3. “Blessed are you!”, he says, “all you who are poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, you who mourn, who care for what is right, who are pure in heart, who make peace, you who are persecuted! Blessed are you!” But the words of Jesus may seem strange. It is strange that Jesus exalts those whom the world generally regards as weak. He says to them, “Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners: the kingdom of heaven is yours!” Spoken by him who is “gentle and humble in heart” (Mt 11:29), these words present a challenge which demands a deep and abiding metanoia of the spirit, a great change of heart. 

You young people will understand why this change of heart is necessary! Because you are aware of another voice within you and all around you, a contradictory voice. It is a voice which says, “Blessed are the proud and violent, those who prosper at any cost, who are unscrupulous, pitiless, devious, who make war not peace, and persecute those who stand in their way”. And this voice seems to make sense in a world where the violent often triumph and the devious seem to succeed. “Yes”, says the voice of evil, “they are the ones who win. Happy are they!”

4. Jesus offers a very different message. Not far from this very place Jesus called his first disciples, as he calls you now. His call has always demanded a choice between the two voices competing for your hearts even now on this hill, the choice between good and evil, between life and death. Which voice will the young people of the twenty-first century choose to follow? To put your faith in Jesus means choosing to believe what he says, no matter how strange it may seem, and choosing to reject the claims of evil, no matter how sensible or attractive they may seem. 

In the end, Jesus does not merely speak the Beatitudes. He lives the Beatitudes. He is the Beatitudes. Looking at him you will see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted. This is why he has the right to say, “Come, follow me!” He does not say simply, “Do what I say”. He says, “Come, follow me!” 

You hear his voice on this hill, and you believe what he says. But like the first disciples at the Sea of Galilee, you must leave your boats and nets behind, and that is never easy – especially when you face an uncertain future and are tempted to lose faith in your Christian heritage. To be good Christians may seem beyond your strength in today’s world. But Jesus does not stand by and leave you alone to face the challenge. He is always with you to transform your weakness into strength. Trust him when he says: “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9)! 

5. The disciples spent time with the Lord. They came to know and love him deeply. They discovered the meaning of what the Apostle Peter once said to Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn6:68). They discovered that the words of eternal life are the words of Sinai and the words of the Beatitudes. And this is the message which they spread everywhere.

At the moment of his Ascension Jesus gave his disciples a mission and this reassurance: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations . . . and behold I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:18-20). For two thousand years Christ’s followers have carried out this mission. Now, at the dawn of the Third Millennium, it is your turn. It is your turn to go out into the world to preach the message of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. When God speaks, he speaks of things which have the greatest importance for each person, for the people of the twenty-first century no less than those of the first century. The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes speak of truth and goodness, of grace and freedom: of all that is necessary to enter into Christ’s Kingdom. Now it is your turn to be courageous apostles of that Kingdom!

Young people of the Holy Land, Young people of the world: answer the Lord with a heart that is willing and open! Willing and open, like the heart of the greatest daughter of Galilee, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. How did she respond? She said: “I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). 

O Lord Jesus Christ, in this place that you knew and loved so well, listen to these generous young hearts! Continue to teach these young people the truth of the Commandments and the Beatitudes! Make them joyful witnesses to your truth and convinced apostles of your Kingdom! Be with them always, especially when following you and the Gospel becomes difficult and demanding! You will be their strength; you will be their victory!

O Lord Jesus, you have made these young people your friends: keep them for ever close to you! Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, homily to young people, Mount of the Beatitudes 24 March 2000]

Today’s Gospel presents us Saint Luke’s passage on the Beatitudes (cf. 6:17, 20-26). The text is arranged into four beatitudes and four admonitions denoted by the expression, “woe to you”. With these assertive and sharp words, Jesus opens our eyes and lets us look with his gaze, beyond appearances, beyond the surface and teaches us to discern situations with faith.

Jesus proclaims the poor, the hungry, the suffering and the persecuted blessed, and he admonishes those who are rich, satisfied, who laugh and are praised by the people. The reason behind this paradoxical beatitude lies in the fact that God is close to those who suffer, and intercedes to free them from their bondage. Jesus sees this; he already sees the beatitude beyond its negative reality. And likewise, the “woe to you” addressed to those who are doing well today, has the purpose of “waking” them from the dangerous deceit of egotism, and opening them up to the logic of love, while they still have the time to do so.

The page from today’s Gospel thus invites us to reflect on the profound sense of having faith, which consists in our trusting completely in the Lord. It is about demolishing worldly idols in order to open our hearts to the true and living God. He alone can give our life that fullness so deeply desired and yet difficult to attain. Brothers and sisters, indeed there are many in our day too who purport to be dispensers of happiness: they come and promise us swift success, great profits within our reach, magical solutions to every problem and so on. And here it is easy to slip unwittingly into sinning against the first Commandment: namely idolatry, substituting God with an idol. Idolatry and idols seem to be things from another age, but in reality they are of all ages! Even today. They describe certain contemporary attitudes better than many sociological studies do.

This is why Jesus opens our eyes to reality. We are called to happiness, to be blessed, and we become so as of now, to the measure in which we place ourselves on the side of God, of his Kingdom, on the side of what is not ephemeral but rather endures for eternal life. We are happy if we acknowledge we are needy before God — and this is very important: “Lord, I need you” — and if, like him and with him, we are close to the poor, the suffering and the hungry. We too are like this before God: we are poor, suffering, we are hungry before God. Although we possess worldly goods, we experience joy when we do not idolize or sell our souls out to them, but are able to share them with our brothers and sisters. Today the liturgy invites us once again to question ourselves about this and to be truthful in our heart.

Jesus’ Beatitudes are a decisive message which urges us not to place our trust in material and fleeting things, not to seek happiness by following smoke vendors — who are often vendors of death — experts in illusion. We should not follow them because they are unable to give us hope. May the Lord help us open our eyes to acquire a more penetrating view of reality, to heal the chronic shortsightedness with which the worldly spirit infects us. With his paradoxical Word he stirs us and enables us to recognize what truly enriches us, satisfies us, gives us joy and dignity; in other words, what truly gives meaning and fullness to our lives. May the Virgin Mary help us listen to this Gospel passage with open hearts and minds so that it may bear fruit in our life and that we may become witnesses of the happiness that does not disappoint, that of God who never disappoints.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 17 February 2019]

Simple Mystery, New Mysticism. Vocation to offer to the world

(Mk 8:1-10)

The Son reflects God’s plan in compassion for the crowds in need of everything and - despite the plethora of teachers and experts - deprived of any authentic teaching (cf. Mk 6:34).

