In the Liturgy it narrates of the episode of the final departure of Jesus from his disciples (cf. Lk 24: 50-51; Acts 1: 2, 9); but it is not an abandonment, because he remains always with them with us but under a new form. St Bernard of Clairvaux explains that Jesus' Ascension into Heaven is accomplished in three steps: "The first is the glory of the Resurrection; the second is the power to judge; and the third is sitting at the right hand of the Father" (Sermo de Ascensione Domini 60, 2: Sancti Bernardi Opera, t. vi 1, 291, 20-21). Such an event is preceded by the blessing of the disciples, whom he prepares to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, in order that salvation is proclaimed everywhere. Jesus himself says to them: "You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you" (cf. Lk 24: 47, 49). 

The Lord draws the gaze of the Apostles our gaze toward Heaven to show how to travel the road of good during earthly life. Nevertheless, he remains within the framework of human history, he is near to each of us and guides our Christian journey: he is the companion of the those persecuted for the faith, he is in the heart of those who are marginalized, he is present in those whom the right to life is denied. We can hear, see and touch our Lord Jesus in the Church, especially through the word and the sacraments. In this regard, I call on children and young people who during this Easter Season are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, to remain faithful to the Word of God and to the doctrine learnt, and also to assiduously approach Confession and the Eucharist, conscious of having been chosen and constituted to witness to the Truth. I renew my particular invitation to my Brothers in the Episcopate, that "in their life and actions they distinguish themselves by a powerful evangelical witness" (Letter proclaiming the Year for Priests) and know also how to use the means of communication wisely to make known the life of the Church and help the men of today to discover the Face of Christ (cf. Message for the 44th World Day of Social Communications, 24 January 2010). 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, the Lord opening the way to Heaven, gives us a foretaste of divine life already on this earth. A 19th-century Russian author wrote in his spiritual testament: "Observe the stars more often. When you have a burden in your soul, look at the stars or the azure of the sky. When you feel sad, when they offend you... converse... with Heaven. Then your soul will find rest" (N. Valentini L. Zák [editor], Pavel A. Florenskij. "Non dimenticatemi. Le lettere dal gulag del grande matematico, filosofo e sacerdote russo, Milan 2000, p. 418).

[Pope Benedict, Regina Coeli 16 May 2010]

1. In many countries, including Italy, the Solemnity of Christ's Ascension has been moved back to Sunday. With this feast we remember that after his Resurrection, Jesus presented himself alive to the disciples for 40 days (Acts 1,3), at the end of which, having led them to the Mount of Olives, "he was lifted up before their eyes and a cloud took him from their sight" (Acts 1,9). Risen and ascended into heaven, our Redeemer is the anchor of salvation and support for believers in their daily dedication to serve truth, peace, justice and freedom. In ascending to heaven, he reopens for us the way to our blessed homeland, not to alienate us from history but to give the greatest hope to our journey.

2. Indeed, every day we have to deal with the realities of this world. The World Day of Social Communications that we celebrate today reminds us of this fact.

The most recent breakthroughs in communications and information have placed the Church before unheard-of possibilities for evangelization. Keeping this fact in mind, I thought this year the relevant theme to propose should be: "Internet:  a New Forum for Proposing the Gospel".

With realism and confidence we must deal with this modern and ever denser network of communcations, convinced that if used competently and with a sense of responsibility, it can offer valid opportunities for the spread of the Gospel message.

So do not be afraid to "put out into the deep" into the vast ocean of information technology. By using it we can make the Good News reach the hearts of the men and women of the new millennium.

3. We must never forget that the secret of every apostolic action is above all prayer. Indeed, given to intense prayer after the Ascension, the disciples lived in the Upper Room as they awaited the Holy Spirit promised by Christ. In their midst was Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Acts 1,14). As we prepare to celebrate the solemn Feast of Pentecost next Sunday, with Mary let us call upon the Holy Spirit promised by Christ so that he may imbue Christians with fresh missionary zeal and guide humanity's steps on the paths of solidarity and peace.

