What about established praise?

(Mt 11:20-24)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We do not lead Love.

To internalise and live the message:

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

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

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

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 23 November 2008]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus weeps for those who are incapable of love

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

We, born Christians, who forget Jesus

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

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

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

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

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

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

We pretend to have Jesus, but we cast him out

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

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

Prayer: you have given me much, I am ungrateful

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

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

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

Reputation and obedience: crossroads of the Truth of Faith

(Mt 10:34-42)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reputation and obedience: crossroads of the Truth of Faith

(Mt 10:34-11:1)

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

Carrying the Cross... in the sense of being a devoted and submissive son... or... "obedient" to one's Mission?

Christ wants new and free people.

The identification of the apostle is not with celebrities and people of social or ascetic prominence, but with the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the public rebel against official authorities, the friend of publicans and sinners (Mt 11:19) condemned for lack of conformity.

Only by pushing down and encountering the same rejection, here - from the proponents of sacred values - do we encounter God (v.40) in Freedom from all forms of conditioning, religious, affective, mental.

The believer is not recognised for heroic and magnificent deeds (vv.41-42), excellence and visibility of office, charisma and credit, weight and prestige - but in social choice.

It is a matter of an instinctive predilection towards the lower rank on the scale, even ecclesial; that which does not resist the Newness of God.

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

He who appreciates only great things does not build the new Kingdom, because underneath he cultivates the old ideology of power, which he condemns with proclamations.

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

The friend of Jesus takes up the honour.

Immersed in his Source of life, he achieves total self-giving - even in terms of public consideration.

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

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

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

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

Compared to the usual proposals of healthy exterior and interior discipline, the same for all and useful only to keep the situation (of other people's privilege) at bay, the Master is on the contrary suggesting a much more radical behaviour.

The Lord is pointing to an asceticism totally different from that of the many ancient beliefs, even inverted: the paradoxical appropriateness of chastisement and scourge [deviance from the God of religions] and the contemptuous rejection of public opinion.

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

In short, the follower of Christ very often has to renounce reputation and every outward showcase of consent - even devout and in itself appropriate [such as that of teachers, countrymen and family members].

It is an essential, propulsive and diriment cue of the person of Faith. The striving for prestigious renown - kept to oneself - is totally incompatible, it spreads life without limit (not even for oneself).

He who is tied to his good reputation, to the roles, to the character to be played, to the job description, to the level he has acquired, will never resemble the Lord - and neither will he who does not dilute the tribal dimension of 'kinship' interest.

From the earliest times, the proclamation of the authentic Messiah created divisions: the "sword" of his Person (v.34) separated each person's affair from the world of values of the clan to which he belonged, or from the idea of respectability, even national respectability.

Today, the same thing happens where someone proclaims the Gospel as it is, and attempts to renew the jammed mechanisms of the fashionable Church, or of the habitual, outdated, hypocritical, faux-blue-blood Church in the territory. Charging itself with the cross of consequent mockery.

A very clear separation and cut, for the new unity: that which is the crossroads of Truth without duplicity.

We don't realise it, but milestones and intermediate stages absorbed through the influence of civilisation from outside are not really ours - despite the fact that this epidermal 'second brain' tends to invade our being.

Conformity on the side seems a refuge that attracts, but becomes only a den of flattery.

According to Chinese thought, in order to gain polish and escape a polluted and worn-out servility, the saints 'are taught by beasts the art of avoiding the harmful effects of domestication, which life in society imposes'.

Indeed: 'Domesticated animals die prematurely. And so do men, whom social conventions forbid to obey spontaneously the rhythm of universal life'.

"These conventions impose continuous, self-interested, exhausting activity [whereas it is appropriate] to alternate between periods of slow life and jubilation".

"The saint does not submit himself to retreat or fasting except in order to achieve, through ecstasy, to escape for long journeys. This liberation is prepared by life-giving games, which nature teaches".

"One trains oneself for the paradisiacal life by imitating the amusements of animals. In order to sanctify oneself, one must first brutalise oneself - meaning: learn from children, from beasts, from plants, the simple and joyful art of living only in view of life' [M. Granet, The Chinese Thought, Adelphi 2019, kindle pp. 6904-6909].