His ‘solution’ is very different from that of all "spiritual" guides, because He doesn’t fly over us with an indirect paternalism (cf. Mk 6:37) that wipes away tears, heals wounds, erases humiliations.

He invites us to use firsthand what we are and have, although it may seem ridiculous. But He teaches in no uncertain terms that by shifting energies, prodigious results can be achieved.

This is how we respond in Christ to the great problems of the world: by recovering the condition of man ‘viator’ - and sharing the goods; not by letting everyone for himself (cf. Mk 6:36).

In Mk 6 the prodigy is placed after the earful rebuke to the Apostles, invited «aside» for a verification of their uncertain preaching [Jesus announced as glorious Messiah].

Here in Mk 8 precisely, after the opening of the "senses" of the [same disciple taken «aside»] deaf and stammering (Mk 7:31-37).

The Source and Culmination Sign of the sons’ community is a ‘creative’ gesture that imposes a shift in vision, an absolutely new ‘eye’.

Faced with poverty, the attitude of the authentic Church is not satisfied with partial alms.

The breaking of the Bread takes over to the Manna dropped from above (Mk 8:4).

This is the attitude of the living Body of Christ, which feels called to be active in every circumstance.

Result: Women and men will eat, stay satied, and there will be food left over for others. Not all God’s foreseen guests are still present.

Unexpected Agreement: the “food” issue is resolved from the inside of people, and thanks to the few loaves of bread brought in.

There is no resolution with the verb ‘multiply’. The only therapy is the coexistence of the «breaking», «giving», «offering» (vv.6-7). And everyone is involved.

At that time, competitiveness and class mentality characterized empire society - and it was already starting to infiltrate the small community, just beginning.

As if the Lord and the God of profit could live side by side.

In the authentic Church it’s the communion of the needy that conversely goes up in the chair.

Such is the sense of sacred gestures.

In short, our very ‘shortcomings’ make us attentive, and Unique. They should not be despised, but assumed, placed in the Son’s hands and dynamized (v.6).

In this way, the distant persons poised on choices are full participants in Messianic banquet.

That Canteen urges us in favor of others who are missing, who have yet to be called.

For a kind of restoration of the original Unity.

Saved life 'comes' to us by Incorporation.

[Saturday 5th wk. in O.T.  February 15, 2025]

The simple Mystery, New Mysticism. Vocation to offer to the world

(Mk 8:1-10)

«I have compassion on the crowd, for [it is] already three days that they remain with me and have nothing to eat, and if I dismiss them fasting at their house, they will fail in the way; and some of them have come from afar» (Mk 8:2-3)

«Man is a limited being who is himself limitless» (Fratelli Tutti [Brethren All] n.150).

In our hearts we have a great longing for fulfilment and Happiness. The Father has introduced it, He Himself satisfies it - but He wants us to be associated with His work - inside and outside.

The Son reflects God's plan in compassion for the crowds in need of everything and - despite the plethora of teachers and experts - lacking any authentic teaching (cf. Mk 6:34).

His solution is very different from that of all 'spiritual' guides, because he does not overlook us with an indirect paternalism (cf. Mk 6:37) that wipes away tears, heals wounds, erases humiliations, from the outside.

It invites us to make use of what we are and have, even though it may seem ridiculous. But it teaches in an absolutely clear way that by shifting energies, prodigious results are achieved.

This is how we respond in Christ to the world's great problems: by recovering the condition of the 'viator' man - a being of passage, his essential mark - and by sharing goods; not letting everyone make do (cf. Mk 6:36).

Our real nakedness, the vicissitudes and experience of our many brothers and sisters, who are different, are resources not to be evaluated with distrust, "as dangerous competitors or enemies" of our fulfilment [FT no.151].

Not only that little that we bring will suffice to satiate us: it will advance for others and with identical fullness of truth, human, epochal [cf. Mk 6:42-43: the particular passage insists on the Semitic symbolism of the number "twelve"; here in Mk 8 and Mt 15:34-37 that of the number "seven" takes over].

In Christ, everyone can inaugurate a new Time, and Salvation is already at hand, because people gather spontaneously around Him, coming as they are, with the burden of so many different needs.

The new people of God are not a crowd of chosen and pure people.

Everyone brings with them problems, which the Lord heals - but healing not with proxy measures (cf. Mk 6:37), as if from above or from without.

In short: another world is possible, but through the breaking of one's own even miserable bread and companion (cf. Mk 6:38).

An authentic solution, if one makes it emerge from within, and standing in the middle - not in front, not at the top (cf. Mk 6:36).

The well-known symbolism of the "five loaves" and "two fishes" (v.9) - in Christological perspective, means:

Assuming one's own tradition, even legalistic tradition, which has served as a wise base nourishment (5 books of the Torah), then one's own history and sapiential afflatus (Writings: Kethubhiim) as well as prophetic (Nevi'im: Prophets).

[As St Augustine said: "The Word of God that is daily explained to you and in a certain sense 'broken' is also daily Bread" (Sermo 58, IV: PL 38,395). Complete food: basic food and 'companion' - historical and ideal, in code and in deed].

The place of God's revelation was to be the place of lightning, on a "mountain" smoking like a furnace (Ex 19:18). But finally even Elijah's violent zeal had to recant (1 Kings 19:12).

Even to the pagans, the Son reveals a Father who does not simply erase infirmities: he makes them understood as a place that is preparing a personal development, and that of the Community.

Indeed, it was imagined that in the time of the Messiah, the lame, the deaf and the blind would disappear (Is 35:5ff.). Golden age: everything at the top, no abyss.

In Jesus - distributed Bread - an unusual fullness of times is manifested; apparently nebulous and fragile, but real and capable of restarting all, and relationships.

The Spirit of God acts not by descending like a thunderbolt from above, but by activating in us capacities that appear intangible, yet are capable of regrouping our dispersed being [classified as insubstantial - involving the everyday summary - and re-evaluating it].

