Different solicitations: the Humanising Action, and the dry action of the misanthropes

(Lk 6:6-11)

Commenting on the Tao Tê Ching (XLVII), Master Ho-shang Kung writes: "The saint knows the great by basing himself on the small, the external by examining the internal".

And he reiterates: 'Without ascending into the heavens or descending into the abyss, the saint knows Heaven and Earth: he knows them with the heart.

Procuring the good and lifting up the real person - as he is, in his uniqueness - is the only non-negotiable value; the criterion of the entire Gospel.

Even the Torah in its core and meaning was meant to be an important means of human, personal, religious pedagogy - not the end.

Norms gladly accompany us, when they facilitate the way to dialogue with the Lord, encountering Him in us and in our brothers and sisters.

But the 'letter' is cold and unmotivated.

Once the encounter has taken place, precedence must be given to God's Project, which is solicitous to fulfil us and allow us to flourish; not to procedures.

In fact, prescriptions put everyone and always on the alert for "different needs".

Hence, solidarity and fraternity are placed above any devout and identity-based obsequies, or doctrinal necessities, as well as outward observance of worship [if lived by automatons].

The same standards must be understood so that they lead to life with and in Christ - to fulfilment and fullness of being.

Otherwise the scrupulous virtue of religion turns into malign action and vice of faith - which loses the totality of the person [v.9 Greek text].

In this way, on the day of the synagogue, one does not celebrate a card-stamping restoration.

Rather, one gathers in assembly to better restore man to his dignity as a sublime being, to be promoted in an unlimited way.

The Sabbath of the Messiah is not the day of customary partialities: gestures and words express the Face of the Father, his solicitude.

It is a time of both Liberation and Creation, of promoting vital energies, according to the original and full Plan.

But in the place of habitual ritual, where the traditional [i.e. à la page] compassionate mentality prevails, Jesus does not go to pray, but to teach and heal.

Not even the paralysed man had asked for healing - so much so that it seemed normal for him to stand there like that and receive no attention, no encouragement; not even good.

Nevertheless, Love is the core and essence of the Law: even on the day of precept, help was still permitted (by the same prescriptions) in case of extreme need or repercussion on others.

The Lord is saying to [his intimate] church leaders:

Unlocking the person who fails to do any good ["barren right hand": v.6] is a matter of life and death, even for the whole community [heal or "annihilate": v.9].

When the wigwams of indifferent and dry religion, and the first-raters of distorted devotion, are provoked, the pious mask disappears.

They become violent even in the face of the good that God works on those who are misguided - and devoted to the worst without even realising it.

The hand [action] to be healed remains first and foremost that of the one-sided mummies to whom the strong teaching of the episode is addressed.

Observing the day of the Lord means, for us too: enhancing man's expressive possibilities and reintegrating him into a 'new order'.

This by clearing the environment prone to sectarianism [or ideologism] of old and new owls who intend to save appearances in order to maintain power, fake doctrinal prestige, and subservience of consciences.

But in order to fulfil the redemptive 'precept', deviant attitudes must also be assumed first, and saved - like preparatory energies for new arrangements.

Master Ho-shang again: 'When those at the top love the Way, those at the bottom love virtue; when those at the top love war, those at the bottom love strength'.

The plagiarism agencies of some particular 'churches' that want souls locked into relationships of domination would gladly plan to keep the sick in their dependent state.

For some perverse mechanisms of pastoral care and mass catechesis, the fearful and insecure must remain anonymous; even in the time of the synodal journey.

The voiceless are always useful, so that the well-introduced can continue to float about the world - with their unchanged foibles or theories.

For pious, moralistic, or partisan interests [this one private and glamorous, i.e. full of legalistic pitfalls] would gladly leave them uncertain and unaware, or worse - even if Jesus himself showed up to set them free.

We can no longer afford this.

We can no longer condone neglect: the current jolt of the global crisis is accelerating the fall of masks, of swampy or histrionic attitudes; and of symbolic practices that are an end in themselves.

The emergence that affects everyone makes it easier to understand the difference between unconscious contents and truths, sedentary fossilisations and hidden energies; religiosity and Faith - the discriminator of life in Christ and the Spirit.

In its sides of limitation and Wholeness, legalism and Liberation, stasis and Rebirth, return to as always or Regeneration, formalism and Gladness, discernment becomes more acute today.

Having already judged it useless to take advantage of the official religious institution to introduce into it the novelty of the Kingdom, [e.g. as far back as chapter 3 of Mk, first of the Gospels] a new community project is advocated.

The Master wants to guide people from all walks of life to feel and live deeply their own and others' human dimension, marked by the paradoxically fruitful experience of fallibility.

Only when they internalise its meaning and live in this way will authorities and believers truly experience compassion for the limitations of the flesh - a characteristic understanding of being 'human'.

In this work, the Lord always starts with the masses abandoned by their shepherds.

The authentic incipit comes from people who are insignificant but disengaged from the authorities of the religious-political fabric, and from the official lines of dynastic succession.

