(Mk 9:14-29)

How do we adjust to powerlessness in the face of the dramas of humanity? Even in the journey of Faith, at a certain point in our journey we perceive an irrepressible need to transform ourselves.

We want to realise our being more fully, and to do good, even to others. It is an innate urge.

The need for life does not arise from reasoning: it arises spontaneously, so that new situations, other parts of us, emerge.

Change is a law of nature, of every Seed.

Such motion 'calls' to us from the depths of our Core, so that we come to change balances, convictions, ways of going about things that have had their day.

Such a call can be answered by making ourselves available, in order to discover different points of view. Even external ones, but starting from the discovery of a kind of 'new self' that actually lay in the shadows of our virtues.

Energies that we had not yet allowed to breathe.

Conversely, we may instinctively oppose this process, due to various fears, and then every affair becomes difficult; like an obstacle course.

Finally, in our itinerary of transformation we often encounter opposition from others, who may appear more experienced than us...

They appear to be experts and veterans, yet they too are 'frightened' by the fact that we do not intend to stop at the post already dictated.

In any case, the drive for change will not let go.

We will take new actions, express different opinions, show opposite sides of the personality; we will leave more room for the life wave.

No more compromises, even if others may doubt that we have become 'tortuous'.

In short, what power does the coming of the choice of Faith have in life, even in the midst of people's disbelief?

And - as in the Gospel passage - in the unbelieving scepticism [of the apostles themselves, who would be the first to manifest it]?

Even today, some old 'characters' and guides are falling by the wayside, displaced by the new onset of awareness, or by changing enigmas, and different units of measurement.

The old 'form' no longer satisfies. On the contrary, it produces malaise. But there is around - precisely - a whole system of expectations, even 'spiritual', or at least rather conformist 'religious' ones.

What is the point, if even we priests are no longer reassuring? And what does God think?

The messianicity of Christ and Salvation itself belong to the sphere of Faith and Prayer.

They are the realms of intimate listening, acute perception, trusting spousal acceptance, and liberating drive.

The Master himself - fluid and concrete - did not immerse himself in the system of rigid social [mutual] expectations of his time, and decided to step out of the 'group'.

On this point, Jesus rails against the mediocrity and peak-less action - all predictable - of his own (vv.18-19) and is forced to start again from scratch (vv.28-29).

Of course, perhaps the others also lack creative Faith without inflection and turbulence, but at least they recognise it (v.24) and with extreme reserve wish to be helped, well before becoming teachers of others (v.14).

Sometimes the very intimates of the true Master, perhaps still poorly versed in the great signs of God, seek only the hosanna of roles, and consent in spectacularity.

So much so that "having entered into His house", that is, into His Church (v.28), He must begin again to do basic catechism [perhaps pre-catechism, precisely to His leaders].

Without wanting to concede any outside festivals to the crowds, as the 'intimates' would probably have done.

The passage is structured along the lines of the early catechumenal liturgies.

The Lord wants people enslaved by normal thinking, power ideology and false religion to be brought to Him (v.19) and demands the Faith of those who lead them (vv.23-24).

The beginner goes through a life overhaul that "contorts" and "brings one to the ground".

This is because one can be plagued by dirigiste, unwise, covertly manipulative - despite being ineffective and underneath insecure - 'spiritual' guides.

Then it is a real heartbreak to discover that from childhood (v.21) we have been governed by a mortifying model - made up of easy classifications, which however do not realise, but dehumanise.

Perhaps we too have been conditioned by unwise directors.

And it was only through arduous, harrowing experiences that we discovered that precisely what we had been taught as sublime - and capable of assuring us communion with God - was conversely the primary cause of detachment from Him, and from a more harmonious and full personal and ecclesial existence.

In order to be liberated and rise to new life (v.27), the candidate of the path of Faith passes as if through a death - a sort of baptismal immersion, which drowns his old [de facto] paganising formation.

At the time of Mk many spoke of the expulsion of demons.In the typology of the new baptism, the community of Rome wanted to express the goal of the Glad Tidings of the Gospels: to help people rise up - freeing themselves from the conditioning fears of evil.

That is not the real power.

In the passage, the child's deafness and muteness indicate the lack of the 'Word' that becomes an 'event' - unceasing, growing life, capable of transforming the marked, standard fate of 'earth'.

A lack that exists both among the bewildered people and - unfortunately - first and foremost among the disciples, sick of protagonism and one-sidedness.

The young man's very behaviour (vv.18.20.26) traces the existential modes of people subjugated by invincible forces, because they are self-destructive - thus in the grip of obsessive, unrelenting lacerations.

Contrary to the quintessence of personal character.

It is a harrowing situation indeed: that of those who discover they have been deceived by a religiosity of all-too-common convictions - with the epidermic, persuasive trick of herd or mass directions.

The coming of the Kingdom of God already meant the coming of an 'internal' power stronger than the Roman army itself, whose legions were used precisely to maintain situations of civil oppression, even religious fear.

Even today, a no-holds-barred struggle rages between the drives that induce deep-seated illnesses [like something that has taken hold of us] and the presence of the Messiah.

The two opposite poles cannot stand each other; they spark.

But the solution is not to amaze the crowds, nor is it to attempt to remake things that finally return to sacralising the status quo.

Thus, it sometimes seems that we are in no condition to initiate genuine healing processes (v.18b).

Yet evil does not give way by miracle and clamour, nor by man's force or insistence, but by attunement and Gift (v.29). From internal powers-events.

Here is the space of prayer-hearing.

Prayer brings one out of the confines and puts one in contact with other energies and surprises that one was not aware of: innate virtues and Grace, which allow one to see every situation with other eyes, liberated.

For solutions that solve real problems, from within, we constantly need not conformist rules, but a new reading. 

Here is the dissymmetrical gaze.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (i): 'The Tao [way of conduct] that can be said is not the Eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name'. Master Wang Pi comments: 'An effable Tao indicates a practice.

Our life is not about the initiative of what we are already able to set up and practice - or interpret, design and predict (vv.14-19) - but about Attention (v.29).

The "mountain" to be moved [parallel v. Mt 17:20 - cf. Mt 19:20ff; Mk 10:20ff; Lk 18:21ff] is not outside, but within us.

In this way, the conformist idea that discourages us, or all obstacles (instead of harming us) will be precious opportunities for growth.

We will be at the centre of the reality of Incarnation.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you live your conflicts? What is your healing experience?

To overcome that "something of unbelief",

and "putting meat on the fire"

Miracles still exist today. But to enable the Lord to perform them there is a need for courageous prayer, capable of overcoming that "something of unbelief" that dwells in the heart of every man, even if he is a man of faith. A prayer especially for those who suffer from wars, persecutions and every other drama that shakes society today. But prayer must "put flesh on the fire", that is, involve our person and commit our whole life, to overcome unbelief [...].

Returning to the Gospel episode, the Holy Father reproposed the question of the disciples who had not been able to drive out the evil spirit from the young man: "But why could we not drive it out? This kind of demons, Jesus explained, cannot be driven out in any way except by prayer". And the boy's father "said: I believe Lord, help my unbelief". His was "a strong prayer; and this prayer, humble and strong, enables Jesus to perform the miracle. The prayer to ask for an extraordinary action,' the Pontiff explained, 'must be a prayer that involves all of us, as if we were committing our whole life to it. In prayer we must put meat on the fire'.

