Already rebellious: special Vocation

(Lk 2:41-51)

The Gospel passage is disconcerting because it seems to portray a distracted family and an authentic, surprising, already surly and rebellious Jesus.

Lk is writing more than half a century after the Lord's death and resurrection, and he wants to bring out the character of Faith and inclination of his communities still in search.

The bloody story of the Master had to be understood and internalised in a way that was not immediately apparent; not even to those closest to the Messiah.

It seems that the Holy Family went up to Jerusalem every year for the Passover (v.41).

Our Adolescent shows signs of particular vocation, even before becoming an adult and required to observe the Torah [in Israel, 13 years old].

From the tone of the narrative we note a Jesus eager to feed and immerse himself in the still unexpressed Mystery of the Father.

Dreaming of discovering his Will, he stayed in the holy city to fully understand the Word of God - without being satisfied of impersonal, abbreviated catechisms.

First expressions of Jesus in the third Gospel mark the character of his whole story.

He firmly detached himself from the religiosity of the ‘fathers’ (v.49).

The Lord begins to distance himself from ideas common even to his family of origin: he does not belong to a definite clan.

His will be a divine proposal in favor of all the women and men of the world.

So Jesus has even more honoured the fidelity to God of his parents (vv.51-52) by accepting the whole spirit of their teachings, and digging further - sensing their ultimate meaning.

As if to say: in Him the sacred Scriptures become accessible, with the reading’s key of his whole story and Person.

Life for us - even before Baptism and public events.

Lk writes to encourage believers who did not yet fully understand about personality [and dramatic outcome] of the new Rabbi.

Like Joseph and Mary, they had to realise that it is not easy to understand the Son of God and accept his uniqueness of character, even to the point of earthly defeat.

In the figure of the Holy Family, we too are invited to «return to Jerusalem» (v.45).

Well, observing the autonomy of Christ, we will gradually be able to open ourselves to the unprecedent vocation that we carry within us - because we are ‘born again’ in Him.

And in the face of disconcerting events, we will learn to guard the personal Call - like Mary. 

Because She too did not find it easy to enter in her Easter: the ‘passage’ from the religion of traditions and common expectations to the Faith in the Son.

But She «preserved through» Word and events (v.51b), without stopping halfway.

The movement of Salvation familiarizes everyone in the dynamics of bewilderment [from narrowness] and finding [of a Presence within the different presences] in order not to narrow the horizons.

[Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, June 28, 2025]

Already rebellious: Particular Vocation

(Lk 2:41-51)

The family is the nucleus of society and the privileged place of educational risk, not the only one.

It is a precious stage of growth, but it must not hinder the blossoming into the universal dimension.

The movement of Salvation familiarises everyone with the dynamics of being lost [from narrowness] and found [of a Presence within narrowness] in order not to narrow horizons.

The complacent retreat into the world of kinship affections and interests reduces the dimension of vital frontiers, making personal and household life narrow; cultural, social and spiritual.

The home hearth must integrate them into the community, and introduce young people to the knowledge of the innate character of their vocation, so that as they grow up they become available and mature in an ever wider reality.

The family that becomes a trampoline preludes detachment, which in its cut will be painful for all - but it will become a taking flight from the protected nest that enslaves; a leap towards the freedom of full life.

The Gospel passage is disconcerting because it seems to portray a distracted family and an already grumpy and rebellious Jesus.

Lk writes more than half a century after the Lord's death and resurrection.

The tragic story of the Master is understood and internalised in a way that perhaps Joseph and Mary could not yet have guessed in their adolescence.

Recognising Jesus as the Son of God from the age of twelve meant in the literature of the time "covering" his whole life [cf. Lk 24].

It seems that the holy family went up to Jerusalem every year for the Passover (v.41).

Before they became adults in Israel and required to observe the Torah (13 years old), our teenager already shows signs of a special vocation.

The tone of the narration reveals a Jesus eager to drink in and immerse himself in the as yet unexpressed Mystery of the Father.

Dreaming of discovering his Will, he stays in the holy city to deeply understand the Word of God - without being satisfied with impersonal, abbreviated catechisms.

The first expressions of Jesus in the third Gospel mark the character of his whole life. He decisively distances himself from the religiosity of his fathers (v.49).

He begins to distance himself from the ideas common even to his family of origin: he does not belong to a defined clan.

His will be a divine proposal on behalf of all the women and men of the world.

In this sense, Jesus even more honoured his parents' faithfulness to God (vv.51-52) by accepting the entire spirit of their teachings, and digging deeper - intuiting their ultimate meaning.

As if to say: in Him, the sacred Scriptures become accessible, with the key to understanding His whole story and Person.

Life for us (even before Baptism and the public affair).

Lk writes to encourage believers who did not yet understand everything about the new Rabbi.

Like Joseph and Mary, they had to realise that it is not easy to understand the Son of God and accept his uniqueness of character, even to the point of earthly defeat.

In the figure of the holy family, we too are invited to "return to Jerusalem" (v.45).

Here, by observing the autonomy of Christ, we will gradually be able to open ourselves to the unprecedented vocation that we carry within - because we have been "reborn" in Him.

And in the face of bewildering events, we learn to cherish the personal calling - like Mary. 

For she too did not find it easy to enter his Passover: the "passage" from the religion of traditions and expectations to Faith in the Son.

But they "kept through" the Word and events (v.51b), without stopping in the middle.