To internalise and live the message:

When have you noticed virtues of religion converted into vices of faith?

What do you mean by Salvation secured by the Kingdom of God?

Theology and symbolism of the Hand:

"Let us therefore reflect again on the signs in which the Sacrament has been given to us. At the centre is the very ancient gesture of the laying on of hands, by which He took possession of me saying: "You belong to me". But with this He also said: 'You are under the protection of my hands. You are under the protection of my heart. You are kept in the hollow of my hands and just so you stand in the vastness of my love. Stay in the space of my hands and give me yours'.

Let us remember then that our hands have been anointed with oil, which is the sign of the Holy Spirit and his power. Why the hands? Man's hand is the instrument of his action, it is the symbol of his ability to face the world, in fact to "take it in hand". The Lord has laid his hands on us and now wants our hands to become his hands in the world. He wants them no longer to be instruments to take things, men, the world for us, to reduce it to our possession, but instead to transmit his divine touch, placing themselves at the service of his love. He wants them to be instruments of service and thus an expression of the mission of the whole person who stands as a guarantor of Him and brings Him to men. If man's hands symbolically represent his faculties and, generally, technique as the power to dispose of the world, then the anointed hands must be a sign of his capacity to give, of his creativity in shaping the world with love - and for this, of course, we need the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, anointing is a sign of the assumption of service: the king, the prophet, the priest does and gives more than he gives himself. In a way, he is dispossessed of himself in service, in which he makes himself available to one greater than himself. If Jesus presents himself today in the Gospel as the Anointed One of God, the Christ, then this means precisely that he acts on the mission of the Father and in unity with the Holy Spirit and that, in this way, he gives the world a new kingship, a new priesthood, a new way of being a prophet, who does not seek himself, but lives for him in whose sight the world was created. Let us place our hands today once again at his disposal and pray to him to take us by the hand again and to guide us".

[Pope Benedict, Chrism homily 13 April 2006]

Let us reflect once again on the signs in which the Sacrament has been given to us. At the centre is the very ancient rite of the imposition of hands, with which he took possession of me, saying to me:  "You belong to me".

However, in saying this he also said:  "You are under the protection of my hands. You are under the protection of my heart. You are kept safely in the palm of my hands, and this is precisely how you find yourself in the immensity of my love. Stay in my hands, and give me yours".

Then let us remember that our hands were anointed with oil, which is the sign of the Holy Spirit and his power. Why one's hands? The human hand is the instrument of human action, it is the symbol of the human capacity to face the world, precisely to "take it in hand".

The Lord has laid his hands upon us and he now wants our hands so that they may become his own in the world. He no longer wants them to be instruments for taking things, people or the world for ourselves, to reduce them to being our possession, but instead, by putting ourselves at the service of his love, they can pass on his divine touch.

He wants our hands to be instruments of service, hence, an expression of the mission of the whole person who vouches for him and brings him to men and women. If human hands symbolically represent human faculties and, in general, skill as power to dispose of the world, then anointed hands must be a sign of the human capacity for giving, for creativity in shaping the world with love. It is for this reason, of course, that we are in need of the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, anointing is the sign of being taken into service:  the king, the prophet, the priest, each does and gives more than what derives from himself alone. In a certain way, he is emptied of himself, so as to serve by making himself available to One who is greater than he.

If, in today's Gospel, Jesus presents himself as God's Anointed One, the Christ, then this itself means that he is acting for the Father's mission and in unity with the Holy Spirit. He is thereby giving the world a new kingship, a new priesthood, a new way of being a prophet who does not seek himself but lives for the One with a view to whom the world was created.

Today, let us once again put our hands at his disposal and pray to him to take us by the hand, again and again, and lead us.

[Pope Benedict, Chrism homily 13 April 2006]

2. The Gospel of the kingdom links Christ with the Sacred Scriptures that, using a royal image, celebrate God's lordship over the cosmos and history. Thus we read in the Psalter:  "Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns! Yea, the world is established, it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples'" (Ps 96: 10). The kingdom is thus God's effective but mysterious action in the universe and in the tangle of human events. He overcomes the resistance of evil with patience, not with arrogance and outcry.

For this reason Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but destined to become a leafy tree (cf. Mt 13: 31-32), or to the seed a man scatters on the ground:  "he sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how" (Mk 4: 27). The kingdom is grace, God's love for the world, the source of our serenity and trust:  "Fear not, little flock", Jesus says, "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Lk 12: 32). Fears, worries and nightmares fade away, because in the person of Christ the kingdom of God is in our midst (cf. Lk 17: 21).

3. But man is not a passive witness to God's entrance into history. Jesus asks us "to seek" actively "the kingdom of God and his righteousness" and to make this search our primary concern (Mt 6& ;33). To those who "supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately" (Lk 19: 11), he prescribed an active attitude instead of passive waiting, telling them the parable of the 10 pounds to be used productively (cf. Lk 19: 12-27). For his part, the Apostle Paul states that "the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness" (Rom 14: 17) above all, and urges the faithul to put their members at the service of righteousness for sanctification (cf. Rom 6: 13, 19).