[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 12 May 2002]

Today, in Italy and other countries, we celebrate Jesus' Ascension into heaven, which took place forty days after Easter. We contemplate the mystery of Jesus leaving our earthly space to enter the fullness of God's glory, taking our humanity with him. That is, we, our humanity, enter heaven for the first time. Luke's Gospel shows us the reaction of the disciples before the Lord who "parted from them and was taken up into heaven" (24:51). There was no pain or bewilderment in them, but "they prostrated themselves before him; then they returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (v. 52). It is the return of those who no longer fear the city that had rejected the Master, that had seen the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter, had seen the dispersion of the disciples and the violence of a power that felt threatened.
Since that day, it has been possible for the Apostles and for every disciple of Christ to dwell in Jerusalem and in all the cities of the world, even in those most troubled by injustice and violence, because above every city there is the same sky and every inhabitant can look up with hope. Jesus, God, is a real man, with his human body is in heaven! And this is our hope, this is our anchor, and we are firm in this hope if we look up to heaven.
In this heaven dwells that God who revealed himself so close that he took on the face of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. He remains forever the God-with-us - let us remember this: Emmanuel, God-with-us - and he does not leave us alone! We can look up to recognise our future before us. In the Ascension of Jesus, the Crucified Risen One, there is the promise of our participation in the fullness of life with God.
Before parting from his friends, Jesus, referring to the event of his death and resurrection, had said to them: "Of this you are witnesses" (v. 48). That is, the disciples, the apostles are witnesses of Christ's death and resurrection, on that day, also of Christ's Ascension. And indeed, after seeing their Lord ascend to heaven, the disciples returned to the city as witnesses joyfully proclaiming to all the new life that comes from the Risen Crucified One, in whose name "conversion and the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all peoples" (v. 47). This is the witness - given not only in words but also in daily life - the witness that every Sunday should leave our churches to enter during the week into homes, offices, schools, meeting places and places of entertainment, hospitals, prisons, homes for the elderly, crowded places for immigrants, the outskirts of the city... This is the witness we must bear every week: Christ is with us; Jesus has ascended into heaven, he is with us; Christ is alive!
Jesus has assured us that in this proclamation and testimony we will be "clothed with power from on high" (v. 49), that is, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Herein lies the secret of this mission: the presence among us of the risen Lord, who with the gift of the Spirit continues to open our minds and hearts, to proclaim his love and mercy even in the most refractory environments of our cities. It is the Holy Spirit who is the true architect of the multiform witness that the Church and every baptised person gives in the world. Therefore, we can never neglect recollection in prayer to praise God and invoke the gift of the Spirit. In this week, which leads us to the feast of Pentecost, let us remain spiritually in the Upper Room, together with the Virgin Mary, to receive the Holy Spirit.
[Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 8 May 2016].

Lk 1:39-56 (46-56)

The hymn-song-ensemble of Mary and Elizabeth summarizes and celebrates the history of salvation. It reflects a Judeo-Christian liturgical lauda characteristic of the first communities of 'anawim.

The small and faithful experience the ideal outline of history, of which they paradoxically become the engine.

The two Women give voice to the poor and minority churches, often challenged by the forces of imperial power in dramatic duels.

They depict early assemblies, tiny fraternities; hearths of cohabitation and intimate life.

In them, believing souls experienced a God who does not remain impassive to the cry of the lowly, persecuted.

In a framework of family visitation and (precisely) praise, the whole destination of the new People is reflected.

The difference between the two figures emphasizes the leap of Faith in Mary, compared to the expectations of religious kinship.

In Elizabeth, the First Covenant has already run its full course, and would not go much further.

Human history is barren, but God makes it fruitful with newness and joy, which finally changes the boundaries.

The foreseen ways have come to an end; still blind and submissive to the powers of the earth... They do not make the weak strong.

Faith entirely transmutes the foundations of anti-divine history, because it allows the Spirit to take possession of personal life and permeate it, making it capable of blessing action.

In Mary's way of believing we grasp within what do not know - because we have a guiding Vision, a sacred image that acts inside, like an innate instinct.

And we already possess what we hope for - because Faith is a stroke of the hand, an action that appropriates, an act-magnet (cf. Heb 11:1).

[Its pinnacle is discovering impossible recovery stupors, starting with the shadowy sides and even that we hate of ourselves - very affair of the discarded].

The Hymn thus expresses the trajectory of the believer's life and the direction of our existence, which recomposes the shaky being in the new harmony of the divine plan.

A classical thesis already from the First Testament: God lifts the wretched from the dust and raises the poor from the rubbish.

He does not address those who are full of themselves, but to whoever  knows how to turn to the depths, and like Mary how to extend them to others.

Within this event of losing oneself in order to find oneself - a logic embodied by both the disciples and the churches - we find the experience of Easter morning.