The reflective aspect of the House of Nazareth

The house of Nazareth is the school where one is initiated to understand the life of Jesus, that is, the school of the Gospel. Here we learn to observe, to listen, to meditate, to penetrate the meaning so profound and so mysterious of this manifestation of the Son of God so simple, so humble and so beautiful. Perhaps we also learn, almost without realising it, to imitate.Here we learn the method that will enable us to know who Christ is. Here we discover the need to observe the framework of his sojourn among us: that is, the places, the times, the customs, the language, the sacred rites, in short, everything that Jesus used to manifest himself to the world.Here everything has a voice, everything has meaning. Here, at this school, we certainly understand why we must keep a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the doctrine of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ. Oh! how willingly we would like to become children again and put ourselves to this humble and sublime school of Nazareth! How ardently we long to begin again, close to Mary, to learn the true science of life and the superior wisdom of divine truths! But we are but passing through, and it is necessary for us to lay aside the desire to continue to know, in this house, the unfinished formation to the intelligence of the Gospel. However, we will not leave this place without picking up, almost furtively, some brief admonitions from the house of Nazareth.Firstly, it teaches us silence. Oh! would that the appreciation of silence, the admirable and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit, could be reborn in us: while we are stunned by so many noises, rumblings and clamorous voices in the exaggerated and tumultuous life of our time. O Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be firm in good thoughts, intent on the inner life, ready to hear God's secret inspirations and the exhortations of the true teachers. Teach us how important and necessary are the work of preparation, study, meditation, the interiority of life, prayer, which God alone sees in secret.Here we understand the way of life as a family. Nazareth reminds us what the family is, what the communion of love is, its austere and simple beauty, its sacred and inviolable character; it shows us how sweet and irreplaceable education in the family is, it teaches us its natural function in the social order. Finally, let us learn the lesson of work. Oh! dwelling place of Nazareth, home of the carpenter's Son! Here above all we wish to understand and celebrate the law, severe of course but redeeming of human toil; here we wish to ennoble the dignity of work so that it is felt by all; to remind us under this roof that work cannot be an end in itself, but that it receives its freedom and excellence, not only from what is called economic value, but also from what turns it to its noble end; Here, finally, we wish to greet the workers of the whole world and show them the great model, their divine brother, the prophet of all the just causes that concern them, that is Christ our Lord.

[Pope Paul VI, Church of the Annunciation Nazareth 5 January 1964]

Immaculate Mother,
in this place of grace,
called together by the love of your Son Jesus
the Eternal High Priest, we,
sons in the Son and his priests,
consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart,
in order to carry out faithfully the Father’s Will.

We are mindful that, without Jesus,
we can do nothing good (cf. Jn 15:5)
and that only through him, with him and in him,
will we be instruments of salvation
for the world.

Bride of the Holy Spirit,
obtain for us the inestimable gift
of transformation in Christ.
Through the same power of the Spirit that
overshadowed you,
making you the Mother of the Saviour,
help us to bring Christ your Son
to birth in ourselves too.
May the Church
be thus renewed by priests who are holy,
priests transfigured by the grace of him
who makes all things new.

Mother of Mercy,
it was your Son Jesus who called us
to become like him:
light of the world and salt of the earth
(cf. Mt 5:13-14).

Help us,
through your powerful intercession,
never to fall short of this sublime vocation,
nor to give way to our selfishness,
to the allurements of the world
and to the wiles of the Evil One.

Preserve us with your purity,
guard us with your humility
and enfold us with your maternal love
that is reflected in so many souls
consecrated to you,
who have become for us
true spiritual mothers.

Mother of the Church,
we priests want to be pastors
who do not feed themselves
but rather give themselves to God for their brethren,
finding their happiness in this.
Not only with words, but with our lives,
we want to repeat humbly,
day after day,
Our “here I am”.

Guided by you,
we want to be Apostles
of Divine Mercy,
glad to celebrate every day
the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar
and to offer to those who request it
the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Advocate and Mediatrix of grace,
you who are fully immersed
in the one universal mediation of Christ,
invoke upon us, from God,
a heart completely renewed
that loves God with all its strength
and serves mankind as you did.

Repeat to the Lord
your efficacious word:
“They have no wine” (Jn 2:3),
so that the Father and the Son will send upon us
a new outpouring of
the Holy Spirit.
Full of wonder and gratitude
at your continuing presence in our midst,
in the name of all priests
I too want to cry out:
“Why is this granted me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).

Our Mother for all time,
do not tire of “visiting us”,
consoling us, sustaining us.
Come to our aid
and deliver us from every danger
that threatens us.
With this act of entrustment and consecration,
we wish to welcome you
more deeply, more radically,
for ever and totally
into our human and priestly lives.

Let your presence cause new blooms to burst forth
in the desert of our loneliness,
let it cause the sun to shine on our darkness,
let it restore calm after the tempest,
so that all mankind shall see the salvation
of the Lord,
who has the name and the face of Jesus,
who is reflected in our hearts,
for ever united to yours!

Amen!

[Pope Benedict, Fatima 12 May 2010]

The family is the heart of the Church. Let us today raise from this heart an act of special entrustment to the heart of the Mother of God.

In the Jubilee Year of the Redemption we want to confess that love is greater than sin and all evil, which threatens man and the world.

With humility let us invoke this love:

1. "Under your protection we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God"!

Speaking the words of this antiphon, with which the Church of Christ has prayed for centuries, we stand before you today, Mother, in the Jubilee Year of our Redemption.

We find ourselves united with all the pastors of the Church, in a special bond, constituting a body and a college, just as by Christ's will the apostles constituted a body and a college with Peter.

In the bond of such unity, we utter the words of this act, in which we wish to encapsulate, once again, the hopes and anxieties of the Church for the contemporary world.

Forty years ago, and then again ten years later, your servant, Pope Pius XII, having before his eyes the sorrowful experiences of the human family, entrusted and consecrated to your Immaculate Heart, the whole world and especially the peoples, who by their situation are particular objects of your love and solicitude.

This world of men and nations is also before our eyes today: the world of the second millennium that is coming to an end, the contemporary world, our world!

The Church, mindful of the words of the Lord: "Go . . . and teach all nations . . . Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world' (Mt 28:19-20), has revived, in the Second Vatican Council, the consciousness of her mission in this world.