The human person is thus called to work with his hands, mind and heart for the coming of God's kingdom into the world. This is especially true of those who are called to the apostolate and are, as St Paul says, "fellow workers for the kingdom of God" (Col 4: 11), but it is also true of every human person.

[John Paul II, General Audience 6 December 2000]

Winning with good

1. At the beginning of the New Year, I once again address the leaders of nations and all men and women of good will, who recognize the need to build peace in the world. For the theme of this 2005 World Day of Peace I have chosen Saint Paul's words in the Letter to the Romans: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (12:21). Evil is never defeated by evil; once that road is taken, rather than defeating evil, one will instead be defeated by evil.

The great Apostle brings out a fundamental truth: peace is the outcome of a long and demanding battle which is only won when evil is defeated by good. If we consider the tragic scenario of violent fratricidal conflicts in different parts of the world, and the untold sufferings and injustices to which they have given rise, the only truly constructive choice is, as Saint Paul proposes, to flee what is evil and hold fast to what is good (cf. Rom 12:9).

Peace is a good to be promoted with good: it is a good for individuals, for families, for nations and for all humanity; yet it is one which needs to be maintained and fostered by decisions and actions inspired by good. We can appreciate the profound truth of another saying of Saint Paul: "Repay no one evil for evil" (Rom 12:17). The one way out of the vicious circle of requiting evil for evil is to accept the Apostle's words: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21).

[Pope John Paul II, Message for the 2005 World Day of Peace]

Hope is a virtue' that is 'habitually considered second class. We do not believe so much,' he explained, 'in hope: we talk about faith and charity, but hope is a bit, as a French writer said, the humble virtue, the servant of virtues; and we do not understand it well'.

Optimism, he explained, is a human attitude that depends on many things; but hope is something else: 'It is a gift, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is why Paul said that it never disappoints'. And it also has a name. And 'this name is Jesus': you cannot say you hope in life if you do not hope in Jesus. "It would not be hope," he specified, "but it would be good humour, optimism, as in the case of those people who are sunny, positive, who always see the full half of the glass and not the empty half".

A confirmation of this concept, the Pope indicated it in the passage from Luke's Gospel (6:6-11), in the reference to the theme of freedom. Luke's account places before our eyes a double slavery: that of the man "with the paralysed hand, a slave to his disease", and that "of the Pharisees, the scribes, slaves to their rigid, legalistic attitudes". Jesus "liberates both: he makes the rigid ones see that that is not the way to freedom; and the man with the paralysed hand frees him from his disease". What does he want to show? That 'freedom and hope go together: where there is no hope, there can be no freedom'.

However, the real lesson to be drawn from today's liturgy is that Jesus 'is not a healer, he is a man who recreates existence. And this - underlined the bishop of Rome - gives us hope, because Jesus came precisely for this great miracle, to recreate everything". So much so that the Church in a beautiful prayer says: 'You, Lord, who were so great, so wonderful in creation, but more wonderful in redemption...'. Therefore, the Pope added, 'the great wonder is the great reformation of Jesus. And this gives us hope: Jesus who recreates everything'. And when "we unite ourselves to Jesus in his passion," the Pope concluded, "with him we remake the world, we make it new.

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 9-10/09/2013]

Unclogs ears, so that we do not remain deaf and stutterers

(Mk 7:31-37)

The background of the Gospel passage is the theme of initiation into the Faith, which invests the [interior] ‘senses’: they risk being extinguished.

In fact, every believer runs the risk of weakening perception, circumscribing vital energy, drastically reducing the relationship with profound reality, and the horizon of his journey.

«Effatà» was a globally expressive liturgical formula used by the primitive churches in Baptism.

The unlikely itinerary of Jesus (v.31) almost suggests that he was reluctant to go back, rather staying among pagans. Why?

He realizes that the "distant" seem less deaf to the Word of God than the people of Israel: they still have a lively conscience.

The followers do not expose authentic messages. They show themselves intimate, but despite appearances still do not know how to listen.

This is due to the fact that the “ears” of some of them are only open to cunning: they must be «unclogged» without compliments.

In fact, the action of Jesus is violent [v.33 Greek text].

The apostles believed that the Treasury of God was exclusively intended for the "interiors" - not for the peoples.

But the young Rabbi doesn’t want the disciple to resign himself, to withdraw, becoming attached to his own illness.

Condition of unkempt and meaningless life, from which the ‘godparents’ of Baptism would like to emancipate us (v.32a).

They are the true collaborators of Messiah, who bring him a «deaf» [not dumb but] «stammerer».

Christ then brings us out, «aside» (v.33). He wants to separate every believer from the way of reasoning around; detach him from qualunquist goals.

«Open up yourself!»  there remains the urgent invitation to explore new paths again: unravelling the dialogue, to be concrete and respectful, by putting life on the line.  Enriching themselves and others.

