5th Sunday in Lent (year C) [6 April 2025]

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us. Tomorrow, Wednesday 2 April, will be the 20th anniversary of the death of St John Paul II. We remember him in prayer, invoking his protection and intercession.

*First Reading From the book of the prophet Isaiah (43:16-21)

At first glance, this text consists of two mutually contradictory parts: the first is a reference to the past, to leaving Egypt, while in the second, the prophet exhorts us to leave the past behind. But which past is it? Let us try to better understand by examining these two parts one after the other. The incipit is as always solemn: "Thus says the Lord" to introduce words of great importance which are immediately followed by the reference to the famous passage in the sea, the miracle of the Sea of Rushes during the Hebrews' flight from Egypt: "The Lord opened a way in the sea and a path in the midst of mighty waters". The reference to the memorable night of the deliverance from Egypt narrated in chapter 14 of the book of Exodus always returns. In the first reading, Isaiah offers further details: "the Lord brought forth chariots and horses, army and heroes at once, and they all lay dead and never rose again, they went out like a lamp. God saved his people by destroying the Egyptians and it is interesting to note that Isaiah uses the name 'Lord' (the Tetragrammaton YHVH), a name that qualifies the God of Sinai as the deliverer of his people. Here is God's work in the past that constitutes the source of hope for Israel's future, and Isaiah points out: 'Behold, I do a new thing'. To understand what this is all about and to whom the prophet foretells a new world, we need to go back to the historical context. The deuteroIsaiah, whom we are reading here, lived in the 6th century BC, during the exile in Babylon (from 587 to 538 BC), a period marked by a terrible trial: deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who had defeated the small kingdom of Judah of which Jerusalem was the capital, the Jews hoped one day to escape from Babylon, but there were serious difficulties because they had to cross the Syrian desert, hundreds of kilometres long and in terrible conditions for fugitives. The prophet therefore has the difficult task of restoring courage to his contemporaries: he does so in this book called the Book of the Consolation of Israel, because chapter 40 begins: 'Console, console my people, says your God'. And when he says: 'your God' he recalls the Covenant that was never broken because God did not abandon them. In fact, one of the formulas of the Covenant was: 'You shall be my people and I will be your God' and whenever the expression my God or your God is echoed, the possessive is an encouraging reminder of the Covenant and, at the same time, a profession of faith. Isaiah intends to keep the exiles' hope alive by reminding them that God has not only not abandoned them, on the contrary, he is already preparing their return to their homeland. Nothing can be seen yet, but it will happen and why is it certain? Because God is faithful to his Covenant and since he chose this people he has never ceased to deliver them and keep them alive, through all the vicissitudes of their history. He has freed them from Pharaoh; he has protected them all along the way; he made them pass through the sea dry when they came out of Egypt.Israel's hope thus rests on its past: this is the meaning of the word 'memorial', constant remembrance of God's work that continues today, and from this we derive the certainty that it will continue into the future. Past, present, future: God is always present alongside his people. This is one of the meanings of God's name: 'I am', that is, I am with you in all circumstances. And precisely during the difficult period of exile, when there was the risk of giving in to despair, Isaiah develops a new metaphor, that of the sprout: "Behold, I am doing a new thing: right now I am sprouting, do you not notice?" Starting from the extraordinary experience of a tiny seed capable of becoming a great tree, it is easy to understand how the word "sprout" has become in Israel and today for us a symbol of hope, and it is important to learn to recognise the sprouts of the new world, the Kingdom that God is building.

*Responsorial Psalm [125 (126)]

 This psalm echoes the first reading, where the prophet Isaiah announces the return of the people exiled in Babylon and sings of this miracle just as the Jews had sung of the prodigy of the exit from Egypt. These are the events: in 587 BC. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had conquered Jerusalem and deported the population, but, in turn, was defeated by Cyrus, king of Persia well known for his successes. Nebuchadnezzar's troops pillaged, plundered, raped, massacred and devastated, systematically deporting the population. Cyrus, on the other hand, adopted a completely different policy: he preferred to rule over prosperous peoples and allowed all deported populations to return to their homelands by providing the means to do so. And so, having conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., he allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem as early as 538 B.C., also granting them economic aid and even returning the objects looted from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers.

The psalm does not say 'when the king of Persia Cyrus restored the lot of Zion' but 'when the Lord restored the lot of Zion', a way of affirming that God remains the Lord of history who pulls all the strings and therefore there is no other god - again a nod to the fight against idolatry. This psalm, probably written long after the return from exile, evokes the joy and excitement of liberation and return. How many times during exile did one dream of this moment! When it was realised, one almost dared not believe it: 'When the Lord restored the lot of Zion, it seemed to us as if we were dreaming ... our mouths were filled with a smile, our tongues with joy'.  One even imagines that the other peoples are also amazed by this miracle: "Then it was said among the nations: 'The Lord has done great things for them'. In this sentence, two elements emerge: an infinite gratitude for the gratuitousness of God's choice and the chosen people's awareness of having been chosen for the world: their vocation is to be witnesses of God's work, an awareness matured precisely during exile. In the psalm, astonishment at God's choice is expressed with the words: 'great things', that is, God's work of deliverance, particularly the liberation from Egypt. Words like feat, work, great things, wonders, which are often found in the psalms, are always a reference to the Exodus. Here, a new work of God's deliverance is added: the end of the exile experienced by the people as a true resurrection. To express this, the psalmist uses two images: The streams in the desert: "Restore, Lord, our lot, like the streams in the Negheb", desert south of Jerusalem, where myriads of flowers bloom in spring. The other image is the seed: 'he who sows in tears, will reap in joy'. the sown grain seems to rot and die... but when the ears sprout, it is like a rebirth, an eloquent image because the return of the exiles meant a true rebirth for the land as well. A final observation: when the return from the Babylonian exile is sung in this psalm, it had already taken place a long time ago, but Israel does not speak of the past just to recount it, but to communicate a message and a teaching for the future: this return to life, historically placed, becomes a reason to hope for other future resurrections and deliverances. Every year, during the Feast of Tents in the autumn, this song was sung during the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As the pilgrims ascend, they sing of the deliverance that has already taken place and pray to God to hasten the day of final deliverance, when the promised Messiah will appear. Even today, there are many places of slavery, many 'Egypt' and 'Babylon'. This is what we think of when we sing: "Restore, Lord, our lot like the streams in the Negheb", asking for the grace to collaborate with all our strength in the work of liberation inaugurated by the Messiah, in order to hasten the day when the whole of humanity can sing: "Great things the Lord has done for us".

