Oct 19, 2024 Written by 

To be headed

But what direction is this? How do we find it? Our Gospel passage offers two clues in this regard. In the first place it says that it is an ascent. This has first of all a very concrete meaning. Jericho, where the last part of Jesus' pilgrimage began, is 250 metres below sea-level, whereas Jerusalem the destination is located at 740 to 780 metres above sea level: a climb of almost 1,000 metres. But this external route is above all an image of the internal movement of existence that occurs in the following of Christ: it is an ascent to the true heights of being human. Man can choose an easy path and avoid every effort. He can also sink to the low and the vulgar. He can flounder in the swamps of falsehood and dishonesty. Jesus walks before us and towards the heights. He leads us to what is great, pure. He leads us to that healthy air of the heights: to life in accordance with the truth; to courage that does not let itself be intimidated by the gossip of prevalent opinions; to patience that bears with and sustains the other. He guides people to be open towards the suffering, to those who are neglected. He leads us to stand loyally by the other, even when the situation becomes difficult. He leads us to the readiness to give help; to the goodness that does not let itself be disarmed, even by ingratitude. He leads us to love he leads us to God. 

Jesus "went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem". If we interpret these words of the Gospel in the context of the way Jesus took in all its aspects a journey which, precisely, continues to the end of time in the destination, "Jerusalem", we can discover various levels indicated. Of course, first of all, it must be understood that this simply means the place, "Jerusalem": it is the city in which God's Temple stood, whose uniqueness must allude to the oneness of God himself. This place, therefore, proclaims two things: on the one hand it says that there is only one God in all the world, who exceeds by far all our places and times; he is that God to which the entire creation belongs. He is the God whom all men and women seek in their own depths, and of whom, in a certain way, they all have some knowledge. But this God gave himself a Name. He made himself known to us, he initiated a history with human beings; he chose a man Abraham as the starting point of this history. The infinite God is at the same time the close God. He, who cannot be confined to any building, nevertheless wants to dwell among us, to be totally with us. 

If Jesus, with the pilgrim Israel, goes up to Jerusalem, he goes there to celebrate with Israel the Passover: the memorial of Israel's liberation a memorial which, at the same time, is always a hope of definitive freedom, which God will give. And Jesus approaches this feast in the awareness that he himself is the Lamb in which will be accomplished what the Book of Exodus says in this regard: a lamb without blemish, a male, who at sunset, before the eyes of the children of Israel, is sacrificed "as an ordinance for ever" (cf. Ex 12: 5-6, 14). And lastly, Jesus knows that his way goes further: the Cross will not be his end. He knows that his journey will rend the veil between this world and God's world; that he will ascend to the throne of God and reconcile God and man in his Body He knows that his Risen Body will be the new sacrifice and the new Temple; that around him, from the hosts of Angels and Saints the new Jerusalem will be formed, that is in Heaven and yet also on the earth, because by his Passion he was to open the frontier between Heaven and earth. His way leads beyond the summit of the Mountain of the Temple to the heights of God himself: this is the great ascent to which he calls us all. He always remains with us on earth and he has always already arrived with God. He guides us on earth and beyond the earth. 

Thus, the dimensions of our sequela become visible in the ascent of Jesus the goal to which he wants to lead us: to the heights of God, to communion with God, to being-with-God. This is the true destination and communion with him is the way to it. Communion with Christ is being on the way, a permanent ascent toward the true heights of our call. Journeying on together with Jesus is at the same time also a journeying on in the "we" of those who want to follow him. It introduces us into this community. Since the way to true life, to being people in conformity with the model of the Son of God Jesus Christ, surpasses our own strength, this journey always means being carried. We find ourselves, so to speak, roped to Jesus Christ together with him on the ascent towards God's heights. He pulls and supports us. It is part of following Christ that we allow ourselves to be roped together; that we acknowledge we cannot do it alone. This act of humility, entering into the "we" of the Church is part of it; holding tight to the rope, the responsibility of communion not breaking the rope through stubbornness or self-importance. Humbly believing, with the Church, like being a roped-party on the ascent towards God, is an essential condition for the following of Christ. This being roped together also entails not behaving as masters of the Word of God, not running after a mistaken idea of emancipation. The humility of "being with" is essential for the ascent. The fact that in the Sacraments we always let the Lord once again take us by the hand is also part of it; that we let ourselves be purified and strengthened by him; that we accept the discipline of the ascent, even when we are weary.