The only great ‘miracle’ is to dilate each person to perception and communication, prolonging the creative Action.

Because looking for the truth in deep listening, we no longer stammer.

In Semitic culture, ‘saliva’ [v.33: «and having spat, He touched the tongue of him»] was considered condensed breath.

Image of the same Spirit who frees us from alienation - of course, not starting from the outside.

Evangelization must also be configured in this concomitance, in solidarity with the realization, and committed to processes; from the inside.

So we will live fluently, and proclaim the Good News for our Happiness; by finding unexpected solutions.

Unfortunately, the "closest" disciples continued to want to preach the «Son of man» as «the» [that] Messiah they expected (v. 36).

In this way, however, the ears were closed and the tongue tied, shrinking the soul, spirit, and hands.

In Baptism - on the contrary - the Master and Lord enables us to listen to the «Word» which becomes an «event», so that we make what is proclaimed resound to others.

We used to be stammering. Through this unseal we have been made up believers and prophets.

The aptitude of the ‘sons’? Opening the soul to the world.

And the mission of the Church is not to decide everything, but making people listen and proclaiming. Without the a-priori of unnecessary references.

«Opening up» remains our decisive Vocation.

[23rd Sunday in O.T. (year B)  September 8, 2024]

Initiation to Faith: He unclench the ears, but they remain deaf and stuttering

(Mk 7:31-37)

"But this Gospel also speaks to us: we are often withdrawn and closed in on ourselves, and we create many inaccessible and inhospitable islands. Even the most basic human relationships sometimes create realities incapable of mutual openness: the closed couple, the closed family, the closed group, the closed parish, the closed homeland... And this is not of God!"

[Pope Francis, Angelus 6 September 2015].

The background of the Gospel passage is the theme of initiation into the Faith, which invests the (inner) "senses" that risk being extinguished.

Every believer, in fact, also runs the danger of weakening perception, circumscribing vital energy, drastically reducing the relationship with profound reality, and the horizon of his journey.

"Effatà" was a globally expressive liturgical formula employed by the primitive churches in Baptism.

Behind that expression we find a truly living and conscious, albeit popular, ecclesial dimension.

Communities that perceive the language of Faith, welcome and share the thought of the Son; therefore they react to the stasis, they do not have fallen inclinations, nor do they remain mute and blind.

The invitation to open one's whole life wide [Effatà] stems from a missionary afflatus that does not let up. Let us see in what sense.

Jesus' far-fetched itinerary (v.31) suggests almost a reluctance on his part to turn back, staying rather among pagans. Why?

He realises that the "distant ones" seem to be less deaf to the Word of God than the people of Israel: they are awake, they receive, they have a still living conscience.

After the heated dispute about the pure and the impure, here is the Master getting impatient even with the disciples.

They have remained at the same level of spiritual deafness as the people, inert; mutilated of the spirit of Scripture.

Still deaf, they stammer: they have tied a knot in their tongues.

If they speak they do so with difficulty, in a disjointed, incomprehensible manner.

In short, the followers do not expound authentic messages.

They show themselves to be intimate, but despite appearances they still do not know how to listen [we would say: not even faithful to the living Tradition; cf. Dei Verbum 1]!

This is due to the fact that the ears of some of them are only open to cunning: they have to be "sturdied" without too many compliments.

In fact, Jesus' action is violent (v.33 Greek text).

The 'supporters' here seem to oppose in every way the action of Christ in its entirety.

The apostles believed that God's treasure was exclusively for the 'insiders' - not for the people.

He then strikes hard: he wants to meet the 'outsiders' so that they too can turn on their resources.

The Gospel episode is a parable of the condition of any person - even a rambunctious one - who upon meeting the Lord begins to perceive and communicate well, with wisdom.

No longer wavering in the trajectories of growth - with the fear of reality, and of oneself.

Religious wisdom or pagan philosophy have sought answers to the enigmas, to life's questions of meaning. And yet, so far, they have only tinkered.

Even the great civilisations have only thought up a few fragments of Truth. It has remained erratic and shaky. It has not expressed itself exactly, or fully.

E.g. (in Plato) Socrates speaks of the immortality of the soul, so he had a vague sense of indestructible Life, but did not receive the Light of Easter.

The problem here is not one of external catechism, but primarily personal and ecclesial.

The authentic Messiah cannot stand our dragging along, without confrontation and discussion that re-creates us.

The young Rabbi does not want the disciple to resign, to withdraw, to become attached to his own illness.

Even today, we still perhaps sclerotize on positions that do not question the real syndromes, and remain with the usual ailments - totally passive about them.

A scruffy and empty condition of life, from which the 'godfathers' of Baptism would like to emancipate us (v.32a).

They are the true co-workers of Christ, strangers to the circle of the ever-attached to God - those who heed him, but do not follow him.

His "angels" [cf. Mk 1:13] bring him a "deaf" (not mute, but) "stutterer".

