The bond between the Annunciation and the “Gospel of Life” is close and profound, as Saint John Paul emphasized in his Encyclical Letter. Today we find ourselves reviving this teaching within the context of a pandemic that threatens human life and the world economy. It is a situation that makes the words with which the Encyclical begins ever more demanding. Here they are: “The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as ‘good news’ to the people of every age and culture” (n. 1).

As with every proclamation of the Gospel, this too should firstly be witnessed. And I think with gratitude of the silent witness of many people who, in various ways, are doing everything they can in serving the sick, the elderly and those who are alone and most destitute. They put into practice the Gospel of Life, like Mary who, having accepted the Angel’s announcement, went to help her cousin Elizabeth who was in need.

Indeed, the life that we are called to promote and defend is not an abstract concept, but rather it is always manifested in a person in flesh and blood: a baby who has just been conceived, a marginalized poor person, a sick person who is disheartened or in a terminal ill state, one who has lost their job or cannot find one, a rejected or marginalized migrant.... Life manifests itself tangibly in people.

Each human being is called by God to enjoy the fullness of life; and, is entrusted to the maternal care of the Church, every threat to human dignity and life cannot but have an effect on her heart, on her maternal ‘womb’. To defend life is not an ideology for the Church. It is a reality; a human reality which involves all Christians, precisely because they are Christian and because they are human.

Unfortunately, attacks against people’s dignity and life still continue in our epoch, which is the age of universal human rights. Indeed, we are facing new threats and new forms of slavery, and laws do not always protect the weakest and most vulnerable human lives.

The message of the Encyclical Evangelium Vitae is thus more current than ever. Aside from the emergencies like the one we are experiencing now, it is a case of taking action on the cultural and educational level in order to transmit to future generations, the attitude of solidarity, care and welcome, in the full knowledge that the culture of life is not the exclusive heritage of Christians, but rather belongs to all those who, working to build fraternal relationships, recognize the value of each person, even when they are fragile and suffering.

Dear brothers and sisters, every human life, unique and unrepeatable, has value in and of itself; it is of inestimable value. This must always be proclaimed anew with the courage of the Word and the courage of actions. It calls us to solidarity and fraternal love for the great human family and for each of its members.

Thus, with Saint John Paul II, who wrote this Encyclical Letter, I reaffirm with renewed conviction the appeal he addressed to everyone 25 years ago: “respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!” (Encyclical Letter, Evangelium Vitae, n. 5).

[Pope Francis, General Audience 25 March 2020].

Parent’s parent, for a different events’ reading

(Lk 1:5-25)

Lk places the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah next to the Annunciation to Mary (vv.26ss), in order to help his communities perceive the differences between religious order and life of Faith.

Even today, the comparison allows the leap between First and Second Covenants to be read in watermark.

In ancient religion it’s taken for granted that the place of encounter and dialogue with God is as planned: an inviolable and venerating enclosure, scented with incense - in the echo of invocations and songs with a fixed formula.

Here without exceptional cues, Zechariah’s belief [«zachàr-Ja»: the Lord of Israel ‘remembers’] doesn’t become personal, but repetitive, motionless.

By dint of commemorating and waiting, the priest of God and of the people no longer expects for anything decisive.

Engaged in the rite mechanism, he is not «blessed» (v.45) but unhappy; ‘mute’ because he no longer has anything to say to those waiting outside the temple.

No real blessing to pass on to people (vv.21-22).

So partly Elizabeth, who is hiding (v.24), while the Virgin - without asking permission - makes Exodus from her environment and rushes to serve her (vv.39ss).

And to trigger a more just and communal life, of the «well-disposed people» (v.17c) - here is a first shot: the mission of John, a figure of the expected return of the prophet Elijah (v.17a). Witness called to recover the hopes of the people and their torn social fabric.

Finally, this "reconstruction" will have an unforeseen outcome, far from prejudices: no longer the normal continuity of an obvious generational pact (Mal 3:23-24) but the definitive return of the heart of the fathers to the sons (v.17b)!

The meaning of the name ‘John’ [Yhwh is Merciful, He manifested his Benevolence, He made Grace] does not allude to some act of compassionate paternalism on the divine side - but to a precise cut from the lineage and from the ancient expectations or costumances, now an end in themselves.

In the Bible the term Mercy describes the Eternal’s different attention and fruitful action in favor of anyone in need - in desperate situations. Intervention necessary for a different genesis: epochal, which makes incredible life and reckless mission sprout, not according to predictions - not even by repeating intentions.

The Name that deviates from tradition is parable of God’s faithful testimony: from now on we must not only "remember" the still immobilized prophecies, without seeing their unpredictable implementation.

While assimilating the spiritual riches of the people, discontinuity marks the beginning of a completely new age.