The Pontiff then recounted an episode that happened in Argentina: "I remember something that happened three years ago in the sanctuary of Luján. A seven-year-old girl had fallen ill, but the doctors could not find a solution. She was getting worse and worse, until one evening, the doctors said there was nothing more they could do and that she only had a few hours to live. "The father, who was an electrician, a man of faith, became like mad. And driven by that madness he took the bus and went to the sanctuary of Luján, two and a half hours by bus, seventy kilometres away. He arrived at nine in the evening and found everything closed. And he began to pray with his hands clinging to the iron gate. He was praying and crying. So he stayed the whole night. This man was fighting with God. He was really struggling with God for the healing of his maiden. Then at six in the morning he went to the terminal and took the bus. He arrived at the hospital at nine o'clock, more or less. He found his wife crying and thought the worst: what happened? I don't understand. What happened? The doctors came, his wife told him, and they said the fever is gone, she's breathing well, there's nothing.... They will only keep her another two days. But they don't understand what has happened. And this,' the Pope commented, 'still happens. There are miracles. But prayer is needed! A courageous prayer, one that struggles to reach that miracle, not those prayers out of courtesy: Ah, I will pray for you! Then a Pater Noster, an Ave Maria and I forget. No! It takes courageous prayer, like that of Abraham who wrestled with the Lord to save the city; like that of Moses who prayed with his hands up and tired praying to the Lord; like that of so many people who have faith and with faith pray, pray".

Prayer works miracles, "but," Pope Francis concluded, "we must believe it. I think we can make a beautiful prayer, not a prayer out of courtesy, but a prayer with the heart, and say to Him today throughout the day: I believe Lord! Help my unbelief. We all have unbelief in our hearts. Let us say to the Lord: I believe, I believe! You can! Help my unbelief. And when we are asked to pray for so many people who suffer in wars, in their plight as refugees, in all these dramas we pray, but with our hearts, and we say: Lord, do. I believe, Lord. But help my unbelief".

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 20-21/05/2013].

Dear Young People, Dear Pilgrims of Trust, welcome to Rome,

You have come in large numbers from the whole of Europe and also from other continents to pray at the tombs of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Indeed it was in this city that they both poured out their blood for Christ. The faith that motivated these two great Apostles of Jesus is the same faith that inspired you to set out. For the year which is about to begin, you plan to open the sources of trust in God in order to live them out in daily life. I rejoice that in this way you are complying with the intention of the Year of Faith that began in October.

It is the fourth time that you have held a European Meeting in Rome. On this occasion I would like to repeat to you the words that my Predecessor Blessed John Paul II spoke to the young people at your Third Meeting in Rome: “the Pope is deeply committed with you to this Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth…. I too am called to be a pilgrim of trust in the name of Christ” (30 December 1987, ORE, 23 Jan. 1988, p.4).

Just over seventy years ago, Brother Roger established the Taizé Community. Thousands of young people from all over the world continue to go there to seek meaning for their lives. The Brothers welcome them to share in their prayer and provide them with an opportunity to experience a personal relationship with God. It was to support these young people on their journey to Christ that Brother Roger had the idea of starting a “pilgrimage of trust on earth”.

A tireless witness to the Gospel of peace and reconciliation, ardently committed to an ecumenism of holiness, Brother Roger encouraged all those who passed through Taizé to become seekers of communion. We should listen in our hearts to his spiritually lived ecumenism, and let ourselves be guided by his witness towards an ecumenism which is truly interiorized and spiritualized. Following his example, may all of you be bearers of this message of unity. I assure you of the irrevocable commitment of the Catholic Church to continue seeking the paths of reconciliation leading to the visible unity of Christians. And so this evening I greet with special affection those among you who are Orthodox or Protestants.

[French] Today Christ is asking you the same question that he asked his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”. Peter, by whose tomb we are gathered at this moment, answered this question: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:15-16). And his whole life became a tangible answer to this question. Christ also hopes to receive from each one of you a response that does not come from compulsion or fear but from your deep inner freedom. In answering this question your life will find its strongest meaning. The text of St John’s Letter that we have just heard enables us to understand with great simplicity, concisely, how to answer. “We should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another” (1 Jn 3:23). Believing and loving God and others! What could be more uplifting? What could be more beautiful?

During these days in Rome may you be able to let this “yes” to Christ well up in your hearts, in particular by making the most of the long moments of silence that have an important place in your prayers together, after listening to the word of God. This word, Peter’s Second Letter says, is like “a lamp shining in a dark place” which you do well to look at “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (1:19). You see, if the morning star has to rise in your hearts it means that it is not always there. Sometimes the evil and suffering of the innocent stir up in you doubt and confusion. And saying “yes” to Christ can become difficult. Yet this doubt does not make you nonbelievers! Jesus did not reject the man in the Gospel who cried: “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24).

[German] To ensure that you do not lose heart in this battle, God does not leave you helpless and isolated. He gives all of us the joy and comfort of the Church’s communion. During your stay in Rome, thanks especially to the generous hospitality of so many parishes and religious communities, you are having a new experience of Church. On returning home, I invite you to discover in your various regions that God makes you all co-responsible for his Church in the whole range of your vocations. This communion which is the Body of Christ needs you and you have your own place in it. Starting with your gifts, with what is specific to each one of you, the Holy Spirit forms and breathes life into this mystery of communion which is the Church in order to communicate the Good News of the Gospel to the world today.

[Polish] Like silence, singing has an important place in your community prayers. In these days the songs of Taizé are filling the basilicas of Rome. Singing is a support and an incomparable expression of prayer. In singing to Christ, you also open yourselves to the mystery of his hope. Do not be afraid to precede the dawn in praise of God, you will not be disappointed.

Dear young friends, Christ does not take you away from the world. He sends you wherever his light is lacking so that you may take it to others. Yes, you are all called to be small lights for those around you. With your attention to a fairer distribution of the earth’s resources, with your commitment to justice and to a new human solidarity, you will help all those around you to understand better that the Gospel leads us at the same time both to God and to others. Thus, with your faith, you will help make trust spring up on this earth. 

[French] May you therefore be full of hope! God bless you, as well as your family and your friends!

[Meeting with the young people of Taizé, Rome 29 December 2012]

1. The "miracles and signs" that Jesus performed to confirm his messianic mission and the coming of the kingdom of God are ordered and closely linked to the call to faith. This call in relation to the miracle has two forms: faith precedes the miracle, indeed it is a condition for it to take place; faith constitutes an effect of the miracle, because it is provoked by it in the souls of those who received it, or witnessed it.

It is well known that faith is man's response to the word of divine revelation. The miracle occurs in organic connection with this revealing word of God. It is a 'sign' of his presence and working, a sign, one might say, that is particularly intense. All this sufficiently explains the special link that exists between the "miracle-signs" of Christ and faith: a link so clearly delineated in the Gospels.

2. There is in fact a long series of texts in the Gospels in which the call to faith appears as an indispensable and systematic coefficient of Christ's miracles.

At the beginning of this series are the pages concerning the Mother of Christ in her behaviour at Cana of Galilee, and before that - and above all - at the moment of the annunciation. One could say that it is precisely here that one finds the culminating point of her adherence to the faith, which will find its confirmation in the words of Elizabeth during the visitation: 'And blessed is she who believed in the fulfilment of the words of the Lord' (Lk 1:45). Yes, Mary believed like no other, being convinced that "nothing is impossible to God" (cf. Lk 1:37).

And at Cana of Galilee her faith anticipated, in a certain sense, the hour of Christ's revelation. Through his intercession, that first miracle-sign took place, thanks to which Jesus' disciples "believed in him" (Jn 2:11). If the Second Vatican Council teaches that Mary constantly precedes the people of God on the paths of faith (cf. Lumen Gentium, 58.63; Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Redemptoris Mater, 5-6), we can say that the first foundation for this assertion is already found in the Gospel, which reports "miracle-signs" in Mary and for Mary in relation to the call to faith.