This is the only time this term appears in the NT.

In the First Testament "stutterer" (moghilàlos) appears only once, to indicate the deliverance from the exodus of Babylon ["The tongue of the stutterer shall shout for joy", Is 35:6 LXX Greek verse].

Not physical healing, but an image of deliverance - radical - that becomes the motive and driving force of the person.

It is a problem of understanding!

Christ pulls us out, 'apart' (v.33)... even from the dissent of the 'intimates', who like to surround themselves with crowds and adhere to the common way of thinking; compromising and banal, not breaking the closures.

He wants to separate us from the way of reasoning around, of manner, of conformity; it wants to detach us from the qualunquist and other people's way of thinking.

He wants us to think and say sensible things, dictated by God's thinking and personal vocation; not trendy, à la page, normalised, standard.

Those who remain in the village where everyone chatters in the same way, or reasons in the same way, and chooses in the same way - stunned, dumbed down by impersonal voices - cannot be healed.

In fact, Jesus' 'sigh' (v.34) sounds like that of one who already feels taken hostage by his own, who seem to hold him like a lion in a cage. 

It takes a good outpouring of the Spirit from Heaven to stay calm and not slap them around... and commit to starting [again] all over again.

The very intimates continue to prefer the usual booklets of instruction and prohibition: easier - than taking risks and letting themselves be educated.

[Considering themselves privileged, some have taken possession of his Person by transmitting it in bits and pieces, through a teaching that neither astonishes nor liberates, nor announces it, but stutters and debases it].

"To 'sigh' is also to ask: is it worth it? The worst choice would be to become mistrustful.

After the Second Vatican Council, we have just begun to open our ears to the Word, and gradually the preaching is changing - but with the usual biblical timescales. (Today we hope for the synodal path).

In the meantime, an idea of a 'barefoot' Church is spreading here and there, one that knows how to listen to the questions of today's man, instead of shutting them up.

An institution in the province of grand narratives and scarcely incisive, but which perhaps begins to leave out a few catchphrases, and begins not to silence all questions.

At last we realise that it is time for proclamation and new catechesis, for convincing language and discernment - and a very different pastoral. Not for this glamour.

But before taking action on the ground, it is appropriate for curials, leaders, captains and consuls to open their eyes and ears - involving themselves in person.

"Open up!" remains the pressing invitation to open up new avenues again: to unblock the dialogue, to be concrete and respectful, to put life back into the picture. Enriching oneself and others.

The only great miracle is to open each person up to perception and communication, intuiting and giving everything of themselves.

Because by seeking the truth in deep and mutual listening, beyond fraternities or cordatas, one no longer stutters.

Even the high-profile hierarchy is beginning to break through the usual external, rubber and stone walls.

In the meantime, ecumenical and cross-cultural confrontation moves us out of the status quo that blocks the most significant achievements.

It is Dialogue that conveys meaning and substance even to Dogmatics.

Only in this way will we succeed in discernment, as well as in prolonging the creative Action of the Son.

In short, the hinge of it all is the knowledge that the Person of Christ communicates wonder and fullness of life; he does not transmit ties.

In Semitic culture, saliva [v.33: "and having spat, he touched his tongue"] was considered condensed breath.

An image of the Spirit that liberates from alienation - of course, not from the outside.

Evangelisation must also be configured in such a concomitance, in solidarity with the realisation, and engaged in the processes: from within.

Thus we will live fluently, and proclaim the Good News in favour of our Happiness. Finding unexpected solutions.

Unfortunately - despite the unleashing of the same Spirit in people, the "narrower" heralds continued to want to preach the "Son of Man" as "the" (that) Messiah they expected (v.36).

But religion prone to spectacle, and the ideology of power, all external exhibitionism - also showy - never had anything to do with Him.

In Baptism, the Lord unplugs our ears to enable us to listen to the 'Word' that becomes an 'event', and loosens our tongues so that we can make what is proclaimed resound to others.

Through this unsealing we have been made believers and prophets. Before, we were babblers.

After hearing, we began to speak correctly, not by our own virtue: only because we received from others the Word that gives life, heals, and does not lie.

However, we often plug our ears and tie our tongues, shrinking soul, spirit, and hands.

But in this way we make God less present and active; we prevent growth, block openness; any development of full life.

The attitude of the son? To open the Exodus to the world, to true knowledge, to the light of the Gospel; where there is no darkness.

And the mission of the authentic Church is not to decide everything, but to make people hear and speak. Without the a-priori of useless references.

To open up remains our decisive Vocation.

Religion in entrance, Faith in exit

Jesus' seemingly rambling itinerary into pagan territory met with opposition from the disciples (the watermark of the deaf and stammering), whose ears he had to unclog and heal the AnnouncementFrancis immediately began to heal the listening defect of Western Catholicism by opening his eyes and ears already from the balcony of election. As soon as he appeared he dared to speak of 'evangelisation' without hesitation. On that day of general enthusiasm, perhaps only the insiders realised how much in that detail the pontiff wanted to make our swamped and opinionated reality grow, sitting on the benches of a sacramentalisation tinged with blatant self-satisfaction.