It’s the transition to ‘personal’ fulfilment, and to a Kingdom that says Yes to everything it faces: that no longer decries the life of each one, of things, of the world.

The different reading of events and of inspirations allows us to become now fruitful - even fathers and mothers of our parents and ancestors.

[Weekday Liturgy, December 19]

Parent of parents, for a different reading of events

(Lk 1:5-25)

Luke places the visit of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah next to the Annunciation to Mary (vv.26ff), in order to help his communities perceive the differences between the religious set-up and the life of Faith.

Even today, the comparison allows the leap between the First and Second Covenant to be read in the watermark.

In ancient religion, it is taken for granted that the place of encounter and dialogue with God is as expected: an inviolable and venerable enclosure, perfumed with incense - in the echo of invocations and chants with a fixed formula.

Non-decisive ground, however: because it is distinct from ordinary life - from summary existence, mixed with unsterilised country situations (even with free-roaming domestic chickens).

In fact, the strong and well-reciprocated call of Faith will have its culmination in a common and inconvenient setting, far from both capable 'instruments' and intangible, secluded, eminent places.

The Word-event descends on even despised territory. Not in the heart of a person acclaimed, or jammed with prejudice - who only knows how to retrace the steps of others and fails to emancipate).

The Call comes precisely to rest on a very young 'unsuitable' woman, a woman of no social or sacred importance, who nevertheless welcomes the Newness of the Spirit. And by shifting her gaze, she overcomes insurmountable difficulties.

Without exceptional insights, Zechariah's believing [zachàr-Ja: the Lord of Israel "remembers"] does not become personal, but repetitive, immobile.

Thus, by dint of commemorating and waiting, the priest of God and of the people no longer waits for anything.

In religions, the mediator between heaven and earth is the elder with the great reminiscences; the one who makes devout remembrance - all right - yet as in a museum: he almost embalms temporal decay.

A role his, still refractory to the horizons of creative Action.

The consecrated remains subject to relations of oppression. He remains, and evaluates based on categories of possibility - only within reach.

The titular of the cult is in fact part of a class that likes to frequent the places that count, reluctant to a Spirit that insists and calls by name; that throws life into the air, even of deputed places and institutions themselves, making inroads and inflaming consciences, in order to move situations.

Here instead is the Poor Woman, inconspicuous but animated by Faith (vv.26-45).

In that culture, every woman was not a 'legal person', rather a non-person, who had to ask permission about everything.

Disengaged from the recognised circles of mass religiosity, she welcomes the Call, without the permission of people who matter - like the early evangelising communities depicted in the watermark.

The opposite of Zechariah, that is, of recognised authority - inside and outside the House (Israel), inside and outside the Sanctuary.

Officiality remains here incapable of communicating anything: the minister engaged in the mechanical passerelle of the rite is not "blessed" (v.45) but unhappy; mute, because he has nothing more to say to those waiting outside the temple.

Nothing vital and no real blessing to pass on to the people (vv.21-22); nothing with which to fill the existence of his neighbour.

So in part Elizabeth, who hides (v.24), while the Virgin - once again, without asking permission from any constituted paladin - exodus from her surroundings and rushes to serve her (vv.39ff).

And in order to trigger a less entangled or sacred life - more just, ideal and communitarian, of the "well-disposed people" (v.17c) - here is a first shot: the mission of John, a figure of the awaited return of the prophet Elijah (v.17a). A witness called to recover the hopes of the people and its torn social fabric.

Finally, this 'reconstruction' will have an unforeseen outcome, far from prejudice: no longer the normal continuity of an obvious generational pact (Mal 3:23-24) but the definitive return of the heart of the fathers towards the children (v.17b)!

The meaning of the name John [Yhwh is Merciful, He has manifested His Benevolence, He has done Grace] does not allude to some act of compassionate paternalism on the part of God - but to a definite distinction from the lineage and ancient expectations or customs, now an end in themselves.

In the Bible, the term mercy describes the Eternal's diverse attention and fruitful action on behalf of anyone in need - in desperate situations. Intervention necessary for a different genesis: epochal, sprouting incredible life and reckless mission, not according to predictions - not even following intentions.

The Name that deviates from tradition is a parable of God's faithful witness: from now on, one must not just 'remember' prophecies still immobilised, without seeing their unforeseeable fulfilment.

While assimilating the spiritual riches of the people, the discontinuity marks the beginning of an entirely new age. 

It is the transition to personal fulfilment, and to a 'realm' that says 'yes' to everything: that no longer diminishes people's lives.

The different reading of events and inspirations allows one to become fruitful now - even the fathers and mothers of one's parents and ancestors.

To internalise and live the message:

How has your different reading of events and personal inspirations enabled you to become fruitful - even parents of your parents?

