(Mk 9:30-37)
"A little boy was playing at being an altar boy together with a boy his age, on the steps of his house. All went well until his little friend, fed up with just being an altar boy, climbed to a higher step and began to preach. The child rebuked him sharply: 'I alone can preach! You cannot preach! My turn! You spoil the game, you are bad!' Summoned by the shouting, his mother intervened and explained to the child that out of duty of hospitality he had to allow the other to preach. At this point the child sulked for a moment, then brightening up he climbed to the top step and replied: 'All right, he can continue preaching, but I will do God' [...]".
(B. Ferrero, La Scala, in: C'è Qualcuno Lassù?, p.24)
The mentality of precedence and supremacy was ingrained to the point that even in heaven, hierarchies were said to exist.
But 'Son of Man' already designates from the OT the character of a holiness that surpasses the ancient fiction of the rulers, who piled on top of each other reciting the same script.
The masses were left speechless: whatever ruler seized power, the petty crowd remained subdued and suffocated.
The same rule was in force in religions, whose leaders lavished the people with a strong horde drive and the contentment of the gregarious.
Instead, in the Kingdom of Jesus there must be a lack of ranks - which is why the most ambitious Apostles' plan does not match his.
"The 'Son of Man' is the person according to a criterion of humanisation, not a beast that prevails because it is stronger than the others (Dan 7).
Every man with a heart of flesh - not of beast, nor of stone - spontaneously identifies himself with the "paidìon" (vv.36-37): a household servant, the shop boy.
The term (diminutive) designates the person who is always attentive to the needs of others, who makes himself available.
It alludes precisely to the dimension of holiness transmissible to anyone, but creative like love, therefore all to be discovered!
In the Gospels, the Son of Man - the true and full development of the divine plan for mankind - is not hindered by the habitués of the sacred precincts, but by the habitués of the places of evil.
The growth and humanisation of the people is not opposed by 'sinners', but precisely by those who would have the ministry of making the Face of God known to all!
Jesus embraces an 8-12 year old boy who at that time counted for nothing - precisely, a house servant, a shop boy.
It is the only identification that Jesus loves and wishes to give us: that with the one who cannot afford not to recognise the needs of others.
A dimension of holiness without distinctive haloes: shareable, because it is linked to empathy, to spontaneous friendship towards women and men.
Obviously: this is not a proposal compromised with doctrinaire religion and discipline that drives back eccentricities: far more sympathetic and amiable.
That of the Son of Man is the holiness that makes us unique, not one that is always abhorring and exorcising the danger of the unusual.
This is precisely why - instead - the fixation on antecedence has characterised the life of the Church for centuries; as has the feudal and monarchical idol of pyramidal stability for life.
"If anyone wants to be first" (v.35): the Master does not exclude our right to do something great... but he does not identify it with having, power and appearance.
For a path of Bliss, He does not excite the impulses of holding, rising and dominating: they do not give Happiness.
Rather, it relies on our freedom to give, to go down and to serve - a franchise entrusted first and foremost to the top of the class (vv.31-35) who have grown accustomed to overwhelming others with moralisms and judgments.
God does not deny the legitimate urges of the self to be recognised. We do not participate in life as gods destined to fail, but as promoted - not suppressing our own requirements.
But not to win the race. The Lord makes us reflect on authentic fulfilment.
This is not an external conquest, but an intimate and self-made one. It is thus able to sculpt our deepest character, in its richness of faces and in the time of a Path.
Aristotle stated that - beyond artificial petitions of principle or apparent proclamations - one only really loves oneself. It is no small question mark.
Granted and not granted, the growth, promotion and blossoming of our qualities is located within a wise Path, a (even interrupted) path that knows how to give itself the right rhythm - even to encounter new states of being.
Genuine and mature love expands the boundaries of the ego lover of primacy, visibility and gain, understanding the You in the I.
Itinerary and Vector that then expands skills and life. Otherwise in all circumstances and unfortunately at any age we will remain in the puerile game of those who scramble up the steps to prevail.As Pope Francis said about the mafia phenomena: 'There is a need for men and women of Love, not honour!
