf means reed or rush)) identified with the Red Sea, which God made his people cross. Since then, the Lord's faithfulness has never faded, as verse 5 expresses so well: "Worthy of faith are all your teachings". The expression "worthy of faith" in other versions is rendered as "unchanging", a word that has the same root as Amen and evokes faithfulness, stability, truth, immutability, steadfastness. This is God's faithfulness to his people, of which the Temple of Jerusalem was a symbol, an icon of God's presence and a reflection of his holiness: "Holiness befits your house". Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem and pulled down the Temple of Solomon, deporting most of the population to Babylon, and having destroyed the kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, there were no more kings in Israel because the last one was Sedekiah who was captured, blinded and taken into exile. From that moment on, the expression: 'Holiness befits your house' celebrated God's sovereignty in the expectation of the Messiah-King, God's faithful image.  Every year, during the Feast of Tents (in the autumn), this psalm was taken up to celebrate in advance the fulfilment of the whole of history, the definitive Covenant, the Wedding between God and Humanity: in fact Israel with the whole of humanity will one day share the kingship of the Messiah, as the Queen sits next to the King.

Second Reading Rev 1:5-8

*He who is, who was, and who is to come

 "Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth": the phrases of this short text, which is the beginning of the Apocalypse, are dense and evoke the whole mystery of Christ and each word reveals an aspect of it. "Jesus" is the name of a man from Nazareth and means "God saves"; "Christ" indicates the Messiah filled with the Spirit of God; "the faithful witness" connects to Jesus' words to Pilate that we hear today in the gospel: "I was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth". The statement: "the firstborn from the dead" encapsulates the faith of the early Christians who saw in Jesus, a mortal man like everyone else, the firstborn of a long line, resurrected by God to lead all his brothers and sisters, and the phrase: "the Sovereign of the kings of the earth" reinforces the concept of the Messiah who placed all his enemies under his feet, as Psalm 109/110 sings. Since in Revelation numbers are symbolic and ternary expressions are reserved for God, the three qualifications: "faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth" attributed to Jesus affirm that he is God. The second sentence takes up and amplifies the first: "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen'. Here we find the traditional tenets of faith: Christ's love for all men; the gift of his life signified by the expression "blood shed" to redeem us from evil, while the statement: "He has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father" indicates that in Christ the promise "You shall be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" contained in the book of Exodus (19:6) has been fulfilled.  In the third sentence: "Behold, he comes with the clouds" it is the Son of Man, spoken of by Daniel in the first reading, who advances to the throne of God to receive universal kingship. The first dimension of his kingship is triumph. The second dimension is that of suffering: "Every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him, and for him all the tribes of the earth shall beat their breasts", a clear allusion to the cross and the soldier's lance (Jn.19:33-34). Here St John refers to the prophecy of Zechariah: "I will pour out upon the house of David and Jerusalem a spirit of kindness ... they will look upon him whom they have pierced ... they will mourn for him as for an only son ... they will mourn for him as for a first-born ... a spring will flow ... as a remedy for sin and impurity". ( Zech 12:10; 13:1).  With the spirit of benevolence God will transform the human heart and turning their gaze to the one they have pierced, men will see an innocent man unjustly slain in clear contrast to the religious authorities of the time. Looking at the crucified Messiah suddenly eyes and hearts will open and, when the hearts of all men will be transformed, Christ will be King because it is the opening of the heart that introduces us into the grace and peace of eternity in God: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Mt 25:34). Finally, the final expression of the second reading: "He who is, who was, and who is to come" (v. 8) is one of the translations of the name of God (YHVH, Ex 3:14) in the Jewish commentaries (Jerusalem Targum). 

Gospel Jn. 18:33b-37

*So you are king?

