(Lk 9:51-62)

Jesus intends to make a scratch against the tide - and to do so he has to fight: it was not enough for him to make a career out of “combing” sheep.

He understands that it is the hairpin bends and crises without stability that produce the Result of God - when the tenacity of Faith comes into play.

The young Rabbi leaves his region to confront severely and uncompromisingly the established reality of the holy city - an eternal web of interests.

It will be a fight to the death, because people's happiness is at stake.

He hardens his face without do-goodisms [v.51 cf. Greek text] and goes, knowing full well what a cruel task he was taking on.

Nobody with a “head on their shoulders” would have had the guts to expose themselves to that deadly danger.

The opposition of the power that wants to be perpetuate itself is fierce, but the Son of God does not let himself be crushed by prudence.

The climate with which his Exodus begins is already heavy, but he doesn’t desist.

The Lord still sends messengers [Angels] «before his face» (v.52). He does not renounce to spread the vital wave of his proposal.

In fact, he valued the 'stable' spiritual relationships of his time as very ambiguous: they ignited inner conflicts - although as today they extinguished outer ones, blunting them (just for a while).

And in Person of Christ, ‘Apostle’ is the one who pulls a situation in the opposite direction to the customary or to the fascinating, disembodied, sophisticated; however external.

By creating the turmoil that solves the real problems, the Master first detaches himself from anyunquism.

Not because the conflict can then been "leaded back", "managed", "adjusted" - with a different winner (vv.54-55).

With an open face, the very squabbles that erupt will serve to dispel the fog, kindle souls, generate different paths (v.56).

So - even suddenly - the possibility of putting together new forces, new resources and “ancient” awareness will be created.

The Father makes use of cross paths, wich intersect and overlap. For a Genesis of Happiness at all costs, even in hard snout.

By letting out our gritty character - not only in extreme cases - the Helmsman of the soul, the irreducible Friend, will be able to guide the everyone’s personal route and journey. Encouraging the achievement of stubborn and liberating goals.

If, on the other hand, history had already been written and the way remained external, the experiences would always be the same.

Life would not give birth to other forms; only reductions.

And forced domestication can rob us of hidden wealth, stealing our personal destiny: this is the real mistake to avoid!

Otherwise, having lost the energy-Person that leads to the destination, Uniqueness would pale into the mediations that hold us hostage.

To internalize and live the message:

What’s the style of your testimony? Are you outraged, short-tempered, and furious, or just determined?

 [Tuesday 26th wk. in O.T.  October 1st, 2023]

Lk 9:51-56 (51-62)

Jesus wants to make a good scratch against the tide - and to do so he has to fight: it was not enough for him to make a career out of "combing" sheep.

He understands that it is the twists and turns and crises without stability that produce the Result of God - when the tenacity of Faith comes into play.

The young Rabbi leaves his region to severely and uncompromisingly confront the established reality of the holy city - an eternal web of interests.

It will be a fight to the death, for what is at stake is the happiness of the people.

He hardens his face without kindness [v.51 cf. Greek text] and goes, knowing full well what a cruel commitment he was taking on.

No one with a 'head on his shoulders' would have had the guts to expose himself to that mortal danger.

The opposition of the religious and cultural power that wants to perpetuate the ancient world is fierce, but the Son of God does not allow himself to be crushed by the dominant and hasty way of conceiving, nor by prudence.

The climate with which he begins his Exodus is already heavy, but he does not desist.

This means that we too must love our edgy and unshakable sides. They will come into play at the appropriate time, when it is necessary to de-cide.

In frankness, we will not lack the opportunity to make serious cuts - e.g. with the 'banking' (or qualunquist) malpractice covered in ostentation; with the good manners of official devotion [organic to perpetuating its ambiguous system], and so on.

The Lord still sends messengers [Angels] "before his face" (v.52). He does not give up spreading the life-wave of his proposal.

Divine Face, here He is partly hostile; more than resolute, for a clash with that institution that degraded humanity.

In fact, he valued the 'stable' spiritual relationships of his time as very ambiguous: they ignited inner conflicts - although (as today) they extinguished the outer ones, blunting them (only for a while).

In the Person of Christ, Apostle is one who pulls the situation in the opposite direction to the customary or fascinated, disembodied, sophisticated; however external.

By creating the disarray that solves the real problems, the Master first and foremost breaks away from qualunquism.

This is not because the conflict can then be 'brought back', 'managed', 'adjusted' - with a different winner (vv.54-55).

God has no need to reassert Himself, not even through a leader who fades the style of the old Temple, replacing one method of government with another - more or less purified and convincing.

Jesus does not present himself to the world and to everyone's heart as a mere Prophet.