3. This call is repeated many times. . To the leader of the synagogue, Jairus, who came to ask for his daughter's return to life, Jesus says: "Do not be afraid, only continue to have faith!" (and he says "do not be afraid" because some advised Jairus against turning to Jesus) (Mk 5:36).

When the father of the epileptic asks for the healing of his son, saying: "But if you can anything . . . help us", Jesus replies: "If you can! Everything is possible for those who believe". Then we have the beautiful act of faith in Christ of this tried man: "I believe, help me in my unbelief!" (cf. Mk 9:22-24).

Finally, we recall Jesus' well-known conversation with Martha before the resurrection of Lazarus: "I am the resurrection and the life . . . Do you believe this? . . Yes, O Lord, I believe . . ." (cf. Jn 11:25-27).

4. The same link between the "miracle-sign" and faith is confirmed by other negative facts. Let us recall some of them. In Mark's Gospel we read that Jesus in Nazareth "could perform no miracle, but only laid hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled at their unbelief" (Mk 6:5-6).

We know the gentle rebuke Jesus once addressed to Peter: "Man of little faith, why did you doubt?". This happened when Peter, who at first went boldly on the waves towards Jesus, then by the violence of the wind became afraid and began to sink" (cf. Mt 14:29-31).

5. Jesus emphasises more than once that the miracle he performed is linked to faith. "Your faith has healed you", he says to the woman who had been suffering from haemorrhaging for twelve years and who, when she came up behind him, touched the hem of his cloak and was healed (cf. Mt 9:20-22; Lk 8:48; Mk 5:34).

Similar words Jesus pronounced while healing blind Bartimaeus, who at the exit from Jericho insistently asked for his help, crying out: "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!" (cf. Mk 10, 46-52). According to Mark: "Go, your faith has saved you", Jesus answers him. And Luke specifies the answer: "Have sight again! Your faith has saved you" (Lk 18:42).

He makes an identical statement to the Samaritan healed of leprosy (Lk 17:19). While to two other blind men pleading to regain their sight, Jesus asks: "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, O Lord!" . "Let it be done to you according to your faith" (Mt 9:28-29).

6. Particularly touching is the episode of the Canaanite woman, who did not cease to ask Jesus' help for her daughter "cruelly tormented by a demon". When the Canaanite woman prostrated herself before Jesus to ask him for help, he replied: 'It is not good to take the bread of the children to throw it to the little dogs' (this was a reminder of the ethnic diversity between Israelites and Canaanites, which Jesus, son of David, could not ignore in his practical behaviour, but to which he alluded in a methodological function to provoke faith). And here the woman intuitively comes to an unusual act of faith and humility. She says: 'It is true, Lord . . . but even little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table'. Faced with such a humble, gracious and confident word, Jesus replies: 'Woman, truly great is your faith! May it be done to you as you wish" (cf. Mt 15:21-28).

It is an event difficult to forget, especially when one thinks of the countless "Canaanites" of every time, country, colour and social condition, who reach out their hand to ask for understanding and help in their needs!

7. Note how in the Gospel narrative it is continually emphasised that Jesus, when he "sees faith", performs the miracle. This is clearly stated in the case of the paralytic lowered to his feet through the opening in the roof (cf. Mk 2:5; Mt 9:2; Lk 5:20). But the observation can be made in many other cases recorded by the evangelists. The factor of faith is indispensable; but as soon as it occurs, the heart of Jesus is outstretched to fulfil the requests of the needy who turn to him for help with his divine power.

8. Once again we see that, as we said at the beginning, the miracle is a "sign" of God's power and love that saves man in Christ. But because of this, it is at the same time a call to man to faith. It must lead both the one who is miraculously saved and the witnesses of the miracle to believe.

This applies to the apostles themselves, right from the first "sign" given by Jesus in Cana of Galilee: it was then that they "believed in him" (John 2: 11). Then, when the miraculous multiplication of the loaves took place near Capernaum, with which the heralding of the Eucharist is connected, the evangelist notes that "from then on, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him", not being able to accept a language that seemed too "harsh" to them. Jesus then asked the Twelve: "Perhaps you also want to leave?". Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words to eternal life, we have believed and known that you are the Holy One of God" (cf. Jn 6:66-69). The principle of faith is thus fundamental in the relationship with Christ, both as a condition for obtaining the miracle and as the purpose for which it is performed. This is made very clear at the end of John's Gospel, where we read: "Many other signs did Jesus do in the presence of his disciples, but they were not written in this book. These have been written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, believing, you may have life in his name" (John 20: 30-31).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 16 December 1987]

Miracles still exist today. But to enable the Lord to perform them there is a need for courageous prayer, capable of overcoming that "something of unbelief" that dwells in the heart of every man, even if he is a man of faith. A prayer especially for those who suffer from wars, persecutions and every other drama that shakes society today. But prayer must "put flesh on the fire", that is, involve our person and commit our whole life, to overcome unbelief. This was the recommendation given by Pope Francis to those who attended the Mass celebrated this morning, Monday 20 May, in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

In his homily, the Pontiff reflected on unbelief starting from the account in Mark's Gospel (9:14-29) about a young man possessed by the evil spirit and delivered by Christ. "It is not the first time," said the Holy Father, "that Jesus complains about unbelief: O unbelieving generations! So many times he said it'; and he suffered greatly from this unbelief towards his words, his message. "They loved him, the crowds went to greet him. They loved him but to a certain extent. They were not risking too much in their faith towards him. They were not risking. And Jesus suffered for that, didn't he? It is powerful what he says today: O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? Until when shall I endure you?".

The Pope then noted that Jesus is serious in his rebuke. Indeed, he addresses the disciples firmly and asks them to bring the possessed young man before him. "He takes things into his own hands" and when "Jesus takes things into his own hands, they go well". But how does one get the Lord to take things into his hands? Of course it is not easy, precisely because unbelief comes into play. "But why this unbelief?" the Pope wondered again. "Everyone saw that Jesus did miracles, so many beautiful things. Jesus' words were so beautiful and they reached the heart'. And it is indeed a question of the heart: 'I believe,' said the bishop of Rome, 'that it is precisely the heart that does not open, the closed heart, the heart that wants to have everything under control'. We are 'afraid to fail'. The Pontiff recalled in this regard what happened on Resurrection Sunday, 'when Jesus comes among his disciples in the cenacle. Luke says: There was so much joy that they could not believe. They were afraid that this joy was a dream, that it was a fantasy, that it was not Jesus...'.

Returning to the Gospel episode, the Holy Father reproposed the question of the disciples who had not been able to drive the evil spirit away from the young man: "But why could we not drive it out? This kind of demons, Jesus explained, cannot be driven out in any way except by prayer". And the boy's father "said: I believe Lord, help my unbelief". His was "a strong prayer; and this prayer, humble and strong, enables Jesus to perform the miracle. The prayer to ask for an extraordinary action,' the Pontiff explained, 'must be a prayer that involves all of us, as if we were committing our whole life to it. In prayer we must put meat on the fire'.

The Pontiff then recounted an episode that happened in Argentina: "I remember something that happened three years ago in the sanctuary of Luján. A seven-year-old girl had fallen ill, but the doctors could not find a solution. She was getting worse and worse, until one evening, the doctors said there was nothing more they could do and that she only had a few hours to live. "The father, who was an electrician, a man of faith, became like mad. And driven by that madness he took the bus and went to the sanctuary of Luján, two and a half hours by bus, seventy kilometres away. He arrived at nine in the evening and found everything closed. And he began to pray with his hands clinging to the iron gate. He was praying and crying. So he stayed the whole night. This man was fighting with God. He was really struggling with God for the healing of his maiden. Then at six in the morning he went to the terminal and took the bus. He arrived at the hospital at nine o'clock, more or less. He found his wife crying and thought the worst: what happened? I don't understand. What happened? The doctors came, his wife told him, and they said the fever is gone, she's breathing well, there's nothing.... They will only keep her for two more days. But they don't understand what has happened. And this,' the Pope commented, 'still happens. There are miracles. But prayer is needed! A courageous prayer, which struggles to reach that miracle, not those prayers out of courtesy: Ah, I will pray for you! Then a Pater Noster, an Ave Maria and I forget. No! It takes a courageous prayer, like that of Abraham who wrestled with the Lord to save the city; like that of Moses who prayed with his hands up and tired praying to the Lord; like that of so many people who have faith and with faith pray, pray".