*Second Reading from the Letter of St Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (3:8-14)

 St Paul uses the image of running, and we know how important the goal and the desire to reach it is for every person. Here the Apostle speaks of himself: "I know only this: forgetting what lies behind me and reaching out to what lies ahead, I run towards the goal, to the prize that God calls us to receive up there in Christ Jesus. To run towards this same goal and obtain the promised prize, one must turn one's back on many things, as St Paul did when he felt conquered by Christ. The Greek verb he uses (katalambano) means to grasp, to seize, to take by force, and expresses the way in which he was completely transformed from a persecutor of Christians into an apostle of the gospel (Acts.9) when Christ literally took possession of him on the road to Damascus. St Paul presents his Christian faith as a natural continuation of his Jewish faith because Christ fully realises the expectations of the Old Testament by ensuring its continuity with the New Testament. Here, however, he insists on the newness that Jesus Christ brings: 'I consider everything to be a loss because of the sublimity of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. The knowledge of Christ brings radical newness because one truly becomes a 'new creature', as he writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, which we read last Sunday (2 Cor 5:17-21). Now he says it in another way: "For him I have given up all these things and consider them rubbish in order to gain Christ and be found in him". In other words: what previously appeared important in my eyes, that is, an advantage and a privilege, I now reject altogether. The advantages of which he speaks were the pride of belonging to the people of Israel, the faith and unshakeable hope of that people, the assiduous and scrupulous practice of all the commandments that he calls obedience to the law of Moses. But now Jesus Christ has taken all the space in his life and he possesses the greatest good, the only true wealth in the world, the true treasure of human existence: to know Christ. Knowing in biblical language does not mean intellectual knowledge but living in intimacy with someone, loving him and sharing his life. Paul insists on this bond with Christ because in the community of Philippi some Christians of Jewish origin wanted to impose circumcision on all Christians before baptism and this created great division as we read in the second reading of the second Sunday of Lent. This issue was resolved by the Apostles at the First Council in Jerusalem by affirming that in the New Covenant, the Law of Moses has been superseded and baptism in the name of Jesus makes us children of God so circumcision is no longer indispensable to be part of the people of the New Covenant. Paul also speaks here of "communion" with Christ's sufferings, of being conformed to his death in the hope of attaining the resurrection from the dead, grafted into him in order to follow his same path: "communion with his sufferings, making me conform to his death". 

Note: St Paul invites us to live like Christ and to accept all the risks of proclaiming the Gospel, but can we say, like him, that the only good for us is the knowledge of Christ and everything else is but rubbish? The word rubbish that is used here translates the Greek word skubala, which has a very strong meaning that can be translated in several ways: as waste, refuse, dry excrement and filth, rotten and spoiled food residue. In short, a total rejection of everything, when one knows Christ and is possessed by him.

*From the Gospel according to John (8:1-11)

We are already in the context of the Passion and the first line mentions the Mount of Olives. Since the evangelists only mention it in the last days of Jesus' public life and the Pharisees want to set a trap for him here, this makes it clear that it has now been decided to try and condemn him. That is why every detail of this text must be carefully examined because it is not a simple episode in Jesus' life, but the very heart of his mission.  At the beginning Jesus is seated as a teacher: "all the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them". However, the question of the scribes and Pharisees immediately puts him in the position of judge and Jesus is the only seated person. This detail helps us to understand that the theme of judgement, in St John, is central: the episode of the adulterous woman implements what he writes at the beginning of his gospel: "God sent the Son into the world, not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). We are faced with a mock trial because the issue is clear: the adulterous woman was caught in the act and there are witnesses; the Law of Moses condemns adultery as one of the commandments given by God on Sinai (Thou shalt not commit adultery, Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18); Leviticus prescribes the death penalty: "If anyone commits adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death" (Lev 20:10). The scribes and Pharisees, who question Jesus, are as always very attached to the Law of Moses, but they forget to add that the Law provides for the condemnation of both offenders, the man and the adulterous woman. The fact that despite knowing this, no one remembers it, shows that the real issue is not the observance of the Law, but something else, and the text says it clearly: "They said this to test him and to have reason to accuse him". It is therefore a trap-question and what do they want to accuse Jesus of? Jesus cannot approve of the stoning because it would contradict the whole preaching on mercy; if, however, he publicly defends the woman, he can be accused of inciting the people to disobey the Law. In John's Gospel (chapter 5), we have already seen him tell the healed paralytic to take his bed, an act forbidden on the Sabbath. They failed to condemn him that day, but this time the disobedience would be public. After all, despite the apparent respect with which they call him 'Master', Jesus is in as much danger as the adulterous woman: both risk death. Jesus does not immediately respond: "He stooped down and began to write with his finger on the ground". With his silence, a constructive silence, he invites each one to reflect without humiliating anyone, and he, the incarnation of mercy, does not put the scribes and Pharisees or the adulterous woman in difficulty: he wants each one to take a step forward by trying to reveal to the Pharisees and scribes the true face of the God of mercy. When he responds, he does so almost by posing a question: 'Let him who is without sin among you cast the stone at her first'. At this point they all leave, "one by one, beginning with the elders". Nothing surprising: the elders appear to be the ones most ready to listen to the call to mercy. Who knows how many times they have experienced God's mercy on them... How many times they have read, sung, meditated on the verse: "God of tenderness and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love" (Ex 34:6). How many times have they recited Psalm 50(51): "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your mercy, in your great goodness blot out my sin". Now they can understand that their lack of mercy is a fault, a lack of faithfulness to the God of the Covenant. Jesus' statement may have led them to this reflection: 'Let him who is without sin among you cast the stone first'. Being the first to throw the stone was an expression known to all in the context of the fight against idolatry. The Law did not say that it had to be the witness of adultery who threw the first stone; but it did say so expressly for the case of idolatry (Deut 13:9-10; Deut 17:7). Thus Jesus' reply can be interpreted as: "This woman is guilty of adultery, in the literal sense of the word, it is true; but are you not committing an even more serious adultery, an unfaithfulness to the God of the Covenant? The prophets often speak of idolatry in terms of adultery.  In the end, only Jesus and the woman remain: it is the face-to-face, as St Augustine says, between misery and mercy. For her, the Word once again fulfils his mission, speaking the word of reconciliation. Isaiah, speaking of the servant of God, had announced it: 'He will not break a cracked reed, he will not quench a smouldering wick...' (Is 42:3). But this is not goodism because Jesus clearly tells the woman to sin no more, sin remains condemned, but only forgiveness can enable the sinner to be reborn to hope.