He does not want to rabble-rouse the return to worship, nor the practice of the old religion. Neither does he intend to keep a safe distance, launching grand narratives, modernised, futuristic, 'à la page'.

He knows that only with an open face, the very bickering that erupts will serve to dispel the fog: to kindle souls, to generate different paths (v.56).

Then - even suddenly - new forces, new resources, and - why not - even ancient awarenesses will be created.

In short, the soporific mysticism of non-militant sloth (detached from the losing and losing ourselves that regenerates us) is false.

They do not correspond to the Gospels and do not prepare the Coming of the Lord, that is, other territories to be explored.

Those who continue to venerate securities, points of reference or new mannerisms [in themselves though plausible (vv.57-62)] are only managing a world of the dead.

Whoever welcomes Christ must open himself to a Newness that he does not know, internal and external; capable of bringing out aspects that he has not yet given space to.

In passing, Jesus is rejected (v.53) precisely because he is falsely announced by his own. Still breathless intimates.

The new Master has a practical vision that does not reflect any of the archaic cults, but supplants them.

In doing so, he disrupts a whole false identity approach: commemorative and nostalgic, or spineless.

It is the only episode in Luke in which the Samaritans (synonymous with 'heretics') dribble the Son of God. A complete failure.

This is precisely because the 'messengers' he had sent to dispose hearts had preached him as a nationalist and triumphant Messiah, not a servant.

Moreover, there is something radically unusual about Him - something that cannot be discussed or fought against in an ordinary, doctrinal, customary way.

The Master does not go to some 'holy' citadel to sterilise or perpetuate the old sectarian and intolerant ideology. But to reject it.

He incinerates (vv.54-55) and annihilates the acclaimed configurations, not the peoples removed from the precincts (venerable, fundamentalist, or hypocritical and scape-goating only imaginative).

The Lord does not proceed to the great Temple to shrug off hostilities with his own respectable proposal, which would then make everyone swallow everything.

The young Rebbe never liked that kind of elucubration or wait-and-see and regret of pious desires and good intentions that wastes the soul (generation after generation).He who ploughs a field and turns back does not plough a straight furrow (v.62).

Quite decisively, the Master goes out of his way to denounce that world of slavery, deviant and ideological; incapable of development.

Our alternatives to his reckless attitude have brought further disconnection between signs and life.

Let us not be under the illusion of intermediate stages or domiciles, heartfelt and quiet nests (v.58) of pale consolation.

Faith challenges courage, even to the point of violence towards one's own spontaneous letting go of annoyances and big things, which would torment social irenicism [of the fixed place] with inconveniences and counter appeals.

Annoyances that surprise and guide life Elsewhere.

Urges for the Exodus; a new beginning filled with Desire; a different inner knowing that ignites the outer; a tolerance in the vital diversity of characters.

Instead of the tickle of béchamel, cream-filled husbands, soft candies and sugar-and-honey confectionery, all pleasant, God acts through convulsions.

The Father uses transverse, intersecting and overlapping ways. For a Genesis of Happiness at all costs, even with a hard face.

By letting our gritty nature come out - not only in extreme cases - the Helmsman of the soul, the die-hard Friend, can steer the personal course and the journey of all.

Favouring the achievement of stubborn and liberating goals.

No matter how much one may be conditioned by surrounding expectations, sooner or later one realises that one's heart beats elsewhere than in convention.

It no longer wants to submit; it begins to deviate from the transmitted idea of integrity or social (and ecclesial) cynicism - which rhymes with local respectability.

This also happens to priests, for example, when they realise they have entered a gear that sacralises habits and does not make them grow. Or when they feel they have become the pivot of ephemeral, and anxiogenic, instead of liberating practices.

A stagnant employee instead of a shepherd, an opportune and silent situationist instead of a missionary; the coryphaeus of an inherited situation with the task of keeping the bell tower happy...

In the provinces, also placed in the trenches, but only to act as a filter - to protect 'central' nuisances and affairs, as opposed to peripheral needs or pressures.

He then realises that he is losing himself, his identity of character - the reason why he is in the world.

In spite of material security, he feels anguish and frustration coming on in his conscience (crisis of 'character' in the way: an unmistakable sign that this is not the way).

Tedium or aversion comes to his heart so that he resets the same malaise, and relies on a solidity quite different from inheritance; from the stalemate and rhetoric of the forces in the field.

There is a different way to feel close to people, like Jesus: to be oneself, so that others may also be; setting everyone on paths of inner freedom.

Freedom that sustains the particular essence, making a dam against the established ways, and the pressing reality - only to be confirmed, indeed blessed (at best, repackaged).

Communion here will be a conviviality of differences, made authentic by innate forces.