The Incarnation reweaves our hearts, in dignity and promotion; it truly unfolds, because it not only drags obstacles away: it rests on them and does not erase them at all.

Thus it surpasses them, but transmutes - posing new life.

Lymph that draws juice and sprouts Flowers from the one muddy, fertile soil, and communicates them.

Solidarity to which all are invited, not just those deemed to be in a state of 'perfection' and compactness.

Our shortcomings make us attentive, and unique. They are not to be despised, but taken up, placed in the Son's hands and energised (v.6).

Falls themselves can be a precious sign: in Christ, they are no longer reductive humiliations, but rather path markers (Mk 6:33).

Perhaps we are not making the best use and investment of our resources. 

Thus collapses can quickly turn into ascents - different, unpacked. And seeking total completion in Communion.

In this way, in the ideal of realising the Vocation, as well as intuiting the type of contribution to be made, nothing is better than a living environment, which does not clip the wings: lively fraternity in the exchange of qualities, and coexistence.

Not so much to dampen the jolts, but so that we are enabled to build stores of wisdom not calibrated by nomenclature - which everyone can draw on, even those who are different and far from us.

If a shortcoming is found here too, it will be to teach us to be present in the world in perhaps other and further directions, or to bring out mission and creative maturity - not to remain fixated on partiality and minutiae.

Thus, together, the 'no moments' immediately become a springboard for not stagnating in the same situations as always; regenerating, proceeding far elsewhere.

And the failures they throw into the balance serve to make us realise what we had not noticed, thus deviating from a conformist destiny.

They force us to seek suggestions, different horizons and relationships, a completion we had not imagined.

In short, our Heaven is intertwined with flesh, earth and our dust: a Supernatural that lies within and below, even in the souls of those who have collapsed to the ground; not behind the clouds.

It is the direct contact with our humus filled with royal juices that regenerates us and even creates us: as new women and men, newly re-born in sharing.

The image of the Kingdom in the puny Eucharist does not eliminate defect and death.

It takes them up and transfigures them into strengths; creating encounter, dialogue, preference for the minimal - and frankly propulsive - New Covenant.

Unfortunately, the exaggerated targeting of films about the Jesus 'multiplying' abundance... leads completely astray.

It breeds the devotees of increase, who disdain division (triplicators of money, property, titles, goals, relationships that matter, and so on).

Conversely, in Christ who distributes all things, we become like an actualised and propulsive body of sensitive witnesses [and living Scriptures].

Infants in the Lord, we swim in this different Water - sometimes perhaps outwardly veiled, or muddy and murky. Finally made transparent even as it is surrendered, filled with compassion and benevolent.

The old exclusive puddle of religion that does not dare the risk of exodus and Faith (v.2) would not have helped us to assimilate the proposal of the inferior Messiah, who solves the world's problems without immediate lightning bolts or shortcuts.

He is in us who have embraced his proposal of life: the Father's Initiative-Response, support in the unethereal Journey in search of the Hope of the poor - of all of us destitute waiting.

The allusion to the seven loaves (multiplied because they are divided) reinforces the quotations relating to the malleable magma of biblical icons, such as those of Moses and Elijah: figures from the five Books of the Pentateuch [the First Foods], plus the two sections of Prophets and Writings.

All together 'seven loaves': fullness of food and wisdom for the soul, called to proceed beyond the surrounding hedges, breaking the banks of the enslaved mentality.

It is the nourishment-basis of the human-divine spirit, to which, however, is added a young and fresh companion food, which precisely involves us (v.7): "And they had a few little fishes, and said the blessing on them, he said to give these also.

[As St. Augustine said: "The Word of God that is explained to you every day and in a certain sense 'broken' is also daily Bread" (Sermo 58, IV: PL 38, 395)].

Complete food: basic food and 'companion' - historical and ideal, in code and in deed.

We become in Christ as an actualised and propulsive corpus of sensitive witnesses (and Scriptures!); admittedly reduced, not yet affirmed and lacking in heroic phenomena, but emphatically sapiential and practical.

Announcers, sharers without resounding proclamations of self-sufficiency.

Never enclosed within archaic fences - always in the making - therefore able to perceive unknown tracks.

And to 'break the Bread'... that is to say, to be active, to go further, to divide the little - to feed, to overflow - multiplying the listening and the action of God; and to make even the desperate regain esteem.

We are children: like few and little fish (v.7), but not wallowing in competitions that make life toxic - rather: called in the first person to write a singular, empathic and sacred Word-event.

Infants in the Lord, we swim in this different Water.

Sometimes perhaps outwardly veiled or muddy and murky; finally made transparent if only because it is yielding, compassionate and benevolent (v.2).

The old exclusive puddle of religion that does not dare the risk of Faith (vv. 3-4) would not have helped us to assimilate the proposal of Jesus the Messiah, Son of God, Saviour - acrostic of the Greek word "Ichtys" [fish: v.7 diminutive].

He is the Father's Initiative-Response, support in the unethereal journey in search of the Hope of the poor - of all of us destitute people waiting.

The working Faith thus has as its emblem the Eucharist, a revolution of sacredness. It seems strange, for us who have grown accustomed to it.

In fact, the purpose of evangelisation is to participate in and emancipate the integral being from all that threatens it, not only in its extreme limit: also in its everyday actions - to the point of seeking the communion of goods.

In Mk 6 the prodigy is placed after the earful towards the apostles, called "aside" for a verification of their uncertain preaching [Jesus announced as the glorious Messiah].

Here in Mk 8 [similarly, precisely] after the opening of the "senses" of the [same disciple taken "aside"] deaf and stammering (Mk 7:31-37).

The Source and Summit Sign of the community of sons is a creative gesture that imposes a shift in vision, an absolutely new eye.

In the face of the destitution of the many caused by the greed of the few, the attitude of the authentic Church does not take pleasure in emblems and fervour, nor in partial calls to distinguish itself in almsgiving.

The breaking of the Bread takes over from the Manna dropped from above in the desert (Mk 8:4) and involves its distribution - not only in special situations.

There is no settling, in multiplying life for all.