John was the divine gift for which his parents Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying for so many years (cf. Lk 1:13); a great gift, humanly impossible to hope for, because they were both advanced in years and Elizabeth was barren (cf. Lk 1:7); yet nothing is impossible to God (cf. Lk 1:36). The announcement of this birth happened precisely in the place of prayer, in the temple of Jerusalem, indeed it happened when Zechariah had the great privilege of entering the holiest place in the temple to offer incense to the Lord (cf. Lk 1:8-20). John the Baptist’s birth was also marked by prayer: the Benedictus, the hymn of joy, praise and thanksgiving which Zechariah raises to the Lord and which we recite every morning in Lauds, exalts God’s action in history and prophetically indicates the mission of their son John: to go before the Son of God made flesh to prepare his ways (cf. Lk 1:67-79).

The entire existence of the Forerunner of Jesus was nourished by his relationship with God, particularly the period he spent in desert regions (cf. Lk 1:80). The desert regions are places of temptation but also where man acquires a sense of his own poverty because once deprived of material support and security, he understands that the only steadfast reference point is God himself. John the Baptist, however, is not only a man of prayer, in permanent contact with God, but also a guide in this relationship. The Evangelist Luke, recalling the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, the Our Father, notes that the request was formulated by the disciples in these words: “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his own disciples” (cf. Lk 11:1).

Dear brothers and sisters, celebrating the martyrdom of St John the Baptist reminds us too, Christians of this time, that with love for Christ, for his words and for the Truth, we cannot stoop to compromises. The Truth is Truth; there are no compromises. Christian life demands, so to speak, the “martyrdom” of daily fidelity to the Gospel, the courage, that is, to let Christ grow within us and let him be the One who guides our thought and our actions. However, this can happen in our life only if we have a solid relationship with God. Prayer is not time wasted, it does not take away time from our activities, even apostolic activities, but exactly the opposite is true: only if we are able to have a faithful, constant and trusting life of prayer will God himself give us the ability and strength to live happily and serenely, to surmount difficulties and to witness courageously to him. St John the Baptist, intercede for us, that we may be ever able to preserve the primacy of God in our life. Thank you.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 29 August 2012].

2. The context in which the two annunciations take place also contributes to enhancing the excellence of Mary's faith. In Luke's account we grasp the most favourable situation of Zechariah and the inadequacy of his response. He receives the annunciation of the angel in the temple of Jerusalem, at the altar before the "Holy of Holies" (cf. Ex 30:6-8 ); the angel addresses him while he is offering incense, thus during the fulfilment of his priestly function, at a salient moment in his life; the divine decision is communicated to him during a vision. These particular circumstances favour an easier understanding of the divine authenticity of the message and are a reason for encouragement to accept it promptly.

The announcement to Mary, on the other hand, takes place in a simpler and more everyday context, without the external elements of sacredness that accompany the one made to Zechariah. Luke does not indicate the precise place where the Annunciation of the Lord's birth takes place: he only reports that Mary was in Nazareth, an unimportant village that does not appear predestined for the event. Moreover, the evangelist does not attribute singular importance to the moment when the angel makes himself present, not specifying the historical circumstances. In the contact with the heavenly messenger, the focus is on the content of his words, which demand from Mary an intense listening and a pure faith.

This last consideration allows us to appreciate the greatness of faith in Mary, especially when compared to the tendency to insistently demand, yesterday as today, sensitive signs in order to believe. The Virgin's assent to the divine Will is motivated, on the other hand, solely by her love for God.

3. Mary is proposed to adhere to a much higher truth than that announced to Zechariah. Zechariah is invited to believe in a marvellous birth that will take place within a sterile marriage union that God wants to make fruitful: a divine intervention similar to those from which some women of the Old Testament had benefited: Sarah ( Gen 17, 15-21 ; 18,10-14 ), Rachel ( Gen 30, 22 ), Samson's mother ( Jdc 13, 1-7 ), Anne, mother of Samuel ( 1Sam 1, 11-20 ).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 3 July 1996].

These elderly parents had dreamt of that day and even prepared for it, but they no longer expected it: they felt excluded, humiliated, disappointed: they had no children. Faced with the announcement of the birth of a son, Zechariah had remained incredulous, because the natural laws did not allow it: they were old, they were elderly; consequently the Lord rendered him mute throughout the entire gestation period.

It is a sign. But God does not depend on our logic and our limited human capacities. We must learn to trust and be silent before the mystery of God, and to contemplate in humility and silence his work, which is revealed in history and which so often exceeds our imagination.