And therefore, O Mother of men and peoples, you who know all their sufferings and their hopes, you who maternally feel all the struggles between good and evil, between light and darkness, that shake the contemporary world, accept our cry which, moved by the Holy Spirit, we address directly to your Heart: embrace, with love as mother and servant of the Lord, this human world of ours, which we entrust and consecrate to you, full of concern for the earthly and eternal fate of men and peoples.

In a special way we entrust and consecrate to you those men and nations, who are in particular need of this entrustment and consecration.

"Under your protection we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God! Do not despise the pleas of us who are in trial!

2. Behold, as we stand before you, Mother of Christ, before your immaculate heart, we wish, together with the whole Church, to unite ourselves to the consecration which, out of love for us, your Son made of himself to the Father: "For their sake," he said, "I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth" (Jn 17:19). We wish to unite ourselves with our Redeemer in this consecration for the world and for mankind, which, in his divine heart, has the power to obtain forgiveness and to procure reparation.

The power of this consecration endures for all time and embraces all men, peoples and nations, and overcomes every evil, which the spirit of darkness is capable of awakening in the heart of man and in his history, and which, in fact, it has awakened in our times.

Oh, how deeply we feel the need for consecration for humanity and for the world: for our contemporary world, in union with Christ himself! The redemptive work of Christ must be shared by the world through the Church.

This is manifested by the present Year of the Redemption: the extraordinary Jubilee of the whole Church.

Be blessed, in this Holy Year, above every creature You, servant of the Lord, who in the fullest manner obeyed the divine call!

Be hailed you, who are wholly united to the redemptive consecration of your Son!

Mother of the Church! Enlighten God's people on the paths of faith, hope and charity! Enlighten especially the peoples whose consecration and entrustment you await. Help us to live in the truth of Christ's consecration for the entire human family of today's world.

3. In entrusting to you, O Mother, the world, all men and all peoples, we also entrust to you the very consecration of the world, placing it in your motherly heart.

Oh, immaculate heart! Help us to overcome the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of people today and which in its immeasurable effects already burdens the present life and seems to close the paths to the future!

From hunger and war, deliver us!

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from all kinds of war, deliver us!

From the sins against the life of man since its dawning, deliver us!

From hatred and from the degradation of the dignity of God's children, deliver us!

From every kind of injustice in social, national and international life, deliver us!From the easy trampling of God's commandments, deliver us!

From the attempt to obfuscate in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us!

From the loss of the conscience of good and evil, deliver us!

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us! Deliver us!

Receive, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the suffering of all men! Burden us with the suffering of entire societies!

Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome all sin: the sin of man and the "sin of the world", sin in all its manifestations.

May the infinite saving power of the Redemption be revealed once more in the history of the world: the power of merciful Love! Let it arrest evil! Transform consciences! In Thy Immaculate Heart may the light of Hope be revealed for all!

[Pope John Paul II, Jubilee of Families 25 March 1984]

[...] The liturgy invites us to reflect on the experience of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, united by an immense love and inspired by great trust in God. Today’s Gospel passage (cf. Lk 2:41-52) recounts the journey of the family of Nazareth to Jerusalem, for the celebration of Passover. But, on the return journey, the parents realize that their 12-year-old son is not in the caravan. After three days of searching and fear, they find him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, focused on a discussion with them. At the sight of the Son, Mary and Joseph “were astonished” (v. 48) and the Mother revealed their fear to him, saying: “your father and I have been looking for you anxiously” (ibid.)

Astonishment — they “were astonished” — and anxiety — “your father and I, anxious” — are the two elements to which I would like to call your attention: astonishment and anxiety.

In the family of Nazareth astonishment never waned, not even in a dramatic moment such as Jesus being lost: it is the ability to be astonished before the gradual manifestation of the Son of God. It is the same astonishment that even strikes the teachers of the temple, “amazed at his understanding and his answers” (v. 47). But what is astonishment; what is it to be astonished? Being astonished and being amazed is the opposite of taking everything for granted; it is the opposite of interpreting the reality that surrounds us and historical events according to our criteria alone. A person who does this does not know what amazement is, what astonishment is. Being astonished is being open to others, understanding others’ reasons: this attitude is important for mending compromised interpersonal relationships, and is also indispensable for healing open wounds in the familial environment. When there are problems in families, we take for granted that we are right and we close the door to others. Instead, it is important to think: ‘What is good about this person?’, and to be astonished by this ‘good’. And this helps family unity. If you have problems in the family, think about the good things in the family member with whom you have problems, and be astonished by this. This will help to heal familial wounds.

The second element that I would like to grasp from the Gospel is the anxiety that Mary and Joseph felt when they could not find Jesus. This anxiety reveals Jesus’ centrality in the Holy Family. The Virgin and her husband welcomed that Son, protected him and watched him grow in age, wisdom and grace in their midst, but above all he grew in their hearts; and, little by little, their affection for him and their understanding of him grew. This is why the family of Nazareth is holy: because it was centred on Jesus; all of Mary and Joseph’s attention and concerns were directed toward him.

That anxiety that they experienced in the three days that Jesus was missing should also be our anxiety when we are distant from him, when we are distant from Jesus. We should feel anxious when we forget Jesus for more than three days, without praying, without reading the Gospel, without feeling the need of his presence and of his comforting friendship. And many times, days pass in which I do not remember Jesus. But this is bad, this is really bad. We should feel anxious when these things happen. Mary and Joseph searched for him and found him in the temple while he was teaching: for us too, it is especially in the house of God that we are able to encounter the divine Teacher and receive his message of salvation. In the Eucharistic celebration we have a living experience of Christ; he speaks to us; he offers us his Word; he illuminates us, lights our path, gives us his Body in the Eucharist from which we draw vigour to face everyday difficulties.

