Second Sunday after Christmas (year A)  [4 January 2026]

May God bless us and may the Virgin protect us. In the Christmas season, the liturgy constantly leads us  to meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation.

*First Reading from the Book of Sirach (24:1-4, 12-16)

The Wisdom of God raises her voice in the assembly and recounts her origin and mission. She comes from the Most High, proceeds from his mouth as the creative Word, precedes time and traverses the entire cosmos: nothing is foreign to her, nothing exists without her order. Yet this universal Wisdom does not remain homeless. God entrusts her with a concrete destination:

"She sets up her tent in Jacob". Wisdom pitches its tent among the chosen people, takes up its inheritance in Israel and puts down roots in Jerusalem, the city of God's presence. Its dwelling place is the Torah: not a cold law, but a living Word, in which God speaks and man responds. Here Wisdom becomes nourishment, light, fruitfulness, like a tree that grows, blossoms and bears fruit for those who welcome it. In this hymn, we already glimpse the mystery that the Gospel of John will proclaim openly: Wisdom, who pitches her tent, anticipates the Word who becomes flesh and comes to dwell among us. What was dwelling in the Law and in the people of Israel finds its full fulfilment in Christ, the incarnate Wisdom of the Father. To welcome Wisdom, then, means to dwell in the Word, to let God dwell in us and to make our lives a tent open to his saving presence. 

*Most important elements: +Wisdom comes from God and proceeds from his mouth. +It has a cosmic dimension: it permeates and orders all creation. +God assigns it a concrete destination. Wisdom pitches her tent in Jacob. +Her homeland is Israel and her dwelling place is Jerusalem. She is identified with the Torah, the living Word of God. +The Torah is a place of encounter: God speaks, man responds. +Wisdom becomes fruitfulness and life for the people. +The text anticipates the Prologue of John. Biblical foundation of the mystery of the Incarnation

*Responsorial Psalm (147 vv. 12-15; 19-20)

Jerusalem is invited to praise the Lord, because God rebuilds the city, gathers the scattered and protects his people. His action is not only spiritual: he strengthens the gates, blesses the children, guarantees peace at the borders and nourishes with the best wheat. God's salvation touches concrete life, security, daily bread. His word is effective and sovereign: God sends it to earth and it runs swiftly, governing nature and history. The one who has power over the cosmos chooses to manifest himself as the defender of a fragile people who live under his protection. But the heart of the psalm is this: God revealed his Word to Jacob, his decrees and judgements to Israel. No other nation has received such a gift. The true greatness of Israel is not its strength, but its intimacy with God, who speaks, guides and instructs. This psalm thus becomes an invitation to grateful praise: a God who rules the universe has chosen to enter into covenant, to speak and to dwell in the history of his people. It is this received Word that builds peace and makes life stable.

*Most important elements: +Invitation to praise addressed to Jerusalem. +God rebuilds, protects and gathers his people. +Concrete blessing: peace, security, nourishment. +The Word of God is powerful and effective, and God rules the cosmos and history. +Unique revelation made to Israel: the Torah as a privilege and responsibility. +The true strength of the people is to listen to the Word of God.

*Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (1:3-6, 15-18)

Paul opens the letter with a great blessing: all Christian life springs from a single movement that rises towards God, because grace first descended upon us. God is blessed because he has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing: not fragmentary gifts, but full and definitive salvation. The foundation of everything is God's free choice: even before creation, we were chosen in Christ to be holy and immaculate in love. Election is not an exclusive privilege, but a vocation to communion and new life. This election is expressed as filial adoption: God predestined us to be children in the Son, according to his plan of love. Salvation does not come from our merit, but from the benevolence of his will, and everything converges in the praise of the glory of his grace. In the second part, Paul moves from praise to intercessory prayer. Having heard of the faith and charity of the believers, he thanks God and asks for a decisive gift: the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that Christians may truly know God, not only with their minds but with their hearts. Paul prays that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened, so that they may understand: the hope of their calling, the riches of the glory of their inheritance, the greatness of the gift they have received in Christ. The Christian faith is therefore the memory of a grace received and a path of enlightened knowledge, which leads to living as children in freedom and praise.

*Most important elements. +Blessing to God for salvation in Christ. +Eternal election before creation. +Vocation to holiness in love and filial adoption in the Son. +Salvation as free grace. +Everything oriented towards the praise of God's glory and thanksgiving for faith and charity. +Prayer for the Spirit of wisdom. +Illumination of the heart. +Hope, inheritance and fullness of Christian life.

*From the Gospel according to John (1:1-18) Prologue

The Gospel of John opens by taking us back 'in the beginning', to where everything originated. Before all time was the Word (Logos): not just any word, but the eternal Word of God, in living relationship with the Father and of the same divine nature. In him everything was created; nothing exists without him. The Word is life, and this life is the light of men, a light that shines in the darkness and which the darkness cannot extinguish. A witness enters the story: John the Baptist. He is not the light, but he is sent to bear witness to the light, so that men may believe. The true light comes into the world that was made through it, but the world does not recognise it. Even his own people struggle to accept it. However, to those who accept it, the Word gives an unprecedented opportunity: to become children of God, not by human descent, but by free gift. The heart of the Prologue is the decisive announcement: 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' God does not remain distant: he enters into human frailty, into concrete history, and makes his glory visible, a glory that has the face of faithful love, grace and truth. In Jesus, the Invisible One allows himself to be seen. John attests that the one who comes after him was before him. From this fullness we all receive grace upon grace: the Law, a holy gift, finds its fulfilment in the person of Christ, who not only speaks of God, but reveals him fully. No one has ever seen God, but the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known. The Prologue thus invites us to make a choice: to recognise in the flesh of Jesus the eternal Word, to welcome the light, to live as children and to allow ourselves to be transformed by the grace that dwells among us.

* St Augustine – Commentary on the Prologue of John 'The Word became flesh so that man might understand the Word.' (In Ioannis Evangelium Tractatus, 2,2). In a single sentence, Augustine summarises the meaning of John 1:14: God does not lower his truth, but makes himself accessible, entering into our condition so that man may know and welcome the divine light.