[Pope Francis, commentary of 24 June 2018:

https://www.lalucedimaria.it/vangelo-oggi-luca-1-5-17/]

Here is an empty cradle, we can look at it. It can be a symbol of hope because the Child will come, it can be a museum object, empty all our lives. Our heart is a cradle. What is my heart like? Is it empty, always empty, but is it open to continually receive life and give life? To receive and be fruitful? Or is it a heart preserved like a museum object that has never been opened to life and to give life?

[Pope Francis, commentary of 19 December 2017:

https://www.lalucedimaria.it/vangelo-oggi-luca-15-25-audio-commento/]

(Mt 1:16.18-21.24)

«Even through Joseph’s fears, God’s will, his history and his plan were at work. Joseph, then, teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that amid the tempests of life, we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always sees the bigger picture» [Patris Corde n.2].

Incarnation: the Father places himself alongside his sons and daughters. Not only He isn’t afraid of becoming impure in contact with things that concern human dynamics: in their Condition even recognizes Himself.

For this reason, the culmination of the entire Salvation Story springs from Joseph's embarrassment.

Sources attest that he was not at all a character with a lily in his hand, but perhaps this may interest us up to a certain point.

The narration of Mt is striking, because the distinction and the possibility of the irruption (of the summit itself) of God's plan on humanity seem to arise not from a certainty, but from a Doubt.

The question mark involves. Discomfort sows a new Germ inside. It tears and cuts down all the alike seedlings of the grass infesting the full Life - which was the chiseled Law on appearances.

The "problem" leads to dreaming of other horizons to open, and in the first person. Hesitation leads out of the mental cages that mortify relationships, previously reduced to casuistry.

The perplexity makes common opinion overlook, because conformity attenuates and extinguishes the Novelty of God.

Hesitation seeks existential fissures: it wants to introduce us into territories of life - where others can also draw on different experiences, varied perceptions, and moments in which to have decisive insights as a gift.

Its wise Energy finds gaps and small passages; it acts to make us evolve as children of Eternity - also arousing inconvenience, which flood existence of creative suspensions and new passion.

Its lucid Action is introduced through Dreams that shake off the usual projects, or states of mind that put them in the balance; and bottlenecks of marginalized thinking that makes us rediscover the reason we were born, discover our part in the world.

Every swing, every pain, every danger, every move, can become a ‘birth’ towards Originality - without identifications first.

Uniqueness doesn’t make us lose the Source that ‘watches’ in us. Woe to shirk: we would lose our destination.

The Spirit that slips into the crevices of standard mindsets finds an intimate spot that allows us to flourish differently now, able to bring out the essence of who we authentically are, and stop copying clichés.

Then we won't keep asking: Whose fault is it? How should we buffer the situation? Who should we lean on?. But rather: What is the new ‘life’ I have to explore? What is yet to be discovered?.

In fact, the bite of doubts does not make one become believer-garbage, as hypothesized in disciplined, legalistic religions - in puritan philosophies with artificial wisdom - vice versa friends, adopted sons [ie chosen] and heirs.

Thanks to the Relation of Faith, we are no longer lost in the desert - because the many things and the hazards become dialogue of specific weight: we are at Home, respecting our mysterious character and Call.

We begin like Joseph to be present to ourselves. And by changing gaze, we will enjoy the Beauty of the New.

«Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all» [Patris Corde intr.].

To internalize and live the message:

On what occasion did ‘doubt’ open horizons to astound you? In the beautiful and colorful moments of life, did you start from your certainty?

 [Weekday Liturgy, December 18th]

Contact with the earth: deviance and ascent

Casual incarnation, in tenuousness and density

(Mt 1:1-17)

In the ancient East, genealogies mentioned only men, and it is surprising that Mt mentions the names of no less than five women - considered merely servile, untrustworthy creatures, impure by nature.

But in the story of Mary's four companions there is not a little that is a-normal [also because of the model of life chosen] that is nevertheless worthwhile.

Here we are then challenged by the Gospel on the weight to be given to the rigidity of norms, which in the history of spirituality have often devoured the spontaneous being of those called by the Father (simply to express themselves).

Cultures animated by the Wisdom of Nature also testify to this weight.

The Tao Tê Ching (LVII) writes: "When the world is governed by correction, weapons are used with falsehood [...] That is why the saint says: I do not act and the people transform themselves [...] I do not yearn and the people make themselves simple".

In order to reach the human fullness of the Son, God did not pretend to overcome concrete events, on the contrary He assumed them and enhanced them.

The path that leads to Christ is not a matter of climbs, nor of results or performances to be calibrated more and more in a linear crescendo that is therefore moralising and dirigiste (which does not impose turning points that count, nor does it solve the real problems).

Commenting on the Tao(i), Master Ho-shang Kung writes: "Mystery is Heaven. He says that both the man who has desires and the man who has none equally receive ch'ì from Heaven. Within heaven there is another heaven; in the ch'ì there is density and tenuity".