Prayer works miracles, "but," Pope Francis concluded, "we must believe it. I think we can make a beautiful prayer, not a prayer out of courtesy, but a prayer with the heart, and say to Him today throughout the day: I believe Lord! Help my unbelief. We all have unbelief in our hearts. Let us say to the Lord: I believe, I believe! You can! Help my unbelief. And when we are asked to pray for so many people who suffer in wars, in their plight as refugees, in all these dramas we pray, but with our hearts, and we say: Lord, do. I believe, Lord. But help my unbelief".

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 20-21/05/2013]

Get ahead and Forgive forward

(Lk 6:27-38)

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a wounding Beauty and an abnormal, prominent Happiness. But only those who know to wait will find their way.

Not opposing the wicked allows one to experience the Beatitudes (Lk 6:20-26) - antidote to one-sided relationships; however, tolerating becomes impossible if we do not allow an innate Energy to develop.

Greek text of Lk does not speak of ‘merits’ [cf. Italian translation 1974] or even of ‘gratitude’ [It. translation 2008] but rather of «Gratuity» (vv. 31.33-34)!

Of course, it is not easy to understand the meaning of the Gift, of the Free.

Yet here the flowering will be without forcing, because in the infinitely repeated repaying there is no wisdom that reads inside; in the overthrow, yes.

New experience of God is that of a genuine creative Love, which ceaselessly throws away, introduces new powers, and incredibly turns everything upside down.

It will not be the effort that will make us stay where the perfect Vocation wants us to dwell, but a correspondence - even in the swings.

Outside and within us there is another territory, where the affinity of waiting meets God's plan.

The spiral of returning the offense can occupy all of our space. Thus it dulls the ability to match the new ringing of the Call.

It takes away our perception, all the listening to the News of God which is in its infancy.

Generating all our confusions, the Salvation pales. History which vice versa is creating an unprecedented one: it’s cut at the root.

To grasp the very rhythm of God (which wisely creates), souls must wait the step of things, which mature in linear terms until they overturn or multiply - in an exclusive and unprecedented way.

The events themselves regenerate spontaneously, outside and even within us; useless to force. The growth and destination continues also thanks to the spring of mockery and external constraints.

Then, firmness in acceptance becomes the source of a new child - of an unexpected Genesis that is just intertwining its first roots with that swampy soil.

Suspension experienced in the Mystery opens our destiny of foolishness already decreed to trust in a new, unrepeatable Act of Being.

It opens up the unexpected Sense, in a climate of inventiveness that flies over the action-reaction instinct. This is so that the chain of normality doesn’t take over the prodigy.

Non-violence is therefore not a norm of mere delicacy, but rather a higher Arrow, which indicates a non-mechanical direction of Research, which advances from discovery to discovery.

Allowing everyone to pass on, creates the right detachment so that when we are ready, the time will come to realize: our mortification was a crossroads. It opened destiny to a less short hope, expanding life.

If others are not as we have dreamed of, it’s fortunate: the doors slammed in the face and their goad put us in contact with profound virtues, and with the resources that we have not yet given space to.

Betrayals, harassment, spite, revenge, outrage, mortification suffered... which would like to make us restless and dishearten... are preparing our development, and many other joys.

"Win-or-lose" alternative is false: we have to get out of it.

Forgiveness ahead: do not mark boundaries

Exemplary Encounter and Life at the Unknown Climax

(Lk 6:36-38)

Is it possible to put the Gospel under exemplary «Measure» - eg. of Law (retributive) or of the First Testament and Tradition?

No, a Family would not be built. And the culmination of this kind of experience would be ethnic or elitist prerogative.

Configuration and proposal that would give birth everywhere to a gray, slavish, fragile world; incapable of dialogue, and unknown discoveries.

After feeling separated by a humanizing and divine quality of life, only the awareness of reconciliation can transform environments and persons.

Such is the living and actualized Jesus, in community.

He introduces his intimates into a new experience of fluid understanding, devoid of pride.

Without actually assuming affected or photocopied attitudes.

It’s then that Humility effortlessly floods us, bringing Charity to the summit - in the celestial setting of the Gratis that moves the gaze.

By suppressing and suppressing, the artifices inexorably close the joy of living.

They harness Happiness in "ways", in the endless accentuation of efforts - against themselves, and opposing the world of others.

Conventions, standard duties and reactions, never contain the benevolent, incisive energies of growth.

In the lives of Saints we see it: listening to oneself thoroughly, letting it be... and forgiveness, they increase love a hundredfold.

It becomes a source of incredible gestures in favor of one's neighbor; in the noticing accentuated, in the care, in the free hospitality, in the total and unrestricted gift.

There has always been a need for the contribution of new virtues and situations - even intimate ones - of their surprises.

Not discarding the nonsense of others… means having learned to welcome our own frailties and oppositions.

The world begins to change when we accept ourselves, in the experience of the God-with-us’ esteem.

Thus we learn to perceive Beauty, instead of aridity and detachment: what makes life more intense and at the same time sliding.

Even the knowledge of God is not an asset of confiscation or an acquired science, already internally and externally foreclosed.

It moves from one action to another, incessantly; takes place in an encounter that is always alive, which neither blocks nor dissolves us.

It’s the future world’s beginning; principle of an unpredictable adventure.

God's Newness that creates an environment of Grace - with enormous possibilities, bursting forth from diverse energies.

It bursts in to break up primates and stagnant balances.

It does so through an impossible opening of credit - with a lordship of qualities and perspectives - which regenerate and reactivate people, families, fraternities; the whole world.

Principle of Catholicity, understood as a wide field.

Pearls of the new Pastoral, helping not to mark borders.

Yeast dough. Not self-referential.

[7th Sunday in O.T. (year C), February 23, 2025]

Want to go ahead of me? Have a seat

(Lk 6:27-38)

"Win-or-lose" alternative is false: one must move on.

Not opposing the wicked allows one to experience the Beatitudes (Lk 6:20-26) - the antidote to one-sided relationships; but this is impossible if we do not allow an innate Energy to develop.

The Tao says: "If you want to be given everything, give up everything". In the infinitely repeated reciprocation, there is no wisdom reading in; in the reversal, yes.

The Greek text of Lk does not speak of "merits" (cf. translation CEI 1974) nor of "gratitude" (translation CEI 2008), but of "Gratitude" (vv.31.33-34)!

Of course, it is not easy to understand the meaning of the Gift, of Gratuity: but the Master does not want us only to become more capable of thankfulness and well-behaved.

Jesus in us is not simply concerned with changing the situation and softening it: he wants to replace the whole system of spurious things and artificial, mannered relationships.

Otherwise nothing would be changed, nothing would be radically reversed; quite the contrary: in the goodness of circumstance the superstructures that alienate us would be strengthened.

The new experience of God is that of a genuine creative Love, which ceaselessly tosses up, introduces new powers, and incredibly turns everything upside down.

There is a greater Justice: living in the new position that the tide of life and Providence chisel out for each of us.

It is not effort that will make us stand where the (truly perfect) Vocation wants us to dwell, but a slow correspondence - even in the swings.