Lk evangelist of the poor celebrates this reversal of situations in many episodes of people and events at the margins.

The Magnificat also reiterates: the Lord's choices are truly eccentric. Freely He passes for the defeated and the mocked, who find gain in loss and life from death.

Mary in particular becomes an expressive figure of baseness [ταπείνωσις (tapeínōsis, “lowering”), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, “low”); v.48] as the ‘root’ of the transformation of being - into the Unpredictable of God.

He is Faithful.

[Visitation B.V. Mary, 31 May]

(Lk 1:39-45)

'Incarnation': if our gaze does not fixate on a few ideas but lightly begins to rest on the human condition, then a reign of peace begins.

The hesitant crowd in the ancient coat of arms can rejoice, because that faint but decisive Presence arrives that liberates and gives us breath.

Unusual opportunity for redemption on the scale of women and men, even children.

The people have a Dream: to grasp their identity and mission, despite the religion of mediocrity, of abuse - sullen looks and fears.

Mary helps each one to understand how to substitute the caress of a heart of flesh for so many extraneous prescriptions on cold stone slabs.

Her peace-shalom is not wished on the practitioner of the sacred. He omits the oneness of the Call, the Surprise, the Person.

Zechariah does not live Beatitudes: he is already identified, therefore radically unbelieving.

The great reminiscences and his typical role make him refractory to the Newness of the Spirit.

It is useless even to speak to him, although he is master of the House in which the Promises are 'remembered'. A habit of remembrance that now waits for nothing.

The decisive Encounter? Perhaps there will be... but who knows when.

Mythical waiting distracts, it does not involve. Idolatrous re-actualisation does not cheer; it stares, it does not make one dance.

The feast is a sign that the Lord has come to the family; not on the set, really. [It is not easy to understand this in the time of externality].

Mary does not aspire to be and show herself to be a 'VIP'; she places herself spontaneously among ordinary people, who suffer a painful condition.

She does not chase after projects, her previous ideas, some constrained tic that bounces around in her thinking. This is the purity of Mary.

Those who resemble her have no need to beg or display recognition, achievements, credentials, titles, merits. This is her purity.

She did not misunderstand God by exchanging him for appearances. She did not allow herself to be caged by clichés, because she did not hinder her unrepeatable identity by thinking she was wrong.

With a silent mind and detachment from judgement she allowed her vocational instinct to regenerate, conceive, give life.

She did not pursue an ideal, weightless (and meaningless) image, as if she were cast in a character - and conformist.

If she corrected herself, she did not do so by folding in on herself, but by overtaking and pulling straight; thus she discovered how to adjust, but to fly.

Everything did not go well for him, as if he already had the film of his life in his head. He had hiding places and doubts, travails to overcome.

He didn't think, he didn't speak, he didn't act as if he were 'infinite'; but decisively, yes.

She was not always successful, and yet she did not retract just veraciously.

She faced conflicts, yet without those mental burdens that bridle us with fixations [even sacred ones] that God does not care about, and block the way.

In events and within herself she seized moments of insecurity to remind herself of the Pearl to be sifted.

A passionate search that kept her alive, knowing that things of the soul are different.

She was not a do-gooder saint, she waged battles - and with spiritual denunciation.

In fact, she did not ask for permission to embark on a daring journey.

Nor does she 'see' the man of the official institution: the priest with his rituals punctuated in minute detail.

Instead, he recognises himself in Elizabeth. She too is a forgotten one, but one who cultivates the promise ("Eli-shébet": the Lord My-Personal has 'sworn'; as in "God is faithful to Me").

Zechariah, on the other hand ("zachar-Ja" the Lord yes but not 'My' but of Israel, 'remember') fails to move from regular religiosity to Faith involving his founding Eros.

Mary did not want to be fake, she did not wish to become artificial - therefore useless, and in time shattered.

She aspired to plant herself further and better on her own Roots.

If she couldn't understand something, she used these suspensions to project herself forward, in search of the precious treasure chest of her destination.

He gave no space to the toxins of the mind created by dreamless habit, by the paradigms of his place and time. She did not imagine that she would always remain the same.

She chose not to lay down the evolutionary side: she understood that she could be stimulated precisely by the bitterness, the abandonments, the impacts, the wounds.

Ark of the Covenant with visionary and viable intimacy, without (inside) icy tables of legalisms; because God does not express Himself by issuing rules, but in Love - which does not demolish.