This is the attitude of the living Body of Christ [thaumaturgic, not the miracle-worker] who feels called to be active in every circumstance.

Grateful adherence must lead us to the gift and sharing of the 'bread'.

If Eucharistic participation does not lead only to punctual alms-giving, external pietism and mannerly welfarism, there is the Result:

Women and men will eat, remain full, and there will be food left over for others. Not all of God's intended guests are yet present.

We note that it had not even occurred to the disciples that the solution might come from the people themselves and their spirit - not from the patronage of the leaders or some individual benefactor.

Unexpected agreement: the question of food is resolved not from above, but from within the people and the few loaves they brought with them.

There is no resolution with the verb 'multiply' - i.e. 'increase' [relationships that count, increase property, pile up wiles].

The only therapy is the coexistence of "breaking", "giving", "offering" (vv.6-7 Greek text). And everyone is involved, no one privileged.

At that time, competitiveness and class mentality characterised the pyramidal society of the empire - and began to infiltrate even the small community, just starting out.

As if the Lord and the God of profit could live side by side.

It is the communion of the needy that conversely takes centre stage in the non-artificial Church; capable of bringing opposites together.

Real sharing acts as a professor of the ubiquitous veteran, pretentious, only to be converted.

The germ of their 'durability' should be not altitude and role, but love.

Such is the only meaning of sacred gestures, not other projects tinged with prevarication, or appearance.

The 'belonging' astound.

For the Lord, the distant ones, still poised in their choices, are full participants in the messianic banquet - without preclusions, nor disciplines of the arcane with nerve-racking expectations.

Conversely, that Canteen presses in favour of others who are to be called. For a kind of re-establishment of the original Unity.

In short, the Redemption does not belong to elites concerned about the stability of their rule - which it is even the weak who must sustain.

Saved life comes to us by incorporation.

To internalise and live the message:

Have you ever broken your own bread, transmitted happiness and made recoveries that renew relationships, putting people who do not even have self-esteem back on their feet? Or have you favoured selflessness, chains, elite attitudes?

The Eucharist, bread broken for the life of the world

88. "The bread I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world" (Jn 6:51). In these words the Lord reveals the true meaning of the gift of his life for all people. These words also reveal his deep compassion for every man and woman. The Gospels frequently speak of Jesus' feelings towards others, especially the suffering and sinners (cf. Mt 20:34; Mk 6:34; Lk 19:41). Through a profoundly human sensibility he expresses God's saving will for all people – that they may have true life. Each celebration of the Eucharist makes sacramentally present the gift that the crucified Lord made of his life, for us and for the whole world. In the Eucharist Jesus also makes us witnesses of God's compassion towards all our brothers and sisters. The eucharistic mystery thus gives rise to a service of charity towards neighbour, which "consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, affecting even my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ." (240) In all those I meet, I recognize brothers or sisters for whom the Lord gave his life, loving them "to the end" (Jn 13:1). Our communities, when they celebrate the Eucharist, must become ever more conscious that the sacrifice of Christ is for all, and that the Eucharist thus compels all who believe in him to become "bread that is broken" for others, and to work for the building of a more just and fraternal world. Keeping in mind the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, we need to realize that Christ continues today to exhort his disciples to become personally engaged: "You yourselves, give them something to eat" (Mt 14:16). Each of us is truly called, together with Jesus, to be bread broken for the life of the world.

[Pope Benedict, Sacramentum Caritatis]

Along with physical hunger man has within him another hunger, a more basic hunger, which cannot be satisfied by ordinary food. It is a hunger for life, a hunger for eternity. The sign of the manna was the proclamation of the coming of Christ who was to satisfy man's hunger for eternity by himself becoming the "living bread" which "gives life to the world". And see: those who heard Jesus ask him to fulfil what had been proclaimed by the sign of the manna, perhaps without being conscious of how far their request would go: "Lord, give us this bread always" (Jn 6:34). How eloquent is this request! How generous and how amazing is its fulfilment. "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst... For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:35,55-56). "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day' (Jn 6:54).

What a great dignity has been bestowed on us! The Son of God gives himself to us in the Most Holy Sacrament of his Body and Blood. How infinitely great is God's generosity! He responds to our deepest desires, which are not only desires for earthly bread, but extend to the horizons of life eternal. This is the great mystery of faith!

[Pope John Paul II, homily in Wroclaw 31 May 1997]

The words and gestures of the Lord touch our hearts: He takes the bread in his hands, pronounces the blessing, breaks it and offers it to the disciples, saying: “Take; this is my body” […]

And thus, with simplicity, Jesus gives us the greatest sacrament. His is a humble gesture of giving, a gesture of sharing. At the culmination of his life, he does not distribute an abundance of bread to feed the multitudes, but breaks himself apart at the Passover supper with the disciples. In this way Jesus shows us that the aim of life lies in self-giving, that the greatest thing is to serve. And today once more we find the greatness of God in a piece of Bread, in a fragility that overflows with love, that overflows with sharing. Fragility is precisely the word I would like to underscore. Jesus becomes fragile like the bread that is broken and crumbled. But his strength lies precisely therein, in his fragility. In the Eucharist fragility is strength: the strength of the love that becomes small so it can be welcomed and not feared; the strength of the love that is broken and shared so as to nourish and give life; the strength of the love that is split apart so as to join all of us in unity.

And there is another strength that stands out in the fragility of the Eucharist: the strength to love those who make mistakes. It is on the night he is betrayed that Jesus gives us the Bread of Life. He gives us the greatest gift while he feels the deepest abyss in his heart: the disciple who eats with Him, who dips the morsel in the same plate, is betraying Him. And betrayal is the worst suffering for one who loves. And what does Jesus do? He reacts to the evil with a greater good. He responds to Judas’ ‘no’ with the ‘yes’ of mercy. He does not punish the sinner, but rather gives His life for him; He pays for him. When we receive the Eucharist, Jesus does the same with us: he knows us; he knows we are sinners; and he knows we make many mistakes, but he does not give up on joining his life to ours. He knows that we need it, because the Eucharist is not the reward of saints, no, it is the Bread of sinners. This is why he exhorts us: “Do not be afraid! Take and eat”.