Outside and inside us there is another territory, where the affinity of the Waiting meets the Design of God: this after a time of Silence that intensely lives the today by grasping its depth, intuiting it as the unpredictable root of tomorrow.

There is another realm, where condescension meets new drives, cosmic and acutely personal; Profile of the Living.

This goes through a pause, which becomes root and sap of the most exclusive future.

The spiral of returning offence can occupy all our space. Thus it dampens the capacity to correspond to the new jingle of the Call.

It takes away our perception, our whole listening to the Newness of God that is in the dawning.

By generating confusions of our own, it pales the History of Salvation that is on the contrary creating a newness: it cuts it off at the root.

This is why the Lord orders the subversion of the customs of ancient religiosity, of its own impetus; of the divisions involved (acceptable or not, friends or enemies, near or far, pure and impure, sacred and profane, etc.).

The divine Kingdom starts from the Seed, not from outward gestures or forms; nor does it use conformist sweeteners, which leave roles untouched.

In order to grasp the very rhythm of God (who wisely creates) souls must take the pace of things, which mature in linear terms until they overthrow or multiply - not in a 'printed' way, but in a personal way.

The events themselves regenerate spontaneously, outside and even within us; no need to force it. Growth and destination also remain thanks to the spring of external mockeries and constraints.

In the Tao Tê Ching we read: 'If you want to obtain something, you must first allow it to be given to others. Flowering will be without compulsion.

So, steadfastness in the tribulation, acceptance and forbearance of profiteers, the superficial and the vain becomes the offspring of a new child, of an unthought-of Genesis that is just weaving its first roots with that very marshy soil.

From ingots nothing is born, from the obstinate the usual things are born, from the hasty the exact opposite; from dung new flowers are born, which we did not even plant.

The suspension experienced in Mystery opens our fate of already decreed foolishness to trust in a new, unrepeatable Act of Being.

It opens up the Meaning that you do not expect, in a climate of inventiveness that glosses over the action-reaction instinct - so that the chain of normality does not take over the prodigy of vocational Identity, of our character and realisation.

Non-violence is thus not a norm of mere exquisiteness of mind, but a superior Arrow, pointing in a direction of non-mechanical Research, which advances from discovery to discovery.

The truly exemplary life is always of a different kind, out of the ordinary.

Letting everyone, even opportunists and holiness actors, get ahead does not immediately put us in the saddle or in the shop window, but neither will it ultimately make us pay too much in person.

It creates the right detachment so that when we are ready, the time will come when we will realise that our mortification was a crossroads: it opened up our destiny to a less short-lived, life-expanding hope.

The Tao says: "New beginnings are often disguised as painful losses [but] what is yielding overcomes what is hard. The slow overcomes the fast'.If the others are not as we dreamed, it is fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their sting put us in touch with our deepest virtues, with the resources to which we have not yet given space.

Betrayals, abuses, spite, revenge, outrages, mortifications... that would like to make us uneasy and dishearten us... are preparing our development, and much more joy.

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a Beauty that wounds and an abnormal, prominent Happiness. But only those who know how to wait find their Way.

Forgiveness ahead: not marking boundaries

Exemplary encounter and Life at the unknown summit

(Lk 6:36-38)

Is it possible to put the Gospel under exemplary "Measure" - e.g. of (retributive) Law or of First Testament and Tradition?

No, it would not build Family. And the culmination of this kind of experience would be an ethnic or elitist prerogative.

Configuration and proposal that would give birth everywhere to a grey, slavish, fragile world; incapable of dialogue and unknown discoveries.

After feeling separated from a humanising and divine quality of life, only the awareness of reconciliation can transform environments and people.

Such is the living Jesus in community.

He immerses his intimates in a new experience of fluid understanding, devoid of pride - despite being 'devout'.

Without, in fact, assuming prissy or photocopied attitudes.

It is then that humility effortlessly floods us, bringing Charity to the summit: in the heavenly setting of the Gratis that shifts the gaze.

By suppressing, artifices inexorably close off the joy of living.

They harness it in manners, in the endless accentuation of effort - against oneself, and against the world of others.

Conventions, standard duties and reactions, never contain the benevolent, incisive energies of growth.

In the lives of the saints we see it: listening deeply, letting it be... and Forgiveness, they increase love a hundredfold.

It becomes the source of incredible gestures in favour of one's neighbour; in the accentuated realisation, in the care, in the free hospitality, in the total and unstinting gift.

There is always a need for the contribution of new energies and situations - even intimate ones - and their surprises.

Not discarding the naiveté of others means having learnt to welcome our own frailties and oppositions.

The world begins to change when we accept ourselves, in the experience of the appreciation of the God-With-We.

This is how we learn to perceive beauty, instead of dryness and detachment: that which makes life more intense and at the same time smooth.

Even the knowledge of God is not a confiscated commodity or an acquired science, already inwardly and outwardly foreclosed.

It moves from one action and another, unceasingly; it is realised in an ever-living Encounter, which neither blocks nor dissolves the personality of each one.

The criterion of acceptance (albeit of varied goods for the soul), the principle of remission, coexistence, communion (even of multiple, even material resources) have been the main catalysts for growth.

Right from the earliest churches, the vector of mercy, even in summary, in petty things, was the source and meaning of all the formulas, of all the signs of the nascent liturgy itself.

The existential and spiritual centre to which to converge.

Here was the reconciliation of friction between customs and less closed conceptions, between bell towers and internal tribes, traditionalists and avant-gardists; and so on.

In the Spirit of Providence, every composition is not simply a work of magnanimity proper to those who seek always to look ahead.

It is the beginning of the future world; the beginning of an unforeseeable and unspeakable adventure, even a scapegoat.

And we in such a kingdom are suddenly reborn. Reborn; as if sprung from the new humanity, the condition of authentic children.

Generated again by the Father, who grants everything and everyone: because we have come into frank contact, in the Person of Christ.

In short, Christian Forgiveness is not the common 'positive look'. Nor does it have anything to do with so-called 'positive thinking'.

Tolerance of children is not a simplistic 'going beyond' in an artificial sense. As in pretending nothing has happened and turning a blind eye [in a blunt, sometimes intimately contemptuous manner].

The spirit of understanding to which we are called does not derive from good-natured paternalism, which only saves manners.

It is God's newness that creates an environment of Grace - with enormous possibilities, bursting forth from diverse energies.

Novelty that breaks through to shatter primates, stagnant balances.

It does so through an impossible opening of credit - with a lordship of qualities and perspectives.

Scenarios that regenerate and reactivate individuals, families, fraternities; the whole world.

All so that we are freely placed in the position and reciprocity that enables us to reveal the hidden - astounding - meaning of being and vocation.

The very reason why we were born.

Per-gifting is a surplus restitution of all lost dignity. Indeed, far beyond.It does not just put us back on our feet; it does not just restore. It enhances and strengthens the dull.

It transforms the mediocre or those who approach despite having a different sensibility, heavy baggage, and the voiceless... into outriders and brilliant inventors.

Because what was unthought of yesterday, tomorrow will be clarifying and driving force.

In the wake of different visions or expectations, confusions will make sense.

The thinning of the fog will not be achieved by normal, enlisted hearts, always indulgent towards themselves but stern when someone touches their interests and habitual automatisms.

The work of healing, of recovering the scattered being - the therapy of real problems - will arise rather through the work of the despised and intruders.

Scorned, despised, eccentric, shaky - out of every turn and predictability.

Leavened dough. Not self-referential.

These are the authentic virtuosos. Principle of Catholicity, understood as a wide field.

The Pearls of the New Pastoral: those who help not to mark too many ideal boundaries.