In history, the Eternal One manages to give unfurled wings not so much to strength and genius, but to all the poor beginnings, to the paucity of our nature, which suddenly turns into totally unpredictable wealth.

And if we tear the thread again and again, the Lord knits it back together - not to fix it, patch it up and resume as before, but to make a whole new weave. Precisely from the falls.

It is those moments of the earth-to-earth divide that force humanity to change symbolic direction and not repeat itself, stagnating in the circuit of the usual cerebral and purist perimeters - habitual, and where everything is normal.

As a result of inner crashes and afterthoughts, how many people have fulfilled their destiny by deviating from the marked, quiet, protected and comfortable path (Cottolengo, Mother Teresa, etc.)!

Out of the mire of the swamp sprout beautiful, clean flowers, which do not even resemble those we had ever imagined we could contemplate at various stages of life.

The tumbles of the protagonists of salvation history did not come from weakness. They were signs of bad or partial use of resources; stimuli to change one's eye, re-evaluate one's point of view and many hopes.

Those collapses configured new challenges: they were interpreted as strong provocations: to shift energies and change track.

The upturns following the downturns turned into new opportunities, not at all unexpected, fully discordant with the ready-made solutions that extinguish characters.

Even our crisis only becomes serious when the failures do not result in new insights and different paths that we had not thought of (perhaps in any of our good intentions).

Strange this link between our abysses and the heights of the Spirit: it is the Incarnation, no theory - all reality.

There is no Gift that resembles the divine top and comes to us without passing through and involving the dimension of finitude.

The holes in the water convey the all-too-human figure of what we are - behind illusions or the very appearances we do not want to put down, to convince ourselves that we are instead identified 'characters'.

But the ambivalences and flaws continue to want to unhinge our gaze and destiny elsewhere, with respect to common expectations [today also the paroxysm of the point in the polls].

Behind the mask and beyond the convictions acquired by environment, manners or procedures... lies the Father's great Secret about us.

It is precisely the descents that spiritualise, through a working of the soul that is rammed by events, so that it turns to acquire new awareness, internalises different evaluations, sees and embraces other varied horizons, even missionary ones.

The crack that knocks down can be more consistent than any progress; not because it initiates asceticism: it becomes contact with the 'earth' - where we find the sap that really corresponds to us, to regenerate.

The fall or even the ruin of a reassuring status has in every happening a propulsive, regenerative, transmutative function; normal, after all, and in which God's story is totally recognised.

To internalise and live the message:

What were your turning points?

What turning point realised you? 

Not only through men, but with them

With today's liturgy, we enter the final stretch of the Advent journey, which calls us to intensify our preparation, to celebrate the Lord's Christmas with faith and joy, welcoming with intimate amazement God who makes himself close to man, to each one of us.

The first reading presents us with the elderly Jacob who gathers his sons for the blessing: it is an event of great intensity and emotion. This blessing is like a seal of fidelity to the covenant with God, but it is also a prophetic vision, looking forward and indicating a mission. Jacob is the father who, through the not always straightforward paths of his own history, comes to the joy of gathering his children around him and plotting the future of each one and their descendants. In particular, today we have heard the reference to the tribe of Judah, whose royal strength is exalted, represented by the lion, as well as to the monarchy of David, represented by the sceptre, the staff of command, which alludes to the coming of the Messiah. Thus, in this dual image, the future mystery of the lion who becomes a lamb, of the king whose staff of command is the cross, the sign of true kingship, transpires. Jacob has gradually become aware of the primacy of God, has understood that his path is guided and sustained by the Lord's faithfulness, and cannot but respond with full adherence to God's covenant and plan of salvation, becoming in turn, together with his own descendants, a link in the divine plan.

The passage in Matthew's Gospel presents us with the "genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham" (Mt 1:1), further emphasising and explicating God's faithfulness to the promise, which He fulfils not only through men, but with them and, as with Jacob, sometimes through tortuous and unforeseen ways. The awaited Messiah, the object of the promise, is true God, but also true man; Son of God, but also Son born of the Virgin, Mary of Nazareth, holy flesh of Abraham, in whose seed all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed (cf. Gen 22:18). In this genealogy, besides Mary, four women are mentioned. They are not Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, i.e. the great figures of Israel's history. Paradoxically, instead, it is four pagan women: Racab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Tamar, who apparently 'disturb' the purity of a genealogy. But in these pagan women, who appear at decisive points in salvation history, the mystery of the church of the pagans, the universality of salvation, shines through. They are pagan women in whom the future, the universality of salvation, appears. They are also sinful women, and so the mystery of grace also appears in them: it is not our works that redeem the world, but it is the Lord who gives us true life. They are sinful women, yes, in whom appears the greatness of the grace that we all need. Yet these women reveal an exemplary response to God's faithfulness, showing faith in the God of Israel. And so we see the church of the Gentiles, a mystery of grace, faith as a gift and a path to communion with God. Matthew's genealogy, therefore, is not simply the list of generations: it is the history realised primarily by God, but with the response of humanity. It is a genealogy of grace and faith: it is precisely on the absolute faithfulness of God and the solid faith of these women that the continuation of the promise made to Israel rests.