He had with Heaven a relationship of Incarnation; not external and without Oneness [of stone as in intimidated obedience]. In its marrow: Resembling - from Equal to Equal.

From the religion of the many subordinates to the Faith?

Not a Church of the wedges: Mary is the new consciousness and the different orientation of humanity.

Magnificat: religious kinship, and the outburst of Faith

(Lk 1:46-55)

Although the Greek-language context of the earliest codices alludes to a canticle proper to Elisabeth (vv.42-46), later tradition placed the hymn on Mary's lips.

Their song-together summarises and celebrates the history of salvation. It reflects a Judeo-Christian liturgical lauda characteristic of the first communities of 'anawim.

[Today, as then, the small and faithful experience the ideal outline of history, of which they paradoxically become the engine].

Mary and Elizabeth give voice to the poor and minority 'churches', often challenged by the forces of imperial power in dramatic duels.

Fraternities that experienced a God who does not remain impassive to the cry of the persecuted least.

In a framework of family visitation and (indeed) praise, the whole destination of the new People is reflected.

The difference between the two women emphasises the outburst of Faith in Mary, as opposed to the expectations of religious 'kinship'.

In Elizabeth, the First Covenant has already run its full course, and would not go much further.

The history of men is barren, but the Eternal makes it fruitful with newness and joy, which finally changes the boundaries.

The planned ways have come to an end; still blind and subservient to the powers of the earth - self-divining...

But here it is revealed that the security of the great is vain, non-existent; seeking only profit.

And despite the millennia, there are still too many who clothe their positions with seemingly pious proclamations - insubstantial proclamations of love that helps and enriches the little ones, that make the weak strong.

Faith entirely transmutes the foundations of anti-divine history, because it allows the Spirit to take possession of personal life and fertilise it, making it capable of blessing action.

In Mary's way of believing we know what we do not know - because we have a guiding Vision, an Image that acts within like an innate instinct.

And we already possess what we hope for - because Faith is a stroke of the hand, an action that is appropriated, an act-calm (cf. Heb 11:1).

Its apex will be to discover impossible recovery stupors, starting from the shadowy and detested sides of us [the very discarded].

The hymn thus expresses the trajectory of the believer's life in Christ and the direction of our existence that little by little or suddenly recomposes the shaky being in the new harmony of the divine plan.

A classical thesis already from the First Testament: God lifts the wretched from the dust and raises the poor - the marginalised (with indifference) - from the rubbish.

He does not address himself to those who are full of themselves and with identified roles, but to those who know how to turn to the depths, and like Mary he extends them to others.

Within such a story of losing oneself in order to find oneself again - a logic embodied both by the disciples and the churches - is to be found the experience of Easter morning, whose Gospels 'describe' the Resurrection as the ability to see the tombs open and to discern life even amidst signs of absence, and in the place of death.

Lk evangelist of the poor celebrates this reversal of situations in many episodes: Pharisee and publican, prodigal son and firstborn, Samaritan and Levite priest, Lazarus and rich Epulon, first and last place, Beatitudes and 'troubles'...

The Magnificat also reiterates: the Lord's choices are truly whimsical for the religious nomenclature mentality.

Freely He passes for the defeated, the mocked, deemed stupid, ignoble; the weak, marginalised by cliques, rejected by the club of the acclaimed.

The canticle is a perfect 'type' of this predilection, which finds gain in loss and life from death, in people and events on the margins.

Mary in particular becomes an expressive figure of lowliness [ταπείνωσις (tapeínōsis, "lowering"), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, "low"); v.48 Greek text] as the 'root' of the transformation of being - in God's Unpredictable.

In Mary and Elizabeth the 'anawim contemplated the feast of the triumph of the children, of the creatures who repeat in themselves the Passover of Christ.

Happening and proposal that even in times of emergency makes life flourish again from the failure of the mythologies of power and force.

In the Risen One who always shows the wounds, believers everywhere have realised: the poverty of heart and life lived by Christ and the (Church) Mother is the true disruptive force of history.

God is faithful.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit exults in God my Saviour, because he has turned his face to the lowliness of his handmaid" (Lk 1:46b-48a).

To internalise and live the message

Do you consider divine munificence a property?

How do you proclaim your personal and ecclesial awareness - of fulfilment in Christ - of the Covenant Promises?

