Second Easter Sunday [27 April 2025]

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us. In these days, as we pray for our Pope Francis departed for the house of the Father, let us insistently invoke the light of the Holy Spirit on the Church and in particular on the cardinals who will have to elect the one whom the Lord has chosen to lead his Church after Pope Francis. 

*First Reading From the Acts of the Apostles (5:12-16) 

Here is a presentation of the first Christian community that seems almost too good to be true (In the Acts of the Apostles there are four summaries of life in the early days of the Church Acts 2:42-47 the best known and most detailed; Acts 4:32-35 emphasises the communion of goods; Acts 5:12-16 highlights the miracles and growth; Acts 6:7 brief summary of the spread of the gospel). However, we must not infer from this that everything was perfect because in the coming Sundays we will see all sorts of difficulties: the first Christians were men, not supermen. Why then does St Luke present this ideal picture? Because he wants to encourage us too to walk in the same direction: a fraternal community is an indispensable condition for the proclamation and witness of the gospel. Since the apostles followed Christ's command, the contagion of the gospel was irresistible: "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) and nothing could prevent the nascent Church from developing. St Luke notes that "all used to be together in Solomon's porch". We are still in Jerusalem, given that Christ's resurrection is close in time, exactly in the Temple of Jerusalem under Solomon's porch (the entire eastern wall of the Temple was actually a colonnade that ran along a wide covered corridor, a place of passage and meeting, accessible to all as it was not part of the area reserved for Jews only). After Jesus' death and resurrection, the apostles, being and remaining Jews, continued to attend the Temple. Indeed, their Jewish faith had been strengthened as they had seen the Old Testament promises fulfilled in the Easter events. Only later and progressively would the division between Christians and the Jews who did not recognise Jesus as the Messiah take place, although already in this text there is a first sign of this: "none of the others dared to associate with them", which tells us that the Christians already formed a distinct group within the Jewish people. Luke draws a parallel here with the beginnings of Jesus' preaching: 'The crowds from the towns near Jerusalem also flocked, bringing sick people and people tormented by unclean spirits, and all were healed'; in the gospel he had written the same thing about Jesus: 'At sunset, all who had sick people suffering from various infirmities brought them to him.... even demons came out of many' (Lk 4:40-41). If he insists on the healings of Peter and the apostles, the message is clear: he continues the work of the Messiah through the apostles and says to his community: it is up to you to take the witness of the apostles because Christ is counting on you. And it is interesting to note that, thanks to the testimony of the apostles, the crowds were not joining the apostles, but through the apostles, to the Lord: "More and more, believers were being added to the Lord, a multitude of men and women". This is an important detail because conversions are not the work of the apostles, but of Christ who acts when the community is made up of people with "one heart" and "by this all will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). St Peter and the other apostles did not present themselves as supermen, indeed Peter said to Cornelius, who had knelt before him: "Stand up. I too am a man." (Acts 10:26). If there is a lack of signs and miracles in our communities, is it not an invitation to live sincerely in the love of Christ? 

*Responsorial Psalm (117 (118), 2-4, 22-24, 25-27a)