"There is a happy formula of St. Vincent de Lérins who, comparing the growing human being and the Tradition that is transmitted from one generation to the next, affirms that one cannot preserve the "deposit of faith" without making it progress: "consolidating with the years, developing with time, deepening with age" (Commonitorium primum, 23.9) - "ut annis consolidetur, dilatetur tempore, sublimetur aetate". This is the style of our walk: realities, if they do not walk, are like waters. Theological realities are like water: if water does not flow and is stale, it is the first to go rotten. A stale Church begins to be putrefied [...].

And here I would like to point out that even on the concept of "the people of God" there can be rigid and antagonistic hermeneutics, remaining trapped in the idea of an exclusivity, of a privilege, as happened with the interpretation of the concept of "election" that the prophets corrected, indicating how it should be correctly understood. It is not a privilege - to be God's people - but a gift that someone receives ... for himself? No: for everyone, the gift is to give it: this is the vocation [...].

Why do I tell you these things? Because in the synodal journey, listening must take into account the sensus fidei, but it must not neglect all those 'presentiments' embodied where we would not expect it: there may be a 'sniff without citizenship', but it is no less effective.

The Holy Spirit in his freedom knows no boundaries, nor does he allow himself to be limited by affiliations. If the parish is the home of everyone in the neighbourhood, not an exclusive club, I recommend: leave doors and windows open, do not limit yourself to considering only those who attend or think like you - that will be 3, 4 or 5%, no more. Allow everyone to come in... Allow yourself to go out and let yourself be questioned, let their questions be your questions, allow yourself to walk together: the Spirit will lead you, trust the Spirit. Do not be afraid to enter into dialogue and let yourselves be moved by dialogue: it is the dialogue of salvation'.

[Pope Francis, Address to the Diocese of Rome 18 September 2021].

Says the Tao Tê Ching (LIX):

"When no one knows his culmination, he can possess the kingdom".

Life of pure Faith in the Spirit.

It is the paradoxical and unprecedented 'mechanism' that makes one assess the crossroads of history, unravelling the knots of the real questions.

It not only overcomes, but rather supplants difficult moments - bringing us back to the true path.

And it orients reality to the concrete good; multifaceted, not one-sided.

It makes reality itself soar in the wonder of the Spirit, which is unleashed in a more important way than usual - towards itself.

To internalise and live the message:

Do you see in your community that someone claims to commandeer the datum of Faith, turning it into a measured, predictable duty?

In your opinion, what description of God's work does it convey?

Conversely, what unimaginable and out-of-scale effect has your even initial or minimal involvement in the life of Faith-love produced?

Forgiveness and Faith: Living Encounter

Free eccentric, forward: Sacrament of humanity as such

(Lk 17:1-6)

The knowledge of God is not a confiscated commodity or an acquired and already plundered science: it moves from one action and another, unceasingly; it is realised in an ever-living Encounter, which does not block or dissolve us.

Typical, the experience of the "little ones" [mikròi v.2]. From the earliest communities of faith, they have been those who lacked security and energy; unstable and without support.

Since time immemorial, "Little Ones" have been the incipients; the new ones, who have heard of Christian brotherhood, but are sometimes forced to stand in line, aside, or give up the journey.

But the criterion of welcome, tolerance, communion even of material goods, has been the first and main catalyst for the growth of the assemblies.Even the origin and meaning of all the formulas and signs of the liturgy.

The existential and ideal centre to which to converge. For a proactive and in itself transformative Faith.

In the Spirit of the Master, even for us the conciliation of friction is not simply a work of magnanimity.

It is the beginning of the future world. The beginning of an unforeseeable and unspeakable adventure. And we with it suddenly reborn: coming into frank contact in Christ. He who does not extinguish us at all.

Hence the Christian forgiveness of children, which is not... 'looking positive', and 'turning a blind eye': rather, Newness of God that creates an environment of Grace, propulsive, with enormous possibilities.

Force that breaks through and paradoxically lets the dark poles meet, instead of shaking them off. Genuinely eliminating useless comparisons, words and ballasts, which block the transparent Exodus.

Dynamics that guide one to the indispensable and unavoidable: waves to shift one's gaze. Teaching one to notice one's own hysterics, to know oneself, to face anxiety, its reason; to handle situations and moments of crisis.

Mouldable virtue that places one in intimate listening to the personal essence.

Hence, solid, broad empathy, which introduces new energies; it brings one's own deep states, even standard life, together... arousing other knowledge, different perspectives, unexpected relationships.

Thus without too much struggle it renews us, and curbs the loss of veracity [typical, that in favour of circumstantial manners]. It accentuates capacities and horizons of Peace - crumbling primates, swampy balances.

The discovery of new sides of the being that we are, conveys a sense of better wholeness, then spontaneously curbs external influences, dissolves prejudices, does not make one act on an emotional, impulsive basis.

Rather, it puts us in a position to reveal the hidden and astounding meaning of being. It unfolds the crucial horizon.

Activating 'Forgiveness' is gratuitously a surrender of one's character range, of all lost dignity, and far beyond.

By laying down sentences, the art of tolerance expands the [also intimate] gaze. It enhances and strengthens the dull sides; those we ourselves had detested.

In this eccentric way it transforms those considered distant or mediocre [mikroi] into outriders and brilliant inventors. For what was unthought of yesterday will be clarifying and driving tomorrow.

Confusions will make sense - precisely because of the thinking of the minds in crisis, and because of the action of the despised, intruders, outside of all spin and predictability.

Life of pure Faith in the Spirit: i.e., the imagination of the 'weak'... in power.

Because it is the paradoxical mechanism that makes the crossroads of history assess, activates passions, creates sharing, solves real problems.

And so it supplants the difficult moments forwards (bringing us back to the true path) by orienting reality to the concrete good.

By making it fly towards itself.

The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: we must get out of it. It is in such 'emptiness' and Silence that God makes His way.

Mystery of Presence, overflowing. New Covenant.

Increasing Faith: a dull, intimidated life, or the door of Hope

Perhaps we, too, have been inculcated with the idea that faith must be asked for, so God will increase it for us. Instead, we have a say, but not in the sense of a plea to Heaven.

Faith is a gift, but in the sense of a relational, face-to-face proposal and initiative; that asks for welcoming perception. Therefore, it does not grow by falling from a packet - as if by precipice, or by infusion from above. Even forcing it, and convincing the Father.

Nor is it a simple assent linked to good-naturedness. It is not a baggage of notions that some have and prove right; others less so, or not at all.

In falling in love one can be more or less involved!

Faith is not believing that God exists, but adhering to a springing suggestion that (without imposition) guides us to disregard reputation.

The person of Faith cares not for expense or risk, even for the lives of others. He holds particular customs in abeyance; he does not put circle affections first. Forgives without limit.

Often we agree only in part and accept a little bit - perhaps until love goes all the way, or calls us into question.

Thus the head, the quirks, the concatenation of values, and the small world to which we are attached.

Increasing Faith? The Gift is not a gift, but an Appeal.

Therefore, Jesus does not even respond to such a ridiculous request - nevertheless, it makes one think about the results of possible adherence.

All it would take is the slightest involvement and there would be extraordinary results in the world (v.6); in community, in families and in personal life.

We would achieve the impossible and important. Real problems would be solved. Even the simplest actions would be transformed.

Then there are great events planted in every man's heart, which we may consider unrealisable: e.g. universal brotherhood, victory over hunger, a dignified and beautiful life for all, a world and a Church without volatile, corrupt and vain characters.

Because we consider them impossible situations, we don't even begin to build them - we immediately drop our arms.

But maturation is the result of secret sides, not of impermeable mental armour.

As a Nobel Prize winner said: 'The innocent did not know that their project was impossible, so they realised it'.

And it is not that after a life spent in service - at the orders of the Principal - in the afterlife we will finally command, on the basis of the rank we have achieved [although this too may have been passed on to us].