It is the space granted to the Mystery that makes us independent and fraternal - because we now derive our attraction from the common, hidden but abundant Source.

And what happens moves us, but no longer oppresses or destroys the living Vision before each one's eyes.

The bride-soul's obedience is not lacking, but it becomes an immediate relationship with the Lord who calls and guides to full life. Helping to recognise what instinctively corresponds, and distinguishing what is not important and should be dropped.

The inner gaze and Christ within will sustain, so that we become autonomous and develop a new heaven - whose features we have perceived from the beginning. They that have led us not to act to preserve the old world.

Our innate Echo will constitute such a call that it will assume decisive power over calculations, fears, anxieties, bitterness, persecutions.

The result will be happily educational, even in favour of the adversaries, who will at least begin to presume the meaning of our going out into the world.

With open hands - not full.

"Woe to you, sheep combers" - would say the Pontiff, who gladly added to some of those in charge: "Be fathers, not masters, nor princes". And not even 'administrators of cordatas'!

Calculation and common sense would lead towards the safest and most tested direction, but the vocational fire within unceasingly can recover the instances of the Ideal Core. 

Too much disorder? As Pope Francis reiterated: "for the Spirit, disorder is a beautiful sign.

The torn soul, which no longer recognises itself, if it is too mortified by accommodating banalities and half-choices, then attacks us. And it itself exacerbates suffering.The resulting imbalance is an indication of the unconscious re-emergence of the desire to recover the authentic Calling; as opposed to programmed quietism.

We may have allowed ourselves to be dragged into such a swamp of summateness out of convenience - and the latter has displaced us from ourselves, as well as from the wonder of our personal Work.

Resemblance to forms and customs - even of agreed trivial improvement - becomes the prison of the Creator's design. He wanted to lead us to Him, into ourselves.

Conversely, the role has domesticated us according to matrices to be absorbed uncritically, to the point of making our essence sick.

The dismay then is an alarm: we have entered the 'role'. The heartbeat provokes us; the breathlessness comes to revive us; the panic attacks so that we awaken.

The soul thus wants to realise our dormant and stifled Dream. A desire that would change our lives.

It demands in us that we unhinge the locked doors of 'task' - which precludes the only Happiness: to feel established in one's Centre.

Every scheme (whether acquired or fashionable) annoys the worlds to be discovered, deforms the image of our destination; it violates the journey towards the dwelling that is ours, in order to make it 'equal', hence fictitious.

So an unbalanced, introverted, irascible and fearful character meets perhaps better than others the dreams he did not know, the guide-images that hide a task elsewhere configured, and the best of himself, of Mystery itself.

Repairing, 'setting things right' and 'optimising' are the typical clichés of a stagnant world. So is not confronting; repairing and balancing.

Instead, one must be reborn, not go back to the way it was before, in the common resilience.

The focus must be on the energy that gives birth to us again, on the unknown road that opens up and we had not thought of.

No one spoils us, even if they intended to.

Rather, we are urged to bring out the hidden resources, uncovering the still hidden world.

Opening up an entirely singular story that will change habitual existence.

A quiet mind does not project further, because it loves repetition and the fake securities of yesteryear.

The non-dual mind does not let us discover inner forces. The soul, on the other hand, wants to give birth, to express its creative power.

Unforeseen situations and unforeseen relationships lay it under siege, but in a state of gestation - not first 'marked'.

Those who do not leave the road already beaten, those who do not put it behind them (even seizing the opportunity of adverse conditions such as the global crisis) are forced into a cause-effect chain that does not make exponential leaps.

If history has already been written and the path remains external, the experiences are always the same.

Life does not give birth to other forms; only reductions.

To internalise and live the message:

What is the style of your testimony?

Are you indignant, irascible and furious, or simply assertive?

The Bible readings [...] invite us to meditate on a fascinating theme which can be summed up like this: "freedom and following Christ". The Evangelist Luke tells us that "as the time approached when he was to be taken from this world", Jesus "firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem" (Lk 9: 51). In the phrase "firmly resolved", we can glimpse Christ's freedom.

Indeed, he knows that in Jerusalem, death on a cross awaits him, but in obedience to the Father's will, he offers himself for love. It is in his very obedience to the Father that Jesus achieves his own freedom as a conscious decision motivated by love.

Who is freer than the One who is the Almighty? He did not, however, live his freedom as an arbitrary power or as domination. He lived it as a service. In this way he "filled" freedom with content, which would otherwise have remained an "empty" possibility of doing or not doing something.

Like human life itself, freedom draws its meaning from love. Indeed, who is the freest? Someone who selfishly keeps all possibilities open for fear of losing them, or someone who expends himself "firmly resolved" to serve and thereby finds himself full of life because of the love he has given and received?