The suggestion of the past to perpetuate, the lace of narrow or glamorous judgements, and club ties, can rob us of hidden wealth, stealing the present and the future: this is the real mistake to avoid!

What matters is not to be cool or to copy the ancients, and to identify ourselves in order to be quiet and not make mistakes, but to renew ourselves in order to evolve, to grow, to expand, to amaze in a personal way. 

Otherwise our awkward problems will always be the same - and there will be no exuberant Path nor Promised Land, but only a vicious circle of fantasies or regrets, and fake reassurances.

To live the Faith of the real moment - an adventure that does not give up and puts things in line - one cannot be a repeating schoolboy of the place, the time, or the day before.

If we are forced to remove or hide our authentic emotions from the homologising opinions of the 'best', we will vainly resemble them - dissipating the richness of the Vocation.

When the expert instead of helping to broaden the view imposes no character changes, the person does not regain his or her simplicity.

And life [even that spent most nobly, in the gift of self] sooner or later becomes a nightmare.

Enough of managers pretending to intervene with their conformisms and 'adequate' or inadequate lifestyles!

Managers not infrequently place under an asphyxiating cloak of manner, the very path that is ours according to nature.

Earthly Faith: Our life is not played out on the initiative of what we are already able to set up and practise - or interpret, design and predict - but on Attention.

Here the dimension of 'Gospel discernment' takes over from the clichés of ideas and doing.

The illusion of feeling in the light instead of in the underworld - or vice versa - jams the unseen mechanisms, absorbs the being that we are, its eye and the high (non-brain) reflexivity of our consciousness.

The obtuse gaze under the influence of official approval [or easy success at court and in society] clutters one's own and others' essence with epidermal clichés, dependent impulses, which are the true impurity of life.

Thus the conventional person finds himself unable to produce fundamental changes, the more real the less immediately apparent.

Disorders enlightened by deep nature, on the other hand, have much to teach.

Personal and sibling issues do not come to us in order to be hastily placed under the cloak of a qualitative evaluation, but rather to make us a proposition of new visions that could make us more independent - only so intimate with the Lord.

The soul calls to oneness and the One, to diversity and Conviviality - in a radical relationship of interest between giver and receiver.

The 'night' that presses in can make us live more boldly, prepared for action and Dialogue.

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

To internalise and live the message:

What changes do you feel as your Calling?

Does the reputation and opinion of others in the community favour or block you? For what reason?

Is your 'family' closed in on itself or does it motivate openness of horizon?

There is an expression of Jesus that always attracts our attention and needs to be properly understood.

While he is on his way to Jerusalem, where death on a cross awaits him, Christ asked his disciples: "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division". And he adds: "[H]enceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Lk 12: 51-53).

Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of Christ's Gospel knows that it is a message of peace par excellence; as St Paul wrote, Jesus himself "is our peace" (Eph 2: 14), the One who died and rose in order to pull down the wall of enmity and inaugurate the Kingdom of God which is love, joy and peace.

So how can his words be explained? To what was the Lord referring when he said he had come - according to St Luke's version - to bring "division" or - according to St Matthew's - the "sword" (Mt 10: 34)?

Christ's words mean that the peace he came to bring us is not synonymous with the mere absence of conflicts. On the contrary, Jesus' peace is the result of a constant battle against evil. The fight that Jesus is determined to support is not against human beings or human powers, but against Satan, the enemy of God and man.

Anyone who desires to resist this enemy by remaining faithful to God and to good, must necessarily confront misunderstandings and sometimes real persecutions.

All, therefore, who intend to follow Jesus and to commit themselves without compromise to the truth, must know that they will encounter opposition and that in spite of themselves they will become a sign of division between people, even in their own families. In fact, love for one's parents is a holy commandment, but to be lived authentically it can never take precedence over love for God and love for Christ.

Thus, following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, in accordance with St Francis of Assisi's famous words, Christians become "instruments of peace"; not of a peace that is inconsistent and only apparent but one that is real, pursued with courage and tenacity in the daily commitment to overcome evil with good (cf. Rom 12: 21) and paying in person the price that this entails.

The Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, shared until his martyrdom her Son Jesus' fight with the Devil and continues to share in it to the end of time. Let us invoke her motherly intercession so that she may help us always to be witnesses of Christ's peace and never to sink so low as to make compromises with evil.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 19 August 2007]

5. As the cross can be reduced to being an ornament, “to carry the cross” can become just a manner of speaking. In the teaching of Jesus, however, it does not imply the pre-eminence of mortification and denial. It does not refer primarily to the need to endure patiently  the great and small tribulations of life, or, even less, to the exaltation of pain as a means of pleasing God. It is not suffering for its own sake that a Christian seeks, but love. When the cross is embraced it becomes a sign of love and of total self-giving. To carry it behind Christ means to be united with him in offering the greatest proof of love.

We cannot speak about the cross without considering God’s love for us, the fact that God wishes to shower us with good things. With his invitation “follow me”, Jesus not only says again to his disciples: take me as your model, but also: share my life and my choices, and stake your life for love of God and for neighbour together with me. This is how Jesus opens up before us the “way of life”. Unfortunately, this is constantly being threatened by the “way of death”. Sin is this way that separates a person from God and neighbour and brings about division and undermines  society from within.

The “way of life” continues and renews the mind of Christ in us  and becomes the way of faith and conversion. It is indeed the way of the cross. It is the way that leads one to trust in him and his plan of salvation, and to believe that He died in order to show God’s love for each one. It is the way to salvation in a society often divided, confused and contradictory. It is the way to the happiness found in following Christ right to the end, in the sometimes dramatic circumstances of daily life.  It is the way that does not fear  failure, difficulties, isolation, loneliness, because it fills our hearts with the presence of Jesus. It is the path of peace, self-control and a joyful heart.

6. My dear young people, do not think it strange that, at the beginning of the third millennium, the Pope once again directs you towards the Cross of Christ as the path of life and true happiness. The Church has always believed and proclaimed that only in the Cross of Christ  is there salvation.

There is a widespread culture of the ephemeral that only attaches value to whatever is pleasing or beautiful, and it would like us to believe that it is necessary to remove the cross in order to be happy. The ideal presented is one of instant success, a fast career, sexuality separated from any sense of responsibility, and ultimately, an existence centred on self affirmation, often bereft of respect for others.

Open your eyes and observe well, my dear young people: this is not the road that leads to true life, but it is the path that sinks into death. Jesus said: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Jesus leaves us under no illusions: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Lk 9:24-25). With the truth of his words that sound hard but  fill the heart with peace, Jesus reveals the secret of how to live a true life (cf. Talk to the young people of Rome, 2 April 1998).

Therefore, do not be afraid to walk the way first trodden by the Lord. With your youthfulness, put your mark of hope and enthusiasm, so typical of your age, on the third millennium that is just beginning. If you allow the grace of God to work in you, and earnestly fulfill this commitment daily, you will make this new century a better time for everyone.

[Pope John Paul II, Message for the 16th World Youth Day, 14 February 2001]

It is not just a matter of patiently enduring daily tribulations, but of bearing with faith and responsibility that part of toil, and that part of suffering that the struggle against evil entails. The life of Christians is always a struggle. The Bible says that the life of Christians is a military undertaking: fighting against the evil spirit, fighting against Evil.

Thus the task of “taking up the cross” becomes participating with Christ in the salvation of the world. Considering this, let us make sure that the cross hanging on the wall at home, or that little one that we wear around our neck, is a sign of our wish to be united with Christ in lovingly serving our brothers and sisters, especially the littlest and most fragile. The cross is the holy sign of God’s Love, it is a sign of Jesus’ Sacrifice, and is not to be reduced to a superstitious object or an ornamental necklace. Each time we fix our gaze on the image of Christ crucified, let us contemplate that he, as the true Servant of the Lord, has accomplished his mission, giving life, spilling his blood for the pardoning of sins. And let us not allow ourselves to be drawn to the other side by the temptation of the Evil One. Therefore, if we want to be his disciples, we are called to imitate him, expending our life unreservedly out of love of God and neighbour.

May the Virgin Mary, united to her Son unto Calvary, help us not to retreat in the face of the trials and suffering that witnessing to the Gospel entails.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 30 August 2020]