Note: What does Jesus write on the ground? The evangelist does not specify, and this has given rise to various interpretations: Some Church Fathers, such as St Augustine, speculate that Jesus was writing down the hidden sins of those who accused the woman. This is why, one by one, they go away; It refers to the Mosaic Law: according to a rabbinic interpretation, it could refer to Jeremiah 17:13: "Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the Lord, the source of living water." If so, Jesus would be indicating that the accusers themselves are guilty of unfaithfulness to God. It could be a symbolic act of detachment; writing in the dust could symbolise that the accusations against the woman are ephemeral, destined to fade away; it could indicate a call to patience and reflection; finally, it could be a way of not responding immediately, prompting the accusers to reflect on their hypocrisy.

Jesus' gesture invites us to shift our attention not to the guilt of others, but to our own conscience. No one can condemn another without first examining himself. This episode teaches us that God's mercy exceeds human condemnation, and that forgiveness is always possible when there is a heart willing to change. 

The first reading and this Sunday's Gospel have the same message: forget the past, don't get attached to it... nothing, not even memories, should stop you from moving on. In the first reading, Isaiah speaks to the people in exile... in the Gospel, Jesus speaks to a woman caught in the act of adultery: apparently, two very different cases, but the message is the same: turn your gaze firmly towards the future, no longer think about the past.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

(Jn 8:31-42)

In the opinion of many Jews, the Inheritance received was much more precious and reassuring than any other teaching albeit dignified, that anyone could impart.

But the faithful in Christ realize that in the horizon of a life as saved persons, descent alone is not a premise of superiority, nor does it guarantee prominent positions in the order of things of God.

So what is the relationship between Jesus and Abraham, father of faith?  In what relationship is the disciple with the history of the chosen people, therefore with the religion of the patriarchs?

Early Christians experienced that an unusual and precious Freedom was born from fidelity to the Word of Lord; an opening to God that no creed knew.

The relationship of Faith introduces into a qualified and real ‘increase of life’ - one that is also suitable for the inexperienced and beginners - foreign to any circle of the chosen and elect.

So what does it mean to be sons of Abraham? There are those who imagine they have the “document” in place, but do not understand that a fixed identity is trap of vitality.

Christ’s intimates introduce into salvation history an inverted criterion of theological prostitution [cf. v.41: «fornication»], based on divine wealth. Another kind of Covenant.

The disciple of Jesus understands that reality has many sides, and he himself has many faces: he is called to integrate them, for a fluent wholeness.

Despite they are both ‘at home’, the «son» is a blood relative - he doesn’t remain a servant like the slave (of the descendants).

The God of the chosen people says to Abraham: "Go!". It's an order.

The Son proposes to us: «Come!». It’s a family virtue that guarantees the overcoming of difficulties, and harmonious growth.

It’s not enough to be well-versed in ways of doing things. We need to open up to a new experience.

It’s the adherence of life that convinces us to remain in the Father's abode - it’s not enough to rush and ignite in particular circumstances.

Such a custom attenuates fears and makes us become One with the Truth-Fidelity of God: let’s start from this founding Core.

Being in the Son frees from external opinions, from a blanket of manners (vv.33.37ff) that have not been reworked, nor assimilated and made one’s own; typical of subordinates, who lack profound experience.

The slave of the cliché lives under condemnation, because he is too closed in the perimeters - settled, but out of home: therefore in a reality that stagnates, or that advances by accentuating and emphasizing limits.

The «son», on the other hand, conquers unprecedented spaces, emancipates himself from selfishness that annihilates communion, from self-love that refuses to listen, from homologation that cancels uniqueness, from conformity that makes exceptionality pale, from envy that separates and blocks the exchange of gifts, from competition also spiritual that drugs us, from the sloth that discourages and paralyzes.

The God of ancient religions is a principal, an instigator; pivotal figure of subjugation and domestication, that enervates.

The Father is principle of Freedom that proceeds against the current, without fear of mixings and heterogeneities (vv.41.43).

He allows sons - even hybrids - to rediscover the roots of the sacred sap that animates them, and to meet the unrepeatable characters that are hidden in their great Desire.

[Wednesday 5th wk. in Lent, April 9, 2025]

(Jn 8:31-42)

In the opinion of many Jews, the inheritance they had received was far more precious and reassuring than any decent teaching anyone could impart.

But believers in Christ realise that on the horizon of a saved life, descent is not a prerequisite for superiority, nor does it guarantee any place of prominence in God's order of things.

Not only does ancient religion not grant privileged automatic access, it is incomplete and deficient. It takes away the freedom it promises to bestow upon believers in a superabundant manner.

[The harmonious relationship with Heaven, with oneself and with events, does not take place out of loyalty to cultural or self-dominating principles - which can make themselves the guarantors of total truth].

What then is the relationship between Jesus and Abraham, the father of faith? What is the disciple's relationship with the history of the chosen people, hence with the religion of the patriarchs?

The first Christians experienced that from fidelity to the Word of the Lord came an unusual and precious autonomy; an openness to God that no creed claiming independence already knew.

The relationship of Faith introduces one into a more qualified, personally charged and real - in itself conforming even to the inexperienced and novice: still foreign to any circle of the chosen and experienced.

So what does it mean to be children of Abraham? There are those who imagine they have the 'document' in place, but do not understand that a fixed identity is a trap of vitality. It rejects the Father's design.

Christ's intimates introduce into salvation history an inverted criterion of 'theological prostitution' [cf. v.41: 'fornication'] based on divine wealth. Another kind of covenant.

The follower of Jesus understands that reality has many faces, and he himself has many faces: he is called to integrate them, for a completeness freed from constraints that stagnate in one-sidedness.

Although they are both at home, the 'son' is a blood relative - he does not remain a servant like the slave (of the descendants).

The God of the chosen people says to Abraham: "Go!". It is an order.

The Son proposes: "Come!". It is a throb of communion, which crosses the fence and unfolds the self, regenerating it in the unceasing We.

It is a family virtue that guarantees the overcoming of difficulties, harmonious growth, and fruitful friendship with the problems - as well as the aggressions - that seem to scatter us.

Even under the action of epochal upheavals of established cultures and beliefs, the God-family member can let go, avoiding the phenomenon that stiffens.

For harmonious growth, it is never enough to be grounded in traditions and ways of doing things - even 'contemporary' and approved ways.