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians of Galatia, today in Turkey, said: "You were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another" (Gal 5: 13).

Living according to the flesh means following the selfish tendencies of human nature. Living according to the Spirit, on the other hand, means allowing oneself to be guided in intentions and works by God's love which Christ has given to us. Therefore, Christian freedom is quite the opposite of arbitrariness; it consists in following Christ in the gift of self even to the sacrifice of the Cross.

It may seem a paradox, but the Lord lived the crowning point of his freedom on the Cross as a summit of love. When they shouted at him on Calvary: "If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross!", he showed his freedom as the Son precisely by remaining on that scaffold, to do the Father's merciful will to the very end.

Other witnesses to the truth have shared this experience, men and women who showed that they remained free even in a prison cell and under the threat of torture. "The truth will set you free". Those who side with the truth will never be slaves of any power but will always make themselves freely servants of their brothers and sisters.

Let us look at Mary Most Holy. A humble Handmaid of the Lord, the Virgin is the model of a spiritual person who is totally free because she is immaculate, immune to sin and all holy, dedicated to the service of God and neighbour. May she help us with her motherly care to follow Jesus, to know the truth and to live freedom in love.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 1 July 2007]

Christian revelation excludes reincarnation, and speaks of a fulfilment which man is called to achieve in the course of a single earthly existence. Man achieves this fulfilment of his destiny through the sincere gift of self, a gift which is made possible only through his encounter with God. It is in God that man finds full self-realization: this is the truth revealed by Christ. Man fulfils himself in God, who comes to meet him through his Eternal Son. Thanks to God's coming on earth, human time, which began at Creation, has reached its fullness. "The fullness of time" is in fact eternity, indeed, it is the One who is eternal, God himself. Thus, to enter into "the fullness of time" means to reach the end of time and to transcend its limits, in order to find time's fulfilment in the eternity of God.

[Pope John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente n.9]

5. We shall conclude this catechesis by turning once again to the figure of Jesus Christ, High Priest, Good Shepherd and supreme exemplar of priests. He is the model of the spoliation of earthly goods for the priest who wants to conform to the requirement of evangelical poverty. For Jesus was born and lived in poverty. St Paul admonished: 'From being rich that he was, he became poor for your sake' (2 Cor 8:9). Jesus himself, to one who wanted to follow him, said of himself: "Foxes have their dens and birds of the air their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Lk 9:57). These words manifest a complete detachment from all earthly comforts. It should not be concluded, however, that Jesus lived in misery. Other passages in the Gospels report that he received and accepted invitations to the homes of rich people (cf. Mt 9:10-11; Mk 2:15-16; Lk 5:29; 7:36; 19:5-6), had female co-workers to support him in his financial needs (Lk 8:2-3; cf. Mt 27:55; Mk 15:40; Lk 23:55-56) and was able to give alms to the poor (cf. Jn 13:29). There is no doubt, however, about the life and spirit of poverty that characterised Him.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 21 July 1993]

In today’s Gospel passage (cf. Lk 9:51-62), Saint Luke begins the narrative of Jesus’ last journey towards Jerusalem, which ends at Chapter 19. It is a long journey, not only geographically and spatially, but also spiritually and theologically, towards the fulfilment of the Messiah’s mission. Jesus’ decision is radical and total, and those who follow him are called to measure up to it. Today the Evangelist presents us three characters — three cases of vocation, we could say — that shed light on what is required of those who wish to follow Jesus to the end, completely.

The first character promises him: “I will follow you wherever you go” (v. 57). Generous! But Jesus replies that the Son of man, unlike foxes that have holes, and birds that have nests, “has nowhere to lay his head” (v. 58). The absolute poverty of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus left his paternal home and gave up all security in order to proclaim the Kingdom of God to the lost sheep of his people. In this way Jesus pointed out to us, his disciples, that our mission in the world cannot be static, but is itinerant. The Christian is itinerant. The Church by her very nature is in motion; she does not stay sedentary and calm within her enclosure. She is open to the broadest horizons, sent forth — the Church is sent forth — to bring the Gospel through the streets and to reach the human and existential peripheries. This is the first character.

The second character Jesus meets receives the call directly from him, but replies: “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (v. 59). It is a legitimate request based on the commandment to honour your father and mother (cf. Ex 20:12). Nevertheless, Jesus responds: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Lk 9:60). With these deliberately provocative words, he intends to emphasize the primacy of following and of proclaiming the Kingdom of God, even over and above the most important realities, such as the family. The urgency of communicating the Gospel, which breaks the chains of death and ushers in eternal life, does not permit delays but requires promptness and complete willingness. Thus, the Church is itinerant, and here the Church is decisive, acts quickly, on the spot, without waiting.

