15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 13:1–23)

1On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2Such a large crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat down, whilst the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3He spoke to them at length in parables. He said: ‘Listen, a sower went out to sow. 4As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path; the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky ground, where there was not much soil; it sprang up quickly, because the soil was not deep, 6but when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no roots, it withered. 7Some fell amongst thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8Some fell on good soil and bore fruit: a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold. 9Let anyone with ears listen.”
10Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11He replied, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13That is why I speak to them in parables: because, though they look, they do not see; though they listen, they do not hear or understand. 14Thus the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in them, which says:
‘You will hear, but you will not understand; you will look, but you will not see.’
15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears have become hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes—lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn back, and I should heal them! 

“On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.” The passage begins with a temporal reference (“on that day”), followed by a spatial one (“went out of the house and sat by the sea”), which provide useful clues for understanding the situation being described. A first observation should be made regarding the expression “on that day” (en tē ēméra ekeínē), which draws attention to that day which will prove to be no ordinary day, but a time when Jesus makes a choice that will mark a radical turning point in his preaching and his mission: the beginning of his speaking in parables (v. 10). This expression appears only here in the Gospel of Matthew, whilst in the entire New Testament it occurs three further times: twice in reference to the Day of Judgement (Lk 10:12; 2 Thess 1:10); and once to highlight the particular success of the proclamation of the Word (Acts 2:41). Whenever this expression appears, therefore, the sacred authors are always referring to a particularly significant time or one of special interest, which has to do, on the one hand, with an act of judgement and, on the other, with the unstoppable advance of the Word. And this is precisely what happens here. The whole of chapter 13, in fact, is thematically dominated by two fundamental elements: the proclamation of the Kingdom and the decisive choice that Jesus is compelled to make within the context of that proclamation, for whilst the Kingdom is proclaimed to all, its mysteries are not revealed to all.

A second observation concerns the dual spatial connotation: Jesus leaves the house and sits by the sea. Jesus does not speak to people who are inside the house, but to those who are outside, standing on the seashore. To these, the mysteries of the Kingdom are not revealed (v. 11); instead, the proclamation is given to them through the language of parables, the content of which is encoded in metaphor. Jesus therefore draws a distinction between his listeners. The two nouns ‘house’ and ‘sea’ are both metaphors. In the symbolic language of the Gospels, the house often refers to the community of believers, within which Jesus is found. From here he goes out to meet the people (vv. 1–2). That this is not just any house, but the new community of believers, is also suggested by the definite article, which in the Greek text precedes the noun ‘house’. Jesus, in fact, does not go out from just any house, but ‘from the house’ (tēs oikías).

The ‘house’ is contrasted with the ‘sea’, which is by its very nature open and vast, yet also treacherous, for it conceals an unknown world beneath its surface. A sea that is often interpreted metaphorically as a symbol of the nations; and it is precisely here, by the sea, that Jesus sits.

In summary, verse 1, with its metaphorical and symbolic language, introduces the entire theme of chapter 13: Jesus leaves the house—the community of believers—to go out to the people, amongst whom he sits to teach them. This teaching of his, however, because of the manner in which it is carried out, also becomes a kind of judgement. For this reason, what takes place ‘on that day’ marks a radical turning point in Jesus’ preaching, which turns into an indictment of the people’s unbelief (vv. 14–15).

Verse 2, read symbolically, confirms what has been said. ‘Such a large crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat down, whilst the whole crowd stood on the shore.’ The verse is divided into three stages:

a) The crowd gathers round Jesus;

b) Jesus distances himself from the crowd by getting into the boat, from where he delivers his teaching;

c) The crowd remains on the shore, listening to Jesus, but at a distance from him, so that they cannot reach him.

From this moment on, the crowd finds itself at a distance from Jesus. There will be those who listen to and accept the message, and others who reject it. At the centre of the narrative is Jesus, who distances himself from the crowd and, from this position of detachment, delivers his teaching (b). Jesus, in fact, is in the boat and the crowd is on the beach; each, therefore, remains in their respective positions. A crowd with contradictory behaviour gathers around Jesus: they seek him (a), yet at the same time do not move from their positions, remaining stationary on the beach (c). The verb ‘eistēkei’ (was standing/remained), in the pluperfect indicative, describes an action arising from past behaviour that persists into the present. Consequently, the crowd’s remaining there, motionless, without any movement towards Jesus, illustrates the crowd’s closed-minded attitude and, therefore, its inability to evolve spiritually towards the new era that is advancing through Jesus. The reason for this behaviour will be explained in verses 10–15.