John's gospel is the only one to report the long dialogue between Pilate and Jesus, a text of considerable interest for the Feast of Christ the King because statements about Christ's kingship are rare in the gospels and only during his passion does Jesus openly declare that he is king.  During his public life whenever they wanted to make him king he withdrew, when they publicised his miracles he imposed silence and this even after the Transfiguration. Only now that he is chained and condemned to death does he claim to be king, i.e. at the least convenient time according to human calculations.  Undoubtedly he has an alternative way of conceiving kingship and he explained it to the disciples: the leaders rule over the nations, but this must not be the case for you; if anyone wants to be great let him be your servant, if he wants to be first let him be servant of all, imitating the Son of Man who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom (i.e. deliverance) for the multitude (cf. Mk 10:42-45). It is during Pilate's interrogation that he declares himself to be the king of mankind, thus at the very moment when he gives his life for us showing that his only royal ambition is service. On closer inspection, in the dialogue between Pilate, a high representative of the Roman empire, and a man condemned to death, the parts are reversed: it is not Pilate who judges him but Christ who judges the world, and the Roman power ends up recognising Christ as the true king. Jesus was captured because the religious leaders, frightened by his success, acted deceitfully, fearing their destruction with the arrival of the Romans: "If we let them, the Romans will come and destroy us". It is a murder that stems from the will of the ruling priestly caste while for Pilate Jesus represented no danger. Today we read in John's gospel the first questioning of Pilate: "Are you the king of the Jews?" In this trial it is not the judge who questions the accused but the reverse and the sentence will be passed by the accused. In fact Jesus does not answer, but asks. "Do you say this of yourself or have others spoken to you about me?". And Pilate: "What have you done?  Jesus replies: "My kingdom is not of this world". Pilate insists: "So you are king?" and Jesus: "You say so" in the sense that if you are affirming it (su legeis) you have understood it well and therefore proclaim it. It is, however, a different kingdom from all earthly ones defended by soldiers and based on power, domination and lies. Mine, on the other hand, is the kingdom of truth that relies on no other defence than the truth: 'For this I was born and came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever is of the truth hears my voice', and he adds: 'For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth'. And he concludes: 'Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice'. He does not say: 'Whoever has the truth', but 'whoever is from the truth', since truth is not a doctrine to be possessed but the believer's way of life. In the second reading from Revelation, John states that Jesus is the "faithful witness", the "only-begotten Son full of grace and truth," as we already read in the Prologue of his Gospel (Jn 1:14). If Pilate, a son of the Greco-Roman world, asks the question "What is truth?" (Jn18:38), the Jews, on the other hand, knew from the very beginning of the Covenant with God that truth is God Himself.  Truth in the Bible means God's "steadfast faithfulness" and has in Hebrew the same root as "Amen" which means stable, faithful, true, as it appears today in Responsorial Psalm 92/93. The Truth is God Himself so no one can claim to possess it but it is indispensable to listen to it and let oneself be instructed by it (cf. Jn 8:47). Only God can tell us "Listen", as the Torah continually repeats: "Shema Israël".  

Some Testimony on Christ King of the Universe: 

*St. Augustine, in his sermon on Psalm 2, writes: "Christ has no temporal kingdom, but he reigns in the hearts of men. His throne is the cross, His sceptre is love, and His crown is made of thorns. He is a king who does not conquer with weapons, but with truth and justice."

* Saint Nicholas Cabasilas Orthodox (14th century) is credited with this sentence: "Christ reigns because he has conquered our hearts, not with violence, but with sacrifice. His cross is his throne, and from the cross he judges the world with love, offering eternal life to those who submit to his divine will."

*St. Catherine of Siena, in her work "The Dialogue of Divine Providence" writes: 

"Christ is sweet king, because his kingdom is not founded on pride nor on strength, but on love and humility. He made of his flesh a bridge between heaven and earth, that man might cross it and reach the eternal kingdom. His crown is of thorns, a sign of the love with which he took upon himself the pains of his subjects; his throne is the cross, from which he ruled with mercy and justice."

*Dietrich Bonhoeffer Protestant pastor in his book 'Discipleship' writes: "Christ is the King who bears the cross, and his kingdom is the kingdom of the cross. Those who follow him enter into his lordship not with power or glory, but with the humility of one who accepts the weight of his yoke. Christ reigns over us because he chose to die for us, and in this is our true freedom."

*G.K. Chesterton in his book 'Orthodoxy' writes: "Christ is not only a king, but the king of paradoxes. His crown is made of thorns, yet it is the most glorious; his throne is the cross, yet it is the highest; his power is manifested in surrender, yet no one has ever reigned with greater authority. He is the king who turns sorrow into joy and death into life."

Happy Solemnity of Christ King of the Universe to you all!

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

Sources of Hope

(Lk 21:29-33)

Lk ends his Apocalyptic Discourse with recommendations on the attention and penetrating gaze to be placed at the ‘sign of the times’.

And - rooted in the Word of God that becomes event and directs us to the future, Hope inaugurates a new phase in history.

Its depth surpasses all current possibilities, which conversely fluctuate between signs of catastrophe.