Each time we receive the Bread of Life, Jesus comes to give new meaning to our fragilities. He reminds us that in his eyes we are more precious than we think. He tells us he is pleased if we share our fragilities with him. He repeats to us that his mercy is not afraid of our miseries. The mercy of Jesus is not afraid of our miseries. And above all he heals us from those fragilities that we cannot heal on our own, with love. What fragilities? Let’s think. That of feeling resentment toward those who have done us harm — we cannot heal from this on our own; that of distancing ourselves from others and closing off within ourselves — we cannot heal from that on our own; that of feeling sorry for ourselves and complaining without finding peace; from this too, we cannot heal on our own. It is He who heals us with his presence, with his bread, with the Eucharist. The Eucharist is an effective medicine for these closures. The Bread of Life, in fact, heals rigidity and transforms it into docility. The Eucharist heals because it unites with Jesus: it makes us assimilate his way of living, his ability to break himself apart and give himself to brothers and sisters, to respond to evil with good. He gives us the courage to go outside of ourselves and bend down with love toward the fragility of others. As God does with us. This is the logic of the Eucharist: we receive Jesus who loves us and heals our fragilities in order to love others and help them in their fragilities; and this lasts our entire life. In the Liturgy of the Hours today, we prayed a hymn: four verses that are the summary of Jesus’ entire life. And they tell us this: as Jesus was born, he became our travelling companion in life. Then, at the supper he gave himself as food. Then, on the cross, in his death, he became the “price”; he paid for us. And now, as he reigns in Heaven he is our reward; we go to seek the One who awaits us [cf. Hymn at Lauds on Corpus Christi, Verbum Supernum Prodiens].

May the Blessed Virgin, in whom God became flesh, help us to embrace the Eucharist with a grateful heart and to make a gift of our life too. May the Eucharist make us a gift for all others.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 6 June 2021]

And move the neighbors

(Lk 10:1-9)

Jesus notes that the Apostles are not free people (cf. Lk 9). Their way of being is so grounded on standard attitudes and obligatory behaviors that it translates into impermeable mental armour.

Their predictability is too limiting: it gives no breathing space to the path of those who instead want to reactivate themselves, discover, value surprises behind the secret sides of reality and personality.

That wich remains tied to ancient customs and usual protagonists doesn’t make you dream, it isn’t an amazing appearance and testimony of Elsewhere; it takes away expressive richness from the Announcement and from life.

The Lord is forced to call the Samaritans [the heretics of religion] gathered elsewhere, not coming from "correct" observances, but able to walk, understand, and not be picky.

The new envoys go on the road helpless. Not being able to count on the usual tricks, they are certainly damaged, defrauded and - if they touch all the exposed nerves - torn to pieces.

But their being modest and not doctoral makes us reflect, arouses new knowledge, and awareness. Thus their spontaneous and innocent friendship.

In blocked situations this "disorder" of new amazements will introduce renewed charm, evoke potential, widen expressive opportunities and everyone's field of action.

Once in a territory, it will be good not to go from house to house: from a makeshift accommodation, to the apartment, the villa, and then the palace, because the search for better comforts makes God's Novelty disappear.

The care of the sick and deviations is a cornerstone of the Mission, because it’s precisely from insecurities or eccentricities that a different Kingdom sprouts, the one that notices and takes charge - in the love of those who do not abandon.

And let no time be wasted by combing the “sitting” environment: even a voluntary removal educates to be free.

The momentum of life will awaken consciences and prevail over the negative: on the path that belongs to us, accusations will count for less and less.

Unlike the fruitless action of the Apostles (Lk 9 passim), the return of the new evangelizers is full of joy and results (vv. 17-20).

It’s the last and different ones who bring down from "heaven" - and replace - the enemies of humanity and of our Gladness (vv. 5-6).

In the perspective of the Peace-Felicity [Shalom] to be announced, what had always seemed imperfections and flaws become preparatory energies, which complete and fulfil us also spiritually.

Now the flourishing Salvation (life as saved persons) is within reach of all (v.9), no longer a privilege.

The sides judged to be crazy, extraneous or materially inconclusive are preparing our new paths.

In the great Mystery of perceiving oneself as ‘being in the Gift’ - «two by two» (v.1) to live in fullness - the self understands the opposite polarities of its essence.

Only thus ‘widened’ do we become a being with and for the other. On the Way, in the form of the Cross.

[St Cyril and Methodius, February 14, 2025]

Beyond the Twelve: 72 others unsure (but transparent) in the uncertainty of wolves

(Lk 10:1-20)

And I and You

"Truth is not at all what I have. It is not at all what you have. It is what unites us in suffering, in joy. It is what unites us in our union, in the pain and pleasure we give birth to. Neither I nor You. And me and You. Our common work, permanent amazement. Its name is Wisdom'.

(Irénée Guilane Dioh)

Jesus notes that the Apostles are not free people, that is why they do not emancipate anyone and even prevent any breakthrough (cf. Lk 9).

Their way of being is so grounded in standard attitudes and obligatory behaviour that they result in impermeable mental armour.

Their predictability is too limiting: it gives no breathing space to the path of those who instead want to reactivate themselves, discover and value surprises behind the secret sides of reality and personality.

That which remains bound to ancient customs and usual protagonists does not make one dream, it is not an apparition and amazing testimony of the Other; it takes away expressive richness from the Announcement and from life.

The Lord is compelled to call the Samaritans (the heretics of religion) gathered elsewhere, not from 'correct' observances - but capable of walking, understanding and not being picky.

At least they do not disprove the Word they proclaim with a life behind the scenes: what you see, they are.

He is practically induced to fly over the Twelve, with insecure but transparent '72s', in the uncertainty of the (many) wolves who feel destabilised.

The new envoys go on the road helpless. Unable to rely on the usual wiles, they are sure to be damaged, defrauded and - if they touch all the exposed nerves - mauled.

But their low and unassuming being makes them think, arouses new knowledge and awareness. Thus their spontaneous and innocent friendship.

Then, in blocked situations, it will be this 'disorder' of new stupefaction that will introduce renewed fascination; evoke potentialities, broaden the possible expressive inclinations, and the field of action of all.

It is the critical witnesses who transmute the world and lead people to praise (because they may have simply regained resources they did not even know they possessed or had lost sight of).