The third character also wants to follow Jesus but on one condition: he will do so after bidding farewell to his relatives. And this is the response he receives from the Teacher: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Following Jesus excludes regrets and backward glances but requires the virtue of decision.

In order to follow Jesus, the Church is itinerant, acts promptly, quickly and decisively. The value of these conditions set by Jesus — itnerancy, promptness and decision — does not lie in a series of saying ‘no’ to the good and important things in life. Rather, the emphasis is placed on the main objective: to become a disciple of Christ! A free and conscious choice, made out of love, to reciprocate the invaluable grace of God, and not made as a way to promote oneself. This is sad! Woe to those who think about following Jesus for their own advantage, that is, to further their career, to feel important or to acquire a position of prestige. Jesus wants us to be passionate about him and about the Gospel. A heartfelt passion which translates into concrete gestures of proximity, of closeness to the brothers and sisters most in need of welcome and care. Precisely as he himself lived.

May the Virgin Mary, icon of the pilgrim Church, help us to joyfully follow the Lord Jesus and, with renewed love, to proclaim the Good News of Salvation to brothers and sisters.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 30 June 2019]

Initiates, circles, prejudices, or different paths

(Lk 9:46-50)

Redemption presents two essential aspects: the Gift of the Call and the aptitude to accept the Proposal.

From wave to wave this realizes a new Creation of the person, of fraternity, of the Church, and of the world.

Thus Faith: a relationship of welcome and incisiveness, wich reverberates; always young. Such is spiritual childhood.

It’s for this reason that Greek text speaks of workshop boy, the servant of the house [«paidìon»: vv.47-48] as a model of disciple close to the Lord - ready to shoot in front of every life request. 

Greatness in smallness.

But in this passage Lk joins that of the servant, with an idea of "first period" typical of those who present themselves at the threshold of communities: «mikròi» [v.48: incipients and shakies].

Often those who have less energy.

However, instead of an unconditional welcome, the latter feel the mistrust of veterans, who disdain dialogue and confrontation; always beware of novelties - and the danger of to be "overshadowed".

The unprecedented life that could arise is immediately suffocated or encapsulated by self-styled experts (v.49), neglecting and dampening the renewed God’s Gift to the assembly.

In short, the Community must return to its immediate and spontaneous Principle, without making the arrangements chronic.

The «following together with us» [instead of following Him personally, v.49] is contrasted with the simple richness of spiritual childhood and service, in the wider coexistence and sharing.

We also know in ourselves the cravings for domination; but those who become «minimum», «servant», «voiceless», leave ample room for the strength and tolerant - transmuting - work of life.

The New radiates the unforeseeable divine and human. And the boldness of modesty that listens and has respect for one’s own soul and brother as a gift-proposal, can make everyone find again, from within.

Pure freshness that evokes the joy of Grace; that keeps a clear eye on everything - even on the wiles of others, because they too can make us take different directions.

The place of honor is so coveted, but those who remain unpretentious can be much better available to an unparalleled condition, and to fraternity that respects the vocation of each one.

In this way, let us avoid punctuating the present in Christ with the models (vv.49-50) because in following the Lord not everyone walks in the same mode.

The Coming tide wants to drag us on the territory of growth without mortification: inside, there exists and it’s eloquent a secret time and space, that inhabit us.

They resonate in harmony with the Gospels. There is no need to "get back in step" of all time always, nor just find a way out.

Let’s surrender to the young and creative instinct. It would be the journey of Joy: in the new reality and eminent Beauty, from discomfort.

To internalize and live the message:

What nourishes your desire for God, for youth, for brothers and sisters?

[Monday 26th wk. in O.T.  September 30, 2024]

Initiates, circles, prejudices, and different paths - from "emptiness"

(Lk 9:46-50)

According to the Tao Tê Ching (LXXXI) "The saint does not accumulate; the more he has done for others, the more he possesses; the more he has given to others, the more he abounds".

Redemption has two essential aspects: the Gift of the Call and the ability to accept the Proposal.

It brings about a new Creation of the person, of the fraternity, of the Church, and of the world.

Such is Faith: a relationship of acceptance and incisiveness that reverberates, always young. Such is spiritual infancy.

This is why the Greek text speaks of the shop boy, the house servant ["paidìon": vv.47-48] as a model of the disciple close to the Lord - ready to spring up in the face of every request for life.

Greatness in smallness.

But in this passage Lk also connects to that of the servant an idea of "first period" typical of those who present themselves at the threshold of the communities: "mikròi" [v.48: incipient and unsteady]. Often those with the least energy.

However, instead of an unconditional welcome, they feel the distrust of the veterans, who disdain dialogue and confrontation; always wary of new things - and the danger of being 'overshadowed'.