[Pope Benedict, homily at the Aletti Centre, 17 December 2009].

Man, God's surname

Man is God's surname: the Lord in fact takes the name from each of us - whether we are saints or sinners - to make it his own surname. For in becoming incarnate, the Lord made history with humanity: his joy was to share his life with us, 'and this makes one weep: so much love, so much tenderness'.

It was with thoughts turned to the now imminent Christmas that Pope Francis commented on Tuesday 17 December on the two readings proposed by the liturgy of the word, taken respectively from Genesis (49:2, 8-10) and the Gospel of Matthew (1:1-17). On the day of his 77th birthday, the Holy Father presided over morning Mass as usual in the chapel of Santa Marta. Concelebrating among others was Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano, who expressed the best wishes of the entire College of Cardinals to him.

In his homily, which focused on the presence of God in the history of humanity, the Bishop of Rome identified two terms - inheritance and genealogy - as the keys to interpreting the first reading (concerning the prophecy of Jacob gathering his sons and predicting a glorious descent for Judah) and the Gospel passage containing the genealogy of Jesus. Dwelling in particular on the latter, he emphasised that it is not 'a telephone directory', but 'an important subject: it is pure history', because 'God sent his son' among men. And, he added, "Jesus is consubstantial with his father, God; but he is also consubstantial with his mother, a woman. And this is that consubstantiality of the mother: God made himself history, God wanted to make himself history. He is with us. He has made a journey with us'.

A journey,' continued the bishop of Rome, 'that began from afar, in Paradise, immediately after original sin. From that moment, in fact, the Lord 'had this idea: to make a journey with us'. Therefore, "he called Abraham, the first one named in this list, and invited him to walk. And Abraham began that journey: he begat Isaac, and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob Judah". And so on through human history. 'God walks with his people', therefore, because 'he did not want to come to save us without history; he wanted to make history with us'.

A history, said the Pontiff, made of holiness and sin, because in the list of Jesus' genealogy there are saints and sinners. Among the former the Pope recalled "our father Abraham" and "David, who after sin converted". Among the latter, he singled out "high-level sinners, who did big sins", but with whom God equally "made history". Sinners who did not know how to respond to the plan God had imagined for them: like 'Solomon, so great and intelligent, who ended up as a poor man who did not even know his name'. Yet, Pope Francis noted, God was also with him. "And this is the beauty of it: God makes history with us. Moreover, when God wants to say who he is, he says: I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob".

That is why to the question "what is God's surname?" for Pope Francis it is possible to answer: "It is us, each one of us. He takes the name from us to make it his surname". And in the example offered by the Pontiff there are not only the fathers of our faith, but also ordinary people. "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Pedro, of Marietta, of Armony, of Marisa, of Simon, of everyone. He takes the surname from us. God's surname is each one of us,' he explained.

Hence the realisation that by taking 'the surname from our name, God has made history with us'; indeed, more than that: 'he has allowed himself to write history with us'. And we still continue to write 'this history', which is made 'of grace and sin', while the Lord does not tire of coming after us: 'this is God's humility, God's patience, God's love'. Moreover, even 'the book of Wisdom says that the joy of the Lord is among the children of man, with us'.

So 'as Christmas approaches', it came naturally to Pope Francis - as he himself confided in concluding his reflection - to think: 'If he made his history with us, if he took his last name from us, if he let us write his history', we for our part should let God write ours. Because, he clarified, 'holiness' is precisely 'letting the Lord write our story'. And this is the Christmas wish that the Pontiff wanted to make 'for all of us'. A wish that is an invitation to open our hearts: "Let the Lord write history for you and let you let him write it for you."

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 18/12/2013].

Annunciation to Joseph: meaning and value of Doubt

(Mt 1:16.18-21.24)

"Even through Joseph's anguish there passes the will of God, his story, his plan. Joseph thus teaches us that having faith in God also includes believing that He can work even through our fears, our frailties, our weakness. And he teaches us that, in the midst of the storms of life, we must not be afraid to leave the helm of our boat to God. Sometimes we would like to control everything, but He always has a greater vision" [Patris Corde no.2].