Those who never cease to surprise must beware of the fakers and profiteers who are disturbed by the smile of the newly naive - and very careful. Only here must one be difficult: let there be no more scruples!

Once in a territory, it will be good not to go from house to house: from a makeshift accommodation to the flat, to the villa, then to the palace, because the search for better comforts makes the Newness of God disappear.

Caring for the sick and deviant is a cornerstone of the Mission, because it is precisely from insecurities or eccentricities that a different kingdom sprouts, one that notices and takes charge - in the love of those who do not abandon.

And let us not waste time combing the environment sitting on the false truncated-altar ideology: even a voluntary departure educates to gratuitousness. On the contrary, it is precisely the religious leaders [old-fashioned and otherwise] and their circle devotees who remain attached to positions of social visibility, to the idol of the place, to the disease of the title (without which they do not feel like characters), that astound and reflect.

They are manipulative, and fill our heads with breeziness.

The spy of the sovereign - the 'satan' [his acolytes are many and unsuspected] enemy of humanity's progress - will no longer be relevant.

The momentum of life will awaken consciences and prevail over the negative: on the path that belongs to us, the accusations of the interested overseers will count for less and less.

Unlike the scrupulous but sad and deviant action of the Apostles [Lk 9 passim] the return of the new evangelisers aggregated by direct Calling and without intermediate rituals is full of verve and results (vv.17-20).

It is the last and different ones - not the most well-known and self-referential aggregates - who bring down from "heaven" and replace the Satan-functionaries, enemies of humanity and inclusive Joy (vv.5-6).

In the perspective of the Peace-Felicity [Shalôm] to be proclaimed, what had always seemed imperfections and flaws become preparatory energies, which also fulfil and realise us spiritually.

Now the blossoming Salvation [saved life, conclusive] is within reach for all (v.9), no longer a privilege.

The sides judged sickly, deranged, suffering, invalid, crazy, or materially inconclusive are preparing our new paths.

In the vocational dynamic, the fixed point does not lie in a satisfactory adherence to criteria of reason, nor in some ingenious elaboration of novelty.

Neither does it lie in the heroicity or fixity of conformed, yet convinced, behaviour.

Our certainty is a surprise that comes.It awakens us, but it resides solely in a perception of the inner eye: in the slight recurring image that dwells there and mysteriously appears, drags and guides.

And cures fears.

The only certainty will be that slight vision that - corresponding and reaffirming its comings and goings - turns each one to its unexpressed personal desire, weaving an ineffable dialogue with the soul and its Way.

The Gift imposes itself upon the intimate scenario, to turn each Name to its destination.

To attract and actualise Future. Of course: not the return to the previous situation that many advocate; today, even in times of global crisis.

There is no other fixed point than our Calling.

It comes to enter into a spousal relationship with the unpredictable and unprecedented work of the personal Faith-Calamite.

Attraction that seduces the soul, frees it from insecurities by infusing it with passion, and demands to be respected.

Only in a vocational and intimately strong sense does the call of the Dream, which emerges to the heart's perception, make us tenacious.

And it revives a wandering existence amidst the storms - like that of a planet adrift - intertwining life with Christ.

It is our Peace in chaos, which also invites introspection.

"Magnet-counter" in the external artifice of being led by others' goals.

Nor is it enough to find a modern antidote to the frenzy that stings us, still making our wandering worse.

Nor is imposing a style that conflicts with the independence of the personal spirit.

A parenthesis is not enough to annihilate the tension of contemporary life.

After all, we do not lack an oasis to reflect on the world, understand ourselves, and friends or those far away.

"I have no peace" - we hear ourselves repeated by people who feel adrift. And this feeling is contagious; rampant today.

How do we proclaim harmony and reconciliation in the home (v.5), in a world besieged by provocations, global maladies and competitions, which if considered responsibly immediately make our wrists shake?

In a New Year's greetings address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, John Paul II summarised four epochal emergencies for the new millennium:

"Life, bread, peace and freedom: these are the great challenges of humanity today".

An outlier for our nature.

How can the man of Faith announce balance and prosperity, if weakness is not protected, if the criterion of nature today seems volatile, if nourishment is not abundant and varied for all, if fraternity is not discernible even in protected environments [at most it is mistaken for generic sympathy for advertising purposes, in a church of events - as Pope Francis says], or if belligerence can have theological motivations (in order not to accept the vital needs of others)... if one does not recognise that one can realise oneself 'in a way that corresponds to one's nature'?

This, in my opinion, is the pivotal point: the prerogative of the Vocation and the inner imagery it arouses; of our response of personal and creative spousal trust.

John Paul said: freedom is light "because it allows one to responsibly choose one's goals and the way to reach them".

Not a light that dazzles, but one that rests, and weaves patterns.

A redeemed light, which becomes relationship, the possibility of sharing; Presence that conveys meaning.

Free will pales, hand in hand with our voluntarism, and even the ability to self-determine for the good is not enough for us. We have always known this.

In his second Satire, Juvenal writes:

"Practices have given you this ringworm/

And to many they give it, like sheep/

Or of swine in a herd one communicates/

To all others scabies and dandruff/

And one grain is enough to spoil a bunch/

From this fashion to uglier matters/

Adagio adagio you will pass: the ladder/

Of vices you will not descend/

In short they will make you one of their own/

Those who at home gird their foreheads".

One must live by Communion, even with oneself, or there is no authentic life.

In the great Mystery of perceiving oneself as a "being in the Gift" - "two by two" (v.1) - to enjoy fullness, the self understands the opposite polarities of its essence.

Only thus expanded do we become a being "with" and "for" the other.

Not infrequently, the sacred proposal isolates us or places us in one-sided watertight compartments, which truncate dreams [not disembodied fantasies, which are corollary to them].

The beautiful ancient customs, or the patterns of abstract sociology, and local styles or customs, determine the tracks of our race: the usual totems of costume. Or the fashions of others; external mannerisms.

Jesus (precisely) notes the failure of his own, who fail to liberate people - and even pretend to prevent it [Lk 9].

So he also calls the Samaritans (v.1), that is, the badly indoctrinated, half-breeds and bastards.

In short, he broadens the horizon of the designated tribes, appealing to pagan nations, for a universal task.