One of the wonders that Faith in Christ accomplishes in us - here and now - is to make us aware of the beauty and joy of having the freedom to come down from the pedestals we have already identified, in order to favour the full life (of all).

And at the 'end of the month' - at the 'reckoning' or the 'pay' - we will not finally become bosses - at least in heaven!

Because God is Communion, conviviality of differences; and He does not accept the servant-master scheme, even as a reward.

(Or:)

Change the world quietly

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

This Sunday's Gospel contains some of the most typical and forceful words of Jesus' preaching: "Love your enemies" (Lk 6: 27). It is taken from Luke's Gospel but is also found in Matthew's (5: 44), in the context of the programmatic discourse that opens with the famous "Beatitudes". Jesus delivered it in Galilee at the beginning of his public life: it is, as it were, a "manifesto" presented to all, in which he asks for his disciples' adherence, proposing his model of life to them in radical terms. 

But what do his words mean? Why does Jesus ask us to love precisely our enemies, that is, a love which exceeds human capacities? 

Actually, Christ's proposal is realistic because it takes into account that in the world there is too much violence, too much injustice, and therefore that this situation cannot be overcome except by countering it with more love, with more goodness. This "more" comes from God: it is his mercy which was made flesh in Jesus and which alone can "tip the balance" of the world from evil to good, starting with that small and decisive "world" which is the human heart. 

This Gospel passage is rightly considered the magna carta of Christian non-violence. It does not consist in succumbing to evil, as a false interpretation of "turning the other cheek" (cf. Lk 6: 29) claims, but in responding to evil with good (cf. Rom 12: 17-21) and thereby breaking the chain of injustice. 

One then understands that for Christians, non-violence is not merely tactical behaviour but a person's way of being, the attitude of one who is so convinced of God's love and power that he is not afraid to tackle evil with the weapons of love and truth alone. 

Love of one's enemy constitutes the nucleus of the "Christian revolution", a revolution not based on strategies of economic, political or media power: the revolution of love, a love that does not rely ultimately on human resources but is a gift of God which is obtained by trusting solely and unreservedly in his merciful goodness. Here is the newness of the Gospel which silently changes the world! Here is the heroism of the "lowly" who believe in God's love and spread it, even at the cost of their lives. 

Dear brothers and sisters, Lent, which will begin this Wednesday with the Rite of Ashes, is the favourable season in which all Christians are asked to convert ever more deeply to Christ's love.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary, docile disciple of the Redeemer who helps us to allow ourselves to be won over without reserve by that love, to learn to love as he loved us, to be merciful as Our Father in Heaven is merciful (cf. Lk 6: 36).

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 18 February 2007]

1. "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem" (Mk 10:33). With these words, the Lord invites the disciples to journey with him on the path that leads from Galilee to the place where he will complete his redemptive mission. This journey to Jerusalem, which the Evangelists present as the crowning moment of the earthly journey of Jesus, is the model for the Christian who is committed to following the Master on the way of the Cross. Christ also invites the men and women of today to "go up to Jerusalem". He does so with special force in Lent, which is a favourable time to convert and restore full communion with him by sharing intimately in the mystery of his Death and Resurrection.

For believers, therefore, Lent is the appropriate time for a profound re-examination of life. In today’s world, there is much generous witness to the Gospel, but there are also baptized people who, when faced with the demanding call to "go up to Jerusalem", remain deaf and resistant, even at times openly rebellious. There are situations where people’s experience of prayer is rather superficial, so that the word of God does not enter deeply into their lives. Even the Sacrament of Penance is thought by many to be unimportant and the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is seen as a mere duty to be performed.

How should we respond to the invitation to conversion that Jesus addresses to us in this time of Lent? How can there be a serious change in our life? First of all, we must open our hearts to the penetrating call that comes to us from the Liturgy. The time of preparation for Easter is a providential gift from the Lord and a precious opportunity to draw closer to him, turning inward to listen to his promptings deep within. 

2. There are Christians who think they can dispense with this unceasing spiritual effort, because they do not see the urgency of standing before the truth of the Gospel. Lest their way of life be upset, they seek to take words like "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27) and render them empty and innocuous. For these people, it is extremely difficult to accept such words and to translate them into consistent patterns of behaviour. They are in fact words which, if taken seriously, demand a radical conversion. On the other hand, when we are offended or hurt, we are tempted to succumb to the psychological impulses of self-pity and revenge, ignoring Jesus’ call to love our enemy. Yet the daily experiences of human life show very clearly how much forgiveness and reconciliation are indispensable if there is to be genuine renewal, both personal and social. This applies not only to interpersonal relationships, but also to relationships between communities and nations. 

3. The many tragic conflicts which grievously wound humanity, some of them stirred by mistaken religious motives, have sown violence and hatred between peoples and even at times between groups and factions within the same nation. With a distressing sense of powerlessness, we sometimes see a revival of hostilities which we had thought were finally settled, and it seems that some peoples are caught in an unstoppable spiral of violence, which continues to claim victim after victim, without any real prospect of resolution. And hopes for peace, heard all around the world, come to nothing: for the commitment required to move towards the longed-for reconciliation fails to take hold.

Faced with this disturbing scenario, Christians cannot remain indifferent. That is why, during the Jubilee Year just concluded, I gave voice to the Church’s plea to God for forgiveness for the sins of her children. We well know that the sins of Christians have marred the unblemished face of the Church, but trusting in the merciful love of God, who keeps no account of evil when there is repentance, we can confidently set forth on our journey once more. God’s love is clearly revealed where sinful and ungrateful man is readmitted to full communion with the divinity. Seen in this light, "purification of memory" is above all a renewed proclamation of the mercy of God, a confession which the Church at every level is called to make again and again with fresh conviction. 

4. The only path to peace is forgiveness. Forgiveness given and received enables a new kind of relationship among people, breaking the spiral of hatred and revenge and shattering the chains of evil which bind the hearts of those in conflict with one another. For nations in search of reconciliation and for those who hope for peaceful co-existence between individuals and peoples, there is no other way than this: forgiveness given and received. How full of salutary lessons are the words of the Lord: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust" (Mt5:44-45)! To love those who have offended us is to disarm them and to turn even a battle-field into an arena of mutual support and cooperation.

This is a challenge not only to individuals but also to communities, peoples and humanity as a whole. In a special way it concerns families. It is not easy to be converted to forgiveness and reconciliation. To choose reconciliation can seem problematic enough when we ourselves are at fault. But if the fault is someone else’s, reconciliation may even seem a senseless humiliation. An inner conversion is required if this step is to be taken; the courage to be humbly obedient to Jesus’ command is needed. His word leaves no doubt: not only those who provoke hostility but also those who are its victim must seek reconciliation (cf. Mt5:23-24). Christians must make peace even when they feel that they are victims of those who have struck and hurt them unjustly. This was how the Lord himself acted. He expects his disciple to follow him, and in this way cooperate in redeeming his brothers and sisters.

In our own time, forgiveness appears more and more essential if there is to be genuine social renewal and a consolidation of peace in the world. In proclaiming forgiveness and love of enemies, the Church is aware of adding to the spiritual heritage of all humanity a new mode of human relationships; an arduous mode, to be sure, but one that is also rich in hope. In this, the Church knows she can rely on the help of the Lord, who never abandons those who turn to him in times of difficulty. 

5. "Love is not resentful" (1 Cor 13:5). With these words from the First Letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul recalls that forgiveness is one of the highest forms of the practice of charity. The season of Lent is a favourable time to explore still more deeply the meaning of this truth. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Father gives us in Christ his pardon, and this impels us to live in love, seeing others not as an enemies but as brothers and sisters.