*Important elements: +In the beginning: continuity with creation. The eternal Word, with God and God. Everything created through the Word. +Word as life and light. Light and darkness: conflict and rejection. +Testimony of John the Baptist. +Acceptance of the Word = becoming children of God. +Incarnation: the Word becomes flesh. God dwells among men. +Glory, grace and truth in Christ. +Christ as the definitive revelation of the Father.

+Giovanni D’Ercole

Mary, Holy Mother of God (year A)  [1 January 2026]

May God bless us and the Virgin protect us! Best wishes for the new year, invoking God's blessing throughout 2026

*First Reading from the Book of Numbers (6:22-27)

The blessing "May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you" comes from the Book of Numbers and has been pronounced by the priests of Israel since the time of Aaron. It has also become a permanent part of Christian liturgy, as the solemn blessing at the end of Mass. The expression "invoking the Name of God" must be understood in the biblical context: the Name represents the person himself, his presence, his protection. For this reason, pronouncing the Name of God over the people means placing them under his protection. When God reveals his Name, he makes himself accessible to the prayers of his people. Consequently, any offence against the people of God is an offence against his own Name. This also sheds light on Jesus' words about becoming a neighbour to the least among us: God has placed his Name on every person, who must therefore be regarded with respect and with new eyes. The blessing is formulated in the singular (may he bless you), but it refers to the entire people: it is a collective singular, which Israel understood as extending to all humanity. The use of the subjunctive does not indicate any doubt about God's will to bless, since God blesses unceasingly; rather, it expresses man's freedom to accept or reject this blessing. To bless means, in the biblical sense, that God 'speaks well' of man. His Word is effective and transforming: when God speaks well, he brings it about. To ask for a blessing is to open oneself to his transforming and life-giving action. To be blessed does not mean to be preserved from trials, but to live them in communion with God, within the Covenant, certain of his faithful presence. This finds its fulfilment in Mary, mother of God, the 'full of grace', upon whom the Name of God is placed in a unique and definitive way. The original Hebrew text further enriches the meaning: the Name YHWH is a promise of continuous presence, and the verbal form indicates a blessing that spans the past, present and future. God has blessed, blesses and will bless his people forever.

Important elements: +The blessing of Numbers 6 as Jewish and Christian heritage. +The Name of God as presence, protection and belonging. +The collective singular: blessing for all the people and for humanity. +The subjunctive as an expression of human freedom to accept grace. +Blessing as an effective Word that transforms. +Blessing not as the absence of trials, but as communion with God. +Mary as fully blessed and bearer of the Name. +The richness of the Hebrew text: eternal blessing of YHWH.

*Responsorial Psalm (66/67)

Psalm 66 responds harmoniously to the priestly blessing in the Book of Numbers: "May the Lord bless you and keep you." The same spiritual atmosphere pervades the psalm: the certainty that God accompanies his people. To say that God blesses is to affirm that God is with us. This is the most authentic definition of blessing, as the prophet Zechariah suggests: God's presence is so evident that it attracts the nations. The very Name revealed on Sinai, YHWH, expresses precisely this promise of faithful and permanent presence. In the psalm, it is the people themselves who ask for the blessing: "May God bless us." God blesses without interruption; however, man remains free to accept or reject this blessing. Prayer then becomes an opening of the heart to God's transforming action. For this reason, in the faith of Israel, prayer is always marked by the certainty of being heard even before asking. Israel does not ask for blessings only for itself. The blessing received is destined to radiate to all nations, according to the promise made to Abraham. Two inseparable dimensions are intertwined in the psalm: the election of Israel and the universality of God's plan. The expression "God, our God" recalls the Covenant, while the invitation to all peoples to praise God shows that salvation is offered to the whole of humanity. Israel gradually understands that it has been chosen not for exclusion, but to bear witness: the light that illuminates it must reflect the light of God for the whole world. This awareness matures especially after the exile, when Israel recognises that the God of the Covenant is the God of the universe. Zechariah's prophecy (8:23) clearly expresses this vision: the nations will draw near to the chosen people because they recognise that God is with them. Today's believers are also called to be a witnessing people: every blessing received is a mandate to become a reflection of God's light in the world. At the beginning of a new year, this becomes a mutual wish: to bring God's light where it is not yet welcomed. Finally, the psalm states that 'the earth has yielded its fruit'. Because the Word of God is effective, it bears fruit in history. God has kept his promise of a fruitful earth, and for Christians, this verse finds its full fulfilment in the birth of the Saviour: in the fullness of time, the earth has borne its fruit.

Important elements: +Psalm 66 as an echo of the blessing in Numbers 6. +Blessing as God's presence and accompaniment. +The Name YHWH as a promise of faithful presence. +God always blesses; man is free to accept. +Prayer as openness to God's transforming action. +The election of Israel and the universality of salvation. Israel (and the Church) as a witnessing people. +The blessing intended for all nations. +The Word of God bearing fruit in history. +Christian fulfilment in the mystery of the Incarnation.

Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Galatians (4:4-7)

"When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman": with this expression Paul announces the fulfilment of God's plan. History, according to biblical faith, is not an eternal return, but a progressive journey towards the realisation of God's merciful plan. This perspective of fulfilment is a fundamental key not only to understanding Paul's letters, but the entire Bible, beginning with the Old Testament. The authors of the New Testament insist on showing that the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfil the Scriptures. This does not mean that everything was rigidly planned and predetermined: fulfilment should not be understood as fatality, but as a reinterpretation in faith of real events through which God, respecting human freedom, carries out his plan. God accepts the risk of human freedom, even when it conflicts with his plan; nevertheless, he never tires of renewing his promise, as Isaiah and Jeremiah attest. In Jesus, believers contemplate the definitive fulfilment of these promises. Paul then states that the Son of God was "born of a woman and born under the Law". In a few words, he expresses the whole mystery of Christ: true Son of God, true man, fully integrated into the people of Israel. The expression "born of a woman" simply indicates his full humanity, as attested by biblical language; being "under the Law" means that Jesus shared the condition of his people to the full. The purpose of this coming is clear: to redeem, that is, to free those who were under the Law, so that they might become adopted children. It is no longer a question of living as slaves who obey orders, but as children who obey out of love and trust. Thus, we move from submission to the Law to the freedom of filial obedience. This transition is made possible by the gift of the Spirit of the Son, who cries out in our hearts, 'Abba, Father'. It is the cry of trusting abandonment, the certainty that God is Father in all circumstances. For this reason, the believer is no longer a slave, but a child and, as a child, an heir: everything that belongs to the Son is also promised to him. The difficulty for human beings often lies in not daring to believe in this reality: not daring to believe that the Spirit of God dwells in them, that God's strength and capacity to love are truly given to them. And yet, none of this is due to human merit: if we are children and heirs, it is by grace. It is in this profound sense that we can say that everything is grace.

Important elements: +The fullness of time as the fulfilment of God's plan. +History as a journey towards God's benevolent plan. +The fulfilment of the Scriptures in Jesus, without determinism. +Respect for human freedom in the divine plan. +Jesus: Son of God, true man, born under the Law. +Redemption as liberation from the slavery of the Law. +The transition from slaves to children. +The gift of the Spirit who cries out 'Abba, Father'. Sonship as a promised inheritance. +Grace as the foundation of everything.

*From the Gospel according to Luke (2:16-21)

'What you have hidden from the wise and intelligent, you have revealed to the little ones' (Lk 10:21/ Mt 11:25): this verse illuminates the story of Jesus' birth, which is apparently simple but deeply theological. The shepherds, marginalised men who did not observe the Law, are the first to receive the angel's announcement: they thus become the first witnesses, bearers of the good news. Luke's narrative (Lk 2:8-14) emphasises how God's glory envelops them and how they are seized with fear and joy. Their experience recalls the words of Jesus: God reveals his mystery to the little ones, not to the wise. The story takes place in Bethlehem, the city of David and 'house of bread', where the newborn is laid in a manger: a symbol of the one who gives himself as nourishment for humanity. Mary observes in silence, meditating in her heart on all the events (Lk 2:19), showing attentive and filial contemplation, in contrast to the loquacity of the shepherds. Her attitude is reminiscent of that of Daniel, who kept the visions he received in his heart (Dan 7:28), foreshadowing the messianic destiny of the child. The name 'Jesus', which means 'God saves', reveals his saving mystery. Like every Jewish child, Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day and subjected to the Law of Moses, in full solidarity with his people. Luke insists on the circumcision and presentation in the Temple (Lk 2:22-24) to emphasise Mary and Joseph's perfect observance of the Law, not to highlight a ritual detail, but to show Jesus' complete adherence to the history and tradition of his people. This is consistent with his future identification with the wicked, as foretold: "And he was numbered among the wicked" (Lk 22:37). Finally, the discretion and silence of Mary, mother of God, show her humility and ability to become an instrument of God's plan. The centre of the plan is not Mary, but Jesus, the Saviour.

St Ambrose of Milan (4th century), commenting on the scene of the shepherds and Mary's attitude, writes: Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart: she did not try to explain the mystery in words, but kept it in faith" (cf. Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, II).

Important elements: +The revelation of God's mystery to the 'little ones', not to the wise and the shepherds: marginal witnesses and first heralds. +Bethlehem as the city of bread, symbol of saving nourishment. +Mary meditates on the events in her heart, a model of contemplation and silence. +The name Jesus means 'God saves'. +Circumcision and observance of the Law: Jesus' solidarity with the people and Presentation in the Temple: total adherence to the Law of Moses. +Jesus identified with the wicked: a sign of his mission. +Mary's silence and humility: an instrument of the divine plan, not the centre. + The plan of salvation has Jesus, the Saviour, at its centre.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Year A)  [28 December 2025]

May God bless us and may the Virgin protect us! Here is a commentary on this Sunday's readings with a wish for every family that they may see themselves reflected in the real daily life of Nazareth, which the Bible shows us to have been truly tested by many difficulties and problems, just like any other family.

*First Reading from the Book of Sirach (3:2-6, 12-14)  

Ben Sira insists on the respect due to parents because, in the 2nd century BC (around 180), family authority was weakening. In Jerusalem, under Greek rule, despite religious freedom, new mentalities were slowly spreading: contact with the pagan world threatened to change the way Jews thought and lived. For this reason, Ben Sira, teacher of Wisdom, defends the foundations of faith starting from the family, the primary place of transmission of faith, values and religious practices. The text is therefore a strong appeal in favour of the family and is also a profound meditation on the fourth commandment: 'Honour your father and your mother', formulated in Exodus as a promise of long life and in Deuteronomy also of happiness. About fifty years later, Ben Sira's grandson, translating the work into Greek, adds a decisive motivation: parents are instruments of God because they give life; for this reason, they deserve honour, remembrance and gratitude. This commandment also responds to human common sense: a balanced society is born of solid families, while their breakdown generates serious psychological and social consequences. However, at the deepest level, family harmony belongs to God's own plan. Some of Ben Sira's expressions seem to suggest a 'calculation' ('whoever honours his father obtains forgiveness of sins...'), but in reality it is not a mechanical reward: God's Law is always a path to grace and happiness. As Deuteronomy teaches, the commandments are given for the good and freedom of man. When Ben Sira states that honouring one's parents obtains forgiveness, we see a progress in revelation: true reconciliation with God comes through reconciliation with one's neighbour, in harmony with the prophets ("I desire mercy, not sacrifice"). Being respectful children to our parents means being faithful children to God as well. It is no coincidence that, among the Ten Commandments, only two are formulated in positive terms: the Sabbath and honouring our parents. They find their fulfilment in the great commandment of love of neighbour, which begins precisely with our parents, our first 'neighbours'. This is why Ben Sira's text is particularly appropriate during the festive season, when family ties are strengthened or rediscovered.