[...] Meditating on the Holy Rosary's Mysteries of Light, you have climbed this hill where you spiritually relived, as the Evangelist Luke recounts, the experience of Mary from Nazareth in Galilee, who "went with haste into the hill country" (Lk 1: 39) to reach the village in Judea where Elizabeth lived with her husband Zechariah. What drove Mary, a young woman, to undertake that journey? What, above all, led her to forget herself, to spend the first three months of her pregnancy at the service of her cousin in need of help?

The response is written in a Psalm: "I will run in the way of your commands when you enlarged my understanding" (Ps 119[118]: 32). The Holy Spirit, who makes the Son of God present in Mary's flesh, enlarged her heart to God's dimensions and urged her along the way of charity.

The Visitation of Mary is understood in light of the event that immediately preceded it in Luke's account in the Gospel: the Annunciation of the Angel and the conception of Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descended upon the Virgin, the power of the Most High overshadowed her (cf. Lk 1: 35).

That same Spirit impelled her to "rise" and depart without hesitation (cf. Lk 1: 39) in order to help her aged relative. Jesus had just begun to form himself in the womb of Mary, but his Spirit had already filled her heart so that the Mother was already beginning to follow her divine Son. On the way that leads from Galilee to Judea it was Jesus himself who "urged" Mary on, instilling in her a generous desire to go to the aid of her neighbour in need, the courage not to put her own legitimate needs, difficulties, worries, the dangers to her own life first. It is Jesus who helped her to overcome everything, allowing her to be guided by faith that works through charity (cf. Gal 5: 6).

Meditating on this mystery we see why Christian charity is a "theological" virtue. We see that the heart of Mary is visited by the grace of the Father, is permeated by the power of the Spirit and interiorly compelled by the Son; that is, we see a perfectly human heart inserted into the dynamism of the Most Holy Trinity.

This movement is charity, which is perfect in Mary and becomes the model of the Church's charity, a manifestation of Trinitarian love (cf. Deus Caritas Est, n. 19).

Every gesture of genuine love, even the smallest, contains within it a spark of the infinite mystery of God: the attentive concern for a brother, drawing near to him, sharing his need, caring for his wounds, taking responsibility for his future, everything to the last detail becomes "theological" when it is animated by the Spirit of Christ.

May Mary obtain for us the gift to know how to love as she knew how to love. To Mary we entrust this singular portion of the Church that lives and works in the Vatican; we entrust to her the Roman Curia and the institutions connected to it, so that the Spirit of Christ may animate every task and service.

From this hill we extend our glance to Rome and to the entire world, and we pray for all Christians, so that they may say with St Paul: "the love of Christ urges us on", and with the help of Mary may they be able to spread the dynamism of charity in the world.

Again, I thank you for your dedication and warm participation. Take my greetings to the sick, the aged and everyone dear to you. To all I heartily impart my Blessing.

[Pope Benedict, 31 May 2007]

"Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country..." (Lk 1,39).

In front of this Grotto, which recalls the Shrine of Lourdes, we conclude the Marian journey made during the month of May. Let us relive together the mystery of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, on this pilgrimage through the Vatican Gardens which every year involves Cardinals and Bishops, priests, men and women religious, seminarians and many of the faithful. I am grateful to Cardinal Virgilio Noè and all those who have carefully prepared this pause for prayer at the feet of Our Lady.

The words of the Evangelist Luke echo in our hearts, "When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary ... [she] was filled with the Holy Spirit" (1,41)

The meeting between Our Lady and her cousin, Elizabeth, is like a sort of "small Pentecost". This is what I would like to stress this evening, on the eve of the great solemnity of the Holy Spirit.
In the Gospel account, the Visitation immediately follows the Annunciation:  the Virgin, who carries the Son conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in her womb, radiates grace and spiritual joy around her. It is the presence of the Spirit within her that causes Elizabeth's son, John, destined to prepare the way for the Son of God made man, to leap with joy.

Wherever Mary is, Christ is; and wherever Christ is, there is his Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and from him in the most sacred mystery of the Trinitarian life. The Acts of the Apostles rightly places emphasis on Mary's prayerful presence in the Upper Room, together with the Apostles gathered in expectation to receive the "power from on high". The "yes" of the Virgin, "fiat", draws down the Gift of God upon humanity:  as in the Annunciation, so in Pentecost. So it continues to happen throughout the Church's journey.