The unprecedented life that might arise is immediately stifled or pigeonholed by self-styled experts (v.49), neglecting and dampening the renewed Gift of God to the assembly.

In short, the Community must return to its immediate and spontaneous Principle: fraternal and universal love - re-actualised by the knocking at the door of the churches of the unimportant in society.

But we often go as if to war, because the top of the class only demand to be served and revered - by the new ones and those destined to efforts, obligations... and formulation of impersonal intentions.

So much for total acceptance: the little one is considered a usurper of private property - he who would indeed make the actors of holiness finally become 'great', resembling the Father.

On the other hand, those in charge on the ground continue to dry up things and situations, and stiffen everyone within immobile forms.

Even the missionary activity of outsiders to the official group is denigrated, suffers derision, and encounters contrived obstacles that attempt to chronicle the arrangements.

Thus evangelisation is weighed down: not service to the Lord and brothers, but territory of conquest to feel protagonists - and the many competitors seem dangerous... to self-assertion.

Such riches of 'following along with us' (v.49) instead of personally following Him, are contrasted with the simple riches of spiritual childhood and service in broader coexistence and sharing.

We also know in ourselves the delusions of dominance that transcend humility, the anxieties of memorable feats and important deeds that we deem more meaningful than understanding and fluency.

But those who make themselves 'minimal' leave ample space for the tolerant and transmuting power and work of life.

He perceives the inner self and takes note of new things, to truly exist and not feel orphaned - indeed, to shatter situations and bring attention to other dimensions.

The audacity of modesty that listens and has respect for one's own soul and for one's brother as a gift and a proposal, can make one rediscover within each the 'servant' and the 'voiceless' waiting to be called back to life.

Pure freshness that evokes the joy of Grace; that keeps a clear eye on everything, even on the decision-making wiles of others, because they too can take us in different directions.

The place of honour is much coveted, but those who remain unassuming can much better be themselves and make themselves available to a condition of the other kingdom - to the fraternity that respects the incomparable vocation of each one.

We must not dot the present in Christ with models, for in following the Lord not everyone walks in the same way. And the new radiates the unpredictable.

Simplicity and upheaval: Rebirth without mortification

It is not a matter of finding excuses to justify laziness in the spiritual quest and exodus: small, spontaneous and natural - but rich inside - one becomes, lowering oneself from one's character.

It is the art of making life dense and complex, multifaceted and vast, then simplifying, without dispersing.

Often all it takes is to observe in a singular and personal way, or to rest one's gaze in a different place, to find a thousand unexpected and self-regenerating outlets.

Indeed, the solution to the complications that stifle the soul and the experience of the fullness of being we seek is inherent in our own questioning.

Not infrequently, it belongs to preconceptions rather than reality or the tide that comes, which wants to drag us into the territory of growth - simply, with its own rhythm.

We are obnubilated by thoughts. But there is an innate knowledge that watches over our uniqueness and does not intoxicate the soul.It exists and is eloquent within, a secret time and space that inhabits us: they resonate in tune with the Gospels.

There is no need to 'catch up' with the past, or just find a way out.

If we surrender to such a young and creative instinct, wiser, comforted by the Word, the Core of Being will come forth with its primordial energies.

Virtues that recreate the earth like the mythical Child of the World: a little Jesus - inside and outside of us.

Thus we annihilate even the disaster of the global crisis, and rise again: each in his own way (which is not 'his' in the sense of arbitrariness).

And when we are able to accept the events as a Call to come out of our cages so that we perceive the Elsewhere, we will find an intimate result.

The thorn in the side will unravel and relaunch the special path; it will accentuate the possibilities of exchanging unseen gifts, not stereotypes - without even experiencing fatigue, and the subtle dissatisfactions we know.

Projected totally into external problems, we overload our mind and spirit with expectations induced by cultural paradigms in vogue [whether antiquated or disembodied] or to which we are accustomed.

Thus existence quickly becomes conformist again, stagnant in the usual means and goals, devoid of new peaks or authentic relationships and unimagined vitality.

The diktat of the objective induced by the roles we imagined acquired exhausts us, and the instituted idea of perfection sterilises the humus - it impoverishes within.

The reductionism in place puts actual needs in brackets.

The one-sidedness then lets ways of being prevail, the roles already expressed; it withers relationships, making environments (all impermeable and established) murky again.

Fixed ideas condition life and do not allow the inner organism - psychic and spiritual - to feed on transparent, unprejudiced truths; and sincere feelings, which would give us breath.

Freeing ourselves from the usual ways of going about things, from apodictic judgments and convictions, would conversely allow us to break the chains that hold back the luminous and rainbow faculties.

As well as the ability to correspond to the unheard-of Personal Calling, opening up other views.