[Pope Benedict, Palm Sunday homily 28 March 2010]

0 Last modified on Saturday, 19 October 2024 04:08
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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The saints: they are our precursors, they are our brothers, they are our friends, they are our examples, they are our lawyers. Let us honour them, let us invoke them and try to imitate them a little (Pope Paul VI)
I santi: sono i precursori nostri, sono i fratelli, sono gli amici, sono gli esempi, sono gli avvocati nostri. Onoriamoli, invochiamoli e cerchiamo di imitarli un po’ (Papa Paolo VI)
We find ourselves, so to speak, roped to Jesus Christ together with him on the ascent towards God's heights (Pope Benedict)
Ci troviamo, per così dire, in una cordata con Gesù Cristo – insieme con Lui nella salita verso le altezze di Dio (Papa Benedetto)
The Church is a «sign». That is, those who looks at it with a clear eye, those who observes it, those who studies it realise that it represents a fact, a singular phenomenon; they see that it has a «meaning» (Pope Paul VI)
La Chiesa è un «segno». Cioè chi la guarda con occhio limpido, chi la osserva, chi la studia si accorge ch’essa rappresenta un fatto, un fenomeno singolare; vede ch’essa ha un «significato» (Papa Paolo VI)
There are also serious, dangerous omissions and we have to recognize with healthy realism that in this way things are not all right, it is not all right when errors are made. However, we must also be certain at the same time that if, here and there, the Church is dying because of the sins of men and women, because of their non-belief, at the same time she is reborn (Pope Benedict)
Ci sono anche cadute gravi, pericolose, e dobbiamo riconoscere con sano realismo che così non va, non va dove si fanno cose sbagliate. Ma anche essere sicuri, allo stesso tempo, che se qua e là la Chiesa muore a causa dei peccati degli uomini, a causa della loro non credenza, nello stesso tempo, nasce di nuovo (Papa Benedetto)
Let us look at them together, not only because they are always placed next to each other in the lists of the Twelve (cf. Mt 10: 3, 4; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13), but also because there is very little information about them, apart from the fact that the New Testament Canon preserves one Letter attributed to Jude Thaddaeus [Pope Benedict]
Li consideriamo insieme, non solo perché nelle liste dei Dodici sono sempre riportati l'uno accanto all'altro (cfr Mt 10,4; Mc 3,18; Lc 6,15; At 1,13), ma anche perché le notizie che li riguardano non sono molte, a parte il fatto che il Canone neotestamentario conserva una lettera attribuita a Giuda Taddeo [Papa Benedetto]
Faith, as we have seen with Bartimaeus, is a cry [Pope Francis]. Pacify my soul, make it your Heaven, your beloved Dwelling Place, your Resting Place [Elizabeth of the Trinity]
La fede, lo abbiamo visto in Bartimeo, è grido; la non-fede è soffocare quel grido [Papa Francesco]. Pacifica la mia anima, rendila tuo Cielo, tua Dimora prediletta, Luogo del tuo riposo [Elisabetta della Trinità]
A “year” of grace: the period of Christ’s ministry, the time of the Church before his glorious return, an interval of our life (Pope Francis)
Un “anno” di grazia: il tempo del ministero di Cristo, il tempo della Chiesa prima del suo ritorno glorioso, il tempo della nostra vita (Papa Francesco)
The Church, having before her eyes the picture of the generation to which we belong, shares the uneasiness of so many of the people of our time (Dives in Misericordia n.12)
Avendo davanti agli occhi l'immagine della generazione a cui apparteniamo, la Chiesa condivide l'inquietudine di tanti uomini contemporanei (Dives in Misericordia n.12)

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