In the infancy gospels of Mt God takes on two Names: Redeemer [Yeshua: God is Saviour] and With-us. The meaning of these divine prerogatives is not mechanical, but theological.

The Proper Name of the Son Jesus describes his Work of redeeming the whole being. And the characteristic attribute Immanu'el (taken from Isaiah) punctuates his many addresses - his many addresses, which are each of us, growing over time.

Incarnation: the Father places himself alongside his sons and daughters. Not only does he not fear making himself impure in contact with the things that concern human dynamics: he even recognises himself in their condition.

Hence, from Joseph's embarrassment even springs the climax of the entire Salvation Story.

The sources attest that he was by no means a lily-livered character, but perhaps this can only interest us up to a point. 

Mt's narrative is striking, because the distinction and the possibility of irruption (of the very summit) of God's Plan for humanity seem to arise not from a certainty, but from a Doubt.

The question mark engages. Discomfort sows within a new Seed. It rips up and tears down the all-too-even seedlings of the weed of full life - which was Law chiselled on appearances.

The 'problem' leads to dreaming of other horizons to open up, and in the first person; because the solution is not at hand.

Perplexity leads out of the mental cages that mortify relationships previously reduced to casuistry - flying over the gears that depersonalise.

Perplexity leads out of common opinion, which dampens and extinguishes the Newness of God.

Hesitancy seeks existential fissures, because it wants to introduce us into life's territories - where others can also draw on different experiences, varied perceptions, and moments in which to gain decisive insights.

Its skilful Energy finds breaches and small openings; it acts to make us evolve as children of Eternity - even stirring up discomforts that flood existence with creative suspensions and new passion.

Its lucid Action breaks through Dreams that shake off habitual projects, or states of mind that put us on edge; and the bottlenecks of marginalised thinking that make us rediscover why we were born, discover our part in the world.

Every wobble, every pain, every danger, every move, can become a birth towards Oneness - without identifications first.

Uniqueness does not make us lose the Source that 'watches over' us. Woe betide if we evade it: we would lose our destination.

This while the circles of the resolute remain there and wither away, precisely because they are always ready to explain everything.

Thus, for example, as for the Family of Nazareth, life in solitude - forced or not - becomes regenerating rather than terrible.

The Spirit that slips into the crevices of standard mentalities finds an intimate 'spot' that allows us to flourish differently now, able to bring out the essence of who we authentically are, and stop copying clichés.

So instead of wondering how something happened, after the first discriminating experience that is unafraid of being isolated, perhaps we return more frequently to our Core, which ceaselessly gushes for a higher Dialogue.

Then we will not keep asking ourselves 'But whose fault is it? How should we buffer the situation? Who should we lean on?' Rather: 'What is the new life I have to explore? What is there yet to be discovered?'

One will come out with a very different virtue of vocation, because the Holy Spirit breaks through the cracks in the norms that make conformists, then dismantles and topples those walls. Finally he breaks through, to build his story - which is not predictable, 'in the way' as that of all those bound to comparison.

Feeling the discomfort of participating in rituals of composite identification causes many problems, but it can be life's great opportunity to broaden the horizons... even of those who do not like to tread the mediocre path of securing themselves - making themselves, out of fear, dependent on opinion, on clichés, on feeling immediately celebrated.

Apparent happiness. For the bite of doubts does not make one a junk-believer, as assumed in the disciplined, legalistic religions - in the puritanical philosophies of contrived wisdom - but a friend, adopted [i.e. chosen] children and heirs.

Thanks to the Relationship of Faith, we are no longer lost in the wilderness - because the many things and ventures become dialogue of specific weight: we are at Home, in respect of our mysterious character and Calling.

Already here and now we move away from the many things that constrain our Centre with constraints and demands - and both thought and action.

Only in this way are we no longer a mythological or habituated crowd, overflowing with guilt, duties and affiliations - but family and colloquial informality of dissonance.

No longer mass, but (all round) Persons: precisely in our being in the limit we rhyme with great-Mission.

Let us begin as Joseph to be present to ourselves. And by changing our gaze, we will enjoy the Beauty of the New.

"St Joseph reminds us that all those who are apparently hidden or in the "second line" have an unparalleled leading role in salvation history. To all of them goes a word of recognition and gratitude" [Patris Corde intr.]

To internalise and live the message:

What were your turning points? What diversions has fulfilled you?

On what occasion did doubt open up astonishing horizons for you?

When and if you changed your conformist gaze, did you or did you not know the kindling in your inner world of perspectives, relationships and regenerating energies?

How did you perceive alongside and 'see' or 'dream' what previously remained Invisible and Elsewhere?

Did you perhaps start from a certainty of your own?