The 'emptiness' advocated by the Tao only resembles in earshot the 'emptiness' of other, decidedly more depersonalising Eastern wisdom.

The Oriental teaching of the Way does not lose the sense of importance and exceptionality of the individual seed.

On the contrary, it fully respects its propulsive vocation. Remaining ourselves, not only in spite of - but because of - the obligatory abyss we have crossed.

By minimising the intentions of revisiting the old maquillage - and all non-epochal convictions, which do not call us, nor would we like to - we clear our souls of ballast.

In this way we will bring out its exceptional specific weight and unrepeatable character, in order to lighten it and fill it only with what is needed to activate the new paths that await us.

The slowing down and letting go that Lao Tse advocates does not lead to the insignificant flattening of differences, but to dilating the sacred and natural times of wise action, and appreciating its value.

Stages and goals that do not correspond to us will not bring fulfilment.

Indeed, artifices force us to amplify relationships - but only to cover up the problem with ourselves, or even with a couple, a group, a movement, a community, a work environment.

While we wish to clothe [and not depose] with a sense of permanence the character of before - a cliché that does not correspond to us - we go round in circles. We burden ourselves with outsized expectations, with useless stress that makes no room for love [friendship with which one encounters oneself, things, sisters and brothers, the many events].

Natural Wisdom, even bitter events, and the Bible, remind us that the face... each path, the name, and the rhythm, are ours alone.

So too is the synthesis: each one is called upon to write his own eccentric glad tidings for the benefit of the woman and man of all times (Jn 20:30-31).

Please note: Fraternity is not levelling:

"But there are many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written down one by one, I think that not even the world itself could contain the books that should be written" (Jn 21:25).

That would be the journey of Joy: into the new reality and eminent Beauty, out of discomfort.

To internalise and live the message:

What fuels your desire for God and brethren?

God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby – defenceless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him. The Fathers of the Church, in their Greek translation of the Old Testament, found a passage from the prophet Isaiah that Paul also quotes in order to show how God’s new ways had already been foretold in the Old Testament. There we read: "God made his Word short, he abbreviated it" (Is 10:23; Rom 9:28). The Fathers interpreted this in two ways. The Son himself is the Word, the Logos; the eternal Word became small – small enough to fit into a manger. He became a child, so that the Word could be grasped by us. In this way God teaches us to love the little ones. In this way he teaches us to love the weak. In this way he teaches us respect for children. The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze towards all children who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn. Towards children who are placed as soldiers in a violent world; towards children who have to beg; towards children who suffer deprivation and hunger; towards children who are unloved. In all of these it is the Child of Bethlehem who is crying out to us; it is the God who has become small who appeals to us. Let us pray this night that the brightness of God’s love may enfold all these children. Let us ask God to help us do our part so that the dignity of children may be respected. May they all experience the light of l ove, which mankind needs so much more than the material necessities of life.

[Pope Benedict, Christmas homily 24 December 2006]

1. The difficulties that sometimes accompany the development of evangelisation highlight a delicate problem whose solution should not be sought in purely historical or sociological terms: the problem of the salvation of those who do not visibly belong to the Church. We are not given the opportunity to scrutinise the mystery of divine action in minds and hearts, to assess the power of Christ's grace in taking possession, in life and in death, of those whom 'the Father has given Him', and whom He Himself has proclaimed that He does not want to 'lose'. We hear this repeated in one of the Gospel readings proposed for the Mass of the Dead (cf. Jn 6:39-40).

But, as I wrote in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, one cannot limit the gift of salvation "to those who explicitly believe in God and have entered the Church. If salvation is destined for all, it must be made concretely available to all'. And, admitting that it is concretely impossible for so many people to access the Christian message, I added: "Many people do not have the possibility of knowing or accepting the revelation of the Gospel to enter the Church. They live in socio-cultural conditions that do not allow it, and they have often been educated in other religious traditions" (Redemptoris Missio, 10).

We must recognise that to the extent that it is within the human capacity for foresight and knowledge, this practical impossibility would seem destined to last much longer, perhaps even until the final completion of the work of evangelisation. Jesus himself admonished that only the Father knows "the times and moments" fixed by him for the establishment of his Kingdom in the world (cf. Acts 1:7).