Jesus reassures the disciples about the fears of the world’s end, and requires them not to look at coded messages, but Nature.

Only in this way will they be able to read and interpret the events.

Wise discernment, which serves not to close us in the immediate present: it pushes us on a path of uniformity or defense.

Indeed, because of the upheavals, a hasty assessment could lead us to fear reversals, blocking growth and testimony.

The world and things are moving towards a Spring, and above all in this regard we have a sentinel role.

On the ruins of a collapsing century, the Father makes us understand what’s happening - and continues to build what we hope [not according to immediate tastes].

Here and there we can catch the first stirrings of it, like the shoots on the ‘fig tree’.

It’s a tree that alludes to the fruit of love that God awaits from his people, called to be tender and sweet: signs of the new season - that of healthy relationships.

In this way, the spirit of dedication manifested by the sons will be the prefiguration of the imminent advent of a completely different empire - able to replace in consciences all others of a competitive character.

The fig tree is precisely the image of the ideal people of blessings; Israel of the exodus towards freedom, and trace of the Father [in the desert’s reflective sobriety and sharing].

It remains long time stripped and bare; suddenly its buds sprout, open and in a few days it’s covered with luxuriant leaves.

Such will be the passage from chaos to the sensitive and fraternal order produced by the proclamation and assimilation of the Word: not equal thought; divine step in history.

Through suggestions that belong to processes of nature, we are introduced into discernment of the Mystery - expressed throughout the wilde of transformations.

Its riches are contained in the codes of the Word and in the ordinary concrete events, which have a symptomatic weight. Chests of treasure, of invisible realities, which do not pass.

Such a wealth will even develop (and in particular) from confusion and collapses, as per intrinsic strength and essence, day by day.

Not for an abstract exemplarity, but for the fullness of life that finds its roots - rediscovering them in error and in the small.

A paradoxical seed of hope, and harbinger of better conditions.

Because without imperfection and limit there is no growth or flowering, nor nearby Kingdom (vv.30-31) which always takes contact with the wounds [Fratelli Tutti n.261].

Word of God and rhythms of Nature are codes that pass time. Authentic reliefs, created, donated, and revealed.

Sources of discernment, of the penetrating gaze, of the signs of time, of free thought, of Hope that does not queue.

[Friday 34th wk. in O.T.  November 29, 2024]

The Sources of Hope

(Lk 21:29-33)

The Sadducees thought that their exaggerated prosperity was the most expressive sign of the Messianic times.

The Essenes believed that the Kingdom of God [of which they wished to be a foretaste] could only be manifested when the chosen people had completely cleansed themselves of all obscurity and sacred market.

The Pharisees believed that the Messiah would be established when everyone had returned to the sacred traditions, written and oral.

Even among the early Christians, there was a variety of opinions on the matter.

Fortunately (then as now) some considered the Risen One already fully Present, never departed.

His living Spirit is manifested within each believer and in our midst - especially perceptible where there is a struggle for justice, emancipation, the fullness of life for all.

Luke ends his Apocalyptic Discourse with recommendations on the attention and penetrating gaze to be paid to the 'sign of the times'.

And - rooted in the Word of God that becomes an event and directs to the future, Hope ushers in a new phase of history.

Its depth surpasses all current possibilities, which on the contrary oscillate restlessly between signs of catastrophe.

(In old Europe, after several decades of an accommodating and soporific spiritual trend, we experience this by direct observation).

"When they have already sprouted, behold, by yourselves you know that summer is already near" (Lk 21:31).

Jesus reassures the disciples about their fears of the end of the world, and commands them not to look at coded messages, but at Nature.

Only in this way will they be able to read and interpret events.

Wise discernment, which serves not to close us off in the immediate present.

In fact, due to upheavals, a hasty evaluation could lead us to fear reversals, blocking growth and witness.

The world and things walk towards a Spring, and first and foremost in this sense we have a sentinel role.

On the ruins of a collapsing century, the Father makes clear what is happening - and continues to build what we hope [not according to immediate tastes].

Here and there we can catch its wisps, like the shoots on the 'fig tree'.

It is a tree that alludes to the fruit of love that God expects from his people, called to be tender and sweet: signs of the new season - that of healthy relationships.

In this way, the spirit of dedication manifested by the sons will be a prefiguration of the coming advent of a completely different empire - capable of replacing all others of a competitive nature in the consciousness.