The Gospel according to St Matthew recounts the birth of Jesus from St Joseph’s viewpoint. He was betrothed to Mary who, “before they came together… was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:18). The Son of God, fulfilling an ancient prophecy (cf. Is 7:14), became man in the womb of a virgin and this mystery at the same time expressed the love, wisdom and power of God for mankind, wounded by sin. St Joseph is presented as “a just man” (Mt 1:19), faithful to God’s law and ready to do his will. For this reason he enters the mystery of the Incarnation after an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, announcing: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:20-21). Having given up the idea of divorcing Mary secretly, Joseph took her to himself because he then saw God’s work in her with his own eyes.

St Ambrose comments that “Joseph had the amiability and stature of a just man, to make his capacity as a witness worthier” (Exp. Ev. sec. Lucam II, 5: CCL 14,32-33). St Ambrose continues: “He could not have contaminated the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of the Lord, the womb rendered fertile by the mystery” (ibid., II, 6: CCL 14,33). Although he had felt distressed, Joseph “did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him”, certain that he was doing the right thing. And in giving the name of “Jesus” to the Child who rules the entire universe, he placed himself among the throng of humble and faithful servants, similar to the Angels and Prophets, similar to the Martyrs and to the Apostles — as the ancient Eastern hymns sing. In witnessing to Mary’s virginity, to God’s gratuitous action and in safeguarding the Messiah’s earthly life St Joseph announces the miracle of the Lord. Therefore let us venerate the legal father of Jesus (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 532), because the new man is outlined in him, who looks with trust and courage to the future. He does not follow his own plans but entrusts himself without reserve to the infinite mercy of the One who will fulfil the prophecies and open the time of salvation.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 19 December 2010]

18. Above all, the "just" man of Nazareth possesses the clear characteristics of a husband. Luke refers to Mary as "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph" (Lk 1:27). Even before the "mystery hidden for ages" (Eph 3:9) began to be fulfilled, the Gospels set before us the image of husband and wife. According to Jewish custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal, or true marriage was celebrated, and then, only after a certain period of time, the husband brought the wife into his own house. Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her "husband." Mary, however, preserved her deep desire to give herself exclusively to God. One may well ask how this desire of Mary's could be reconciled with a "wedding." The answer can only come from the saving events as they unfold, from the special action of God himself. From the moment of the Annunciation, Mary knew that she was to fulfill her virginal desire to give herself exclusively and fully to God precisely by becoming the Mother of God's Son. Becoming a Mother by the power of the Holy Spirit was the form taken by her gift of self: a form which God himself expected of the Virgin Mary, who was "betrothed" to Joseph. Mary uttered her fiat. The fact that Mary was "betrothed" to Joseph was part of the very plan of God. This is pointed out by Luke and especially by Matthew. The words spoken to Joseph are very significant: "Do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20). These words explain the mystery of Joseph's wife: In her motherhood Mary is a virgin. In her, "the Son of the Most High" assumed a human body and became "the Son of Man."

Addressing Joseph through the words of the angel, God speaks to him as the husband of the Virgin of Nazareth. What took place in her through the power of the Holy Spirit also confirmed in a special way the marriage bond which already existed between Joseph and Mary. God's messenger was clear in what he said to Joseph: "Do not fear to take Mary your wife into your home." Hence, what had taken place earlier, namely, Joseph's marriage to Mary, happened in accord with God's will and was meant to endure. In her divine motherhood Mary had to continue to live as "a virgin, the wife of her husband" (cf. Lk 1:27).

19. In the words of the "annunciation" by night, Joseph not only heard the divine truth concerning his wife's indescribable vocation; he also heard once again the truth about his own vocation. This "just" man, who, in the spirit of the noblest traditions of the Chosen People, loved the Virgin of Nazareth and was bound to her by a husband's love, was once again called by God to this love.

"Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife" into his home (Mt 1:24); what was conceived in Mary was "of the Holy Spirit." From expressions such as these are we not to suppose that his love as a man was also given new birth by the Holy Spirit? Are we not to think that the love of God which has been poured forth into the human heart through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rm 5:5) molds every human love to perfection? This love of God also molds-in a completely unique way-the love of husband and wife, deepening within it everything of human worth and beauty, everything that bespeaks an exclusive gift of self, a covenant between persons, and an authentic communion according to the model of the Blessed Trinity.

"Joseph. . .took his wife; but he knew her not, until she had borne a son" (Mt 1:24-25). These words indicate another kind of closeness in marriage. The deep spiritual closeness arising from marital union and the interpersonal contact between man and woman have their definitive origin in the Spirit, the Giver of Life (cf. Jn 6:63). Joseph, in obedience to the Spirit, found in the Spirit the source of love, the conjugal love which he experienced as a man. And this love proved to be greater than this "just man" could ever have expected within the limits of his human heart.

[Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Custos]