Gathered in prayer with Mary, let us implore an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the whole Church, so that she may put out into the deep in the new millennium with her sails unfurled. In a special way, let us call down the Spirit upon all who work everyday at the service of the Holy See, so that the work of each one may always be enlivened by a spirit of faith and apostolic enthusiasm.

It is very significant that the last day of May brings us the feast of the Visitation. With this conclusion, it is as if we wanted to say that every day of this month has been a sort of visitation for us. We have lived a continuous visitation during the month of May, just like Mary and Elizabeth. We are grateful to God that this biblical event is presented to us once again by today's liturgy.
I hope for you all, who have gathered here in such a numerous group, that the grace of the Marian visitation you have experienced during the month of May and especially on this last evening, will be extended in the days to come.

[Pope John Paul II, 31 May 2001]

There are many Christians who do not know joy. And even when they are in church praising God, they look more like they are at a funeral than a joyful celebration. If instead they learn to come out of themselves and give thanks to God, "they would really understand what that joy is that sets us free".

And it was precisely Christian joy that was the focus of Pope Francis' homily this morning, Friday 31 May, Feast of the Visitation, during the concelebrated Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae [...].

"Today's two readings," began the Pontiff, referring to passages from the book of the prophet Zephaniah (3:14-18) and from the Gospel of Luke (1:39-56), "speak to us of joy, of gladness: 'Rejoice, shout for joy,' says Zephaniah. Shouting for joy. Cool this! "The Lord is in your midst"; do not be afraid; "do not let your arms fall down"! The Lord is powerful; he will rejoice for you. He too will rejoice for us. He too is joyful. "He will exult over you with shouts of joy". Hear how many good things are said about joy!".

In the Gospel account, joy characterises Mary's visit to Elizabeth. "Our Lady goes to visit Elizabeth," the Holy Father recalled. And presenting the image of Mary as a mother who is always in a hurry - just as he had done last Sunday in the Roman parish of Saints Elizabeth and Zechariah - Pope Francis dwelt on that "gasp of the child in Elizabeth's womb" revealed by her to Mary herself: "Behold, as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the child gasped with joy in my womb".

"Everything is joy. But we Christians,' noted the bishop of Rome, 'are not so used to talking about joy, joyfulness. I think that many times we like complaints more! What is joy? The key to understanding this joy is what the gospel says: "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit". What gives us joy is the Holy Spirit. Even in the first prayer of the Mass we asked for the grace of docility to the Holy Spirit, the one who gives us joy'.

The Pope then spoke of another aspect of joy that comes to us from the Spirit. "Let us think," he said, "of that moment when Our Lady and St Joseph take Jesus to the temple to fulfil the Law. The gospel says that they go and do what was written in the Law". There are also two elders there; but, he noted, the Gospel does not say that they went there to fulfil the Law, but rather because they were driven by the 'power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit brings them to the temple'. So much so that, before Jesus, the two "make a prayer of praise: but this is the Messiah, blessed be the Lord! And they also make a spontaneous liturgy of joy". It is the faithfulness matured over so many years waiting for the Holy Spirit that makes "this Spirit come and give them joy".

"I like to think," Pope Francis went on to confide, "that the young people fulfil the Law; the elderly have the freedom to let the Spirit guide them. And this is beautiful! It is the Spirit who guides us. He is the author of joy, the creator of joy. And this joy in the Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy we Christians cannot become free. We become slaves of our sadnesses'.

So the Pontiff quoted "the great Paul VI", recalling that he said "you cannot carry the Gospel forward with sad, disheartened, discouraged Christians; you cannot. This attitude is a bit funerary". Instead, Christian joy comes precisely from praising God.

"But what is this praising God?" the Pope asked. "Praise him gratuitously, as the grace he gives us is gratuitous" was his response. Then, turning to one of those present at the celebration, he said: 'May I ask the question to you who are here at Mass: do you praise God? Or just asking God and thanking God? But praise God?" This, he repeated, means 'going out of ourselves to praise God, wasting time praising'.

At this point the Pontiff referred to one of the criticisms that is often levelled at priests: 'This mass you do is long'. Of course, he explained, still addressing those present, 'if you don't praise God and don't know the gratuitousness of wasting time praising God, of course it's a long mass! But if you go to this attitude of joy, of praising God, that is beautiful'. After all, 'eternity will be this: praising God. But this will not be boring, it will be beautiful. This joy sets us free'.