May this time of penance and reconciliation encourage believers to think and act according to true charity, open to every human circumstance. This inner disposition will ensure that believers will bear the fruits of the Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22) and that with a heart renewed they will offer material help to those in need.

A heart reconciled with God and neighbour is a generous heart. In the holy season of Lent the "collection" assumes a special meaning, because it is not a matter of giving from one’s surplus in order to soothe one’s conscience, but of taking upon oneself in a spirit of fraternal concern the misery present in the world. To look upon the sorrowing face and the suffering of so many brothers and sisters cannot fail to prompt us to share at least some part of our own possessions with those who are in difficulty. And the Lenten offering becomes still more meaningful if those who make it are set free from resentment and indifference, which are obstacles that keep us far from communion with God and with others.

The world expects Christians to bear unequivocal witness to communion and solidarity. On this point, the words of the Apostle John are most enlightening: "If any of you has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?" (1 Jn 3:17).

Brothers and sisters! In commenting upon the Lord’s teaching as he journeys to Jerusalem, Saint John Chrysostom recalls that Christ does not leave the disciples ignorant of the struggles and sacrifices that await them. Jesus stresses that it is hard but not impossible to renounce oneself when one can count on God’s help bestowed on us "through communion with the person of Christ" (PG 58, 619s).

That is why, in this Lenten season, I wish to invite all believers to an ardent and trusting prayer to the Lord, that he may grant each of us a fresh experience of his mercy. Only this gift will help us to receive and live ever more joyfully and generously the love of Christ which "does not insist on its own way, ... is not resentful, ... does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right" (1 Cor 13:5-6).

With these sentiments, I entrust the Lenten journey of the entire community of believers to the protection of the Mother of Mercy, and I cordially impart to each of you my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 7 January 2001

[Pope John Paul II, Message for Lent 2001]

This Sunday’s Gospel passage (cf. Lk 6:27-38) concerns a central point that characterizes Christian life: love for enemies. Jesus’ words are clear: “I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (vv. 27-38). And this is not optional, it is a command. It is not for everyone, but for the disciples, whom Jesus calls “you that hear”. He is well aware that loving enemies exceeds our possibilities, but this is why he became man: not to leave us as we are, but to transform us into men and women capable of a greater love, that of his Father and ours. This is the love that Jesus gives to those who ‘hear him’. Thus it becomes possible! With him, thanks to his love, to his Spirit, we are able to love even those who do not love us, even those who do us harm.

In this way, Jesus wants God’s love to triumph over hatred and rancour in every heart. The logic of love, which culminates in Christ’s Cross, is a Christian’s badge and induces us to meet everyone with the heart of brothers and sisters. But how is it possible to overcome human instinct and the worldly law of retaliation? Jesus provides the answer in the same Gospel passage: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (v. 36). Those who hear Jesus, who make an effort to follow him even at a cost, become children of God, and begin to truly resemble the Father who is in heaven. We become capable of things we never thought we could say or do, and of which we would have been rather ashamed, but which now give us joy and peace instead. We no longer need to be violent, with words and gestures: we discover that we are capable of tenderness and goodness; and we sense that all of this comes not from ourselves but from him! And thus we do not brag about it but are grateful for it.

There is nothing greater and more fruitful than love: it bestows all dignity to the person, while, on the contrary, hatred and vengeance decrease it, marring the beauty of the creature made in God’s image.

This command, to respond to insult and wrongdoing with love, has created a new culture in the world: “a culture of mercy” — we need to learn this well! And properly practice this culture of mercy — which “can set in motion a real cultural revolution” (Apostolic Letter Misericordia et Misera, 20). It is the revolution of love, in which the protagonists are the martyrs of all times. And Jesus assures us that our behaviour, inspired by love for those who do us harm, will not be in vain. He tells us: “forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you” (vv. 37-38). This is beautiful. God will give us something beautiful if we are generous, merciful. We must forgive because God has forgiven us and always forgives us. If we do not forgive completely, we cannot expect to be forgiven completely. However, if our hearts are open to mercy, if we seal forgiveness with a brotherly embrace and secure the bonds of communion, we proclaim to the world that it is possible to overcome evil with good. At times it is easier for us to remember the harm they have done to us and not the good things; to the point that there are people who have this habit and it becomes a sickness. They are “collectors of injustice”: they only remember the bad things done. And this is not a path. We must do the opposite, Jesus says. Remember the good things, and when someone comes with some gossip, and speaks ill of another, say: “Yes, perhaps ... but he has this good quality...”. Turn the discussion around. This is the revolution of mercy.

May the Virgin Mary help us to let our heart be touched by this holy word of Jesus, burning like fire, that it may transform us and make us able to do good without reciprocation, doing good without reciprocation, witnessing everywhere to the victory of love.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 24 February 2019]

(Mt 16:13-19)

Jesus guides his intimates away from the territory of the ideology of power and from the sacred center of the official religious institution, so that they distance themselves from conditioning and appreciation.

[The relative success of the Master in Galilee had revived the apostles' hopes].

The territory of Caesarea Philippi, in the extreme north of Palestine, was enchanting; famous area for lush pastures, beauty of the setting and fertility of flocks and herds.

Even the disciples are fascinated by the landscape and the comfortable life of the inhabitants of the region; not to mention the magnificence of the buildings.

Christ asks the apostles - in practice - what people expected from him - and so He wants them to realize the harmful effects of their own preaching.

The call of the context alludes to the comforts that the pagan religion proposes, and stupefied the Twelve.

While the gods show that they know how to fill their devotees with goods - and a sumptuous court life that bewitched everyone - what does Christ offer?

The Master realizes that the disciples were still strongly conditioned by the propaganda of the political and religious government (vv.6.11), which ensured well-being (vv.5-12; Mt 15:32-38).

Jesus instructs them again, so that at least his closest ones can overcome the blindness, the crisis produced by his Cross (v.21) and the commitment required in the perspective of self-giving.

He is not only a continuer of the clear attitude of the Baptist, never inclined to compromise towards the courts and opulence; nor one of the many restorers of the law of Moses, with the zeal of Elijah.

He did not want to limit himself to purifying religion of spurious elements, but ‘replace’ the Temple (Mt 21:12-17.18-19.42; 23:2.37-39; 24:30) - the meeting place between the Father and his sons.

On this question, at that moment the distances not only with paganism, but also the contrasts between Jews converted to the Lord and believers according to tradition were particularly vivid.

In fact, the sacred books of late Judaism spoke of great personalities who had left an imprint in the history of Israel, and should have reappeared to usher in the messianic times.

But even within the persecuted communities of Galilee and Syria of Mt there was a lack of understanding, and all the difficulty of embracing the new proposal that did not guarantee glory or material goals.

It was realized that the Faith did not easily accord with the first human impulses: it was disconcerting for the obvious views and its impulses.

Thus Jesus contradicts Peter himself (vv.20.23), whose opinion remained linked to the conformist and popular idea of ​​«the» (vv.16.20: «that») awaited Messiah.

Hence the ‘messianic secret’ imposed on those who preach it in that equivocal way (v.20).

The chief of the apostles - weak in Faith - must stop showing Christ which path to follow «behind» him (v.23), deviating Him!

Simone - each of the leaders of the assembly - has to start being a pupil again; stop drawing roads, kidnapping God in the name of God.

He was forced by the Lord to realize firsthand the novelty of God.

Its «Keys» are therefore not to close the Kingdom, but to open its Doors wide, that is, to make the Church a humanizing, open Community; free from one-sided conditioning.

This is the new task of the 'Chair of Peter': to help believers break out of a canvas of taken-for-granted, or elitist, normalizing and artificial expectations, incapable of regenerating the world.

[Chair of st Peter,  February 22]