And today let us go home with these two words: astonishment and anxiety. Do I know how to be astonished, when I see the good things in others, and in this way resolve family problems? Do I feel anxious when I am distant from Jesus?

Let us pray for all the families in the world, especially those in which, for various reasons, peace and harmony are lacking. And let us entrust them to the protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 30 December 2018]

A God in search of the lost and unequal, to expand our life

[Lk 15:3-7 (1-10)]

Jesus shatters all predictability. In the Son, God is revealed no longer as exclusive property, but as the Power of Love that forgives marginalized and lost: He saves and creates, freeing.

And through his Church He unfolds a Face that recovers, breaks down barriers and calls the wretched.

Jesus wants to awaken the conscience of the "righteous": there is a counterpart of us who supposes of himself, very dangerous, because it leads to exclusion and abandonment.

Instead, inexhaustible Love seeks. And finds the imperfect and restless.

The swamp of stagnant energy that is generated by accentuating the boundaries doesn’t allow you to grow: it locks in the usual positions and lets everyone manage or get lost.

All this made the creative virtues fall into despair. Instead, the Father is searching for the insufficient... Sinner but true, therefore more disposed to transparent love: this is the principle of Redemption.

It’s not the squeamish attitude that unites us to Him. The Lord has no outside interests.

He rejoices with everyone, and it’s the need that draws Him to us. So we are not afraid to let ourselves be found and let ourselves be brought back (v.5)... to His House, which is our home.

If there is a bewilderment, there will be a find, and this is not a loss for anyone - except for the envious of others' freedom (v.2).

In fact, God is not pleased with marginalization, nor does he intend to extinguish the fumiganting wick.

The Son does not come to point the finger at bad moments, but to recover, drawing on intimate involvement. An invincible force of loyalty.

This is the style of a Church with a Sacred Heart, amiable, elevated and blessed.

(What attracts participation and expression is to feel understood, not condemned). Carlo Carretto said: «It’s feeling loved, not criticized, that man begins his journey of transformation».

As the encyclical Fratelli Tutti [Brethren All] emphasizes: Jesus - our Engine and Motive - «had an open heart, sensitive to the difficulties of others» (n.84).

And adds as example of Tradition: «People can develop certain habits that might appear as moral values: fortitude, sobriety, hard work and similar virtues. Yet if the acts of the various moral virtues are to be rightly directed, one needs to take into account the extent to which they foster openness and union with others. That is made possible by the charity that God infuses. Without charity, we may perhaps possess only apparent virtues, incapable of sustaining life in common».

«Saint Bonaventure, for his part, explained that the other virtues, without charity, strictly speaking do not fulfil the commandments “the way God wants them to be fulfilled”» (n.91).

Well, human and spiritual riches risk being deposited in a secluded place - if so, they age and debase.

On the contrary, in the assemblies of the sons they are shared: they grow and communicate; by multiplying they revive, with universal benefit.

[Sacred Heart of Jesus (year C), June 27, 2025]

The value of imperfect uniqueness

[Lk 15:3-7 (1-10)]

Why does Jesus speak of joy in reference to the one lost sheep?

The Tao Te Ching (x) says: 'Preserve the One by dwelling in the two souls: are you capable of not letting them separate?'.

Even on the spiritual path, Jesus is careful not to propose a dictated or planned universalism, as if his were an ideal model, 'with the aim of homogenising' (Fratelli Tutti n.100).

The type of communion that the Lord proposes to us does not aim at "a one-dimensional uniformity that seeks to eliminate all differences and traditions in a superficial search for unity."

For "the future is not 'monochromatic', but if we have the courage, we can look at it in the variety and diversity of the contributions that each person can make. How much our human family needs to learn to live together in harmony and peace without all being the same!" (from an Address to young people in Tokyo, November 2019).

Although the piety and hope of the representatives of official religiosity were based on a structure of human, ethnic and cultural securities and a vision of the Mystery consolidated by a great tradition, Jesus shatters all predictability.

In the Son, God is revealed no longer as exclusive property, but as the Power of Love that forgives the marginalised and lost: he saves and creates, liberating. And through his disciples, he reveals his Face that restores, breaks down the usual barriers, and calls the poor multitudes.

It seems like an impossible utopia to achieve in reality (today, with the global health crisis), but it is the meaning of the passing of the baton to the Church, called to be an incessant spur towards the Infinite and a leaven for an alternative world, for integral human development:

"Let us dream as one humanity, as travellers made of the same human flesh, as children of this same earth that hosts us all, each with the richness of his or her faith or convictions, each with his or her own voice, all brothers and sisters!" (FT n.8).

Through an absurd question (formulated rhetorically), Jesus wants to awaken the conscience of the 'righteous': there is a counterpart to us that supposes itself to be very dangerous because it leads to exclusion and abandonment.

Instead, inexhaustible Love seeks. And it finds the imperfect and restless.

The swamp of stagnant energy that is generated by accentuating boundaries does not allow anyone to grow: it blocks people in their usual positions and leaves them to fend for themselves or get lost. This is self-interested indifference, which impoverishes everyone.

All this caused creative virtues to fall into despair.

And it caused those outside the circle of the elect to fall - those who were placed above them but had nothing superior. In fact, Luke describes them as completely incapable of rejoicing in the progress of others.

Calculating, reciting and conformist, the leaders (fundamentalist or sophisticated) are ignorant of reality and use religion as a weapon.

Instead, God is the antithesis of sterile pretenders - or disembodied thinking - and seeks those who wander unsteadily, easily become disoriented, and lose their way. 

Sinners yet true, and therefore more open to genuine love. This is why the Father seeks out the inadequate.

Such clear and spontaneous people, even if weak, hide their best qualities and vocational richness behind their seemingly detestable sides. Perhaps they themselves do not appreciate them.