One must open oneself up to a new experience, break free from the excess of control, fashion and circles. Whoever grasps himself liberated freely, rests on another platform of being.

It is the adherence of life that convinces one to remain in the Father's dwelling, and there to deposit everything - not the adult inflaming of special circumstances, or even opposition.

While exposing ourselves (as witnesses and prophets), such a habit mitigates fears. It makes us One with the Truth-Fidelity of God.

And we start from that founding core - in which we find our presence, our capacities, our authentic beginnings. Which are not the artificial ones of the 'fathers', or glamour, but ours authentically, and the Father's.

Such a truly ancient hearth side where we learn silence, motive, as well as the embrace of complete life - it helps to break the patterns of existence in all controlled by the cloak of clichés around us.

Being in the Son dissolves from external opinions, from a blanket of 'proper' manners, and from the bundle of "descent" (vv.33.37ff).

Tara not reworked, nor assimilated and made one's own; typical of subordinates, who lack profound experience.

Disciples are neither plagiarised nor indistinct.

Even those who are characterised by promiscuous baggage are actually inspired. As such, they become limpid, disinclined to seduction and compromise.

Emancipated from hammering constraints, they grasp differences and break through boundaries.

The slave of customary devotion and clichés lives under condemnation, because he is too closed within the perimeters.

He seems settled, but so out of home: thus in a reality that stagnates, or advances in an epidermic, moralistic, (in fact) confusing way. Accentuating and emphasising limits.

The son, on the other hand, conquers spaces of the unprecedented; he emancipates himself from the selfishness that annihilates communion, from the self-love that refuses to listen, from the standardisation that cancels uniqueness, from the conformism that makes exceptionalism pale, from the envy that separates and blocks the exchange of gifts, from the competition, even spiritual, that drugs us, from the sloth that discourages and paralyses.

The God of ancient religions is a principal, a pivotal figure of submission and domestication that enervates. 

The Father is the principle of the Freedom that proceeds against the current, without fear of mixing and heterogeneity (vv.41.43).

He enables his children - even hybrids - to rediscover the roots of the sacred sap that animates them, and to encounter the unrepeatable characters that are hidden in their great Desire.

"If ye abide in my word, ye are my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (Jn 8.31).

Deepening: Spirit of Truth

Satisfying solutions or Spirit of Truth

(Jn 15:26-16:4a)

Faith in the Master is already eternal life, or rather Life of the Eternal (in action here and now).

He himself is Bread of authentic and indestructible existence, though still earthly.

In short, the intimate life of God reaches us in our time.

The first step is a Faith that gives a Vision; an irruption of the Spirit that gives birth from above, thus animating a different - not empty - existence.

The sign of such adherence is to believe Jesus as Son: man manifesting the divine condition.

Christ is Bread of Life also because His Word is creative, and the path of following Him transmits to us the qualities of indestructible Life.

The outpouring of the Spirit arouses in us the same pulsating Heart of the Eternal, which we experience in the deaths and resurrections of daily life and in the long rigmarole of the Vocation (repeated from path to path).

Even in persecution, whoever sees the Son has the Life of the Eternal within him - which always regenerates and disposes new births, other premises and questions, different paths, in an uninterrupted and growing form.

The passion for the Friend unites us to Him, Bread: that is, the Revealer of the Truth that satiates men on their journey towards themselves and the world, who sometimes change their skin, opinions, lifestyles.

In the Vision, we are empowered to directly appropriate, thus attracting and realising the Newness of God - even in advance, wisely.

Through Him, we have a part... in the Father's love for the Son who manifests Himself as personal Lord, and in the outgoing dilated life of the authentic Church.

The "hidden" God of the First Testament, an obstacle that seemed insurmountable, now presents itself in the specifics of the Faith, without the need for fatuous fires to support it.

Because the world of God (in the soul) is different.

One does not enter the Mystery with normal intentions and perfect expectations, let alone success and recognition.

In this case (in the Gospel passage) the apostles' incomprehension comes into the picture.

Indeed, even to us, Jesus' way of manifesting himself often does not seem decipherable.

Even the Jews [actually: the returning Judaizers in the communities of the late 1st century] were waiting to catch him in an overt way, perhaps on a public occasion.

Instead, even in times of 'glorification', the Master seems to want to trace the outward (humble) inappearance of his earthly ministry.

Many expected sensational fireworks in that period they considered 'final'. Instead, no yielding to ideology of power or religion-show.

So things did not go as expected: doubts were not dispelled, ambiguities were not dispelled; the titles of Israel's former nationalist and imperial glory did not reappear at all, on the contrary!

Even today, the choice of Faith is not given to the apparatuses that would guarantee its visibility: no parachutes, no discounts.

Everything then seems to proceed as before, in the summary: to toil for a living and buy, to travel and not, to laugh and cry, to get sick and get well, to work and party... so on and so forth, often in (seemingly senseless) pain; perhaps without any decisive turning points.

But in the same things as always there is a different Light, planted on a new, immediate, relationship of needy humanity with the Father who regenerates us.

He stimulates new Births, to reconnect desires, deep needs, external paths, and increase the intensity of life.

And it is in the mutual knowledge of the roots and furrows of reality that this circle of love between God and his children exists in the first place.

All that has not yet been understood will be recalled by the action of the Spirit. The only reliable impetus, which does not point to vain things.

A relationship between man and Heaven within us, not above.

A friendship that does not primarily contemplate resignation, effort, humiliation... but is reworked in deepening.

This is where the true scope of our hearts - so limited, yet endowed with a mysterious imprint - for the complete, yet personal, life of character comes into play.

In order to avoid intimidation, marginalisation and annoyance, some church members advocated a kind of alliance between Jesus and the Empire, proclaiming a Christ so vague and untethered that he would not scratch anyone.

Some ambitious, 'life-in-the-spirit' troublemakers felt that the time had come to shake off the earthly affair of the carpenter's son - considered weak in itself, short-lived, out of place and time; already extinguished. 

Jn intends to rebalance the attempt to proclaim, diluted in compromises.

The evangelist emphasises that the Risen One is the cipher and engine that bears the soul and generates us in today.

He is the same Son of God who sustained a harsh denunciation and several battles with the authorities.

To the opportunists of his time, the Master had dared to touch positions, vanity and the bag of commerce.

Therefore persecuted, tried, vilified, condemned as subversive, and cursed by God.

In short, the Holy Spirit does not go after butterflies.

The action of the Spirit (which internalises and actualises) and the historical memory of Jesus must always be combined.