The fig tree is precisely the image of the ideal people of blessings; Israel of the exodus to freedom, and a trace of the Father [in the reflective sobriety and sharing of the desert].

It remains for a long time bare and skeletal; suddenly its buds sprout, open up and in a few days it is clothed with luxuriant leaves.

Such will be the transition from chaos to the sensitive and fraternal order produced by the proclamation and assimilation of the Word: thought not equal; divine step into history.

Through suggestions that belong to the processes of nature, we are introduced to the discernment of the Mystery - expressed in the torrent of transformations.

Its riches are contained in the codes of the Word and in concrete ordinary events. Caskets of invisible realities, which do not pass away.

Such richness will even (and especially) develop out of confusion and collapse, as if by intrinsic strength and essence, day by day.

Not out of abstract exemplariness, but out of the fullness of life rediscovering its roots - rediscovering them in error and in the small.

A paradoxical seed of hope, and omen of better conditions.

For without imperfection and limitation there is no growth or blossoming, no neighbouring kingdom (vv.30-31) which always "makes contact with wounds" [Fratelli Tutti n.261].

The Tao Tê Ching (LII) says: "The world had a beginning, which was the mother of the world; whoever has come to the mother, from the mother knows the son; whoever knows the son and returns to preserve the mother, until death runs no danger [...] Enlightenment is to see the small; strength is to stick to softness [...] This is called practising the eternal".

The Word of God and the rhythms of Nature are codes that pass time. Authentic, created, given, and revealed.

Sources of discernment, of the penetrating gaze, of the signs of the times, of free thought, of the Hope that does not settle.

To internalise and live the message:

What have you learnt by contemplating nature? A different Wisdom? 

How is it that you consider it so far removed from the usual doctrine and its dirigiste or cerebral codes, which over time prove shoddy?

The world becomes a book. Art of vigilance

One of the characteristic attitudes of the Church after the Council is that of a particular attention over human reality, considered historically; that is, over the facts, events, phenomena of our time. A word of the Council has entered our habits: that of scrutinising 'the signs of the times'. Here is an expression, which has a distant evangelical reminiscence: "Do you not know how to discern - Jesus once asked his hostile and malicious listeners - the signs of the times?" (Matth. 16:4). At that time the Lord was alluding to the wonders He was performing, which were to indicate the coming of the Messianic hour. But the expression has today, along the same lines, if you like, a new meaning of great importance: in fact, Pope John XXIII took it up again in the Apostolic Constitution, with which he called the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, when, after observing the sad spiritual conditions of the contemporary world, he wanted to revive the hope of the Church, writing: "We like to place a firm trust in the divine Saviour ... who exhorts us to recognise the signs of the times", so that "we see amid dark darkness numerous signs, which seem to announce better times for the Church and for mankind" (A.A.S. 1962, p. 6). The signs of the times are, in this sense, portents of better times.

JOHN XXIII AND THE COUNCIL

The expression passed into the conciliar documents (especially in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, n. 4; we glimpse it in the admirable page of n. 10: then in n. 11; so in nos. 42, 44; so in the Decree on the Activity of the Laity, n. 14; in the Constitution on the Holy Liturgy, n. 43; etc.). This locution "the signs of the times" has therefore acquired a current use and a profound, very broad and very interesting meaning; namely that of the theological interpretation of contemporary history. That history, considered in its broad outlines, has offered Christian thought the opportunity, indeed the invitation, to discover a divine plan in it, has always been well known: what is 'sacred history' if not the identification of a divine thought, of a transcendent 'economy', in the unfolding of the events that lead to Christ, and from Christ they derive? But this discovery is posthumous; it is a synthesis, sometimes questionable in its formulations, that the scholar makes when the events are already complete, and can be considered in an overall perspective, and sometimes placed deductively in an ideological framework derived from other doctrinal sources, rather than from the inductive analysis of the events themselves. Now, instead, modern thought is offered the invitation to decipher in historical reality, in the present one especially, the "signs", that is, the indications of a meaning beyond that recorded by the passive observer.