This is the principle of Redemption that amazes us and makes our often distracted paths interesting, guided by intuition, as if by 'trial and error' - but in Faith, generating self-esteem, trust, fulfilment and joy.

The commitment of the purifier and the impetus of the reformer are 'professions' that appear to be opposed, but they are easy... and typical of those who think that the things to be contested and changed are always outside themselves.

For example, in mechanisms, general rules, legal structures, worldviews, formal (or theatrical) aspects, rather than in the craftsmanship of concrete goods; and so on.

These seem like excuses for not looking within oneself and getting involved, for not encountering one's own deepest states in all aspects and not just in guidelines. And for recovering or cheering up individuals who are genuinely lost, sad, in all their dark and difficult aspects.

But God is the antithesis of the sterilised and the false idealists, and seeks out the inadequate: those who wander and lose their way. Sinners, yet true, and therefore more open to genuine love.

The transparent and spontaneous person - even if weak - hides their best side and vocational richness behind seemingly detestable aspects (perhaps which they themselves do not appreciate).

Let us therefore seek solutions in the mysterious, unpredictable new interpersonal energies that come into play from within things.

Without interfering with ideas of the past or future that we cannot see, or opposing them. Rather, by possessing their soul, their spontaneous medicine.

This is the principle of Salvation that amazes us and makes our paths interesting [often distracted, guided by instinct, as if by 'trial and error'] - ultimately generating self-esteem, credit and joy.

The idea that the Most High is a notary or prince of a court, and that he makes a clear distinction between the righteous and the transgressors, is a caricature.

After all, a saved life is not something we produce ourselves, nor is it our exclusive possession or private property - which turns into duplicity.

It is not a squeamish or cerebral attitude that unites us to Him. The Father does not flatter presumptuous friendships, nor does He have external interests.

He rejoices with everyone, and it is need that draws him to us. So let us not be afraid to let ourselves be found and brought back (v. 5) ... to his house, which is our home.

If there is a loss, there will be a finding, and this is no loss to anyone - except to the envious enemies of freedom (v. 2).

For the Eternal One does not delight in marginalisation, nor does he intend to extinguish the smouldering wick.

Jesus does not come to point the finger at bad moments, but to recover, drawing on intimate involvement. An invincible force of fidelity.

This is the style of a Church with a Sacred Heart, lovable, elevated and blessed.

[What attracts people to participate and express themselves is feeling understood, restored to full dignity - not condemned].

Carlo Carretto said: 'It is by feeling loved, not criticised, that man begins his journey of transformation'.

As the encyclical Fratelli Tutti emphasises once again:

Jesus - our Motor and Motive - 'had an open heart, which made the dramas of others his own' (n. 84).

And it adds, as an example of our great Tradition:

'People can develop certain attitudes that they present as moral values: fortitude, sobriety, hard work and other virtues. But in order to orient their actions properly [...] we must also consider to what extent they bring about a dynamic of openness and unity [...] Otherwise, we will have only appearances'.

"St Bonaventure explained that the other virtues, without charity, do not strictly fulfil the commandments as God intends them" (n.91).

In sects or groups of unilateral inspiration, through pedantic marginalisation, human and spiritual riches are deposited in a secluded place, where they age and deteriorate.

In assemblies of children, however, they are shared: they grow and communicate; multiplying, they are renewed, with universal benefit.

To internalise and live the message:

What attracts you to the Church? When you are with the top students, do you feel judged or adequate?

Do you feel the Love that saves, even if you remain uncertain?

A heart that does not give up

Celebrating the Jubilee of Priests on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are called to focus on the heart, that is, on interiority, on the strongest roots of life, on the core of our affections, in a word, on the centre of the person. And today we turn our gaze to two hearts: the Heart of the Good Shepherd and our hearts as shepherds.

The Heart of the Good Shepherd is not only the Heart that has mercy on us, but it is mercy itself. There the love of the Father shines forth; there I feel secure that I am accepted and understood as I am; there, with all my limitations and sins, I taste the certainty of being chosen and loved. Looking at that Heart, I renew my first love: the memory of when the Lord touched my soul and called me to follow him, the joy of having cast the nets of life on his Word (cf. Lk 5:5).

The Heart of the Good Shepherd tells us that his love has no limits, never tires and never gives up. There we see his continuous self-giving, without limits; there we find the source of faithful and gentle love, which leaves us free and makes us free; there we rediscover each time that Jesus loves us “to the end” (Jn 13:1) — he does not stop before, until the end — without ever imposing himself.

The Heart of the Good Shepherd is drawn towards us, “polarised” especially towards those who are furthest away; there the needle of his compass points stubbornly, there he reveals a particular weakness of love, because he wants to reach everyone and lose no one.

Before the Heart of Jesus, the fundamental question of our priestly life arises: where is my heart directed? This is a question that we priests must ask ourselves many times, every day, every week: where is my heart directed? The ministry is often full of many initiatives that expose it on many fronts: from catechesis to liturgy, charity, pastoral and even administrative commitments. Amidst so many activities, the question remains: where is my heart fixed? I am reminded of that beautiful prayer from the Liturgy: "Ubi vera sunt gaudia..." Where is it pointing, what is the treasure it seeks? Because, Jesus says, "where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (Mt 6:21). There are weaknesses in all of us, even sins. But let us go deeper, to the root: where is the root of our weaknesses, of our sins, that is, where is that "treasure" that distances us from the Lord?

There are two irreplaceable treasures in the Heart of Jesus: the Father and us. His days were spent between prayer to the Father and meeting people. Not distance, but encounter. Even the heart of Christ's shepherd knows only two directions: the Lord and the people. The heart of the priest is a heart pierced by the love of the Lord; for this reason, he no longer looks at himself – he should not look at himself – but is turned towards God and his brothers and sisters. It is no longer a 'dancing heart', which allows itself to be attracted by the suggestion of the moment or which goes here and there in search of approval and small satisfactions. Instead, it is a heart firm in the Lord, captivated by the Holy Spirit, open and available to his brothers and sisters. And there he resolves his sins.