*Most important elements: +Historical context: 2nd century BC, Hellenistic influence. +Family as the primary place of transmission of faith. +Defence of the fourth commandment. +Parents as instruments of God in the gift of life. +God's law as the way to happiness, not calculation. +Reconciliation with God through one's neighbour. +Honouring one's parents as the first act of love for one's neighbour.                               

*Responsorial Psalm (127/128)

 This psalm is called the 'Song of Ascents' because it was intended to be sung during the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, probably in the final moments, climbing the steps of the Temple. The text seems to be structured like a liturgical celebration: at the entrance to the Temple, the priests welcome the pilgrims and offer a final catechesis, proclaiming the blessedness of the man who fears the Lord and walks in his ways. The blessing concerns work, family, fertility and domestic peace: the fruit of one's hands, one's wife as a fruitful vine, one's children as olive shoots around the table. The assembly of pilgrims responds by confirming that those who fear the Lord are blessed. This is followed by the solemn formula of priestly blessing: from Mount Zion, the Lord grants his blessing, allowing us to contemplate the good of Jerusalem and the continuity of generations throughout our lives. The emphasis on work, prosperity and happiness may seem too 'earthly', but the Bible strongly affirms that God created man for happiness. The human desire for success and family harmony coincides with God's plan; this is why Scripture often speaks of 'happiness' and 'blessing', without irony, even in the face of the sufferings of history. The biblical term 'happy' does not indicate an automatic guarantee of success, but the true good, which is closeness to God. It is both recognition and encouragement. André Chouraqui translates 'happy, blessed' as 'on the way', to say: you are on the right path, continue. Israel quickly understood that God accompanies his people in their desire for happiness and opens up a path of hope before them (cf. Jer 29:11). The entire Bible affirms God's merciful plan for humanity, as St Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians. Biblical happiness therefore has two dimensions: it is first and foremost God's plan, but it is also a choice made by human beings. The path is clear and straight: fidelity to the Law, which is summed up in love of God and humanity. Jesus walked this path to the end and invites his disciples to follow him, promising true blessedness to those who put his word into practice. What remains is the seemingly paradoxical expression: "Blessed are those who fear the Lord." This is not about fear, but reverent awe. Chouraqui renders it as: 'on the way, you who would tremble before God'. It is the emotion of those who feel small before a great love. Having discovered that God is love, Israel no longer fears as a slave, but as a child before the strength and tenderness of the father. It is no coincidence that Scripture uses the same verb for the respect due to God and to parents (Lev 19:3). Faith is therefore the certainty that God wants what is good for man; for this reason, "fearing the Lord" is equivalent to "walking in his ways". When Jerusalem lives this fidelity, it will fulfil its vocation as a city of peace; the psalm anticipates this by proclaiming: "May you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life".

*Most important elements: +The psalm, as a Song of Ascents and pilgrimage song, has a liturgical structure: priests, assembly, blessing. +Blessing on work, family and fertility. +God creates man for happiness and "blessed" are those who are close to God, and Chouraqui translates "blessed" = on the way. +God's benevolent plan for humanity, which sees happiness as a gift from God and a choice of man. +Jesus as the fulfilment of the journey of love. +'Fear of God' as a filial attitude, not fear. +Jerusalem called to be a city of peace.

*Second Reading from St Paul's Letter to the Colossians (3:12-21)          

 Today's liturgy invites us to contemplate the Holy Family: Joseph, Mary and Jesus. It is a simple family, and it is called "holy" because God himself is at its centre. However, it is not an idealised or unreal family: the Gospels clearly show that it went through real trials and difficulties. Joseph is troubled by Mary's mysterious pregnancy, Jesus is born in poor conditions, the family experiences exile in Egypt and later the anguish of Jesus being lost and found in the Temple, without fully understanding the meaning of it all. Precisely for this reason, the Holy Family appears as a real family, marked by struggles and questions similar to those of any other family. This reality reassures us and gives meaning to St Paul's recommendations in his letter to the Colossians, where he calls for patience and forgiveness, virtues that are necessary in daily life. Colossae, a city in present-day Turkey, was not visited directly by Paul: the Christian community was founded thanks to Epaphras, his disciple. Paul writes from prison, concerned about certain deviations that threaten the purity of the Christian faith. The tone of the letter alternates between contemplative enthusiasm for God's plan and very strong warnings against misleading doctrines. At the centre of his message is always Jesus Christ, the heart of history and of the world. Paul invites Christians to model their lives on Him: to clothe themselves with tenderness, goodness, peace and gratitude, doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. The baptised, in fact, form the Body of Christ. Taking up and deepening an image already used with the Corinthians, Paul affirms that Christ is the head and believers are the members, called to support one another in building up the edifice of the Church. The text also addresses family relationships, with expressions that may be difficult, such as the invitation to wives to submit. In the biblical context, however, this submission is not equivalent to servitude, but is part of a vision based on love and responsibility. Paul, after referring to language common at the time, addresses an even stronger requirement to husbands: to love their wives with respect and without harshness. Christian obedience arises from trust in God's love and is expressed in relationships marked by tenderness, respect and mutual giving.

*Important elements: +The Holy Family as a real family, not idealised, with the concrete trials experienced by Joseph, Mary and Jesus, and an invitation to patience and forgiveness in family life. +Context of the letter to the Colossians and the role of Epaphras with Paul's concern for the fidelity of the Christian faith. +Centrality of Jesus Christ in the lives of believers as the Body of Christ, called to support one another. +Family relationships based on love and respect where biblical submission is understood as trust and gift, not slavery. +Christian obedience rooted in the certainty that God is Love.