Furthermore, the verb ‘eistēkei’, which emphasises the crowd’s immobility, contrasts with the verb with which verse 10 begins, ‘proselthóntes’ (they drew near), which describes the opposite movement of the disciples, who, on the other hand, draw near to Jesus and make themselves available to him. The two groups, therefore, are characterised by their underlying attitude: the crowds remain stationary and entrenched in their positions (eistēkei), showing no sign of conversion; whilst the disciples are characterised by their moving towards Jesus (proselthóntes).

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, in the mystery of the Trinity

Jesus’ prophetic discourse (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 11:25–30)

Matthew 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

What did the Father delight in? It pleased him to give everything to the Son. The Son may communicate his knowledge of the Father to whomever he wishes, for he is the sole Mediator through whom we may come to the Father. In other words, the divine omnipotence of the Father, Lord of creation, is transferred to Jesus. In this way, a sort of identification is created between the Father and the Son, who, by virtue of this transfer, interpenetrate one another.

The Father and the Son know one another through their communion in the divine nature and through eternal generation. The transfer of powers from the Father to the Son is not a mere legal authorisation to act in the Father’s name and on his behalf, as if Jesus were some sort of legal representative of the Father. When we speak of God, no distinction can be made between the Father’s own attributes and the Father himself, for those attributes of the Father are the Father himself. For this reason, the power of the Father given to the Son is in reality the Father himself giving himself to the Son, and it is precisely this mutual interpenetration that makes the two one, whilst maintaining the respective distinction of their own roles, so that the Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Father. The identity between the two lies in their common and unique divine nature. This is why the Father lives in the Son and the Son in the Father; this is why the revelation of the Son is the very revelation of the Father, and the work of Jesus is the work of the Father, so that Jesus becomes the historical face of the Father, the historical locus of his manifestation.

Since no one else, apart from the Son, knows the Father, no one else can reveal him to us. The revelation that the Father brings about in the Son is a gift of love, reserved solely for those who are able to receive it. It is not the wise who can know the Father, for the Father is known within a relationship of gratuitousness, in a love that is both received and given. If this is lacking, it is impossible to experience God.

‘Come to me…’. This calls upon human will. God’s gift is for everyone, and we are invited to come. But God’s gift is not for those who are sated, who are well-off, who live in the abundance and wealth of this world’s possessions. They are not invited. To them, Jesus Christ is of no use; he serves no purpose. They have everything; they have no need of Christ. On the other hand, all those who are weary and burdened do need Christ. They are weary from the hard labour of living life, of making it through to the end of the day. They are weary from the grave difficulties they encounter day after day on their journey. These difficulties are both material and spiritual. Oppression, on the other hand, is an additional burden placed upon the shoulders of those who are already weary. It is as if a person who is already carrying an unbearable weight were to have yet another, even heavier one added to it. To these people, who have no prospects for the future, Jesus says to come to Him.

“And I will give you rest.” This rest recalls the rest of the seventh day, the Sabbath, which is the fulfilment of creation. Man remains forever unfulfilled because he is unable to fulfil love, to fulfil the law. If you go to Jesus, Jesus gives you rest, fulfilment. The fulfilment of man is God. This is the rest. Rest, moreover, is synonymous with the Promised Land; exile ends, the Exodus ends: at last you arrive home. So, in response to all the efforts of the Law that point the way to life, Jesus gives you life, gives you a home, gives you rest. And there man rests because there he is at home; that is, he becomes a son, not through his own efforts, but by going to Jesus and accepting his rest.