The Tao Tê Ching (XL) writes: 'Weakness is what the Tao uses'. And Master Wang Pi comments: 'The high has the low for a foundation, the noble has the vile for a foundation'.
Thus the personal flows into the plural and global:
"This universalistic perspective emerges, among other things, from the presentation Jesus made of himself not only as 'Son of David', but as 'son of man'. The title of 'Son of Man', in the language of Jewish apocalyptic literature inspired by the vision of history in the Book of the Prophet Daniel (cf. 7:13-14), recalls the person who comes 'with the clouds of heaven' (v. 13) and is an image that heralds an entirely new kingdom, a kingdom sustained not by human powers, but by the true power that comes from God. Jesus uses this rich and complex expression and refers it to Himself to manifest the true character of His messianism, as a mission destined for the whole man and every man, overcoming all ethnic, national and religious particularism. And it is precisely in following Jesus, in letting oneself be drawn into his humanity and thus into communion with God, that one enters into this new kingdom, which the Church announces and anticipates, and which overcomes fragmentation and dispersion".
[Pope Benedict, Consistory 24 November 2012].
Transience of the institution? And the compactness? And expansion?
The mentality of precedence was ingrained to the point that even in heaven hierarchies were said to exist.
But "Son of Man" already designates from the OT the character of a holiness that you do not expect, that surpasses the ancient fiction, that of the dominators, who piled on top of each other reciting the same script; a mentality of competition and supremacy.
The masses were left high and dry: whatever ruler seized power, the petty crowd remained subdued and suffocated.
The same rule was in force in religions, whose leaders lavished the people with a strong horde drive and the contentment of the gregarious.
Instead, Jesus' Kingdom lacked ranks - which is why the most ambitious Apostles' plan did not match his.
"Son of man" is the true person according to a criterion of humanisation; not a beast that prevails because it is stronger than the others (Dan 7); not a fair, but one who educates, convincing.
Every man conforming to the divine Plan and with a heart of flesh, not of wolf, spontaneously identifies with the 'paidìon' (vv.36-37): a house servant, a shop boy.
It depicts the person who is always attentive to the needs of others, who puts himself at their disposal.
Dimension of holiness transmissible to anyone, but as creative as love, therefore all to be discovered! Danger then for the stability of any closed 'system'.
How to guard against it? And his reputation? Is it possible for community leaders to renounce precedence? Unacceptable - perhaps - for those who value unilateral expansion!
A church without a recognisable chain of command would probably not appear to be a stable group. It would seem to some to be a transitional institution.
Furthermore [from the point of view of the 'leaders']: what will make the like-minded individuals and the diverse mass homogeneous? Difficult to have a naturally compact crowd!
A person must be convinced, and it is not easy to persuade them!
The usual reproaches about conduct are not enough; one must understand the events.
And if one demands its adherence to a largely fixed cultural paradigm, here is the external coercion of the multitude in which it lives.
[Hence, a hierarchy of co-optees that guarantees fixity of belief, defined even in detail].
By natural reckoning, a primitive mass can evolve into an articulate and well-organised group if it is subjected to leaders who ensure durability through a collective formation that takes hold and inculcates itself in the primitive categories of thought codes.
And such a coining must be easy to use, so that it corresponds to all the varied situations on the ground.
Here, then, is a catechesis capable of inculcating itself through a simple proposal, immediately enjoyable; complacent and recognisable to the crowd.
Indeed, we note that in the Gospels the 'Son of Man' - the true and full development of the divine plan on humanity - is not hindered by 'sinners', but by the very ones who would have the ministry of making him known.
Instead, the Son has an identity that is not at all prone to the calculation of balanced concordances; his signature is simple, yet lordly.
Its benevolence is placed on another plane: the horizon of the God who reveals himself.
And it does so without artifice; in quality relationships and in configured and real Good; not in positions of domination, command, overpowering.
Jesus embraces the 8-12 year old boy ["paidìon"] who at that time counted for nothing.
Precisely, a house valet, a shop steward; He who cannot afford not to recognise the needs of others.
A dimension of holiness without distinctive haloes; sharable, because it is linked to sympathy towards anyone - not to a doctrine and discipline that push back the danger of the Uncommon.