Previously, not even John Paul II had been able to afford the luxury of not restricting the term with adjectives, because it sounded 'Protestant' to traditionalists. The Polish pope had been forced by many rearguard prelates to launch a more moderate slogan: the 'new' evangelisation. But Francis understood that the Gospel is not old-fashioned or old-fashioned proclamation; in whatever language one puts it, it is a simple and clear proposal of life, beyond the fact that in the times it may enjoy some updated mode or vehicle of transmission.

In the Anglo-Saxon world, the term (evangelisation) describes personal approaches and situations of various kinds, far more direct and dynamic than our 'lay apostolate', derived from pastoral action inspired by the climate of the Council; then timidly debased by a whole backwater of chains of command (and mediocrities who row against).

In fact, on the ground and above all in provincial Italy, the action of the distant and families has been harnessed in the usual wind-guard containers, which scripturally cloak the clericisation of return. So much so that the committed laity themselves are often destined not to bring their personal gifts into play - too close to reality - but only to replenish the thinned ranks of the consecrated, preferably with a prone and doctrinal mentality.

In our Catholic way of conceiving, once upon a time (not remotely) only the term 'missionary' was willingly in use; however, reduced to the education and human promotion that the 'talare' world - as primate - granted or went on to impose in the various areas (cultures banally understood as object-of-doctrine).

But the formation of missionaries has long since been modified in the accentuation of passive virtues.

In former times, for example, what counted was: in mission lands there had to be first and foremost leaders - capable of leadership, of living alone; draggers and organisers of events... In essence, outside the nomenclature, the witness of Christ was imagined as a strong and resourceful man.

After Vatican II, it was realised that the best characteristic of the missionary is not his active quality and his capacity for proselytism (which in the very passage of the Gospel Jesus tries to contain) but that he knows how to fit into contexts, respect culture and particular situations, be very welcoming, be content, be capable of listening, understanding, reflection, and so on.

But now it is a matter of making a qualitative leap that the most backward sectors of the Church still struggle to make: that of no longer considering themselves protagonists and Subjects that dominate Dialogue.

Our relationship with our neighbour, even in situations of prime necessity, is authentic if we not only overcome the selfishness of keeping things to ourselves, but when we annihilate the self-satisfaction of feeling ourselves to be leading figures, (interlocutors of the needy, but) institutional and prominent figures.

Indigents and seekers of the Truth, on the other hand, must be placed on an equal footing, they too being Subjects and not objects of awareness or generously bestowed alms. For a pastoral action that makes those who propose it to others grow first!

The second disease Francis wished to cure was that of the stuttering of a people accustomed to the practice of devotions and not to listening to the Word, from which Faith derives.

He found himself before people well disposed to observances, to respect for liturgical times and intimism - of a Jesus kept close to their hearts, placed on the bedside table... and sometimes good for falling asleep.

But he saw a people substantially indifferent to correspond in life to the meaning of the rites themselves and to embody the Gospels' call. 

Having practised religion, the existence and choices of the 'believers' ran on totally autonomous tracks, quite different from the authentic meaning of the numerous (as much as in itself unfulfilled) prayerful interludes.

Beyond laziness and self-interest, the capacity for Listening for conversion is still lacking; and those who do not lend an ear - the beginning of any relationship - then cannot communicate anything worthwhile; they only tarry.

Hence an undergrowth culture, often muddled in its commitment, capable of excelling almost only in the field of jokes; folded in on itself, aged in the defence of its own acquired economic levels but lacking in Hope, even in the young people of the parish: "But open up!"Francis has tried to bring the fresh Spirit to the people who cannot afford to live off their income, and he still believes in the power that the proclamation of the Good News releases; but for this we must first let our ears be opened wide!

In his first apostolic exhortation (Evangelii Gaudium), the Pope dedicated a substantial space to the Proclamation and even to Preaching - even within a framework concerning the entire People of God; far more than the now congested apostolate of the laity.

In short, there is a life to be proclaimed that is not bogged down, and for this the Magisterium seeks to overcome the fetters of the role reserved to the 'sermon', which today no longer takes the cork out of the ears of old Europe.

Last but not least, the missionary transformation of the 'outgoing Church', which is realised in the style of a bishop of Rome who no longer suggests - as so many predecessors did - moralistic or pious advice to merit Paradise and rise to Heaven, but that God brings it to you, sometimes shoves it in your face.

All this, not to detach oneself from the human family in order to spiritualise the self without too much hassle.

The Lord manifests himself in the opposite direction: he humanises and asks for this downward push; a quality of relationship and not sterilisation.

He knows he is addressing a difficult world, rooted in the formal mediocrity of mannerist catwalks, which not infrequently content themselves with giving to believe and showing off...

A world sick of externality which, however, does not shy away from wanting to cure its stuttering, first by unclogging its ears.