*From the Gospel according to Matthew (2:13-15, 19-239    

The episode of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt deliberately recalls another great biblical story: that of Moses and the people of Israel, twelve centuries earlier, enslaved in Egypt. Just as the pharaoh ordered the killing of male newborns and Moses was saved to become the liberator of his people, so Jesus escapes Herod's massacre and becomes the saviour of humanity. Matthew invites us to recognise in Jesus the new Moses, the fulfilment of the promise of Deuteronomy 18:18: a prophet raised up by God like Moses himself. A second sign of the fulfilment of the Scriptures is the quotation from Hosea 11:1: "Out of Egypt I called my son." Originally referring to the people of Israel, Matthew applies it to Jesus, presenting him as the New Israel, the one who fully realises the Covenant. The title Son of God, already attributed to kings and the Messiah, acquires its full meaning in Jesus: in the light of the resurrection and the gift of the Spirit, believers recognise that Jesus is truly the Son of God, God from God, as the Christian faith confesses. A third sign is the statement: "He will be called a Nazarene". Although the Old Testament does not mention Nazareth, Matthew plays on linguistic and symbolic resonances: netser (messianic 'shoot' of the line of David), nazir (consecrated to God), and natsar ('to guard'). Nazareth thus becomes the sign of God's choice of the humble and insignificant. Furthermore, when Christians are despised as 'Nazarenes', Matthew encourages them by reminding them that Jesus also bore that title: what appears despicable to men is precious in the eyes of God. In the story, Matthew constructs two parallel scenes: the flight into Egypt and the return from Egypt. In both there is a historical context, the appearance of the angel to Joseph in a dream, immediate obedience and the conclusion: thus was fulfilled "what had been said through the prophets". The parallelism relates the titles Son of God and Nazarene, showing an unexpected Messiah: glorious and humble at the same time. This is why the text is proclaimed on the feast of the Holy Family: Jesus is the Son of God, but he grows up in a simple family and in an insignificant village. It is the great Christian paradox: divine history is fulfilled in the most ordinary everyday life of human families. Ancient commentators such as Pseudo-Dionysius and Pseudo-Chrysostom reflect on the flight into Egypt, not only as a historical fact but as a manifestation of the plan of salvation: Christ, though he is God, submits himself to the law of the flesh and to divine guidance, demonstrating the true humanity and obedience of the Messiah. St Jerome, on the other hand, emphasises that not only Herod, but also the high priests and scribes sought the Lord's death from the very first moments of his coming into the world, showing the spiritual hostility that Jesus would encounter throughout his mission. Another interpretation by some ancient Fathers sees in the stay in Egypt a salvific dimension not only for Jesus himself, but symbolically for the world: He goes to that land historically associated with oppression and paganism not to stay, but to bring light and salvation, confirming that the coming of Christ is for everyone, even for peoples far from God.  Thus, for the ancient commentators, the story is not mere narration: it is a theological revelation of the mystery of Christ, who enters human history as free obedience for our salvation and the fulfilment of prophetic promises.

*St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies) writes: "Jesus is the recapitulation of all history: what was lost in Adam is found again in Christ." This is often applied by the Fathers to the flight into Egypt: Christ retraces the history of Israel to bring it to fulfilment.

*Important elements: +Parallelism between Jesus and Moses, Jesus as the new Moses and the new Israel. +Fulfillment of the Scriptures according to Matthew: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' (Hos 11:1). +Title of Son of God in the full Christological sense. +Symbolic meaning of Nazareth / Nazarene. +Divine choice of the humble and despised, and unexpected Messiah: divine glory and concrete humility. +Parallel narrative structure: flight and return from Egypt. +Holy Family: the divine experienced in everyday life

+Giovanni D'Ercole

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

[…] John the Baptist was the forerunner, the "voice" sent to proclaim the Incarnate Word. Thus, commemorating his birth actually means celebrating Christ, the fulfilment of the promises of all the prophets, among whom the greatest was the Baptist, called to "prepare the way" for the Messiah (cf. Mt 11: 9-10).

All the Gospels introduce the narrative of Jesus' public life with the account of his baptism by John in the River Jordan. St Luke frames the Baptist's entrance on the scene in a solemn historical setting.

My book Jesus of Nazareth also begins with the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, an event which had enormous echoes in his day. People flocked from Jerusalem and every part of Judea to listen to John the Baptist and have themselves baptized in the river by him, confessing their sins (cf. Mk 1: 5).
The baptizing prophet became so famous that many asked themselves whether he was the Messiah. The Evangelist, however, specifically denied this: "I am not the Christ" (Jn 1: 20).

Nevertheless, he was the first "witness" of Jesus, having received instructions from Heaven: "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (Jn 1: 33).
This happened precisely when Jesus, after receiving baptism, emerged from the water: John saw the Spirit descending upon him in the form of a dove. It was then that he "knew" the full reality of Jesus of Nazareth and began to make him "known to Israel" (Jn 1: 31), pointing him out as the Son of God and Redeemer of man: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1: 29).

As an authentic prophet, John bore witness to the truth without compromise. He denounced transgressions of God's commandments, even when it was the powerful who were responsible for them. Thus, when he accused Herod and Herodias of adultery, he paid with his life, sealing with martyrdom his service to Christ who is Truth in person.

Let us invoke his intercession, together with that of Mary Most Holy, so that also in our day the Church will remain ever faithful to Christ and courageously witness to his truth and his love for all.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus June 24, 2007]

Brother, in the brethren all

(Jn 1:29-34)

In the fourth Gospel the Baptist is not «the forerunner», but a «witness» of the Lamb Light that raises basic questions.

Alarmed, the authorities put him under investigation.

But it’s not he who sweeps away «sin», that is, the humiliation of unbridgeable distances - and the inability to correspond to the personal Vocation, for Life without limit.

Hindrance even underlined by the logic of the «world»: by the false teaching, by the very structure of the ancient official institution, so linked to the interweaving between religion and power.

Condemned to «noon-day» [culmination and full light] on Easter eve, Jesus crosses his earthly end with the hour when the priests of the Temple began to immolate the lambs of propitiation [originally, an apotropaic sacrifice that preceded transhumance].