Yet the fixation on antecedence has characterised the life of the Church for centuries.
Working in the archives, I noticed what asperities lay behind the debates about the roles and prelations to be displayed in society [even in confraternity positions during processions... let us not talk about at the table; until after the war even in group photos of clerics].
Of course, the Lord does not exclude the right to make one's own life something great, indeed; but for the Happiness of his People he does not rely on the impulses of restraining, ascending and dominating.
Rather, he relies on the freedom to give, to go down and to serve - first and foremost of his own firsts. All to make the simple breathe and be born authentically; and it is possible, if the Mission enjoyed a horizon of non-opportunistic liberality.
In the perspective of Communion - coexistence, conviviality of differences - as a supreme good that is neither fleeting nor spoilt by transformations, God's proposal does not deny the ego's legitimate urges to be recognised.
We do not participate in life as destined to fail, but as promoted ones who do not suppress their own requirements. But not to win the race.
The Lord makes us reflect on authentic fulfilment.
Not an external conquest, but an intimate and made one's own; sculpting our profound identity in the time of a Path, not flattened on what already appears to be uncharacterised from an educational point of view.
Aristotle asserted that - beyond external, artificial petitions of principle - one only really loves oneself...
Granted and not granted, the promotion and blossoming of our qualities lies within a Path that expands the boundaries of the ego [lover of primacy, visibility and gain] by encompassing the You in the I.
Itinerary and Vector that then expands skills and life. Otherwise, in every circumstance and unfortunately in every age, we will remain in the puerile game of those who scamper up the steps.
As Pope Francis said, pointing to mafia phenomena: "There is a need for men and women of Love, not of honour!".
Deep inner distance between Jesus and the disciples
After Peter, on behalf of the disciples, has professed faith in Him, recognising Him as the Messiah (cf. Mk 8:29), Jesus begins to speak openly of what will happen to Him at the end. The Evangelist reports three successive predictions of death and resurrection, in chapters 8, 9 and 10: in them Jesus announces ever more clearly the destiny that awaits him and its intrinsic necessity. The passage [...] contains the second of these announcements. Jesus says: "The Son of Man - an expression by which he designates himself - is delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him; but when he is killed, he will rise again after three days" (Mk 9:31). The disciples "however did not understand these words and were afraid to question him" (v. 32).
In fact, reading this part of Mark's account, it is evident that between Jesus and the disciples there was a deep inner distance; they were, so to speak, on two different wavelengths, so that the Master's discourses were not understood, or were only superficially understood. The Apostle Peter, immediately after manifesting his faith in Jesus, allows himself to rebuke him for predicting that he will have to be rejected and killed. After the second announcement of the passion, the disciples begin to argue about who among them is the greatest (cf. Mk 9:34); and after the third, James and John ask Jesus to be allowed to sit at his right hand and at his left, when he will be in glory (cf. Mk 10:35-40). But there are several other signs of this distance: for example, the disciples fail to heal an epileptic boy, whom Jesus then heals by the power of prayer (cf. Mk 9:14-29); or when children are presented to Jesus, the disciples rebuke them, and Jesus instead, indignant, makes them stay, and affirms that only those who are like them can enter the Kingdom of God (cf. Mk 10:13-16).
What does this tell us? It reminds us that God's logic is always "other" than ours, as God himself revealed through the prophet Isaiah: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, / your ways are not my ways" (Is 55:8). This is why following the Lord always requires from man a profound con-version - from us all -, a change in the way of thinking and living, it requires opening one's heart to listening in order to allow oneself to be enlightened and transformed inwardly. A key point in which God and man differ is pride: in God there is no pride, because He is all fullness and is all out to love and give life; in us men, on the other hand, pride is intimately rooted and requires constant vigilance and purification. We, who are small, aspire to appear great, to be the first, while God, who is truly great, is not afraid to lower Himself and make Himself last. And the Virgin Mary is perfectly "in tune" with God: let us invoke her with confidence, that she may teach us to faithfully follow Jesus on the path of love and humility.
[Pope Benedict, Angelus 23 September 2012]