And by encouraging us to take care of our yearning to see better and to be able to express ourselves not haphazardly, making us proceed "far from the crowd" (v.33) conformist, which makes us pale, confusing, levelling, flattening.

At the end of the passage from Mk, then bursts forth the chorus of praise of the assembly of those baptised in the Spirit.

People re-created by the action of Jesus; enabled and able to listen and proclaim.

People who have made Exodus, moving from a religiosity good for all seasons to a personal journey of Faith, which proclaims, transmits, and does not shoplift for itself.

Authentic women and real men, who have learnt to recognise and welcome the action of the God who is revealing Himself, who unceasingly comes. Not like the one who may have come... or will come.

To internalise and live the message:

Do we recognise ourselves in the Mission of the Church or are we deaf, inert and mute through indolence (or interest)?

We have just listened to the three biblical readings which the Church's liturgy has chosen for this Sunday. All three develop a double theme which is ultimately one, bringing out - as circumstances dictate - one or another of its aspects. All three readings speak of God as the center of all reality and the center of our personal life. "Here is your God!", exclaims the prophet Isaiah in the first reading (35:4). In their own way, the Letter of James and the Gospel passage say the very same thing. They want to lead us to God, to set us on the right road in life. But to speak of "God" is also to speak of society: of our shared responsibility for the triumph of justice and love in the world. This is powerfully expressed in the second reading, in which James, a close relative of Jesus, speaks to us. He is addressing a community beginning to be marked by pride, since it included affluent and distinguished persons, and consequently the risk of indifference to the rights of the poor. James's words give us a glimpse of Jesus, of that God who became man. Though he was of Davidic, and thus royal, stock, he became a simple man in the midst of simple men and women. He did not sit on a throne, but died in the ultimate poverty of the Cross. Love of neighbour, which is primarily a commitment to justice, is the touchstone for faith and love of God. James calls it "the royal law" (cf. 2:8), echoing the words which Jesus used so often: the reign of God, God's kingship. This does not refer to just any kingdom, coming at any time; it means that God must even now become the force that shapes our lives and actions. This is what we ask for when we pray: "Thy Kingdom come". We are not asking for something off in the distance, something that, deep down, we may not even want to experience. Rather, we pray that God's will may here and now determine our own will, and that in this way God can reign in the world. We pray that justice and love may become the decisive forces affecting our world. A prayer like this is naturally addressed first to God, but it also proves unsettling for us. Really, is this what we want? Is this the direction in which we want our lives to move? For James, "the royal law", the law of God's kingship, is also "the law of freedom": if we follow God in all that we think and do, then we draw closer together, we gain freedom and thus true fraternity is born. When Isaiah, in the first reading, talks about God, saying “Behold your God!”, he goes on to talk about salvation for the suffering, and when James speaks of the social order as a necessary expression of our faith, he logically goes on to speak of God, whose children we are.

But now we must turn our attention to the Gospel, which speaks of Jesus' healing of a man born deaf and mute. Here too we encounter the two aspects of this one theme. Jesus is concerned for the suffering, for those pushed to the margins of society. He heals them and, by enabling them to live and work together, he brings them to equality and fraternity. This obviously has something to say to all of us: Jesus points out to all of us the goal of our activity, how we are to act. Yet the whole story has another aspect, one which the Fathers of the Church constantly brought out, one which particularly speaks to us today. The Fathers were speaking to and about the men and women of their time. But their message also has new meaning for us modern men and women. There is not only a physical deafness which largely cuts people off from social life; there is also a "hardness of hearing" where God is concerned, and this is something from which we particularly suffer in our own time. Put simply, we are no longer able to hear God - there are too many different frequencies filling our ears. What is said about God strikes us as pre-scientific, no longer suited to our age. Along with this hardness of hearing or outright deafness where God is concerned, we naturally lose our ability to speak with him and to him. And so we end up losing a decisive capacity for perception. We risk losing our inner senses. This weakening of our capacity for perception drastically and dangerously curtails the range of our relationship with reality in general. The horizon of our life is disturbingly foreshortened.

The Gospel tells us that Jesus put his fingers in the ears of the deaf-mute, touched the sick man's tongue with spittle and said "Ephphatha" - "Be opened". The Evangelist has preserved for us the original Aramaic word which Jesus spoke, and thus he brings us back to that very moment. What happened then was unique, but it does not belong to a distant past: Jesus continues to do the same thing anew, even today. At our Baptism he touched each of us and said "Ephphatha" - "Be opened" -, thus enabling us to hear God's voice and to be able to talk to him. There is nothing magical about what takes place in the Sacrament of Baptism. Baptism opens up a path before us. It makes us part of the community of those who are able to hear and speak; it brings us into fellowship with Jesus himself, who alone has seen God and is thus able to speak of him (cf. Jn 1:18): through faith, Jesus wants to share with us his seeing God, his hearing the Father and his converse with him. The path upon which we set out at Baptism is meant to be a process of increasing development, by which we grow in the life of communion with God, and acquire a different way of looking at man and creation.