As for the Lamb of the fathers in foreign land, who had spared them from the slaughter - his Blood gives impetus to cross the land of arid slavery, devoid of warmth and intimate consonance.

As is known, the effigy of the Lamb belongs to the sacrificial theological strand, stemming from the famous text of Isaiah 53 and from all the sacral imagery of the ancient East [which had elaborated a literature and a widespread thought on the King Messiah].

According to the biblical conception, the sovereign was a figure of the whole people and represented them. The Anointed would have had the ideal task of dragging away and atoning for human iniquities.

But Jesus does not "expiate" rather «extirpates». Not even "propitiates": the Father does not reject the precarious condition of his creatures.

In Christ who «supports and removes» all our shame and weaknesses, the Father’s Action is made intimate - for this reason decisive.

He doesn’t annihilate transgressions with a sort of amnesty, even vicarious: it would not be authentic salvation to touch only the suburbs and not the Core, to reactivate us.

An outer dress does not belong to us and will never be ours; it is not assimilated, nor does it become real life. Deletions don’t educate, far from it.

It’s true that a lamb in a world of cunning wolves has no escape. By introducing it you see it perish, but not as a designated victim: it was the only way for the beastmen who believe they were people, to understand that they were still only beasts.

The Risen One introduces into the world a new force, a different dynamism, a way of teaching the soul that becomes a conscious process.

Only by educating us, does the Most High-neighbour annihilate and overcome the instinct of the fairs feeding each other, believing themselves to be authentic human beings - even spiritual.

A third allusion to the figure of the Lamb insists on the votive icon and archetypal category associated with the sacrifice of Abraham, where God himself provides for the victim (Gn 22).

Of course he provides: he did not create us angelic, but malformed, transient. Yet, every divine Gift passes through our shaky ‘condition’ - which is not sin, nor guilt, but a matter of fact; so nourishment, and resource.

We are Perfect in the multiplicity of our creative slopes, even in the limit: a blasphemy for the ancient religious man... a reality for the person of Faith.

The authentic Lamb is not just a [moral] reference: the meekness of those who are called to give everything of themselves, even their skin.

It is an image of the (blatant) ‘boundary’ of those who could never make it to genius in life, so they ‘let themselves be found’ and loaded on the shoulders.

In this way, no decision-making delirium.

It will be the Friend of our vocational nucleus who will transmit strength and devise the way to make us return to the House that is truly ours: the Tent that stitches together the scattered events.

Dwelling that rewires all the being we should - and maybe even could - have brought to fruit.

Incarnation here means that the Lamb is depiction of an accepted - unusual - globality of the divine Face in men.

Totality finally solid - paradoxical, conciliated - that recovers its opposite innocent, natural, spontaneous, incapable of miracle.

Difference between religiosity and Faith.

[Weekday Liturgy of January 3]

"Heart of Jesus, victim of sins, have mercy on us".

1. Dear brothers and sisters, this invocation of the Litany of the Sacred Heart reminds us that Jesus, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, "was put to death for our sins" (Rom 4:25); although, in fact, he had committed no sin, "God treated him as sin for our sake" (2 Cor 5:21). On the Heart of Christ weighed, immense, the weight of the world's sin.

In him, the figure of the "Passover lamb" was perfectly fulfilled, the victim offered to God so that in the sign of his blood the first-born of the Hebrews might be spared (cf. Ex 12:21-27). Rightly, therefore, John the Baptist recognised in him the true "Lamb of God" (Jn 1:29): - innocent lamb, who had taken upon himself the sin of the world in order to immerse it in the healing waters of the Jordan (cf. Mt 3:3-16 et par.); - meek lamb, "led to the slaughter, as a sheep mute before her shearers" (Is 53:7), so that by his divine silence the proud word of unrighteous men might be confounded.

Jesus is a willing victim, because he offered himself "freely to his passion" (Missale Romanum, Prex euchar. II), as a victim of atonement for the sins of men (cf. Lev 1:4; Heb 10:5-10). which he consumed in the fire of his love.

2. Jesus is an eternal victim. Risen from the dead and glorified at the right hand of the Father, he preserves in his immortal body the marks of the wounds of the pierced hands and feet, of the pierced side (cf. Jn 20:27; Lk 24:39-40) and presents them to the Father in his unceasing prayer of intercession on our behalf (cf. Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34).

The admirable sequence of the Easter Mass, recalling this fact of our faith, exhorts:

"To the paschal victim, / let the sacrifice of praise rise today. / The lamb has redeemed his flock. / The innocent has reconciled us sinners with the Father" (Sequentia "Victimae Paschali", str. 1).

And the preface of that solemnity proclaims:

Christ is "the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world, / it is he who by dying destroyed death, / and by rising again gave us life".

3. Brothers and sisters, in this hour of the Marian prayer we have contemplated the Heart of Jesus, the victim of our sins; but first of all and more profoundly than all we contemplated his sorrowful Mother, of whom the liturgy sings: "For the sins of her people / she saw Jesus in the torments / of the harsh torment" (Sequentia "Stabat Mater", str 7).

As we approach the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Sorrows, let us remember this intrepid and interceding presence of Our Lady beneath the Cross of Calvary, and let us think with immense gratitude that, at that moment, the dying Christ, victim of the sins of the world, entrusted her to us as Mother: "Behold your Mother" (Jn 19:27).

To Mary we entrust our prayer, as we say to her Son Jesus:

Heart of Jesus,

victim of our sins,

receive our praise,

everlasting gratitude,

sincere repentance.
Have mercy on us,

today and always. Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 10 September 1989]

At the centre of today’s Gospel reading (Jn 1:29-34) there is this message of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29). It is a message accompanied by the gaze and the hand gesture that indicate Him, Jesus.