To help our hearts burn with the charity of Jesus the Good Shepherd, we can train ourselves to do three things that today's readings suggest: seek, include and rejoice.

Seek. The prophet Ezekiel reminded us that God himself seeks his sheep (34:11, 16). He, says the Gospel, 'goes in search of the lost' (Lk 15:4), without being frightened by risks; without hesitation, he ventures outside the pastures and outside working hours. And he does not charge overtime. He does not put off the search, he does not think, “I have already done my duty today, and if necessary I will take care of it tomorrow”, but he sets to work immediately; his heart is restless until he finds that one lost sheep. Once he has found it, he forgets his fatigue and carries it on his shoulders, full of joy. Sometimes he has to go out to look for it, to talk, to persuade; other times he has to remain before the tabernacle, wrestling with the Lord for that sheep.

This is the heart he seeks: a heart that does not privatise time and space. Woe to shepherds who privatise their ministry! He is not jealous of his legitimate tranquillity - legitimate, I say, not even that - and never demands not to be disturbed. The shepherd according to God's heart does not defend his own comforts, is not concerned with protecting his own good name, but will be slandered, like Jesus. Without fear of criticism, he is willing to take risks in order to imitate his Lord. "Blessed are you when they insult you, persecute you..." (Mt 5:11).

The shepherd according to Jesus has a heart that is free to leave his possessions behind; he does not live by accounting for what he has and the hours he has served. He is not an accountant of the spirit, but a good Samaritan in search of those in need. He is a shepherd, not an inspector of the flock, and he devotes himself to his mission not fifty or sixty per cent, but with his whole self. By going in search, he finds, and he finds because he takes risks. If the shepherd does not take risks, he does not find. He does not stop after disappointments and does not give up in the face of hardship; he is in fact stubborn in doing good, anointed with divine stubbornness so that no one may be lost. For this reason, he not only keeps the doors open, but goes out in search of those who no longer want to enter. And like every good Christian, and as an example for every Christian, he is always going out of himself. The epicentre of his heart is outside himself: he is decentralised from himself, centred only on Jesus. He is not attracted by his own self, but by the You of God and the us of men.

Second word: include. Christ loves and knows his sheep, he gives his life for them and none of them are strangers to him (cf. Jn 10:11-14). His flock is his family and his life. He is not a leader feared by his sheep, but the Shepherd who walks with them and calls them by name (cf. Jn 10:3-4). And he desires to gather the sheep that do not yet dwell with him (cf. Jn 10:16).

So too is the priest of Christ: he is anointed for the people, not to pursue his own plans, but to be close to the real people whom God, through the Church, has entrusted to him. No one is excluded from his heart, from his prayer and from his smile. With a loving gaze and a father's heart, he welcomes, includes and, when he must correct, it is always to bring closer; he despises no one, but is ready to get his hands dirty for everyone. The Good Shepherd does not wear gloves. As a minister of communion who celebrates and lives, he does not expect greetings and compliments from others, but is the first to offer his hand, rejecting gossip, judgement and poison. He listens patiently to problems and accompanies people on their journey, bestowing divine forgiveness with generous compassion. He does not scold those who leave or lose their way, but is always ready to welcome them back and settle disputes. He is a man who knows how to include others.

Rejoice. God is 'full of joy' (Lk 15:5): his joy comes from forgiveness, from the life that rises again, from the son who breathes the air of home once more. The joy of Jesus the Good Shepherd is not a joy for himself, but a joy for others and with others, the true joy of love. This is also the joy of the priest. He is transformed by the mercy he freely gives. In prayer, he discovers God’s consolation and experiences that nothing is stronger than his love. For this reason, he is serene within himself and happy to be a channel of mercy, to bring people closer to the Heart of God. Sadness is not normal for him, but only temporary; harshness is foreign to him, because he is a shepherd according to the meek Heart of God.

Dear priests, in the Eucharistic celebration we rediscover our identity as shepherds every day. Each time we can truly make his words our own: 'This is my body, which is given for you'. This is the meaning of our life; these are the words with which, in a certain way, we can renew daily the promises of our Ordination. I thank you for your 'yes', and for the many hidden 'yeses' of every day, which only the Lord knows. I thank you for your 'yes' to giving your lives united with Jesus: here lies the pure source of our joy.

(Pope Francis, homily, 3 June 2016)

We are celebrating the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in the liturgy we peer, as it were, into the heart of Jesus opened in death by the spear of the Roman soldier. Jesus’ heart was indeed opened for us and before us – and thus God’s own heart was opened. The liturgy interprets for us the language of Jesus’ heart, which tells us above all that God is the shepherd of mankind, and so it reveals to us Jesus’ priesthood, which is rooted deep within his heart; so too it shows us the perennial foundation and the effective criterion of all priestly ministry, which must always be anchored in the heart of Jesus and lived out from that starting-point. Today I would like to meditate especially on those texts with which the Church in prayer responds to the word of God presented in the readings. In those chants, word (Wort) and response (Antwort) interpenetrate. On the one hand, the chants are themselves drawn from the word of God, yet on the other, they are already our human response to that word, a response in which the word itself is communicated and enters into our lives. The most important of those texts in today’s liturgy is Psalm 23(22) – “The Lord is my shepherd” – in which Israel at prayer received God’s self-revelation as shepherd, and made this the guide of its own life. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”: this first verse expresses joy and gratitude for the fact that God is present to and concerned for us. The reading from the Book of Ezechiel begins with the same theme: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep” (Ez 34:11). God personally looks after me, after us, after all mankind. I am not abandoned, adrift in the universe and in a society which leaves me ever more lost and bewildered. God looks after me. He is not a distant God, for whom my life is worthless. The world’s religions, as far as we can see, have always known that in the end there is only one God. But this God was distant. Evidently he had abandoned the world to other powers and forces, to other divinities. It was with these that one had to deal. The one God was good, yet aloof. He was not dangerous, nor was he very helpful. Consequently one didn’t need to worry about him. He did not lord it over us. Oddly, this kind of thinking re-emerged during the Enlightenment. There was still a recognition that the world presupposes a Creator. Yet this God, after making the world, had evidently withdrawn from it. The world itself had a certain set of laws by which it ran, and God did not, could not, intervene in them. God was only a remote cause. Many perhaps did not even want God to look after them. They did not want God to get in the way. But wherever God’s loving concern is perceived as getting in the way, human beings go awry. It is fine and consoling to know that there is someone who loves me and looks after me. But it is far more important that there is a God who knows me, loves me and is concerned about me. “I know my own and my own know me” (Jn 10:14), the Church says before the Gospel with the Lord’s words. God knows me, he is concerned about me. This thought should make us truly joyful. Let us allow it to penetrate the depths of our being.