When our humanity returns to its true nature, it is freed from the bondage of sin, from the oppression of evil, from the gruelling toil of disobedience. It enters into the refreshment bestowed by the Lord’s friendship, which is the fullness of joy. Jesus’ refreshment is the gift of true freedom. Falsehood oppresses; the truth sets us free. Jesus’ refreshment is the gift of adopted sonship, of the Father’s House rediscovered. This is the refreshment of Jesus Christ: man’s return to the Father’s House and the gift of his ancient, lost dignity.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, True God and True Man in the Trinitarian Mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

 Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

 The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 10:37–42)

Matthew 10:39 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. 

Matthew 10:40 Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 

The disciple is called to make a fundamental choice, upon which everything will subsequently be reoriented and in which everything will find its full meaning. Consequently, whoever spends their life in pursuit of their own well-being and self-affirmation will, at the end of the day—that is, at the moment of life’s end—lose everything, for all their efforts to improve it will inevitably be thwarted by death. Conversely, those who have devoted their lives to Christ and to seeking his will will, in reality, have gained it, for such a life—which appears lost according to human reasoning—will find its fulfilment in Christ himself, to whom they have dedicated themselves and on whom they have staked everything.

There is, therefore, an underlying motivation that drives the entire, complex dynamic of life: the affirmation of one’s own self or the affirmation of Christ in one’s life. These two opposing underlying motivations will give rise to the fundamental choice that will shape and define one’s existential orientation, creating a way of life centred on oneself or on Christ. The ultimate outcomes will be diametrically opposed.

Within us there is a dual life: one which we might call material and temporal, and the other spiritual and eternal. Jesus means to say: ‘Whoever denies me in order to preserve their temporal life loses eternal life; but whoever, faced with the choice of renouncing me or their temporal life, bravely faces death, will find eternal life.’ Everyone, therefore, for the love of Christ, must always be ready to offer their life to martyrdom, just as Christ offered his for the love of the Father’s will. It is, however, in this total loss that life is found again. By losing it on earth, we shall be given a new and resplendent life in heaven; we lose it in time, we gain it for all eternity. If, on the other hand, we hold on to it but lose Christ, we lose both Christ and our whole life for all eternity. It is a choice: either time or eternity; either earth or heaven; either the moment or forever; either paradise or hell. Each person will receive according to their choice.

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” The verb “to welcome” is crucial; it defines the fundamental attitude that must characterise anyone who encounters the proclamation. The Kingdom must be welcomed because it does not impose itself on humankind, but offers itself to it. To welcome means knowing how to step aside in order to create within oneself a space to receive Christ.

With these words, Jesus also demonstrates the dignity of the disciples. They do nothing other than carry on Jesus’ mission. Whoever welcomes the disciples welcomes Jesus himself; and to welcome Jesus is to welcome God, for one sent as a messenger shares in the same dignity as the one who sent him. In this way, a chain is formed which, from the disciples, through Jesus, leads back to the Father, who, in his Son, is the one who sends the disciples themselves. This close interconnection creates a sort of identification and union-communion amongst those who are active in proclaiming the Gospel, so that behind the apostles and Jesus stands the very figure of the Father, who is the source of every sending and every proclamation.

The word of the twelve disciples is the word of Christ. The word of Christ is the word of the Father. Whoever receives the word of the twelve disciples receives the word of Christ and therefore receives the word of the Father. One thing, however, must be made clear: this is true only if the disciple’s word is the word of Christ, always. If the disciple is rejected because he speaks the word of Christ, Christ is rejected and the Father is rejected. Those who listen are responsible for this rejection. If, on the other hand, the disciple is rejected because he speaks his own words, not those of Christ, then those who reject him are rejecting him, not Christ, who is not behind or within the words he speaks. When a disciple of Jesus substitutes his own words for those of Jesus, he becomes a ravenous wolf. One must always be on one’s guard against him.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, in the mystery of the Trinity

Jesus’ prophetic discourse (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 10:26–33)

Matthew 10:26 Do not, therefore, be afraid of them; for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor anything secret that will not be made known. 

Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.

Matthew 10:28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear him who has the power to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

If Jesus commands us not to be afraid, it means that fear is present. It is not merely the fear for my own life, but also the fear that good will fail; that good will always remain veiled, hidden, that people will not understand it—this too is the fear we have, as well as the fear that everything is in vain. Then there is the tragedy that if good fails, it is something truly grave: where is God? This is the disciples’ fear. A primary reason, in fact, that justifies the “do not be afraid” is that everything that now seems incomprehensible will be revealed: “there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor any secret that will not be made known”. There is a veil, a concealment that will be removed and unveiled. Let us try to understand.