This presence of the 'sign' in the realities perceived by our immediate knowledge deserves lengthy reflection. In the religious field, the "sign" holds a very important place: the divine realm is not ordinarily accessible to our knowledge by direct, experimental, intuitive means, but by way of signs (thus knowledge of God is possible for us through introspection of things, which take on the value of a sign [cf. Rom. 1:20]; thus the supernatural order is communicated to us by the sacraments, which are sensible signs of an invisible reality, etc.); human language, too, comes to us through conventional phonetic or scriptural signs, by which thought is transmitted; and so on. In the entire created universe we can find signs of an order, of a thought, of a truth, which can act as a metaphysical bridge (i.e. beyond the framework of physical reality) to the ineffable, yet surreal world of the 'unknown God' (cf. Act. 17, 23 ff.; Rom. 8, 22; Lumen gentium, no. 16). In the perspective that we are now considering, it is a question of identifying "in the times", that is, in the course of events, in history, those aspects, those "signs" that can give us some news of an immanent Providence (a thought that is usual for religious spirits); or there may be clues (and this is what interests us now) of some relationship with the "kingdom of God", with its secret action, or - even better for our study and our duty - with the possibility, with the availability, with the need for apostolic action. These clues seem to us to be precisely 'the signs of the times'.

THE WORLD BECOMES A BOOK

Hence a series of important and interesting conclusions. The world becomes a book for us. Our life today is very much engaged in the continuous viewing of the external world. The media are so overgrown, so aggressive, that they engage us, distract us, take us away from ourselves, empty us of our personal consciousness. Here: let us be careful. We can move from the position of mere observers to that of critics, of thinkers, of judges. This attitude of reflected knowledge is of the utmost importance for the modern soul, if it wants to remain a living soul, and not a mere screen of the thousand impressions to which it is subject. And for us Christians, this reflexive act is necessary, if we want to discover "the signs of the times"; because as the Council teaches (Gaudium et spes, no. 4), the interpretation of "the times", that is, of the empirical and historical reality, which surrounds and impresses us, must be done "in the light of the Gospel". The discovery of the "signs of the times" is a fact of the Christian conscience; it results from a confrontation of faith with life; not to artificially and superficially superimpose a pious thought on the cases of our experience, but rather to see where these cases postulate, due to their intrinsic dynamism, their very obscurity, and sometimes their very immorality, a ray of faith, an evangelical word, that classifies them, that redeems them; that is to say, the discovery of the "signs of the times" takes place in order to point out to us where they come of themselves to meet higher designs, which we know to be Christian and divine (such as the search for unity, peace, justice), and where a possible action of our charity or apostolate comes to match a maturing of favourable circumstances, indicating that the hour has come for a simultaneous progress of the kingdom of God in the human kingdom.

THE METHOD TO BE FOLLOWED

This method seems indispensable to us in order to avoid certain dangers, to which the attractive search for the "signs of the times" could expose us. First danger, that of a charismatic prophetism, often degenerating into bigoted fantasy, which gives fortuitous and often insignificant coincidences miraculous interpretations. The greed to easily discover "the signs of the times" can make us forget the often possible ambiguity of the evaluation of the facts observed; and this all the more so if we must recognise to the "People of God", that is, to every believer, an eventual capacity to discern "the signs of God's presence or design" (Gaudium et spes, no. 11): "the sensus fidei" can confer this gift of wise discernment, but the assistance of the hierarchical magisterium will always be providential and decisive, when the ambiguity of interpretation deserves to be resolved either in the certainty of the truth, or in the utility of the common good.

The second danger would be constituted by the purely phenomenal observation of the facts from which one wishes to extract the indication of the 'signs of the times'; and this is what can happen when these facts are detected and classified in purely technical and sociological schemes. That sociology is a science of great merit in itself and for the purpose that interests us here, that is, for the search for a superior and indicative meaning of the facts themselves, we gladly admit. But sociology cannot be a moral criterion in its own right, nor can it replace theology. This new scientific humanism could mortify the authenticity and originality of our Christianity and its supernatural values.

THE ART OF CHRISTIAN VIGILANCE

Another danger could arise from considering the historical aspect of this problem as prevalent. It is true that the study here is concerned with history, it is concerned with time, and it seeks to derive from it signs proper to the religious field, which for us is all gathered in the central event of the historical presence of Christ in time and in the world, from which the Gospel, the Church and its mission of salvation derive. In other words, the immutable element of revealed truth should not be subject to the mutability of the times, in which it spreads and sometimes makes its appearance with "signs" that do not alter it, but allow it to be glimpsed and realised in pilgrim humanity (cf. CHENU, Les signes des temps, in Nouv. Revue Théol. 1-1-65, pp. 29-39). But all this only calls us to attention, to the study of the "signs of the times", which must make our Christian judgement and our apostolate shrewd and modern in the midst of the torrent of transformations in the contemporary world. It is the ancient, ever living word of the Lord that resounds to our spirits: "Watch out" (Luc. 21:36). May Christian vigilance be the art for us in discerning the "signs of the times".