Let us imagine the scene. We are on the bank of the River Jordan. John is baptizing; there are many people, men and women of various ages, who have come there, to the river, to receive baptism from the hands of the man who reminded many of Elijah, the great Prophet who nine centuries before had purified the Israelites of idolatry and led them back to the true faith in the God of the Covenant, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

John preaches that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, that the Messiah is about to reveal himself, and one must prepare, convert and act with righteousness; and he begins to baptize in the River Jordan in order to give the people a tangible means of repentance (cf. Mt 3:1-6). These people came to repent their sins, to make penance, to begin their life anew. He knows; John knows that the Messiah, the Lord’s Consecrated One, is now nearby, and the sign to recognize Him will be that the Holy Spirit will descend upon Him. Indeed, He will bring the true baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 1:33).

And thus, the moment arrives: Jesus appears on the river bank, in the midst of the people, the sinners — like all of us. It is his first public act, the first thing he does when he leaves his home in Nazareth, at the age of 30: he goes down into Judea, goes to the Jordan, and is baptized by John. We know what happens. We celebrated it last Sunday: the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father proclaims him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:16-17). It is the sign that John has been waiting for. It is He! Jesus is the Messiah. John is disconcerted, because He manifests himself in an unimaginable way: in the midst of sinners, baptized with them, or rather, for them. But the Spirit enlightens John and helps him understand that in this way God’s justice is fulfilled, his plan of salvation is fulfilled: Jesus is the Messiah, the King of Israel, however, not with the power of this world but as the Lamb of God, who takes upon himself and takes away the sins of the world.

Thus, John points Him out to the people and to his disciples. Because John had a large circle of disciples, who had chosen him as a spiritual guide, and some of them actually become the first disciples of Jesus. We know their names well: Simon, later called Peter, his brother Andrew, James and his brother John. All were fishermen, all Galileans, like Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters, why have we focused so long on this scene? Because it is decisive! It is not an anecdote. It is a decisive historical fact! This scene is decisive for our faith; and it is also decisive for the Church’s mission. The Church, in every time, is called to do what John the Baptist did: point Jesus out to the people, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”. He is the One Saviour! He is the Lord, humble, in the midst of sinners, but it is He, He: there is no other powerful one who comes; no, no it is He!

These are the words that we priests repeat each day, during the Mass, when we present to the people the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. This liturgical gesture represents the whole mission of the Church, which she does not proclaim herself. Woe, woe when the Church proclaims herself; she loses her bearings, she doesn’t know where she is going! The Church proclaims Christ; she does not bring herself, she brings Christ. Because it is He and only He who saves his people from sin, frees them and guides them to land and to true freedom.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lamb of God, help us to believe in Him and follow Him.

[Pope Francis, Angelus January 15, 2017]

No one way

(Jn 1:19-28)

"Behind me" [v.27 Greek text] is the position of the disciple in relation to that taken by the master.

Jesus as a seeker chose the school of John, whose pupil he became, then deviated from it - even snatching away some admirers.

At some point in his journey he realised that our spiritual journey does not rest on easy exclusions: moralistic, one-sided, abstract - established by disinfecting nomenclatures (institutional or expelled).

The Father's heart is beyond divisive and purist expectations, which even the Baptiser considered unquestionable and inculcated in his pupils.

God works only in favour of life: his actions are all positive - humanising, restorative, awareness and integration of personal being - not rejection.

In his school one grows by treasuring oneself, relationships, things as they are and where they are; in an integral way. No one should be stagnant, or in competition with the other.

Non-negotiable principle: God and his children are in the middle, not in front.

No one is called to stand behind and follow: all must express themselves. On a vocational basis, everyone is already perfect!

This is why Jesus will invite his disciples, even those who are a little unhinged, to become fishers of men.

At all times, his intimates are called to breathe, drawing their brethren from whirlpools of death - not to become guides, directors and managers, i.e. 'shepherds'.

No one is destined to be good and dead in some flock, led by the know-it-all. Wealth is not outside us.

The only leader and model is the divine Spirit, who ceaselessly amazes.

Impetuous wind: you do not know where it comes from nor where it goes (Jn 3:8), but it exclusively transmits life - even from forms and events of death.

Being is accentuated and rejoices only when one's resources are discovered, not 'repaired'. And welcomed, valued, brought into play, amplified, exchanged, energised in a relationship of reciprocity.

God is not a sequester, and has multifaceted particular languages; for each of his children, his own unrepeatable path.

The Eternal One dreams for each of us an exceptional, unique, non-homologisable path and missionary fulfilment.

Traditional religions, for example, exorcise negative emotions, imperfection.

They abhor limitation, deny adversity; they are not OK with whatever happens. In fact, they want relationships, evidence, and souls always settled.

Too many forms of devotion preach inner warfare, even overtly.

So too, unfortunately, did John, setting women and men against themselves or their character, and spontaneous movements.

Guises that turn people into outsiders.

Conversely, the Father wants to bring life and blossom; therefore he is not always full of opinions.

The Lord draws wonders that will make a stir, precisely from the dark sides; transformed into sources of new magics.

To the early Christians, the disciples of the Baptist asked for explanations about Christ:

"You who believe Jesus to be the Messiah, do you not remember that it was our teacher who baptised him, joining him to his school? How can the Anointed One make himself a disciple of others, and have to learn something?"

The little children of God, however, had already passed from the pyramidal and apodictic mentality of the religions of the past [where models fall like lightning and instigate tribunals: vv.19-25] to the concrete idea of the Incarnation.

[The true theology of the Incarnation is completed in fieri, and in the meantime should sweep away all mental cages, even in the seemingly scruffy age of global crisis and critical emergency].

Even today, the engagement with history and its new energy are knocking out all clichés, even of belief.

But the anxiety it generates in us is for the birth of a new Life, more able to perceive: attentive and authentic.

Jesus knew everyone's existential penury: needs, ignorance, growth; like every man. And he experienced within himself and understood the natural-supernatural value of exploration.

Rather than having to be 'tweaked', reformed and castrated upstream, the new Rebbe made an even diverse and non-conformist Exodus himself, which enriched him.

He too had to correct his initial path [as a disciple of John (v.27a) along with those who later became the first Apostles] and recast himself: added value, not impurity.