2. What I have said above, however, does not justify the relativistic position of those who believe that a way to salvation can be found in any religion, even independently of faith in Christ the Redeemer, and that inter-religious dialogue should be based on this ambiguous conception. This is not the Gospel-compliant solution to the problem of salvation for those who do not profess the Christian creed. Instead, we must maintain that the road to salvation always passes through Christ, and that therefore it is up to the Church and its missionaries to make him known and loved in every time, in every place and in every culture. Outside of Christ 'there is no salvation'. As Peter proclaimed before the Sanhedrin from the very beginning of the apostolic preaching: "There is no other name under heaven given to men in which it is appointed that we should be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Even for those who through no fault of their own do not know Christ and do not recognise themselves as Christians, the divine plan has provided a way of salvation. As we read in the conciliar Decree on missionary activity Ad Gentes, we believe that "God, through the ways he alone knows, can bring men who through no fault of their own ignore the Gospel" to the faith necessary for salvation (Ad Gentes, 7). Of course, the condition 'without their guilt' cannot be verified or appreciated by human evaluation, but must be left solely to divine judgement. This is why in the Constitution Gaudium et Spes the Council declares that in the heart of every man of good will "grace works invisibly", and that "the Holy Spirit gives everyone the possibility of coming into contact, in the way God knows, with the Paschal Mystery" (Gaudium et Spes, 22).

3. It is important to emphasise that the way of salvation taken by those who ignore the Gospel is not a way outside Christ and the Church. The universal salvific will is linked to the unique mediation of Christ. This is stated in the First Letter to Timothy: "God our Saviour, who wills that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For one is God, and one is the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2: 3-6). Peter proclaims this when he says that "in no one else is there salvation", and calls Jesus the "head of the corner" (Acts 4:11-12), emphasising the necessary role of Christ as the foundation of the Church.

This affirmation of the "uniqueness" of the Saviour draws its origin from the very words of the Lord, who states that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45), i.e. for mankind, as St Paul explains when he writes: "One died for all" (2 Cor 5:14 cf. Rom 5:18). Christ obtained universal salvation by the gift of his own life: no other mediator was established by God as Saviour. The unique value of the sacrifice of the Cross must always be recognised in the destiny of every man.

4. And since Christ works salvation through his mystical Body, which is the Church, the way to salvation is essentially linked to the Church. The axiom extra Ecclesiam nulla salus - "outside the Church there is no salvation" -, enunciated by St Cyprian (Epist 73,21: PL 1123 AB), belongs to the Christian tradition and was included in the Lateran Council IV (Denz.-S. 802), in the bull Unam Sanctam of Boniface VIII (Denz.-S. 870) and in the Council of Florence (Decretum pro Jacobitis, Denz.-S. 1351).

The axiom means that for those who are unaware that the Church was founded by God through Jesus Christ as necessary there is an obligation to enter and persevere in it in order to obtain salvation (cf. Lumen Gentium, 14). On the other hand, for those who have not received the proclamation of the Gospel, as I wrote in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, salvation is accessible through mysterious ways insofar as divine grace is bestowed upon them by virtue of Christ's redeeming sacrifice, without external adherence to the Church but always, nevertheless, in relationship with it (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 10). It is a "mysterious relationship": mysterious for those who receive it, because they do not know the Church and indeed sometimes externally reject it; mysterious also in itself because it is linked to the salvific mystery of grace, which entails an essential reference to the Church founded by the Saviour.

Salvific grace, in order to operate, requires an adhesion, a cooperation, a yes to the divine donation: and this adhesion is, at least implicitly, oriented towards Christ and the Church. Therefore one can also say sine Ecclesia nulla salus - "without the Church there is no salvation" -: adhesion to the Church - Mystical Body of Christ, however implicit it may be, is indeed mysterious, and constitutes an essential condition for salvation.

5. Religions can exert a positive influence on the destiny of those who belong to them and follow their instructions with sincerity of spirit. But if the decisive action for salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit, we must bear in mind that man only receives his salvation from Christ, through the Holy Spirit. It begins already in the earthly life, which grace, accepted and reciprocated, makes fruitful, in the evangelical sense, for earth and heaven.

Hence the importance of the indispensable role of the Church, which "is not an end in itself but fervently strives to be all of Christ, in Christ and for Christ, and all of men, among men and for men". A role that is therefore not "ecclesiocentric" as has sometimes been said: the Church does not exist or work for itself, but is at the service of a humanity called to divine filiation in Christ (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 19). It therefore also exercises an implicit mediation towards those who are ignorant of the Gospel.

However, this should not lead to the conclusion that its missionary activity is less necessary in such circumstances. Quite the contrary. In fact, those who ignore Christ, through no fault of their own, find themselves in a condition of darkness and spiritual famine with negative repercussions often also on a cultural and moral level. The Church's missionary action can provide them with the conditions for the full development of Christ's saving grace, by proposing full and conscious adherence to the message of faith and active participation in Church life in the sacraments.

This is the theological line taken from Christian tradition. The Magisterium of the Church has followed it in doctrine and practice as the path marked out by Christ himself for the Apostles and missionaries of all times.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 31 May 1995]