Only in such a frank perspective is it possible to grasp the Truth of the Eternal and the Truth of Man in all times and circumstances.

In addition: the Father is the Creator of each of our deepest inclinations, to which he affixes an indelible signature.

It manifests itself in an innate instinct, which wants to germinate, find space, express itself.

We have rooted in our innermost being a unique, invincible Vocation and (plural) faces.

We cannot deny ourselves, our Roots - even where an open-faced testimony would be unattractive.

The Truth about each of us is consequential.

By Grace, we are repositories of an astounding dignity, which even in error (or what is considered error) imparts exceptional desires.

Truth that still restores dreams: an unprecedented hope that activates enthralling passions.

In vain would we have peace and happiness by seeking cultural and social concord, or by playing roles, characters, tasks that do not belong to us - albeit appeasing.

We would become outsiders.

Truth: Faithfulness to God in Christ. And candour in every choice, with our character in relationship and situation.

The rest is calculation and deep disturbance, which will leave us disassociated and sick inside.

To internalise and live the message:

Do you take a stand and face the consequences? When your vocational character is at stake, do you confront and put your face to it or do you blend in?

Do you play coy, value reciprocation, and seek tribute or protection from satisfactory synagogues? Or do you wish to unite your life with Christ?

Freedom Responsibility

"Abba, Father!" (Rom 8:15). What does this mean? St Paul assumes the social system of the ancient world, in which there were the slaves, to whom nothing belonged and who therefore could not be interested in the right course of things. Correspondingly, there were the sons who were also the heirs and who were therefore concerned with the preservation and good administration of their property or the preservation of the state. Since they were free, they also had a responsibility. Regardless of the sociological background of that time, the principle always applies: freedom and responsibility go together. True freedom is demonstrated in responsibility, in a way of acting that assumes co-responsibility for the world, for oneself and for others. Free is the son, to whom the thing belongs and who therefore does not allow it to be destroyed. All worldly responsibilities, of which we have spoken, are, however, partial responsibilities, for a specific sphere, a specific state, etc. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, makes us sons and daughters of God. He draws us into the same responsibility as God for his world, for the whole of humanity. He teaches us to look at the world, at each other and at ourselves with God's eyes. We do good not as slaves who are not free to do otherwise, but we do it because we personally bear responsibility for the world; because we love truth and goodness, because we love God himself and thus also his creatures. This is true freedom, to which the Holy Spirit wants to lead us. The Church Movements want and must be schools of freedom, of this true freedom. There we want to learn this true freedom, not the freedom of slaves, which aims to cut a slice of everyone's cake for itself, even if this is then lacking for the other. We desire true and great freedom, the freedom of heirs, the freedom of God's children. In this world, so full of fictitious freedoms that destroy the environment and mankind, we want, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to learn true freedom together; to build schools of freedom; to show others with our lives that we are free and how beautiful it is to be truly free in the true freedom of the children of God.

[Pope Benedict, Vigil 3 June 2006].

"The truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32)

3. The continuous contamination with deceptive language ends up blurring the inner self of the person. Dostoevsky wrote something remarkable in this regard: "He who lies to himself and listens to his own lies comes to the point where he can no longer distinguish the truth, either within himself or around him, and thus begins to have no more esteem either for himself or for others. Then, because he no longer esteems anyone, he also ceases to love, and then, in the absence of love, in order to feel busy and to distract himself he gives himself up to passions and vulgar pleasures, and because of his vices he becomes like a beast; and all this stems from his constant lying, to others and to himself' (The Brothers Karamazov, II, 2).

How then to defend ourselves? The most radical antidote to the virus of falsehood is to allow ourselves to be purified by the truth. In the Christian view, truth is not just a conceptual reality, which concerns judging things, calling them true or false. Truth is not just bringing obscure things to light, "unveiling reality", as the ancient Greek term for it, aletheia (from a-lethès, "not hidden"), leads one to think. Truth has to do with the whole of life. In the Bible, it carries with it the meanings of support, solidity, trust, as the root 'aman, from which the liturgical Amen also comes. Truth is what one can lean on in order not to fall. In this relational sense, the only truly reliable and trustworthy one on whom one can rely, that is, 'true', is the living God. Here is Jesus' affirmation: "I am the truth" (Jn 14:6). Man, then, discovers and rediscovers the truth when he experiences it in himself as the faithfulness and trustworthiness of the one who loves him. Only this liberates man: "The truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32).

Liberation from falsehood and the search for relationship: these are the two ingredients that cannot be lacking for our words and deeds to be true, authentic, trustworthy. In order to discern the truth, we must sift through what supports communion and promotes the good and what, on the contrary, tends to isolate, divide and oppose. Truth, therefore, is not truly gained when it is imposed as something extrinsic and impersonal; instead, it springs from free relationships between people, in mutual listening. Moreover, one never stops searching for truth, because something false can always creep in, even in saying true things. An impeccable argument may indeed rest on undeniable facts, but if it is used to hurt the other person and to discredit him in the eyes of others, however right it may appear, it is not inhabited by truth. From the fruits we can discern the truth of the utterances: whether they stir up controversy, foment division, instil resignation, or whether, on the other hand, they lead to conscious and mature reflection, to constructive dialogue, to fruitful activity.

[Pope Francis, Message 52nd World Communications Day].

"Abba! Father!'" (Rom 8: 15). What does this mean?

St Paul presupposes the social system of the ancient world in which slaves existed. They owned nothing, so they could not be involved in the proper development of things.

Co-respectively, there were sons who were also heirs and were therefore concerned with the preservation and good administration of their property or the preservation of the State. Since they were free, they also had responsibility.

Leaving aside the sociological background of that time, the principle still holds true:  freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. True freedom is demonstrated in responsibility, in a way of behaving in which one takes upon oneself a shared responsibility for the world, for oneself and for others.
The son, to whom things belong and who, consequently, does not let them be destroyed, is free. All the worldly responsibilities of which we have spoken are nevertheless partial responsibilities for a specific area, a specific State, etc.

The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, makes us sons and daughters of God. He involves us in the same responsibility that God has for his world, for the whole of humanity. He teaches us to look at the world, others and ourselves with God's eyes. We do not do good as slaves who are not free to act otherwise, but we do it because we are personally responsible for the world; because we love truth and goodness, because we love God himself and therefore, also his creatures. This is the true freedom to which the Holy Spirit wants to lead us.