[Pope Paul VI, General Audience 16 April 1969].

Word and diversity

All human things, all things that we can invent, create, are finite. All human religious experiences are also finite, they show one aspect of reality, because our being is finite and only ever understands a part, some elements: "latum praeceptum tuum nimis". Only God is infinite. And therefore his Word is also universal and knows no boundaries. By entering therefore into the Word of God, we truly enter the divine universe. We leave the narrowness of our experiences and enter into reality, which is truly universal. By entering into communion with the Word of God, we enter into the communion of the Church that lives the Word of God. We do not enter into a small group, into the rule of a small group, but we step out of our limitations. We step out into the wide, into the true breadth of the one truth, the great truth of God. We are truly in the universal. And so we go out into the communion of all brothers and sisters, of all humanity, because in our heart is hidden the desire for the Word of God that is one. Therefore, evangelisation, the proclamation of the Gospel, the mission are not a kind of ecclesial colonialism, with which we want to include others in our group. It is getting out of the limits of individual cultures into the universality that connects all, unites all, makes us all brothers.Let us pray again that the Lord will help us to truly enter into the 'breadth' of his Word and thus open ourselves to the universal horizon of humanity, that which unites us with all diversity.

[Pope Benedict, Meditation to the 12th General Assembly of the Synod, 6 October 2008].

At the beginning of our Synod the Liturgy of the Hours presents a passage from Psalm 118 on the Word of God: a praise of his Word, an expression of the joy of Israel in learning it and, in it, to recognize his will and his Face. I would like to meditate on some verses of this Psalm with you. 

It begins like this: "In aeternum, Domine, verbum tuum constitutum est in caelo... firmasti terram, et permanet". This refers to the solidity of the Word. It is solid, it is the true reality on which one must base one's life. Let us remember the words of Jesus who continues the words of this Psalm: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away". Humanly speaking, the word, my human word, is almost nothing in reality, a breath. As soon as it is pronounced it disappears. It seems to be nothing. But already the human word has incredible power. Words create history, words form thoughts, the thoughts that create the word. It is the word that forms history, reality. 

Furthermore, the Word of God is the foundation of everything, it is the true reality. And to be realistic, we must rely upon this reality. We must change our idea that matter, solid things, things we can touch, are the more solid, the more certain reality. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount the Lord speaks to us about the two possible foundations for building the house of one's life: sand and rock. The one who builds on sand builds only on visible and tangible things, on success, on career, on money. Apparently these are the true realities. But all this one day will pass away. We can see this now with the fall of large banks: this money disappears, it is nothing. And thus all things, which seem to be the true realities we can count on, are only realities of a secondary order. The one who builds his life on these realities, on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand. Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, it is as stable as the heavens and more than the heavens, it is reality. Therefore, we must change our concept of realism. The realist is the one who recognizes the Word of God, in this apparently weak reality, as the foundation of all things. Realist is the one who builds his life on this foundation, which is permanent. Thus the first verses of the Psalm invite us to discover what reality is and how to find the foundation of our life, how to build life. 

The following verse says: "Omnia serviunt tibi". All things come from the Word, they are products of the Word. "In the beginning was the Word". In the beginning the heavens spoke. And thus reality was born of the Word, it is "creatura Verbi". All is created from the Word and all is called to serve the Word. This means that all of creation, in the end, is conceived of to create the place of encounter between God and his creature, a place where the history of love between God and his creature can develop. "Omnia serviunt tibi". The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing which happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motive for everything, the motive for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and his creature. In this sense, salvation history, the Covenant, precedes creation. During the Hellenistic period, Judaism developed the idea that the Torah would have preceded the creation of the material world. This material world seems to have been created solely to make room for the Torah, for this Word of God that creates the answer and becomes the history of love. The mystery of Christ already is mysteriously revealed here. This is what we are told in the Letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians: Christ is the protòtypos, the first-born of creation, the idea for which the universe was conceived. He welcomes all. We enter in the movement of the universe by uniting with Christ. One can say that, while material creation is the condition for the history of salvation, the history of the Covenant is the true cause of the cosmos. We reach the roots of being by reaching the mystery of Christ, his living word that is the aim of all creation. 