"And I want to add," he said in conclusion, "one last thing: it is she, Our Lady, who brings joy. The Church calls it the cause of our joy, causa nostrae letitiae, Why? Because it brings our greatest joy, it brings Jesus. And by bringing Jesus, she makes 'this child leap in his mother's womb'. She brings Jesus. She with her prayer causes the Holy Spirit to burst in. She burst forth on that day of Pentecost; she was there. We must pray to Our Lady so that by carrying Jesus she may give us the grace of joy, of freedom; Give us the grace to praise, to make a prayer of free praise, because he is worthy of praise, always".

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 01/06/2013]

Affliction and joy in the pains of childbirth

(Jn 16:20-23a)

A widespread belief in Jesus' age was that the end time would be preceded by an excess of tribulation and violence.

The jubilation of the future golden age would be heralded by an unprecedented trials period.

The image of the parturient expressed the sense of intensely painful history in the turn of the times.

Hard times that were expected to be not excessively durable - compensated for by a liberation that would have one startled with joy.

The spirit of self-sufficiency and feigned security of the surrounding world [even of the religious caste, concerned with safeguarding itself] would have led church members into terrifying loneliness.

The faithful contradicted the “pious” and imperial way of considering life, based on false security and a spirit of affirmation.

The historical moment seemed invaded by sadness and at the same time by an ineffable, radical expectation, which paradoxically arose from the same cause of persecution.

Exclusion produced a sense of discouragement, but it was also a spring that activated incisive glances, and action, for a reverse fulfillment - in the living experience of the divine Presence.

Social estrangement triggered a situation of Freedom: it became an unexpected, profitable, tangible Gift.

Everything was proved to be useful in reconciling the multiplicity of faces with one's own scattered history, sisters and brothers, and God's future.

End of misunderstandings.

In light of the actual experience of the working Vision-Faith, even in malaise there would have been no questions to advance: only answers.

The mystery of each person’s existence was then eloquently elucidated, without scattershot questions anymore: rather, with inner guides.

In the figure of Jesus who "grees" his intimates, Jn introduces the Gift of the Paraclete. Spirit bearing the joy of the Master’s [silent] Presence.

Still «in the midst» - He was giving birth to the new world.

Frequent allusions to intimate sufferings in the text describe the reality of the Johannine communities of Asia Minor at the end of the first century, tormented by defections.

Oppression under Domitian was increasing, and many community brethren were impatient: they needed a key to profound interpretation, and a perspective.

They were not going to make it on their own, starting with themselves.

Jn intends to sustain the pains of believers and prevent flight, encouraging all to see persecution as a life-giving mechanism [birth pangs: v.21].

Only in this way would he who had death before his eyes not fear to continue in his frankness as a witness: he must have a strong Hope.

On such a ray of light and in the wake of God in history, step by step everything became clear.

In the life of the woman and the man of Faith, melancholy and joy went hand in hand - indeed, it was the absolute and lacerating trials that unleashed flow of life.

The death of Christ and his intimates made possible a new Birth of humanity.

Mystery of life, of tribulations, and of being in fullness «new creatures» ‘from genesis to genesis’.

It was precisely the travail that produced in the sons of God the joy of a rediscovered Presence, in the long time of evangelization - always in danger of going astray and in the temptation to give in.

We must remember this rhythm: sadness of leave-taking and new heart, joy and sadness...

Paradoxical synergy that can grow our engaging union with the Risen One, recognized as «personal Lord».

[Friday 6th wk. in Easter, May 30, 2025]

Affliction and joy in labour pains

(Jn 16:20-23a)

A widespread belief at the time of Jesus was that the last time would be preceded by an excess of tribulation and violence.

The joy of the coming golden age would be heralded by a period of unprecedented trials.

The image of the woman giving birth expressed the sense of the intensely painful history at the turn of the times.

Times that were not expected to be excessively long - compensated by a deliverance that would cause one to rejoice.

The spirit of self-sufficiency and feigned security of the surrounding world (even of the religious caste, preoccupied with safeguarding itself) would lead church members into terrifying loneliness.

The believers contradicted the pious and imperial way of looking at life, based on false certainties and a spirit of affirmation.

The moment in history seemed invaded by sadness and at the same time by an ineffable, radical expectation, which paradoxically arose from the same cause of persecution.

Exclusion produced a sense of discouragement, but it was also a spring that activated incisive glances, and action, for a reverse fulfilment - in the living experience of the divine Presence.