The Ecclesial Movements want to and must be schools of freedom, of this true freedom. Let us learn in them this true freedom, not the freedom of slaves that aims to cut itself a slice of the cake that belongs to everyone even if this means that some do not get any.

We want the true, great freedom, the freedom of heirs, the freedom of children of God. In this world, so full of fictitious forms of freedom that destroy the environment and the human being, let us learn true freedom by the power of the Holy Spirit; to build the school of freedom; to show others by our lives that we are free and how beautiful it is to be truly free with the true freedom of God's children.

[Pope Benedict, Vigil 3 June 2006]

1. Christ is the Saviour; he came into the world to set mankind free from the bondage of sin at the price of his paschal sacrifice. We saw this in the previous catechesis. If the concept of "liberation" refers on the one hand to evil, liberated from which we find "salvation", on the other hand it refers to good, for the attainment of which we have been liberated by Christ, the redeemer of man and the world with man and in man. "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32). These words of Jesus specify very concisely the good for which man has been set free through the Gospel in the context of Christ's redemption. It is freedom in truth. It constitutes the essential good of salvation, wrought by Christ. Through this good, the kingdom of God is truly "near" to man and his earthly history.

2. The salvific liberation that Christ works towards man contains within itself, in a certain sense, the two dimensions: liberation "from" (evil) and liberation "for" (good), which are intimately united, condition and complement each other.

Returning yet again to the evil from which Christ liberates man - that is, the evil of sin - we must add that through the extraordinary 'signs' of his saving power (that is, the miracles), which he performed by healing the sick from various infirmities, he always indicated, at least indirectly, this essential liberation, which is liberation from sin, its remission. This appears clearly in the healing of the paralytic, to whom Jesus first said: 'Your sins are forgiven you', and only afterwards: 'Get up, take up your bed and go home' (Mk 2:5, 11). Performing this miracle Jesus addressed those around him (especially those who accused him of blasphemy, for only God can forgive sins): "That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins" (Mk 2:10).

3. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him" (Acts 10: 38). In fact, it appears from the Gospels that Jesus healed the sick from many infirmities (such as the bent woman who "could not stand upright in any way" [cf. Lk 13:10-16]). When he happened to "cast out evil spirits", if they accused him of doing this with the help of the evil one, he responded by demonstrating the nonsense of such an insinuation and said: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come among you" (Mt 12:28; cf. Lk 11:20). By freeing men from the evil of sin, Jesus unmasks the one who is the "father of sin". It is from him, from the evil spirit, that the "bondage of sin" in which men find themselves begins. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains there always; if therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8: 34-36).

4. Faced with the opposition of his listeners, Jesus added: ". . From God I came forth and am coming; I did not come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my language? Because you cannot listen to my words, you who have the devil for a father, and want to fulfil your father's desires. He has been murderous from the beginning and has not persevered in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsely, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8: 42-44). It is difficult to find a text in which the evil of sin is shown so strongly in its root of diabolical falsehood.

5. We hear again the words of Jesus: "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (Jn 8:36). "If you remain true to my word, you will indeed be my disciples: you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8: 31-32). Jesus Christ came to set mankind free from the evil of sin. This fundamental evil has its beginning in the "father of lies" (as already seen in the book of Genesis) (cf. Gen 3:4). For this reason, deliverance from the evil of sin, working down to its very roots, must be deliverance to the truth and through the truth. Jesus Christ reveals this truth. He himself is "the truth" (John 14: 6). This truth brings with it true freedom. It is freedom from sin and falsehood. Those who were "slaves to sin" because they were under the influence of the "father of lies" are set free through participation in the truth, which is Christ - and in the freedom of the Son of God they themselves attain "the freedom of the children of God" (cf. Rom 8:21). St Paul can assure; "The law of the Spirit which gives life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:2).

6. In the same letter to the Romans, the Apostle eloquently presents the human decadence that sin brings with it. Looking at the moral evil of his time, he writes that men, having forgotten God, "have rambled in their reasoning and their dulled minds have grown dull" (Rom 1:21). "They have exchanged the truth of God for lies, and have worshipped and adored the creature instead of the Creator" (Rom 1:25). "And because they have despised the knowledge of God, God has left them at the mercy of a depraved understanding, so that they commit what is unworthy" (Rom 1:28).

7. In other passages of his letter, the Apostle moves from the external description to an analysis of the human interior, where good and evil fight against each other. "I cannot understand even what I do: for it is not what I want that I do, but what I detest. Now if I do what I do not want, I recognise that the law is good; therefore it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom 7:15-17). "In my members I see another law, which wages war against the law of my mind and makes me a slave to the law of sin . . .". "I am a wretched man! Who shall deliver me from this body doomed to death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:23-25). It follows from this Pauline analysis that sin constitutes a profound alienation; in a certain sense it "makes man a stranger" to himself in his inner "self". Liberation comes with the "grace and truth" (cf. Jn 1:17) brought by Christ.

8. It is clear in what the liberation wrought by Christ consists: to what freedom he has set us free. The liberation wrought by Christ differs from that expected by his contemporaries in Israel. For even before going definitively to the Father, Christ was questioned by those who were closest to him: "Lord, is this the time when you will rebuild the kingdom of Israel?" (Acts 1:6). And so even then - after the experience of the paschal events - they continued to think of deliverance in a political sense: in this respect the Messiah, the descendant of David, was awaited.

9. But the liberation wrought by Christ at the price of his passion and death on the cross, has an essentially different meaning: it is liberation from that which in man's innermost being hinders his relationship with God. At that level sin means slavery; and Christ overcame sin in order to graft the grace of divine sonship, the liberating grace, back into man. "And you have not received a spirit of slaves to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adopted sons by which we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Rom 8:15).

This spiritual liberation, that is, "freedom in the Holy Spirit", is thus the fruit of Christ's saving mission: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor 3:17). In this sense we have "been called to freedom" (Gal 5:13) in Christ and through Christ. "Faith working through charity" (Gal 5:6) is the expression of this freedom.

10. It is a matter of the liberation of the inner man, the "freedom of the heart". Liberation in the social and political sense is not the true messianic work of Christ. On the other hand, it must be realised that without the liberation he brought about, without the liberation of man from sin, and thus from all kinds of selfishness, no real liberation in the socio-political sense can be achieved either. No purely external change of structures leads to any real liberation of society, as long as man is subject to sin and lies, as long as the passions dominate, and with them exploitation and the various forms of oppression.