The great veil of God is the Cross. On the Cross He reveals Himself and makes Himself manifest as love, and just as it is in the life of Jesus so it will be in the life of the disciple: what appears to be defeat will in reality be revealed as victory. Everything is played out between the present and the future, between man’s today and God’s tomorrow. In other words, the obscure meaning of the present, in which man is called to live, finds its full understanding in the divine light of the Risen Jesus. Only this light is capable of illuminating humanity and revealing to it the hidden meaning of its history. Thus, all of history is nothing other than a progressive unveiling of the mystery of God.

Whilst verse 26 states a general principle upon which to base one’s lack of fear, verse 27 puts it into concrete practice. There is, in fact, a parallelism in the terms such that the former explain the latter: the ‘hidden’ finds its counterpart in ‘darkness’; the ‘revealed’ is reflected in ‘light’; the ‘secret’ is linked to ‘ear’; the ‘known’ is found in ‘roofs’. Furthermore, the verbs in verse 26, which are impersonal (“there is nothing”, “will not be revealed”, “will not be known”), become personal in verse 27 and have clearly defined subjects: I-you, Jesus-disciples. We thus move from the principle to its concrete realisation.

Jesus is instructing his disciples, speaking to them in private, in secret, away from the crowd—that is, not in public but in private. There is a contrast between the stage of proclamation in Jesus’s time, carried out discreetly, and the stage of the disciples’ preaching, in which they are required to proclaim the message of salvation courageously and publicly. The apostles are those to whom the secret is revealed. This secret and hidden teaching must not remain secret and hidden forever. It must be proclaimed to the whole world publicly, in a way that is audible and understandable to all. Jesus now speaks to them almost in silence. It will then be they who speak to the whole world, proclaiming his message, his Word, his teaching, after the Paschal event. Then, behold, what is in the darkness will be spoken in the light, and what is now merely whispered in private to a few people will reach everyone. So good is not defeated; do not fear. Do not be afraid; history is in God’s hands.

The whole conflict revolves around the confrontation between man and God, with whom the disciple must engage in the course of his mission. At the root of this confrontation lies the implicit question of whether it is better to obey God or men. This is the daily reality the disciples are faced with: they are called to proclaim and bear witness to truths that so annoy men that the latter do not hesitate to physically eliminate them. Jesus holds out to the disciples the possibility of a violent death, but urges them not to fear men who can at most deprive them of their physical life. They must rather fear God, who in judgement can condemn them to eternal damnation. It is worth enduring martyrdom to obtain eternal life in heaven.

We are terribly afraid of dying, and yet we die all the same. Our life is not the body; our life is the fact that we are children of God. This is the eternal life we already live now; it is this that we must not lose, for the other we will lose anyway, and those who try to save it by any means fail to do so. Therefore, let not the fear of death govern our lives. We must, instead, fear losing the meaning of our lives.

God is master of soul and body, of life and death. Therefore, let us fear Him. Today, when there is no longer any fear of God, people have endless phobias. Why? Because without the fear of God, death becomes the absolute thing to be avoided. If, on the other hand, we place the fear of God at the centre—that is, if we take into account that God is our Father, who has given us life—then our lives are transformed.

Gehenna, from the Hebrew ‘ghe-Hinnom’ (Valley of the River Hinnom), was a sort of precipice situated to the south-west of Jerusalem. In this valley, temples had once been erected to the god Moloch, to whom children were sacrificed according to Canaanite pagan rites, in which the Jews also participated. King Josiah (640–609 BC), in reforming and restoring the true worship of God, had these temples demolished and reduced the valley to a dumping ground for rubbish and corpses that could not be buried, where everything was burned. The fire here was therefore perpetual. Hence, by analogy, Gehenna came to represent the place of all impurity subjected to eternal fire, that is, Hell. This concept was taken up in the New Testament, where the term Gehenna denotes the place of eternal perdition and divine judgement.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Apocalypse – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the mystery of the Trinity

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

(Mt 9:36 – 10:8)

Matthew 10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over impure spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. 