Social estrangement triggered a situation of Freedom: it became an unexpected, fruitful, tangible Gift.

Everything was shown to reconcile the multiplicity of faces with their own scattered history, brothers and sisters, God's future.

No more misunderstandings.

In the light of the real experience of the working Vision-Faith, even in the malaise there would be no questions to put forward: only answers.

The mystery of each person's existence was eloquently clarified, with no more scattering questions: rather, with inner guides.

In the figure of Jesus "greeting" his own, Jn introduces the Gift of the Paraclete. Spirit bearing the joy of the [silent] Presence of the Master.

Still in the midst - He was bringing the new world into being.

The frequent allusions to inner suffering in the text describe the reality of the Johannine communities in late 1st century Asia Minor, tormented by defections.

The oppression under Domitian was increasing, and many community brothers were impatient: they needed a profound key to interpretation, and perspective.

They would not have made it on their own, starting from themselves.

Jn intends to sustain the pains of the believers and to avoid flight, encouraging all to see in persecutions a generating mechanism of new life [labour pains: v.21].

Only in this way would those who had death before their eyes not be afraid to continue in their frankness as witnesses: they had to have a strong Hope.

On such a ray of light and in the wake of God in history, step by step everything became clear.

In the life of the woman and the man of Faith, melancholy and joy went hand in hand - indeed, it was the absolute and lacerating trials that unleashed the flow of life.

The death of Christ and his people made a new birth of humanity possible.

Mystery of life, of tribulations, and of being fully new creatures, from genesis to genesis.

In the Bible, Happiness is a perception of fullness of life, a place of celebration that transports the person and the entire fraternity from the ills of the journey - it is the great sign of the New World.

But the primitive communities experienced that intimate joy arose from the tears of a painful birth: this was also to be the case for the world to come; of unprecedented conquest and freedom.

From the labour pains arose a different, primordial life, filled with a different kind of exultation: dissonant from old forms, nomenclatures, and intentions, even for those giving birth.

In short, suffering did not deny the irradiation of the Spirit: it was a law of birth [not a negative force] that could indeed annihilate, but only those whose gaze was averted.

This was also the case with the Kingdom: its establishment happened within a struggle, never harmless - that even though it wounded outside and inside even the human substance, in the depths of the heart and relationships.

But it then reharmonised and more, in the thrill of discoveries, in the suggestions that throbbed - from which a new creation sprang.

To the official notes of the true Church [a holy catholic apostolic] one should perhaps add: harassed, scourged, nailed down. In this way, strengthened by a Word-Person that resonated within.

From all this came an unimpeded 'taste' from the earliest times, which immediately incurs worldly hostility. Nothing to do with empire and its pyramidal-feudal logic.

Precisely in the travail, each trial produced in the children of God the joy of a rediscovered Presence, in the long time of evangelisation - always in danger of going astray and in the temptation to yield.We must remember this rhythm: sadness of farewell and a new heart, joy and sadness....

Paradoxical synergy that can grow our engaging union with the Risen One, acknowledged Lord.

Spe Salvi

We somehow desire life itself, true life, which is then untouched even by death; but at the same time we do not know what we are being driven towards. We cannot cease striving towards it and yet we know that all that we can experience or realise is not what we long for. This unknown "thing" is the true "hope" that impels us and its being unknown is, at the same time, the cause of all despair as well as of all positive or destructive impulses towards the authentic world and authentic man. The word "eternal life" tries to give a name to this unknown known reality. Necessarily is an insufficient word that creates confusion. "Eternal', in fact, arouses in us the idea of the interminable, and this frightens us; 'life' makes us think of the life we know, which we love and do not want to lose, and which, however, is often at the same time more effort than fulfilment, so that while on the one hand we desire it, on the other hand we do not want it. We can only try to escape with our thoughts from the temporality of which we are prisoners and somehow presage that eternity is not a continuous succession of calendar days, but something like the moment filled with fulfilment, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality. It would be the moment of diving into the ocean of infinite love, in which time - the before and the after - no longer exists. We can only try to think that this moment is life in the full sense, an ever new immersion in the vastness of being, while we are simply overwhelmed with joy. This is how Jesus expresses it in the Gospel of John: "I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will be able to take your joy away" (16:22). We must think in this direction if we are to understand what Christian hope aims at, what we expect from faith, from our being with Christ.

[Pope Benedict, Spe Salvi n.12]