The Lord knows that the 'lay' Faith is not of the circle.It does not willingly conform to models without intimate force; therefore, it does not block evolution, because it makes life out of Relationship and Character.

This, in the midst of all facets of being and history: precisely with and for others, but not outwardly - but firmly within oneself.

In this way, in the friendship of self and neighbour, we become by grace and genuinely much more trustworthy than those who are driven by articulate convictions or strong club voluntarism.

The latter are often very dangerous illusions, if they do not recognise as an absolute value the concrete good of the real man, the right to his Happiness.

Totality or integration resulting from the well-being of a completion in being, no longer reduced.

Messianic Presence [Announcement of the Shalôm] that does not devalue; it does not remain one-sided.

The Falling Spy, and the Little Brains

The spy of the "ruler" - the "Satan" [his acolytes are many and unsuspected], the enemy of humanity's progress - will no longer be prominent.

Dethroned from the condition of power over men, it falls into the abyss (v.18).

It means that thanks to the mission in Christ, the momentum of life will prevail over the negative.

In the path that belongs to us, the accusations of the interested overseers will count for zero.

The old kings and prophets had only sighed for the fullness of the Messiah. They felt themselves to be great, but they had not met the Eternal One in superabundance of Person.

They were still slaves to cosmic elements, sometimes subject to the irrational power of evil; often overcome by common thinking, by their own and others' misery, by the attractions of the surrounding worldly reality.

The 'little ones', on the other hand, even today remain open to the Mystery and receive a renewed being.

The wise suppose that the only life is on their side; they think themselves powerful and convincing. They do not need light, nor do they need a Friend.

It is on this plane that one of the definitive revelations about the authentic Man that manifests the divine condition is formulated.

The Son blesses the Father for the gift bestowed on the insignificant in society, and discovers the crux of the Mystery of our communication with the Most High: the spirit of knowing oneself to be in the Family, in its own right.

Ancient religious holiness rested on separation [Qadosh-Santo: it is an attribute of the God who dwells in distinct, remote, inaccessible places] not on essence.

The new name for (domestic) holiness reflected in the Person of Christ and in that of His brethren is no longer synonymous with 'cut off from others and set apart', but 'United'.

Despite the crutches he wears, he remains in himself 'dignified' and even 'called'; hence enabled to be promoted, without further conditions of ideological or cultic purity.

Father and Son constitute a Mystery of reciprocity and dedication into which only those who wish to receive and welcome themselves in the source - in God, to allow themselves to be enveloped by a Friendship that encompasses the whole being - penetrate.

Dialogue that expands even the smallest qualities, sublimates the unknown and obscure sides of the personality into Pearls; to expand the wave of existence, without chasing the voices of the external world [only apparently vital].

Thus Sending and Mission have as their core the unfolding of the intense quality, of the same intimate and indestructible divine reality: Love.

The only Fire that annihilates the consuming powers, in people, in nations, in history.

Precisely, unlike the scrupulous but sad and deviant work of the Apostles [Lk 9 passim], the return of the new evangelisers aggregated by direct Calling and without intermediate rituals is full of joy and results (vv.17-20).

Let us remember Tagore: 'If Christians were like their Master, they would have all India at their feet'.

They are the last and different - the new protagonists of the proclamation.

Not the best known and self-opinionated co-opted ones succeed in bringing down from heaven and replacing the Satan-functionaries, enemies of humanity and our democratic Joy (vv.5-6).

In the perspective of the Peace-Felicity [Shalôm] to be proclaimed, what had always seemed imperfections and flaws become preparatory energies, which complement, include and fulfil us spiritually as well.

Now the Salvation [life of the saved] that flourishes is within reach of all who have a caring spirit and virtue as family members. No longer the privilege of circles that feel secure [but lose uniqueness].

Tagore again: 'Kindly, deliberately make yourself small, come into this small abode [...] As a friend, as a father, as a mother make yourself small, come into my heart. I too with my hands will make myself small before the master of the universe; with my small intelligence I will know you and make you known".

The Mystery resists the "learned" who make profession of high wisdom (v.21). 

Conversely, the Kingdom opens to those not imprisoned by conformist and interposed ideas - slaves to thoughts and conventions.

Here is the Hymn of Jubilation (vv.21-24) that introduces the Commandment of Love (vv.25ff).I remember my Augustinian professor of Patristics: he insisted that one of the nicknames earned by the early Christians was 'little brains'.

They were simple people, but full of aptitudes for fullness, and wise new awareness, which astounded the professors and philosophers of the ancient world.

We, too, ask ourselves: what makes us come close to what we are called to do?

Well, perhaps we already know: the sufficiency of those who profess cerebral doctrine - in reality - only leads to falling from the sky.

It annihilates humble self-perception, makes the ability to notice pale; it closes one to forgiveness, to benevolent acceptance, to listening to the soul and to others, to availability. Even to the acumen of innate knowledge, that which belongs to us and would solve real problems.

Precisely those sides that are judged crazy or materially inconclusive - even in the weave of small things - would make us face the external events that beset us... as opportunities for growth.

They are indeed preparing our new paths, and a germ of an alternative society.

To internalise and live the message:

What happened in you when you accepted the modest (and full) status of son?

What new awareness of yourself and the world did you acquire?

Did you also discover outbursts of gratuitousness, as well as gratitude?

The Mission (Effusion) reaches all frontiers

For the Announcement, without knots at the throat

(Lk 10:13-16)

The difference between religiosity and Faith is in the Subject, of Life in the Spirit: it is not we who dispose, set up, new heavens and new earth - but Grace that silently disposes and precedes.

That is why in the Announcement we are not orphans, and with many knots at our throats.

The Master himself is not alone. The witness of even non-disciples is part of Christ's Way to the Father.

Way that comes. It is not the established "internal" commitment that builds a more authentic world with divine traits.

Rather, it is the Kingdom - effusive in itself - that gives rise to the path to the "far", and activates unthinkable scenarios.

They come to us as a proposal for Peace: openness to a wider Plan, and inter-human justice.

The varied experience, the environment full of surprises of non-followers, generates blossoms, of each one - in the discovery of the limit, of one's own deep states - for communion.

No elective reserve; no right of pre-emption. Salvation according to the Father, not "our way".