Matthew 10:2 The names of the twelve apostles are: first, Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 

Matthew 10:3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; 

Matthew 10:4 Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, the one who later betrayed him. 

Verse 1 opens with the verb ‘to call’ in the aorist participle (proskalesàmenos), which indicates a specific action in time, from which the call arose. Every salvific act always begins with a call, which originates from God himself, and every call is closely linked to a mission. The mission, therefore, is the meeting point between the divine will and man’s willingness to become a bearer of salvation, on behalf of and in the name of God.

The divine call also possesses a transforming power; it bestows a new identity upon the one called. It is significant that in the Genesis account of creation, God, after creating, calls his creature by name. The creative act, in fact, calls things into being, but it is only by defining them by name that they are given substance and identity. In the Bible, the name expresses the very being of the person and indicates their essence. To know the name is, in a sense, to know the person, to enter into their intimacy; whilst to bestow a name is to exercise one’s power over them. This is why God, after creating the animals, presented them to man so that he might bestow a name upon them, thereby establishing a hierarchical order amongst things.

Similarly, the people of Israel at the foot of Sinai are defined by Yahweh as his own, a people of priests and a holy nation. Their liberation from Egypt was not, therefore, sufficient to make them God’s people; it was necessary for God to define their essence (through the Torah and the Covenant), so that the people might stand before God and the nations with a distinct identity and, thus, as a valid representative of God amongst men. The call, therefore, also pertains to the establishment of a new reality. Ultimately, it signifies belonging to the One who calls. 

Being called by God leads man to become God’s very own possession. The verb ‘to call’ in Greek is ‘kaléō’, but here Matthew, to express the calling of the Twelve, uses a particularly significant verb: ‘proskaléō’; it is composed of the preposition “pros” + “kaleō”, and literally means “to call towards oneself”, “to draw to oneself”. It is not, therefore, a call to attract the attention of the one called, but indicates a summons, which in turn implies an existential reorientation, making the one called, in effect, God’s own. It is no coincidence that the disciples called are described with the possessive adjective “his”, to indicate how this call becomes a sort of appropriation of the one called by God, a consecratory election on his part. Similarly, this was also the case at the foot of Sinai, where God defines his people as “his own” and, consequently, also as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:4–6).

A second term that characterises the disciples is the number “twelve”. The number is clearly symbolic and alludes to the twelve tribes of Israel, indicating in those called the new messianic community, destined to give birth to a new people, the new Israel, generated no longer according to the flesh, but in faith. The apostles represent the holy remnant of Israel, the spiritual fathers of the renewed people of God. It is, therefore, a new creation, signifying the replacement of the old Israel according to the flesh, which rejected Jesus’ message, with the new one generated by the Spirit, where all the divine promises may be fulfilled.

The calling is perfected through the necessary conferral of the power that comes from Jesus: “he gave them power”. Jesus grants the apostles supernatural powers, entirely similar to those He Himself possessed. Essentially, there are two such powers: that of casting out unclean spirits and that of performing every kind of healing. Jesus places unclean spirits and every physical affliction that sin has brought upon humanity under the power conferred upon the disciples. Nothing can resist them. Everything is subject to them. With these powers, what Jesus can do, the Twelve can also do. To grant authority or power means that a sort of identification is formed between the one who confers authority and the one who receives it. Jesus, therefore, extends himself into the disciples, becoming, himself, active within them through his power.

The mission of the disciples, therefore, is the continuation of Jesus’ own mission. Consequently, the disciples’ work is the very work of Christ. The authority given to the disciples, however, is not absolute, but is directed towards the realisation of a salvific plan, which manifests itself in casting out unclean spirits and healing every sort of disease and infirmity. In other words, the disciples’ work is aimed at establishing the Kingdom of God amongst men, which finds its exact opposite in man’s submission to the power of unclean spirits, which generate sickness and infirmity in man.