11. Even what could be called liberation in the psychological sense cannot be fully realised except by the liberating forces that come from Christ. It is part of his work of redemption. Christ alone is "our peace" (Eph 2:14). His grace and love liberate man from existential fear before the meaninglessness of life and from that torment of conscience that is the legacy of man fallen into the bondage of sin.

12. The liberation wrought by Christ with the truth of his gospel, and definitively with the gospel of his cross and resurrection, while retaining its primarily spiritual and "interior" character, can extend over a universal range of action, and is intended for all men. The words "for by grace you have been saved" (Eph 2:5) concern everyone. At the same time, however, this deliverance, which is "a grace", i.e. a gift, cannot be accomplished without man's participation. Man must welcome it with faith, hope and charity. He must "await his salvation with fear and trembling" (cf. Phil 2:12). "For it is God who awakens in you the willing and working according to his gracious designs" (Phil 2:13). Aware of this supernatural gift, we ourselves must cooperate with the liberating power of God, which through Christ's redeeming sacrifice has entered the world as the eternal source of salvation.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 3 August 1988]

3. Constant contamination by deceptive language can end up darkening our interior life. Dostoevsky’s observation is illuminating: “People who lie to themselves and listen to their own lie come to such a pass that they cannot distinguish the truth within them, or around them, and so lose all respect for themselves and for others. And having no respect, they cease to love, and in order to occupy and distract themselves without love they give way to passions and to coarse pleasures, and sink to bestiality in their vices, all from continual lying to others and to themselves”. (The Brothers Karamazov, II, 2).

So how do we defend ourselves? The most radical antidote to the virus of falsehood is purification by the truth. In Christianity, truth is not just a conceptual reality that regards how we judge things, defining them as true or false. The truth is not just bringing to light things that are concealed, “revealing reality”, as the ancient Greek term aletheia (from a-lethès, “not hidden”) might lead us to believe. Truth involves our whole life. In the Bible, it carries with it the sense of support, solidity, and trust, as implied by the root 'aman, the source of our liturgical expression Amen. Truth is something you can lean on, so as not to fall. In this relational sense, the only truly reliable and trustworthy One – the One on whom we can count – is the living God. Hence, Jesus can say: “I am the truth” (Jn 14: 6). We discover and rediscover the truth when we experience it within ourselves in the loyalty and trustworthiness of the One Who loves us. This alone can liberate us: “The truth will set you free” (Jn 8: 32).

Freedom from falsehood and the search for relationship: these two ingredients cannot be lacking if our words and gestures are to be true, authentic, and trustworthy. To discern the truth, we need to discern everything that encourages communion and promotes goodness from whatever instead tends to isolate, divide, and oppose. Truth, therefore, is not really grasped when it is imposed from without as something impersonal, but only when it flows from free relationships between persons, from listening to one another. Nor can we ever stop seeking the truth, because falsehood can always creep in, even when we state things that are true. An impeccable argument can indeed rest on undeniable facts, but if it is used to hurt another and to discredit that person in the eyes of others, however correct it may appear, it is not truthful. We can recognize the truth of statements from their fruits: whether they provoke quarrels, foment division, encourage resignation; or, on the other hand, they promote informed and mature reflection leading to constructive dialogue and fruitful results.

[Pope Francis, Message 52nd World Communications Day]

From above and from below

(Jn 8:21-30)

At the end of the first century, the Jews raised questions concerning the prayerful reading that the disciples of Christ made of the events and the Words of the Master.

The inglorious end of Jesus and His destination posed several questions. The text reiterates that the crucial point was the prejudice of the ever victorious Face of God.

Tare that prevented from recognizing the Father in the Son humiliated by the authorities, and in the sons who had followed Him, equally defeated... but who considered themselves victors - even of the «sin» (v.21)!

Only the sense of the story of Lord sweeps away the void of intimate energy aroused by the perception of the creatural condition - from which the inability to correspond to one's own intimate vocation derives.

Lacerating and bizarre inefficiency, because it is induced and sustained precisely by paradoxically 'worldly' official structures - and by the mentality they themselves spread; a conviction secured over time.

The same term used in the plural [«sins», in a moral sense] underlined and reiterated in verse 24 alludes to the torment inoculated in the soul and life of people, precisely by the "normal" cloak of beliefs.

They enclose the journey of individual exceptional personalities within a useless spasmodic search for imperfections, which are by nature inevitable - with the torment of comparisons to external models.

Result: women and men whose lives stagnate in the strident attempt to overcome the genuine contradictions of their own faces that complete us, with extreme and vacuous expenditure of virtues.

In this sense, the veterans, experienced and well-known leaders, found it difficult to understand the meaning of the elevation of Christ.

The authentic Messiah was raised to the "right" of the Eternal and on the Cross - highest Revelation of the «I Am»: Emmanuel in his Personality, Wisdom, Uniqueness, Future and already Presence.

The Crucifix that in Jn 19:30 and 20:22 hands over the Spirit without delay, radiates the image of the divine "position".  And through the bond of Faith he makes us live in his Contact; which is of debasement and descent, but of humanizing weight and relief-promotion (vv. 28-29).

What we also experience in the «Son of man» within this founding relationship with the Father becomes explicit precisely in a Confluence, Core, Active Bridge, and Hinge.

Liberation and Salvation that allows to treasure pitfalls, paradoxes, and upheavals.

The Messiah works in a reversal of ​​«glory», of climbing, and dominance.

He acts in the contrast of principle [which seems devoutly incomprehensible] between two «worlds» - the self-styled ‘best’ of which seeks redemption in “above”.

But creates dismay. It still doesn’t know how bringing life from death.

«Dying in sin» means closing oneself in the criteria that exclude true honor: that of the total gift of oneself - for a further and widespread outcome.

To the question «Who are you?» Christ responds by giving a full Life appointment, on Calvary.

[Tuesday 5th wk. in Lent, April 8, 2025]

Raised up and lifted up from themselves, from above and from below

(Jn 8:21-30)

At the end of the first century, the Jews raised quite a few questions concerning the prayerful reading that Christ's disciples made of the events and words of the Master - considered to be the expression of the Word of God and the summit of salvation history.

The theme of misunderstanding about the origin and mission of the Son is dramatised in a controversy in which each side stands on a different ground: belonging to the world of Faith, or to that of religion that encloses the Mystery in what is already known.

To help the faithful deepen their understanding of the Lord's call, in the Johannine communities of Asia Minor, the transmission through catechesis of the extent (and preciousness) of involvement in the life of Faith took place through question-and-answer dialogues.

