Values and emotional independence

(Mt 10:16-23)

The course of history is a time in which God composes the confluence of our freedom and circumstances.

In such folds there is often a vector of life, an essential aspect, a definitive destiny, that escapes us.

But to the unmediated eye of the person of Faith, even abuse and even martyrdom are a gift.

In order to learn the important lessons of life, the believer ventures into what he is afraid to do, overcoming his fears.

The spousal and gratuitous love received places one in a condition of reciprocity, of an active desire to unite one's life with Christ - albeit in the meagreness of our responses.

By continuing instead to complain about failures, dangers, calamities, everyone will see in us women like the others and ordinary men - and everything will end at this level.

We will not be on the other side.

At best we will try to escape the harshness, or we will end up seeking allies of circumstance (vv.19-20).

Mt intends to help his communities to bump up against worldly logic and place themselves in the events of persecution in a fervent manner.

Social anguish is not a fatality, but an opportunity for mission; a place of high Eucharistic witness (vv.16-18).

The persecuted do not need external crutches, nor do they have to live in the anguish of collapse.

They have the task of being signs of the Kingdom of God, which gradually brings the distant and the usurpers themselves to a different awareness.

No one is the arbiter of reality and all are twigs subject to toppling, but in the humanising condition of the apostles an emotional independence shines through.

This happens because of the intimate, living sense of a Presence, and the reading of external events as an exceptional action of the Father who reveals himself.

In this mouldable magma of energy, unique paths emerge, unprecedented opportunities for growth... even in adversity.

An attitude without alibis or granitic certainties: with the sole conviction that everything will be put back into play (not by effort: by shifting our gaze, simply).

Sacred and profane time come to coincide in a fervent pact, which nestles and broods fruit even in moments of travail and paradox.

Here, the only resource needed is the spiritual strength to go all the way... into the paradoxes on the other side.

Thus even the family or 'clan' to which one belongs must be led to a different world of convictions; not without lacerating contrasts (v.21).

The Torah itself obliged the denunciation of infidels to the religion of the fathers - even close relatives - to the point of putting them to death (Deut 13:7-12).

The Announcement could only cause extreme divisions, and on basic issues such as success, or progress in this life - the vision of a new world, of the utopia of other and other people's needs.

Everything will seem to conspire and mock our ideal (v.22).

The reference to the Name alludes to the historical event of Jesus of Nazareth, with its load not only of ideal and explicit goodness, but also of denunciatory activity against the official institution and the false leaders who had put the God of the Exodus under hijacking.

Despite the interference, being misunderstood, slandered, ridiculed, blackmailed and hated... anchored in Christ we will experience that the stages of history and life proceed towards Hope.

God's 'protection' does not preserve from gloomy hues, nor from being harmed, but ensures that nothing is lost (v.22b). It introduces one to the Happiness that makes one aware of existing in all personal reality.

In the time of momentous choices, of the emergency that seems to put everything in check - but wants to make us less artificial - such awareness can overturn our judgement of substance, of the small and the great.

Indeed, for the adventure of love there is no accounting or clamour.

It is in the Lord and in the insidious or summary reality the 'place' for each of us. Not without tears.

Yet we draw spiritual energy from the knowledge of Christ, from the sense of deep connection with Him and the reality even minute and varied, or fearful - always personal (v.22b).

'Heaven' conquers death. The destiny of oneness does not go to ruin: it is precious and dear. 

One must glimpse its Beauty, future and already present.

Nor does it matter to place oneself above and in front: rather in the background, already rich and perfect, in the intimate sense of the fullness of being.

Jesus warns us: we will not be able to count on unassailable friendships, nor on human powers lined up to defend the earthly plot.

Even he whom we thought was close will scrutinise us with suspicion: the price of truth is always in the choice against the world of lies (even sacred or ephemeral ones) all lined up against.

Our story will not be like an easy novel with a happy ending.

But we will have a chance to witness in the present the most genuine ancient roots: that in every moment God calls, manifests Himself - and what appears to be failure becomes Food and the source of Life.Obstinate only in the change of proportions, between stripping and elevation. In the contraposition of the very criteria and foundations of thinking.

Pursue and Confine, or Sincerity and Transparency

This is Mt 10:16-23, the same Gospel passage from the Feast of St Stephen the Protomartyr - where we celebrate the disarming power of the martyrdom of sons. Perfect choice.

The day after Christmas we remove the white curtains of the Tabernacle and replace them with red ones.

Paradoxical awareness: the simplicity of the Crib and the events of royalty-persecution intertwine, out of intimate fidelity to the Good News (sometimes considered a real nuisance, precisely by those who have grown accustomed to it).

The passage is abrupt, but the sense is visceral and acute, also for historical and - shall we say - theological, Christological, ecclesial reasons.

In fact, biblical friends still argue about the real perpetrators of the denunciation and murder of the leader of the non-Judaizing church: a bold-faced and impertinent, but sincere and genuine - like a 'dove'. 

Of course, martyrdom to the point of bloodshed is not required of everyone: often a slow and anonymous consummation can resemble the first Witness to the authentic Faith.

Indeed, Stephen dared to criticise customs, the monopoly of the Temple [to which the Church of the Apostles was still bound] and the fundamentalist interpretation of the Law.

The critical witnesses impugn all the powers of the earth, even the closest (v.21). We are exactly the unbalanced Word of God, dismantling the quiet barriers.

They make us crawl; but it seems madness.