"Omnia serviunt tibi". In serving the Lord we achieve the purpose of being, the purpose of our own existence. Let us take a leap forward: "Mandata tua exquisivi". We are always searching for the Word of God. It is not merely present in us. Just reading it does not mean necessarily that we have truly understood the Word of God. The danger is that we only see the human words and do not find the true actor within, the Holy Spirit. We do not find the Word in the words. 

In this context St Augustine recalls the scribes and pharisees who were consulted by Herod when the Magi arrived. Herod wants to know where the Saviour of the world would be born. They know it, they give the correct answer: in Bethlehem. They are great specialists who know everything. However they do not see reality, they do not know the Saviour. St Augustine says: they are signs on the road for others, but they themselves do not move. This is a great danger as well in our reading of Scripture: we stop at the human words, words form the past, history of the past, and we do not discover the present in the past, the Holy Spirit who speaks to us today in the words from the past. In this way we do not enter the interior movement of the Word, which in human words conceals and which opens the divine words. Therefore, there is always a need for "exquisivi". We must always look for the Word within the words. 

Therefore, exegesis, the true reading of Holy Scripture, is not only a literary phenomenon, not only reading a text. It is the movement of my existence. It is moving towards the Word of God in the human words. Only by conforming ourselves to the Mystery of God, to the Lord who is the Word, can we enter within the Word, can we truly find the Word of God in human words. Let us pray to the Lord that he may help us search the word, not only with our intellect but also with our entire existence. 

At the end: "Omni consummationi vidi finem, latum praeceptum tuum nimis". All human things, all the things we can invent, create, are finite. Even all human religious experiences are finite, showing an aspect of reality, because our being is finite and can only understand a part, some elements: "latum praeceptum tuum nimis". Only God is infinite. And therefore His Word too is universal and knows no boundaries. Therefore by entering into the Word of God we really enter into the divine universe. We escape the limits of our experience and we enter into the reality that is truly universal. Entering into communion with the Word of God, we enter a communion of the Church that lives the Word of God. We do not enter into a small group, with the rules of a small group, but we go beyond our limitations. We go towards the depths, in the true grandeur of the only truth, the great truth of God. We are truly a part of what is universal. And thus we go out into the communion of all our brothers and sisters, of all humanity, because the desire for the Word of God, which is one, is hidden in our heart. Therefore even evangelization, the proclamation of the Gospel, the mission are not a type of ecclesial colonialism, where we wish to insert others into our group. It means going beyond the individual culture into the universality that connects all, unites all, makes us all brothers. Let us pray once again that the Lord may help us to truly enter the "breadth" of His Word and thus to open ourselves to the universal horizon that unites us with all our differences. 

At the end, we return to a preceding verse: "Tuus sum ego: salvum me fac". The text translates as: "I am yours". The Word of God is like a stairway that we can climb and, with Christ, even descend into the depths of his love. It is a stairway to reach the Word in the words. "I am yours". The word has a Face, it is a person, Christ. Before we can say "I am yours", he has already told us "I am yours". The Letter to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 39, says: "You gave me a body.... Then I said, "Here I am, I am coming'". The Lord prepared a body to come. With his Incarnation he said: I am yours. And in Baptism he said to me: I am yours. In the Holy Eucharist, he say ever anew: I am yours, so that we may respond: Lord, I am yours. In the way of the Word, entering the mystery of his Incarnation, of his being among us, we want to appropriate his being, we want expropriate our existence, giving ourselves to him who gave Himself to us. 

"I am yours". Let us pray the Lord that we may learn to say this word with our whole being. Thus we will be in the heart of the Word. Thus we will be saved.

[Pope Benedict, Meditation to the 12th General Assembly of the Synod 6 October 2008]

1. "Then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory" (Mk 13: 26). 

On this last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the liturgy speaks to us of Christ's second coming. The Lord will appear in clouds, clothed in power and glory. He is the same Son of man, merciful and compassionate, whom the disciples knew during his earthly journey. When the moment comes for his manifestation in glory, he will come to give human history its definitive fulfilment. 

Through the symbolism of cosmological upheavals, the Evangelist Mark recalls that God will pronounce his last judgement on human events in the Son, putting an end to a universe corrupted by falsehood and torn by violence and injustice.