The inglorious end of Jesus and his destination posed various questions. The text reiterates that the crucial point was the prejudice of the always victorious Face of God.

Tara that prevented them from recognising him in the Son humiliated by the authorities, and in the sons who had followed him, equally defeated... but who considered themselves victorious.

Compared to the world around them, Christians oriented their gestures and words without banal closed-mindedness, to which we too would sometimes like to conform.

And even today - thanks to this drive, Motive and Drive - it is only because of this conviction that we are able to acquire a different vision, and overcome sin.

The term in the singular here in v.21 [cf. "the sin of the world" in Jn 1:29] does not refer to small daily transgressions, but to the (devout) humbling of unbridgeable distances [compared to the crowning of being].

Only the meaning of Jesus' story sweeps away the emptiness of intimate energy aroused by the perception of the creaturely condition - from which descends the inability to correspond to one's intimate vocation.

A lacerating and bizarre inefficiency, because it is induced and sustained precisely by official structures that are paradoxically "worldly" - and by the mentality spread by them, as well as ensured over time.

The same term used in the plural ["sins", in the moral sense] emphasised and reiterated in v.24 alludes to the torment inoculated in people's souls and lives, precisely by the "normal" cloak of pious convictions.

They enclose the path of individual exceptional personalities within a useless, spasmodic search for imperfections, by nature inevitable - with the torment of comparisons with external models.

The result: women and men whose lives stagnate in the strident attempt to overcome the genuine contradictions of their own faces that complete us, with extreme and vacuous expenditure of virtue.

In the sphere of tradition, or rather of custom, in order to identify, correct, and reaffirm (other people's) norms every day, souls are subjected to a regime of retreats that affect both summary conduct and the leading lines of personality.

Such forms of 'government' that are not very inclusive close non-opportunist vocations within themselves, with serious social damage as well: a typical outcome of a climate of people who naively rely on external, mannerist, ethical or intimist ideologies.

In the graniticity of the principles of domination of the beghine structures of sin over individual affairs, the attitude of suspicion of deviance makes the lives of humble and more sensitive people swampy.

Here one risks death - in the very still sands of the sins of return, of addition and gratification, that were originally intended to be exorcised.

Those who embrace the conformity of abstract excellence that wants to re-emerge at all costs - without eminent criteria, nor re-elaboration, and path of personal enhancement with prospects for a critical future - will experience the total reversal of good intentions; then, crazy, sudden thuds.

The swamp of restrained vital powers sets up excellent screens but rots existence, overturning expectations.

It is as if Jesus were saying, "try what a beating you might make by falling from so high up, so you will understand!".

The frame of reference of the leaders of the winning mentality or of ancient devotion, is not the gaze planted on the authentic and full life of the people, but rather the judgmental scrutiny from an already antiquated fashion, without openings.

Basically: the usual or power-assured, stone-hearted and all ready-made one. At hand, as if chiselled down to the tiniest detail - in clichéd institutions, rooted in the territory - representative only of itself.

In this sense, the veteran, experienced leaders had difficulty understanding the meaning of Christ's elevation.

The authentic Messiah was elevated to the 'right hand' of the Eternal One and raised on the Cross - the ultimate Revelation of the 'I Am' or Emmanuel in His Personality, Wisdom, Uniqueness, Future and already Presence.The Crucified One, who in Jn 19:30 and 20:22 delivers the Spirit without temporal delay, radiates the image of the divine "position". And through the bond of Faith he makes us live in his contact; which is of debasement and lowliness, but of weight and prominence - humanising promotion (vv.28-29).

What in the "Son of Man" we also experience within such a founding Relationship with the Father is made explicit precisely in a Confluence, Nucleus, Active Bridge, and Hinge. Liberation and Salvation that enables us to treasure pitfalls, paradoxes, upheavals.

He operates in a reversal of the idea of 'glory', climbing, and supremacy. He operates in a principled opposition (which seems devoutly incomprehensible) between two 'worlds' - the self-styled 'best' of which seeks its redemption at 'the top'.

And yet it creates consternation. It does not yet know how to take life from death.

So the discourse is 'internal': it is about the worldly criteria of judgement on the Lord who trust in themselves, who crush us in the coils of doubt; not against the Jews.

It is for anyone who regrets lost small certainties and - precisely - does not yet know how to take sap from the earth.

The petty world remains that sadly marked by the shrewd, mediocre, saltieri, constantly compromising and conniving with power - as well as the very coffers of the Temple.

For them, that of Jesus and his people who are serious is suicide (v.22), a condition that - in the thinking of the time - would have led to the eternal state of the darkest hell.

Indeed, the Sanctuary seemed a bright, desirable, spiritual and secluded perimeter; instead, it was only separated... from access to life, and to the thought of Heaven - the only fruitful Centre of gravity.

Tremendous vocation, so unheard of and perilous to the point of mortal risk - to arouse indignation, for every ideology of power: that weighs down the spontaneous and mysterious vitality of today, even broken, bitter, downgraded.

In its ambitious and agonistic reality, aiming to prevail [all decorum, pirouettes, opportunism, reputation] the established institution would not succeed in conveying to Christians the specific sense of their Faith. It imposes itself in the heart, even though it seems deplorable.

The worldly gears distorted and rendered unrecognisable the identity of the paradisiacal condition, confused and bartered with that of the one who wins, towers above, receives honours - without any qualitative leap about the authenticity of the One Subject of history.

The Pharisees of all times and creeds still orient themselves on the basis of titles and honours.

The Man-God reflects a different inclination from the expectations of so many sedentary, mundane, mimetic synagogues, who do everything they can to stand up and avoid the low.

"To die in sin" means to close oneself in the criteria that exclude true honour: that of total self-giving - for a further and widespread outcome.

Clear key point of the Son's life, claiming human-divine fullness (v.28).

To the question "Who are you?" Christ answers by giving an appointment of complete Life, on Calvary.

For those of us who feel it pulsating within, the same gratuitousness will not be the impossible fruit of a voluntarist choice, but of discipleship in respect of the personal Vocation - which seeks and makes room for the new kingdom.

Wise discipleship will lead each one from the religious experience of useless and deadly submission to the adventure of Faith in the Lord, with no more qualms that would hinder the journey towards self and neighbour.

With the Son of Man lifted up, we will pass from the dull and deadened life of servants to that of friends, therefore brothers (cf. Jn 13:13; 15:15; 20:17).

To internalise and live the message:

When you are questioned about your identity as a being, do you commit yourself to parading titles and goals?

What does it mean for you to be from down here or up there?