If unable to evolve and eager to confine ourselves, even family power will turn against us, when we try to replace the tribal calculus of 'wolves' with the innocence that bestows and renews relationships.

The clan to which one belongs must also be led to a different world of convictions; not without lacerating contrasts.

The Torah itself obliged believers in God to denounce those unfaithful to their fathers' religion - even close relatives - to the point of putting them to death (Deut 13:7-12).

To stay in the saddle and defend the ancient world in which they are placed, the worldly powers of the synagogue and the palace will not hesitate to use exclusion, lies and intimidation: they have nothing else.

People like Stephen wanted not only the pyramid of cults, but also the 'ecclesial' situation dominated by official customs to be turned upside down.

Those who are called to be nourished must rely not on the power of influence and fear of the hierarchy, but on the credible gift of self. The only lovable and convincing reality.

The Witness who reflects Jesus cannot imagine compromising, then allying himself with people who matter and resorting to subterfuge, deception, bribes or shameful support (cf. vv.19-20).

Allies of circumstance, to escape the harshness and maintain reputation.

Mt intends to help his communities - and us today - to resist worldly logic or the war of opinions, and to stand in the events of persecution in a fervent manner.

Persecution is not a fatality, but an opportunity for transparent mission, without gimmicks; a place of high Eucharistic witness.

The persecuted must not live in the anguish of collapse, because they have the task of being signs of the Kingdom of God.

They gradually bring the distant ones and the internal usurpers themselves to a different awareness.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (xvii):

"Of great rulers the people knew they existed; then came those whom they loved and exalted, and then those whom they feared, and then those whom they mocked: when sincerity failed, insincerity set in".

The Church's attraction lies in not turning into a power like any other, attached to hegemony and riches.

Hypocritical power, harassing and exploiting the naivety of the simple, the weak - quickly made subjects and treated as doormats.

More than in pusillanimous little things [that do not compromise] or more than in strife and a new dirigisme, the Elsewhere is only in the clement and benevolent transparency of the Spirit (v.20).

For a higher Loyalty and Justice: those willing even to lose friends, be mocked and rejected. Protecting only being oneself, in naturalness and simplicity.

But allowing new energies to enter, to open the door to the ineffable Mystery.

Here sacred and profane come together in a fervent Covenant.

A covenant that nestles and broods fruit, precisely in moments of labour and paradox.

The only necessary resource is the spiritual strength to go all the way.

The Announcement could only cause extreme divisions, and on basic issues such as success, or progress in this life - in place of the vision of a new world; of the utopia of other and other people's needs.

And sooner or later perhaps everything will seem to conspire and make a mockery of our ideal.

The reference to the 'Name' (v.22) alludes to the historical event of Jesus of Nazareth, with all its load not only of ideal and explicit goodness, but also of denunciatory activity against the official institution - and the false leaders who had put the God of the Exodus under hijacking.

Despite the interferences - being misunderstood, slandered, mocked, blackmailed and hated... anchored in Christ we will personally experience that the stages of history and life proceed towards an indispensable Hope, which breaks through the blockages.

[God's so-called 'protection' does not preserve us from gloomy hues, nor from being harmed, but ensures that nothing is lost].

Certainly, Jesus warns us: we will not be able to count on unassailable friendships, nor on human powers arrayed in defence. A story of authentic Incarnation.

Even he whom we thought was close will scrutinise critical witnesses with suspicion.

The price of truth is always in the choice against the world of lies - even sacred homologising ones - all coalesced against.

Our story will not be like an easy novel with a happy ending. But we will have the opportunity to manifest that at every moment God reveals Himself, and what appears to be failure becomes Food and the source of Life.

Only this is beyond the provisional and has the power of incisive, regenerating maturity.

To internalise and live the message:

What kind of reading do you do, and how do you place yourself in the events of persecution? 

Are you aware that hindrances do not come out of desperation, but rather to free you from closure in stagnant cultural patterns (and not your own)?

On the other side of the world

Christians must therefore always be found on the 'other side' of the world, the side chosen by God: not persecutors, but persecuted; not arrogant, but meek; not sellers of smoke, but submissive to the truth; not impostors, but honest.

This fidelity to the style of Jesus - which is a style of hope - even unto death, would be called by the first Christians by a beautiful name: 'martyrdom', which means 'testimony'. There were many other possibilities, offered by the vocabulary: one could call it heroism, self-denial, self-sacrifice. Instead, the Christians of the first hour called it by a name that smells of discipleship. Martyrs do not live for themselves, they do not fight to affirm their ideas, and they accept that they must die only out of fidelity to the Gospel. Nor is martyrdom the supreme ideal of Christian life, because above it there is charity, that is, love of God and neighbour. The Apostle Paul says it very well in his hymn to charity, understood as love of God and neighbour. The Apostle Paul says it very well in the hymn to charity: "Though I give all my goods for food and deliver up my body to boast, yet have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" (1 Cor 13:3). The idea that suicide bombers can be called 'martyrs' is repugnant to Christians: there is nothing in their end that can be approximated to the attitude of God's children.

Sometimes, reading the stories of so many martyrs of yesterday and today - who are more numerous than the martyrs of earlier times - we are amazed at the fortitude with which they faced their trials. This fortitude is a sign of the great hope that animated them: the certain hope that nothing and no one could separate them from the love of God given to us in Jesus Christ (cf. Rom 8:38-39).

May God always give us the strength to be his witnesses. May he grant us to live Christian hope above all in the hidden martyrdom of doing our daily duties well and with love. Thank you.

(Pope Francis, General Audience 28 June 2017)