It should be noted that the disciples’ primary task is not to go about teaching doctrine to people. The specific task of the disciple will be to impart life to others by casting out demons. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, True God and True Man in the Trinitarian Mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

 Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

 The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

The Body and Blood of Christ (year A)

(1 Cor 10:16-17)

1 Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

1 Corinthians 10:17 Because there is one loaf, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

Here we see the fundamental reason that compels us to flee from idolatry, and it is closely linked to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, during which everything was done just as Jesus had done at the Last Supper. The cup was taken and blessed, the bread was taken and broken. The very words that Jesus had spoken over the cup and the bread were also spoken, so that after these words the bread and the cup were and are the body and blood of Christ.

The cup of blessing is the Eucharistic cup, which we bless, that is, consecrate. Consecration is called a blessing because it is preceded and followed by various prayers. It is also ‘communion’ (Greek koinōnia = participation, communion) with the blood of Christ, so that whoever drinks from this chalice—that is, from the wine it contains—becomes a participant in and drinks the blood of Jesus, and remains intimately united with him. Similarly, the Eucharistic bread, which we break, is communion with the body of the Lord, and whoever eats this bread remains intimately united to Christ. If drinking from this chalice and eating this bread is to share in the blood and body of Christ, this is clear proof that Christ is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist. Everyone, then, drinks the blood of Christ; everyone eats the body of Christ. A communion so profound with Christ is created that it surpasses every other form of communion existing on earth. It is a communion that unites Heaven and earth.

By participating in the Eucharist, by partaking of the body and blood of Christ, we enter into communion with him; we form one body. That is to say, our Eucharist, which is the very heart of the whole Christian life, is eating this bread, which is Him, and living in communion with Him. By living in communion with the Son of God, I become what I am, a child of God; I attain my identity, my truth. If I do not eat this bread, I am not what I ought to be; I do not attain my identity: I destroy myself.

To eat and drink the chalice is to enter into communion with the body and blood of Christ, and by eating and drinking Christ we are transformed into what He is: into a spiritual, holy nature, even in our body and not only in our soul. This truth is so evident that Paul does not want it to be accepted merely as a principle of faith, but as an act of the intellect. Faith, on the other hand, consists in accepting that the blessing and the words spoken over the bread and the cup transform the bread into the body of Christ and the cup into the blood of Christ. This truth cannot be deduced by reason. It is a proclamation of faith, a testimony of the apostles who heard Christ’s command, lived it out themselves first, and then understood the significance of what Christ had done for them and for all who would believe in his name. The apostles also received the authority to carry this out for the rest of their lives, passing this power on to their successors and to those they chose as elders within the community of believers.

Since spiritual things cannot be seen, they are expressed through signs, that is, through gestures, and thus through ritual; therefore, the bread and wine are signs. They are necessarily expressed through signs, because words are not adequate to express them, and behind those signs we see an infinite meaning that God has shown us through his word.

What signs are bread and wine? They are signs of nourishment, of sharing a meal, of communion, of family, of life: eating and drinking signify life. Behind these signs, what does revelation tell us? It is the gift that Jesus made of his body. It tells us that he is our life and that he gave his life for us. So, these signs become the memorial, that is, they bring back to my heart all the love of God who gives his life for me. We understand how necessary the sign is for the rite. That is why that small piece of bread is so very important: it is everything, because it is all that God wishes to give us, that is, himself. Since he cannot give himself in a visible way, and we need the visible, he signifies this to us through a small sign.

I do not know if we manage to grasp the full value of the rites. If one views the rite with triviality and superficiality, for that person the rite has no meaning whatsoever. If, on the other hand, one views it with depth of understanding, through the sign one will see that the full meaning of God’s saving work is revealed. Then, we understand what it means that that bread and that wine are communion with the body of Christ which is given for us; they are communion with the very life of God in the Son, through which we become children, we become like Christ: divinised. I hope that we Christians today know this too: those who were there at the beginning knew it.