He did everything as we do, without the disease of one-sided doctrinaireism; that is why we truly recognise ourselves in Christ, in his Word, and in his loving story.

And recognise him as the Bridegroom of the soul (v.27b).

It is fully human to proceed by trial and error, adjusting one's aim as one realises - healing one's approach, both to the intuition of the divine, and to the creaturely sense.Thus avoiding becoming neurotic by adaptation, because as one proceeds, each soul treasures the experiences and prepares to offer a personal synthesis.

It is this unitive dignity that engages in Love. We are not called to be strong-armed regardless.

The fake-secure then sow the most bizarre uncertainties, and make the worst trouble, for everyone.

They create environments that look like cemeteries frequented by depersonalised zombies [Pope Francis would say]. And cunning ones who direct.

In his all-too-human Quest, Jesus gradually understood that the Father's own intimate Life is offered as a Gift: a Surprise on our behalf.

Impossible to coin it to the measure of ancient prejudices.

Unlikely - therefore - to set up some kind of manifestation of the Messiah from our preconceptions, or U-shaped ethical conversions, laced with returns, set-ups, events, initiatives.

The Most High continually unsettles us, and by no means traces established opinions, or mannerisms.

Happiness is outside sterile mechanisms that plan the smallest details. It is rather Covenant with the shadow side, which nevertheless belongs to us.

Sacred Covenant that conveys completeness of being: perception-threshold of Joy.

In short, we are immersed in a Mystery of Gratuity and vital amazement that transcends normalised growth, all under conditions.

The Tao Tê Ching (LI) writes: "No one commands the Tao, but it always comes spontaneously". And Master Ho-shang Kung comments: "The Tao not only brings creatures to life, but also makes them grow, nourishes them, completes them, matures them, repairs them, develops them, keeps them whole in life.

The Father brings them to life in the Spirit, without a rigmarole of progressions in stages and steps.

Other people's procedures, which instead of regenerating existence always throw in our faces the suspicion that we are inadequate, bogged down, incapable of perfection, and old.

Cassian and eventually also Thomas Aquinas would perhaps have classified them under the title of 'spiritual vices', as expressions derived from 'fornicatio mentis' [et corporis].

While the Baptist and the whole serious tradition imagined that it was so much to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom, Jesus instead proposed to welcome it: the only possibility of Perfection and fruitful Youth.

We no longer exist as a function of God - as in religions that are always arranging everything - but we live from Him, in astonishment and in an unrepeatable way.

Master Ho-shang Kung again emphasises: 'The Tao makes creatures live, but it does not hold them as its own: what they take is for their benefit'.

It is the end of models for “held back” schoolchildren - neither natural nor intuitive. Paradigms that have subjected civilisations to gruelling trials: they are not ours.

Even now, many hyperbole, and even 'religious' efforts, are not in favour of vocational paths in the first person.

The conformist and pre-packaged [glamorous or vain] paths appear ethereal, or renunciate, puritanical, voluntarist, athletic; as well as imaginative, but all schematic, and disembodied.

They always mount scaffolding far removed from the reality that comes, and from the genuine things of Heaven.

For those of us who are uncertain, inadequate, incapable of miracles - and who dislike cerebral ideologies or the separatism of all-singing, all-dancing heroes - Beautiful is this stubborn reassurance!

Wealth is not outside us.

To internalise and live the message:

Who is the Subject of your spiritual life? Where does he dwell?

(Jn 1:19-28)

The Father’s heart is beyond divisive and purist expectations, which even the Baptizer considered indisputable and inculcated in his pupils.

God works only in favor of life: his actions are all positive - humanizing, recovery - not rejection.

‘Being’ is accentuated and rejoices only when the resources of each are discovered, welcomed, valued; not "repaired".

Traditional religions exorcise negative emotions, imperfection; they abhor the limit. They want relationships, things and souls always settled.

The Father, on the other hand, desires to bring life and blossom; therefore, He’s not always full of opinions.

He draws wonders that will make a sensation, right from the dark sides; transformed into sources of new magic.

Jesus knew the existential scarcity of all us: the needs, the growth; like every man. And he lived in himself and understood the value of exploration.

Instead of getting "tweaked" and reformed, the new Rabbi himself performed a non-conformist Exodus, which enriched him.

He too had to correct the initial path [as a disciple of John (v.27a) along with those who later became first Apostles] and change his mind: added value, not impurity.

He has done everything as we do, without unilateral attitudes; that is why we can truly recognise ourselves in Christ, in his Word, and in his very lovable story.

And recognize him as the Bridegroom of the soul (v.27b).

It’s such uniting dignity that involves in Love. We are not called to be strong regardless.

In his all-human Quest, Jesus has gradually understood that Father’s own Intimate Life is offered as Gift - a Surprise in our favour: impossible to coin it tailored to prejudices [ancient, or following the latest fashion].

The Most High displaces us all the time, and in no way follows established opinions, or mannerisms.

Happiness is out of sterile mechanisms that design the smallest details. It is rather Alliance with the shadow side, which nevertheless belongs to us.

Sacred Covenant that transmits completeness of being: perception-threshold of the Joy.

In short, we are immersed in a Mystery of Gratuity and vital amazement that goes beyond normalized growth, under conditions.

Procedures of others. Cassian and finally also Thomas Aquinas would perhaps have classified them with the title of ‘spiritual vices’, as expressions derived from «fornicatio mentis» [et corporis].

While the Baptist and all the earnest tradition imagined having to ‘prepare’ so much for the coming of the Kingdom, Jesus instead proposed to ‘welcome’ it: the only possibility of Perfection and fruitful Youth.

We no longer exist in function of God - as in religions that always and everything dispose - but we live of Him, with astonishment and in an unrepeatable way.

It is the end of unnatural models - for “held back” schoolchildren.

For us who are uncertain, inadequate, incapable of miracles - How reassuring!

Wealth is not outside of us.

[St. Basil and Gregory, January 2]