3. Your daily experience brings you face to face with difficult and sometimes dramatic situations, which jeopardize human security. However the Gospel comforts us, presenting the victorious figure of Christ, the judge of history. With his presence, he brightens the darkness and even man's despair, and offers those who trust in him the comforting certainty of his constant assistance. 

In the Gospel just proclaimed we heard an important reference to the fig tree, whose branches, when their new leaves sprout, announce that springtime is near. With these words, Jesus encourages the Apostles not to give up before the difficulties and uncertainties of the present. 

Rather, he urges them to know how to wait and to prepare themselves to welcome him when he comes. Today, dear brothers and sisters, you too are invited by the liturgy to "read the signs of the times", an expression coined by my venerable predecessor, Pope John XXIII, who was recently beatified. 

However complex and difficult situations may be, do not lose trust. In the human heart, the seed of hope must never die. Indeed, always be attentive to discovering and encouraging every positive sign of personal and social renewal. Be prepared to further the courageous building of justice and peace with every possible means.

[Pope John Paul II, homily 19 November 2000]

An invitation to "think in a Christian manner", because "a Christian does not think only with his head, he also thinks with his heart and with the spirit within", was addressed by Pope Francis this morning, Friday 29 November, during the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta. It is a particularly timely invitation in a social context where - the Pontiff pointed out - 'weak thinking, uniform thinking, ready-to-wear thinking' is increasingly creeping in.

The Bishop of Rome focused his reflection on the Gospel passage from Luke (21:29-33) proposed during the liturgy, in which the Lord "with simple examples teaches the disciples to understand what is happening". In this case, Jesus invites them to observe "the fig tree and all the trees", because when they sprout one understands that summer is near. In other contexts the Lord uses similar examples to rebuke those Pharisees who do not want to understand "the signs of the times"; those who do not see "the step of God in history", in the history of the people of Israel, in the history of the human heart, "in the history of humanity".

The teaching, according to the Holy Father, is that "Jesus with simple words encourages us to think in order to understand". And it is an encouragement to think "not only with the head", but also "with the heart, with the spirit", with our whole self. This is precisely 'thinking in a Christian manner', to be able to 'understand the signs of the times'. And those who do not understand, as in the case of the disciples of Emmaus, are defined by Christ as "foolish and slow of heart". Because - the Pope explained - he who "does not understand the things of God is such a person", foolish and hard of understanding, while "the Lord wants us to understand what is happening in our hearts, in our lives, in the world, in history"; and to understand "what is happening now". Indeed, it is in the answers to these questions that we can detect 'the signs of the times'.

Yet this is not always the case. There is an enemy lurking. It is 'the spirit of the world', which - the Holy Father recalled - 'makes other proposals to us'. Because 'it does not want us people, it wants us mass. Without thought and without freedom'. The spirit of the world, in essence, pushes us along "a road of uniformity, but without that spirit that makes up the body of a people", treating us "as if we did not have the ability to think, as people who are not free". And in this regard, Pope Francis expressly clarified the mechanisms of covert persuasion: there is a certain way of thinking that must be imposed, "this thinking is advertised" and "one must think" in this way. It is 'uniform thinking, equal thinking, weak thinking'; a thinking that is unfortunately 'so widespread', commented the bishop of Rome.

In practice, 'the spirit of the world does not want us to ask ourselves before God: but why is this happening? And to distract us from the essential questions, "it proposes to us a ready-made way of thinking, according to our tastes: I think as I like". This way of thinking "suits" the spirit of the world; while what he "does not want is what Jesus asks of us: free thinking, the thinking of a man and a woman who are part of the people of God". After all, 'salvation was precisely this: to make us people, God's people. To have freedom'. Because "Jesus asks us to think freely, to think in order to understand what is happening".

Of course, Pope Francis warned, "alone we cannot" do everything: "we need the Lord's help, we need the Holy Spirit to understand the signs of the times". In fact, it is precisely the Spirit who gives us "the intelligence to understand". It is a personal gift given to every man, thanks to which "I must understand why this is happening to me" and "what is the way the Lord wants" for my life. Hence the concluding exhortation to "ask the Lord Jesus for the grace to send us his spirit of intelligence", so that "we do not have a weak thought, a uniform thought, a thought according to our tastes", to have instead "only a thought according to God". And "with this thinking - of mind, heart and soul - which is a gift of the Spirit", try to be able to understand "what things mean, to understand well the signs of the times."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 30/11/2013]