The Gospel invites us to realize that we have a "deficit" in our capacity for perception - initially, we do not notice this deficiency as such, since everything else seems so urgent and logical; since everything seems to proceed normally, even when we no longer have eyes and ears for God and we live without him. But it is true that everything goes on as usual when God no longer is a part of our lives and our world?

[Pope Benedict, Munich 10 September 2006]

1. "Signs" of the divine omnipotence and saving power of the Son of man, Christ's miracles, narrated by the Gospels, are also the revelation of God's love for man, particularly for man who suffers, who is in need, who begs for healing, forgiveness and mercy. They are therefore 'signs' of the merciful love proclaimed by the Old and New Testaments (cf. Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Dives in Misericordia). Especially the Gospel reading makes us understand and almost "feel" that Jesus' miracles have their source in the loving and merciful heart of God, which lives and vibrates in his own human heart. Jesus performs them to overcome every kind of evil that exists in the world: physical evil, moral evil, that is, sin, and finally the one who is the "father of sin" in human history: Satan.

The miracles are therefore 'for man'. They are works of Jesus that, in harmony with the redemptive purpose of his mission, re-establish goodness where evil has lurked, producing disorder and turmoil. Those who receive them, who witness them, realise this fact, so much so that according to Mark, "filled with astonishment, they said, 'He has done all things well; He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!'" (Mk 7:37).

5. In the very manner in which he performed the miracles, one can see the great simplicity and one could say humility, gentleness of Jesus' traits. How much the words that accompanied the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus make us think from this point of view: "The child is not dead, but asleep" (Mk 5:39), as if to "soften" the significance of what he was about to do. And then: 'he insisted that no one should find out about it' (Mk 5:43). He also did this in other cases, for example after the healing of a deaf-mute (Mk 7:36), and after Peter's profession of faith (Mk 8:29-30).

To heal the deaf-mute it is significant that Jesus took him "away from the crowd". There "looking . . . towards heaven, he uttered a sigh". This 'sigh' seems to be a sign of compassion and, at the same time, a prayer. The word "Effatà" ("Open up!") causes "the ears" to be opened and the "knot of the tongue" of the deaf-mute to be loosened (cf. Mk 7:33-35).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 9 December 1987]

The Gospel today (Mk 7:31-37) recounts Jesus’ healing of a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, an incredible event that shows how Jesus reestablishes the full communication of man with God and with other people. The miracle is set in the region of the Decapolis, that is, in a completely pagan territory; thus, this deaf man who is brought before Jesus becomes the symbol of an unbeliever who completes a journey to faith. In effect, his deafness expresses the inability to hear and to understand, not just the words of man, but also the Word of God. And St Paul reminds us that “faith comes from what is heard” (Rom 10:17).

The first thing that Jesus does is take this man far from the crowd: He doesn’t want to publicize this deed he intends to carry out, but he also doesn’t want his word to be lost in the din of voices and the chatter of those around. The Word of God that Christ brings us needs silence to be welcomed as the Word that heals, that reconciles and reestablishes communication.

Then we are told about two gestures Jesus makes. He touches the ears and the tongue of the deaf man. To reestablish a relationship with this man whose communication is “impeded”, he first seeks to reestablish contact. But the miracle is a gift that comes from on high, which Jesus implores from the Father. That’s why he raises his eyes to the heavens and orders, “Be opened”. And the ears of the deaf man are opened, the knot of his tongue is untied and he begins to speak correctly (cf. v. 35).

The lesson we can take from this episode is that God is not closed in on himself, but instead he opens himself and places himself in communication with humanity. In his immense mercy, he overcomes the abyss of the infinite difference between him and us, and comes to meet us. To bring about this communication with man, God becomes man. It is not enough for him to speak to us through the law and the prophets, but instead he makes himself present in the person of his Son, the Word made flesh. Jesus is the great “bridge-builder” who builds in himself the great bridge of full communion with the Father.

But this Gospel speaks to us also about ourselves: Often we are drawn up and closed in on ourselves, and we create many inaccessible and inhospitable islands. Even the most basic human relationships can sometimes create realities incapable of reciprocal openness: the couple closed in, the family closed in, the group closed in, the parish closed in, the country closed in. And this is not from God! This is from us. This is our sin.

However, at the beginning of our Christian life, at baptism, it is precisely this gesture and word of Jesus that are present: “Ephphatha!” “Be opened!”. And behold the miracle has been worked. We are healed of the deafness of selfishness and the impediment of being closed in on ourselves, and of sin, and we have been inserted into the great family of the Church. We can hear God who speaks to us and communicates his Word to those who have never before heard it, or to the one who has forgotten it and buried it in the thorns of the anxieties and the traps of the world.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary, a woman of listening and of joyful testimony, that she sustain us in the commitment to profess our faith and to communicate the wonders of the Lord to those we find along our way.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 6 September 2015]