The Gospel overcomes the barriers of peoples and if necessary leaves behind its cradle of extenuating cultures, locked in a plastered mentality, perhaps intolerant; annoyed at everything.

Those who in full awareness and deliberate consent reject the Word because the world will no longer be 'as it was before' suddenly find themselves without hope, without children, without the possibility of life and expansion.

Without Presence, without the Spirituality of the Covenant - which chains every witness to the Son and the Father. And only God can overcome the power of obstacles; internal and external powers.

Only in the torch of the divine condition [authentic Source, measure that Christ lives and amazes us] do we learn the meaning of our being, communicating, going.

The inaccessible interrogates, and becomes very close. It annihilates the exclusive ballasts, which remain in vain.

Thus the Announcement unleashes the Spirit, it opens up unusual doors: even a window onto the inner world. Where opposites already have a right to exist. Indeed, they call to the New Covenant, which teaches us to stand with the sides we do not like.

In this way we will investigate and discover: the struggle of the blocks, of the fears of what we do not want to see outside and inside us, must cease.

Tendencies that we thought should be denied become an unpredictable source of other lights and virtues, intimate and in relationships.

Even and especially the shadows call for the Exodus, a new covenant - where we are not absolutely alone and one-sided, but more complete.

In short, the Mystery that inhabits us transcends the bonds of belief, makes us less divided. It starts from the source of being.

It becomes real, compelling transcendence-immanence; for all. New Life Awareness.

"He who listens to you listens to me, and he who despises you despises me, but he who despises me despises Him who sent me" (v.16).

"For the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him" (Jn 5:22-23).

Scientists and Little Ones

(Lk 10:21-24)

Unlike the fruitless action of the Apostles [Lk 9 passim], the return of the new evangelisers is full of joy and results (vv.17-20). Why?

That which remains tied to ancient customs and usual protagonists does not make one dream, it is not an apparition and astonishing testimony of the Other; it takes away expressive richness from the proclamation and from life.

The leaders looked at religiosity with a purpose of interest. Professors of theology were accustomed to assessing every comma from their own ridiculously supponent knowledge - unrelated to real events.

The new envoys go on the road helpless.

The Master rejoices in their and his own experience, which brings a non-epidermal joy and a teaching from the Spirit - about those who are well disposed to understand the depths of the Kingdom in ordinary things.

In short, after an initial moment of enthusiastic crowds, the Master delves deeper into the issues and finds everyone against him, except God and the least: the weightless, but eager to start from scratch.

Gleam of the Mystery that leavens history - without making it a possession.

At the conclusion of the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis cites the figure and experience of Charles de Foucauld, who - subverting conformism - "only by identifying himself with the least came to be a brother to all" (no.287).

At first, even Jesus was stunned by the rejection of those who were already satisfied with the official religious structure and no longer expected anything that could arouse custom and profit.

Then he understands, praises and blesses the Father's plan.

He understands that the authentic person is born from the depths, in any case from another elaboration and genesis, which upsets the established, inert and reassuring religious relationship - never profound nor decisive for human destiny.

God is Simple Relationship: it demythologises the idol of greatness.

The Eternal One is not the master of creation who manifests himself through the irrepressible powers of nature.

He is Refreshment that refreshes, because He makes us feel complete and lovable; He seeks us out, He is attentive to the language of the heart.

He is Keeper of the world, even of the unlearned - of the "infants" (v.21) spontaneously empty of boastful spirit, that is, of those who do not remain closed in their sufficient belonging.

The Father-Son relationship is communicated to God's poor: those who are endowed with a family-like attitude (v.22).

Insignificant and invisible without great gifts, but who abandon themselves to the proposals of the providential life that comes, like children in the arms of parents.

A spirit of pietas that favours those who allow themselves to be filled, and who do not proceed along the paths of thought or calculating initiative, but of innate Wisdom.

The only reality that corresponds to us and does not present the 'bill': it does not proceed on the paths of functional thinking, of calculating initiative.

It transmits freshness in the readiness to receive - to welcome and personally restore - both the Truth as Gift... and the spontaneous enthusiasm itself, capable of realising it.

A prayer of blessing that is simple and for the simple - this of Jesus (v.21) - that makes us grow in esteem, fits perfectly with our experience, and gets along well with ourselves.

But which strangely the 'learned', who do not live 'the spirit of the neighbourhood' (FT no.152) yet claim positions and always play smart, have not been so willing to pass on to us.

Because such Berakah does not presuppose the energy of 'models', nor the aggressive power of 'bigwigs'.

Precisely, in the perspective of the Peace-Felicity [Shalom] to be announced, what had always seemed to be imperfections and flaws become preparatory energies, which also complete and fulfil us spiritually.

And instead of only with the 'big' and external, one must in this way live in Communion even with the 'small' in oneself, or there is no loveliness, no authentic life.

To internalise and live the message:

What do you feel when you are told: 'You don't count'? Does it remain a humiliating contempt or do you consider it a great Light received, as Jesus did?

Jesus sends 72 disciples out into the great harvest, which is the world, inviting them to pray the Lord of the harvest that there may be no lack of labourers in his harvest (cf. Lk 10:1-3); but he does not send them with powerful means, but “as lambs in the midst of wolves” (v. 3), without purse, bag, or sandals (cf. v. 4). St John Chrysostom, in one of his homilies, comments: “For so long as we are sheep, we conquer: though ten thousand wolves prowl around, we overcome and prevail. But if we become wolves, we are worsted, for the help of our Shepherd departs from us” (Homily 33, 1: PG 57, 389). Christians must never yield to the temptation to become wolves among wolves; it is not with might, with force, with violence that Christ’s kingdom of peace grows, but with the gift of self, with love carried to the extreme, even towards enemies. Jesus does not conquer the world with the force of arms, but with the force of the Cross, which is the true guarantee of victory. The consequence of this for those who want to be disciples of the Lord, his envoys, is to be prepared for the passion and martyrdom, to lose their own life for him, so that in the world goodness, love and peace may triumph. This is the prerequisite needed to say, upon entering into every situation: “Peace be to this house” (Lk 10:5).

[Pope Benedict, Prayer in preparation for the Assisi Meeting, 26 October 2011]