[Pope Benedict, homily, 11 June 2010]

3. The coincidence of this centenary with the last year of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, which is "aimed at broadening the horizons of believers, so that they will see things in the perspective of Christ: in the perspective of the 'Father who is in heaven' (cf. Mt. 5:45)" (Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 49) offers a fitting opportunity to present the Heart of Jesus, "the burning furnace of love, ... the symbol and the expressive image of the eternal love with which 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son' (Jn 3:16)" (Paul VI, Apostolic Epistle Investigabiles divitias). The Father is love (1 Jn 4:8, 16), and the only-begotten Son, Christ, manifests this mystery while fully revealing man to man. 

Devotion to the Heart of Jesus has given form to the prophetic words recalled by St John: "They shall look on him whom they have pierced" (Jn 19:37; cf. Zec 12:10). It is a contemplative gaze,"which strives to enter deeply into the sentiments of Christ, true God and true man. In this devotion the believer confirms and deepens the acceptance of the mystery of the Incarnation, which has made the Word one with human beings and thus given witness to the Father's search for them. This seeking is born in the intimate depths of God, who loves man eternally in the Word, and wishes to raise him in Christ to the dignity of an adoptive son" (Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 7). At the same time devotion to the Heart of Jesus searches the mystery of the Redemption in order to discover the measure of love which prompted his sacrifice for our salvation. 

The Heart of Christ is alive with the action of the Holy Spirit, to whom Jesus attributed the inspiration of his mission (Lk 4:18; cf. Is 61:1) and whose sending he had promised at the Last Supper. It is the Spirit who enables us to grasp the richness of the sign of Christ's pierced side, from which the Church has sprung (cf. Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 5). "The Church, in fact", as Paul VI wrote, "was born from the pierced Heart of the Redeemer and from that Heart receives her nourishment, for Christ "gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word" (Eph 5:25-26)" (Letter Diserti interpretes). Through the Holy Spirit, then, the love which permeates the Heart of Jesus is poured out in the hearts of men (cf. Rom 5:5), and moves them to adoration of his "unsearchable riches" (Eph 3:8) and to filial and trusting petition to the Father (cf. Rom 8:15-16) through the Risen One who "always lives to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25). 

4. Devotion to the Heart of Christ, "the universal seat of communion with God the Father; ... seat of the Holy Spirit" (8 June 1994; L'Osservatore Romano English edition 15 June 1994, p. 3), aims at strengthening our bond with the Holy Trinity. Thus, the celebration of the centenary of the consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart prepares the faithful for the Great Jubilee, because it concerns its objective of "giving glory to the Trinity, from whom everything in the world and in history comes and to whom everything returns" (Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 55), and because of its orientation to the Eucharist (cf. ibid.), in which the life that Christ came to bring in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10) is communicated to those who feed on him in order to have life because of him (cf. Jn 6:57). The entire devotion to the Heart of Jesus in its every manifestation is profoundly Eucharistic: it is expressed in religious practices which stir the faithful to live in harmony with Christ, "meek and humble of heart" (Mt 11:29), and it is intensified in adoration. It is rooted and finds its summit in participation in Holy Mass, especially Sunday Mass, where the hearts of the faithful, fraternally assembled in joy, listen to the word of God and learn to offer with Christ themselves and the whole of their lives (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 48). There they are nourished at the paschal banquet of the Redeemer's Body and Blood and, sharing fully the love which beats in his Heart, they strive to be ever more effective evangelizers and witnesses of solidarity and hope. 

We give thanks to God, our Father, who has revealed his love in the Heart of Christ and has consecrated us by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, n. 10) so that, in union with Christ, we may adore him in every place and by our holy actions consecrate to him the world itself (ibid., n. 34) and the new millennium. 

Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

[Pope John Paul II, Warsaw, 11 June 1999; centenary of the consecration of the human race to the Divine Heart of Jesus]

This celebration of the Jubilee for Priests on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus invites us all to turn to the heart, the deepest root and foundation of every person, the focus of our affective life and, in a word, his or her very core. Today we contemplate two hearts: the Heart of the Good Shepherd and our own heart as priests.

The Heart of the Good Shepherd is not only the Heart that shows us mercy, but is itself mercy. There the Father’s love shines forth; there I know I am welcomed and understood as I am; there, with all my sins and limitations, I know the certainty that I am chosen and loved. Contemplating that heart, I renew my first love: the memory of that time when the Lord touched my soul and called me to follow him, the memory of the joy of having cast the nets of our life upon the sea of his word (cf. Lk 5:5).

The Heart of the Good Shepherd tells us that his love is limitless; it is never exhausted and it never gives up. There we see his infinite and boundless self-giving; there we find the source of that faithful and meek love which sets free and makes others free; there we constantly discover anew that Jesus loves us “even to the end” (Jn 13:1), to the very end, without ever imposing.