The Eucharistic celebration concludes with: “Ite, missa est”. In the early Church of Rome, there was the following custom: once the celebration was over, the bishop would entrust some pieces of the Eucharistic bread to the deacons, so that they might take them to the faithful who had been unable to attend in person, or to the priests who would preside over the Eucharist in smaller churches. In this sense, the words “missa est” should be interpreted as “we have already sent the communion”, or “[the offering] has been sent”. Thus, the Eucharist concludes with a mission to others. If you have experienced the Father’s table, you are sent out into the whole world to bear witness to all; you are like the Son sent into the world.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the mystery of the Trinity

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All generations will call me blessed

Catholics and Protestants compared – In defence of the faith

The Church and Israel according to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

Most Holy Trinity (year A)

(2 Cor 13:11–13)

11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, strive for perfection, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send you their greetings.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 

This is the grand finale of St Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. It is a marvellous summary of how the path to Christian holiness is fulfilled within the community.

“Rejoice”. For there to be joy, the truth of Christ must dwell in your hearts, and there must be pure faith in God. In this certainty, the Christian must always grow. Can a person maintain joy whilst living in a world of suffering and sin? The answer is yes, because when one is in the joy of God, everything else becomes bearable; everything else is transformed into a hymn of honour and glory to the Lord our God. Jesus Christ sent his own into the world to bring this certainty.

“Strive for perfection”. Baptism does not make us perfect; it sets us on the path to perfection. Each of us will be responsible for ourselves in order to attain the perfection to which the Lord calls us. Perfection is the attainment of the way of life of Christ within us. To live as Christ lived does not mean to do the things he did, but to obey the Heavenly Father as he obeyed.

“Encourage one another”. On the path towards perfection, we are not alone. We walk together with others; we form a community; we are a people marching towards the attainment of the promised land, which for us is paradise. On this long journey, which is at times hard and tiring, we must support one another, encourage one another, and offer a helping hand to help and be helped. Sometimes a single word, a gentle reminder, or a word of encouragement is enough to prevent the other person from becoming disheartened, losing courage, or turning back. Encouragement must be a fruit of love that flows from our hearts filled with Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not in our hearts, we cannot offer encouragement; such encouragement could prove harmful to the other person, as it might be misinterpreted as a harsh judgement, or worse, as humiliation. When, however, the love of Christ overflows within us, the other person sees it, grasps it, and can allow themselves to be saved by it, resuming the path of perfection towards the attainment of salvation.

“Have the same attitude”. This is the attitude of “likeable” people who know how to show empathy. All too often our Christian community presents an unfriendly face, and those who are very devout and practising often come across as unfriendly. It is certainly not authentic devotion if going to Mass so often and spending so much time in church results in an unfriendly demeanour, so that when faced with others, instead of “feeling together”, we clash. Our encounter with God must enable us to have the same mind, to become likeable, capable of good relationships with others. We know what these shared sentiments must be: they are those that were in the heart of Christ Jesus, namely, to be among our brothers and sisters as one who serves, not as one who is served.

“Live in peace”. There is no letter of Paul that does not echo this invitation, that is not a heartfelt appeal for peace. Peace is a gift from God, but like every gift, it depends on the will of man, who must be the one to desire to preserve the peace that God has placed in his heart.  

“And the God of love and peace will be with you.” By bringing about peace, believers will have the joy of  experiencing God’s presence among them. God offers Himself first; if man opens the door to Him, He remains in his heart and in his life. If, on the other hand, man closes the door to Him—and he can close it at any moment—God leaves His dwelling place and Satan takes His place, settling in the heart of man and leading him towards evil.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This blessing, or prayer—one of the most beautiful Trinitarian texts in the New Testament—has become the opening greeting in the Holy Mass.

In the original Greek, there is no verb corresponding to the “be” in the English translation. The liturgy uses the singular “is” because it is a single reality: the Trinitarian mystery. The grace of the Lord Jesus is one and the same as the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. They are not three things that add up but a single reality, and so the Greek text, correctly, does not use the verb. The Latin is a perfect copy of the Greek: “Dominus vobiscum”, that is, “The Lord be with you”. The verb ‘to be’ is not there.

The formula “The Lord be with you” seems more assertive (that is, it affirms a reality) than a wish. Since in the Eucharistic celebration we are gathered as a community of believers, as the Body of Christ, then “The Lord be with you” becomes an acknowledgement of reality: The Lord is present because we, his members, are gathered together to form his body, which is the Church.

