Jul 7, 2025 Written by 

Gospel of Meekness... and Conversion

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

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

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

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

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

98 Last modified on Monday, 07 July 2025 04:07
don Giuseppe Nespeca

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

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We see this great figure, this force in the Passion, in resistance to the powerful. We wonder: what gave birth to this life, to this interiority so strong, so upright, so consistent, spent so totally for God in preparing the way for Jesus? The answer is simple: it was born from the relationship with God (Pope Benedict)
Noi vediamo questa grande figura, questa forza nella passione, nella resistenza contro i potenti. Domandiamo: da dove nasce questa vita, questa interiorità così forte, così retta, così coerente, spesa in modo così totale per Dio e preparare la strada a Gesù? La risposta è semplice: dal rapporto con Dio (Papa Benedetto)
These words are full of the disarming power of truth that pulls down the wall of hypocrisy and opens consciences [Pope Benedict]
Queste parole sono piene della forza disarmante della verità, che abbatte il muro dell’ipocrisia e apre le coscienze [Papa Benedetto]
While the various currents of human thought both in the past and at the present have tended and still tend to separate theocentrism and anthropocentrism, and even to set them in opposition to each other, the Church, following Christ, seeks to link them up in human history, in a deep and organic way [Dives in Misericordia n.1]
Mentre le varie correnti del pensiero umano nel passato e nel presente sono state e continuano ad essere propense a dividere e perfino a contrapporre il teocentrismo e l'antropocentrismo, la Chiesa invece, seguendo il Cristo, cerca di congiungerli nella storia dell'uomo in maniera organica e profonda [Dives in Misericordia n.1]
Jesus, however, reverses the question — which stresses quantity, that is: “are they few?...” — and instead places the question in the context of responsibility, inviting us to make good use of the present (Pope Francis)
Gesù però capovolge la domanda – che punta più sulla quantità, cioè “sono pochi?...” – e invece colloca la risposta sul piano della responsabilità, invitandoci a usare bene il tempo presente (Papa Francesco)
The Lord Jesus presented himself to the world as a servant, completely stripping himself and lowering himself to give on the Cross the most eloquent lesson of humility and love (Pope Benedict)
Il Signore Gesù si è presentato al mondo come servo, spogliando totalmente se stesso e abbassandosi fino a dare sulla croce la più eloquente lezione di umiltà e di amore (Papa Benedetto)
More than 600 precepts are mentioned in the Law of Moses. How should the great commandment be distinguished among these? (Pope Francis)
Nella Legge di Mosè sono menzionati oltre seicento precetti. Come distinguere, tra tutti questi, il grande comandamento? (Papa Francesco)
The invitation has three characteristics: freely offered, breadth and universality. Many people were invited, but something surprising happened: none of the intended guests came to take part in the feast, saying they had other things to do; indeed, some were even indifferent, impertinent, even annoyed (Pope Francis)
L’invito ha tre caratteristiche: la gratuità, la larghezza, l’universalità. Gli invitati sono tanti, ma avviene qualcosa di sorprendente: nessuno dei prescelti accetta di prendere parte alla festa, dicono che hanno altro da fare; anzi alcuni mostrano indifferenza, estraneità, perfino fastidio (Papa Francesco)
Those who are considered the "last", if they accept, become the "first", whereas the "first" can risk becoming the "last" (Pope Benedict)
Proprio quelli che sono considerati "ultimi", se lo accettano, diventano "primi", mentre i "primi" possono rischiare di finire "ultimi" (Papa Benedetto)

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