The Heart of the Good Shepherd reaches out to us, above all to those who are most distant. There the needle of his compass inevitably points, there we see a particular “weakness” of his love, which desires to embrace all and lose none.

Contemplating the Heart of Christ, we are faced with the fundamental question of our priestly life: Where is my heart directed? It is a question we need to keep asking, daily, weekly… Where is my heart directed? Our ministry is often full of plans, projects and activities: from catechesis to liturgy, to works of charity, to pastoral and administrative commitments. Amid all these, we must still ask ourselves: What is my heart set on? I think of that beautiful prayer of the liturgy, “Ubi vera sunt gaudia”… Where is it directed, what is the treasure that it seeks? For as Jesus says: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21). All of us have our weaknesses and sins. But let us go deeper: what is the root of our failings, those sins, the place we have hid that “treasure” that keeps us from the Lord?

The great riches of the Heart of Jesus are two: the Father and ourselves. His days were divided between prayer to the Father and encountering people. Not distance, but encounter. So too the heart of Christ’s priests knows only two directions: the Lord and his people. The heart of the priest is a heart pierced by the love of the Lord. For this reason, he no longer looks to himself, or should look to himself, but is instead turned towards God and his brothers and sisters. It is no longer “a fluttering heart”, allured by momentary whims, shunning disagreements and seeking petty satisfactions. Rather, it is a heart rooted firmly in the Lord, warmed by the Holy Spirit, open and available to our brothers and sisters. That is where our sins are resolved.

To help our hearts burn with the charity of Jesus the Good Shepherd, we can train ourselves to do three things suggested to us by today’s readings: seek out, include and rejoice.

Seek out. The prophet Ezekiel reminds us that God himself goes out in search of his sheep (Ez 34:11, 16). As the Gospel says, he “goes out in search of the one who is lost” (Lk 15:4), without fear of the risks. Without delaying, he leaves the pasture and his regular workday. He doesn’t demand overtime. He does not put off the search. He does not think: “I have done enough for today; perhaps I’ll worry about it tomorrow”. Instead, he immediately sets to it; his heart is anxious until he finds that one lost sheep. Having found it, he forgets his weariness and puts the sheep on his shoulders, fully content. Sometimes he has to go and seek it out, to speak, to persuade; at other times he must remain in prayer before the tabernacle, struggling with the Lord for that sheep.

Such is a heart that seeks out. A heart that does not set aside times and spaces as private. Woe to those shepherds to privatize their ministry! It is not jealous of its legitimate quiet time, even that, and never demands that it be left alone. A shepherd after the heart of God does not protect his own comfort zone. He is not worried about protecting his good name, but will be slandered as Jesus was. Unafraid of criticism, he is disposed to take risks in seeking to imitate his Lord. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you….” (Mt 5:11).

A shepherd after the heart of God has a heart sufficiently free to set aside his own concerns. He does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked: he is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need. For the flock he is a shepherd, not an inspector, and he devotes himself to the mission not fifty or sixty percent, but with all he has. In seeking, he finds, and he finds because he takes risks. Unless a shepherd risks, he does not find. He does not stop when disappointed and he does not yield to weariness. Indeed, he is stubborn in doing good, anointed with the divine obstinacy that loses sight of no one. Not only does he keep his doors open, but he also goes to seek out those who no longer wish to enter them. Like every good Christian, and as an example for every Christian, he constantly goes out of himself. The epicentre of his heart is outside of himself. He is centred only in Jesus, not in himself. He is not attracted by his own “I”, but by the “Thou” of God and by the “we” of other men and women.

The second word: Include. Christ loves and knows his sheep. He gives his life for them, and no one is a stranger to him (cf. Jn 10:11-14). His flock is his family and his life. He is not a boss to feared by his flock, but a shepherd who walks alongside them and calls them by name (cf. Jn 10:3-4). He wants to gather the sheep that are not yet of his fold (cf. Jn 10:16).

So it is also with the priest of Christ. He is anointed for his people, not to choose his own projects but to be close to the real men and women whom God has entrusted to him. No one is excluded from his heart, his prayers or his smile. With a father’s loving gaze and heart, he welcomes and includes everyone, and if at times he has to correct, it is to draw people closer. He stands apart from no one, but is always ready to dirty his hands. The Good Shepherd does not wear gloves. As a minister of the communion that he celebrates and lives, he does not await greetings and compliments from others, but is the first to reach out, rejecting gossip, judgements and malice. He listens patiently to the problems of his people and accompanies them, sowing God’s forgiveness with generous compassion. He does not scold those who wander off or lose their way, but is always ready to bring them back and to resolve difficulties and disagreements. He knows how to include.

Rejoice. God is “full of joy” (cf. Lk 15:5). His joy is born of forgiveness, of life risen and renewed, of prodigal children who breathe once more the sweet air of home. The joy of Jesus the Good Shepherd is not a joy for himself alone, but a joy for others and with others, the true joy of love. This is also the joy of the priest. He is changed by the mercy that he freely gives. In prayer he discovers God’s consolation and realizes that nothing is more powerful than his love. He thus experiences inner peace, and is happy to be a channel of mercy, to bring men and women closer to the Heart of God. Sadness for him is not the norm, but only a step along the way; harshness is foreign to him, because he is a shepherd after the meek Heart of God.

Dear priests, in the Eucharistic celebration we rediscover each day our identity as shepherds. In every Mass, may we truly make our own Christ’s words: “This is my body, which is given up for you”. This is the meaning of our life; with these words, in a real way we can daily renew the promises we made at our priestly ordination. I thank all of you for saying “yes”, and also for all those many times you secretly say “yes” each day, things that only the Lord knows about. I thank you for saying “yes” to giving your life in union with Jesus: for in this is found the pure source of our joy.

[Pope Francis, homily, 3 June 2016]