Charis (grace), agapē (divine love), and koinōnìa (communion). The three divine Persons are characterised by these three aspects, which are, however, almost synonymous. Grace, love and communion signify being together with affection, friendship and goodness, and the community can constitute itself as the Church of God only if it continually receives this style that unites the Trinitarian life. The Church is the reflection of the Trinity; the Church can be the Church only if it lives by Trinitarian love.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared – In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)

(1Cor 10,1-6.10-12)

3rd Sunday in Lent (year C)

1Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant, O brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all crossed the sea,

1Corinthians 10:2 all were baptized in relation to Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

Paul, in this passage, refers us to the history of the past, to the lesson of history. He reminds us of the deeper meaning of history, which is the history of salvation. It is said that history is a teacher of life, but the pupils learn nothing. Paul instead says that from the history of Israel one must learn. The history of Israel is not just any history, but it is a way in which divine revelation was historically manifested. Revelation, in fact, was not manifested through the explanation of concepts, but through certain historical facts that are then also read and interpreted. The history of Israel is an exemplary history, so it is right and proper, if one wants to understand Jesus Christ, to see all the sacred history that prepares him. Among other things, this also accustoms us to reading our own little personal history, which is also salvation history because the Lord walks with us.

"For I do not want you to be ignorant": The Corinthians were supposed to know the facts narrated here, but the apostle wants them to know the typological significance that these facts have, and which is not to be ignored. Jesus Christ is the end result of a long journey, and we must know the journey that preceded it. Paul is very respectful of Israel's history and feels he must tell it. He refers us to these examples from the past that are extraordinary events, but they are also events of sin, and yet always instructive because they show what God's way is.

"Our fathers". Christians can consider the ancient Israelites as their fathers, because the Church succeeded the synagogue, and they are the true heirs and children of Abraham.

"They were all": Three times Paul repeats this expression. As if to say that salvation had been given to all. For all were led by the cloud, that is, by the presence of God, and all crossed the sea. All gained freedom from slavery and all were guided by God on the way to the promised land. Hence, on God's part, no exclusion, no preference towards some at the expense of others. He brought all his people out of Egypt, for all he parted the sea, for all he willed the cloud. All were in the condition of grace and truth that would enable them to conquer the promised land and possess it forever.

This universality of grace and truth for Paul is akin to a baptism. There is an immersion also of the children of Israel, even though their baptism is merely a figure of that instituted by Jesus Christ. However, there is a true immersion of the Israelites in the sea and in the 'cloud' and this immersion for them is true salvation, true deliverance.

Israel lived under the cloud, that mysterious cloud that guided the Israelites through the desert and sheltered them from the sun: signifying the presence of God, the Shekinah. To be under the cloud is to be under God's protection. They crossed the sea and were baptised: the passage from the land of slavery, which is Egypt, to the promised land, takes place through the crossing of the Red Sea, and this is a baptism because it signifies the detachment from the slavery of Egypt, liberation and purification, and the journey to the promised land.

"To be of Moses". Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, was a figure of Jesus Christ, and the Israelites led by him to the promised land were a figure of the Christians led by Jesus Christ to heaven. Now, just as Christians through baptism are incorporated into Jesus Christ and made subject to him as their Lord, whose laws they are bound to observe, so for the Israelites the mysterious cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea were a kind of baptism, whereby they remained subject to Moses and obliged to observe his laws. From that moment on, the people were separated from Egypt forever and belonged to the God who liberated them and to the prophet-mediator whom God gave them as their leader.

The mysterious cloud, a perceptible sign of God's presence, and of the favour He bestowed on His people, was a figure of the Holy Spirit, who is given in the baptism of Jesus Christ, and similarly the dry-foot passage through the Red Sea and the consequent deliverance from the bondage of Pharaoh, were figures of our deliverance from the bondage of sin through the waters of baptism.

Having stated this truth, Paul reminds us that it is not enough to come out of Egypt to have the promised land. The going out is one thing, the conquest and possession of the land is another. Between going out and conquering the land, there is a whole desert to cross. For the Israelites, the desert lasted for forty years; for Christians it lasts their whole life.

With baptism we come out of the slavery of sin, with a life of perseverance striving to conquer the kingdom of heaven we walk towards the glorious resurrection that will take place on the last day.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon) 

Ps 17 (18)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

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

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)