Psalm 117 (118), already sung at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Day, returns and we find it every Sunday of ordinary time in the Office of Lauds (Liturgy of the Hours). For Jews, this psalm is about the Messiah; we Christians recognise in it the Messiah expected throughout the Old Testament, the true king, the victor over death. Like other psalms, this one too must be meditated upon on two levels: from the perspective of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah, and in the light of the converts' faith in the risen Christ. For the Jews it is a psalm of praise that begins with Alleluia, the meaning of which is "praise God" and which sets the tone for the whole. It consists of twenty-nine verses where the word Lord (the famous four letters of the Name of God in Hebrew YHWH) returns more than thirty times, or at least Yah, which is its first syllable, and they are all phrases, a true litany, of praise for the greatness, love and work of God towards his people. The sung psalm accompanies a sacrifice of thanksgiving during the Feast of Tents, which lasts eight days in the autumn. The most visible ritual for foreigners at this feast takes place outside the Temple. During the entire week everyone lives in huts made of branches, the Huts or Tabernacles (Sukkot is the name of the feast), commemorating the desert tents and the protective shadow of God in the Exodus. Inside the Temple there are celebrations whose common point is the renewal of the Covenant (and during which pilgrims wave branches or rather a bunch, the lulav, consisting of a palm, a myrtle branch, a willow branch and a cedar. Finally, a large procession takes place around the altar holding these bunches of lulav while singing psalms interspersed with Hosanna, which means either 'God saves' or 'God, save us'. There are rites of libation of water poured out by the altar (cf. Jn 7:37) and on the evenings before the last day a great lighting of the Women's Courtyard in the Temple with four golden candelabra, fuelled with oil and wicks made from discarded priestly garments, and the light thus produced was so intense that it illuminated the whole of Jerusalem. It is therefore a feast of fervour and joy, anticipating the coming of the Messiah: thanks are given for the salvation that has already been accomplished, and one welcomes the salvation that the Messiah who will not be long in coming will bring: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"). When Jesus proclaims himself to be the true "light of the world" (Jn 8:2), he probably does so after the conclusion of the feast with the living memory of that luminous rite. In the verses chosen for today's liturgy, all the elements of the feast of Tabernacles are missing, but not the joy in the hearts of believers: "This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice in it and be glad ... Let Israel say: His love is forever". In order to narrate the goodness of the Lord throughout the history of Israel, the psalm tells of a king who, after a merciless war, was victorious and thanks God for having sustained him: "They pushed me, they knocked me down, but the Lord was my help" (v.13), "All the nations surrounded me: in the name of the Lord I destroyed them" (v.10), and again: "I will not die, but I will live and proclaim the works of the Lord" (v.17). Indeed, the story of this king is told of the Israel that came close to annihilation throughout its history, but the Lord raised it up, and now sings on the Feast of Tabernacles: 'I will not die, but I will live and proclaim the works of the Lord'. Israel knows that he must bear witness to the works of the Lord, and from this knowledge he drew the strength to survive all his trials. For us Christians, the Jewish feast of the Tents finds an echo in Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but above all, the exultation of this psalm befits the Risen One whom the evangelists, each in his own way, have presented as the true king (Matthew in the visit of the Magi, John in the Passion narrative). Meditating on the mystery of the rejected and crucified Messiah, the apostles discovered a new meaning in this psalm: Jesus is truly "the one who comes in the name of the Lord", a stone rejected by the builders, rejected by his people, Christ is the cornerstone of the foundation of the new Israel. This psalm was sung in Jerusalem on the occasion of a thanksgiving sacrifice, and Jesus has just performed the thanksgiving sacrifice par excellence: He is the new Israel who gives thanks to the Father in an eternal act of thanksgiving, bringing about between God and humanity the new Covenant in which humanity is a loving response to the Father's love.

Note The Cornerstone: On this expression, see the commentary on Psalm 117 (118) for Easter Sunday.

* Second Reading From the Book of Revelation of St John the Apostle (1:9-11a.12-13.17-19)

For six consecutive Sundays we will read passages from the Book of Revelation as the second reading, a great opportunity to familiarise ourselves with one of the most fascinating books of the New Testament, seemingly difficult and in need of some effort. "Apocalypse" means revelation, unveiling in the sense of removing a veil, and John reveals the mystery of history hidden from our eyes, and because he has to show us what we do not see, the book speaks to us with visions ("see" or "look" is used five times in today's passage alone). In common hearings Apocalypse is synonymous with catastrophe, a bad misunderstanding, because Revelation like the whole Bible is Good News. In their literary genre, apocalypses, like the entire Bible, communicate God's love and the ultimate victory of love over all evil. For us, who live in a different cultural context, it remains almost impossible for us to perceive why this symbolic language and to understand to whom the author is addressing himself. In reality, he uses the language of visions because all books of the same genre were born in a period of strong persecution of Christians (between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. several apocalypses were written by different authors). St John makes this clear: 'I, John, your brother and companion in tribulation, kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On Patmos he was in exile, not on holiday, and being in the midst of persecution, this text circulated secretly to comfort the communities. The main theme is the final victory of those who were oppressed: you are persecuted and your persecutors prosper, but do not lose courage because Christ has overcome the world. The forces of evil can do nothing against you as they are already defeated and the true king is Christ. John states this at the beginning: "I, John, your brother and companion in tribulation, kingdom and perseverance in Jesus. To prevent the persecutors from understanding, stories from other times are told using fanciful visions so as to discourage the uninitiated from reading them. For example, St John misrepresents Babylon, whom he calls the great prostitute, but it is understood that he is talking about Rome. In short, the message of every Revelation is that the forces of evil will never prevail. In today's reading, Christ's victory is shown in this grandiose vision: it is Sunday, the Lord's Day, enraptured by the Spirit John hears a voice as powerful as a trumpet, and among seven golden candlesticks there appears to him a being of light, a 'son of man'. Son of man is in the New Testament an expression used to refer to the Messiah, the Christ. He falls at his feet as he listens to him: "Fear not! I am (i.e. the very name of God YHWH) the First and the Last and the Living One. I was dead, but now I live ... and I have the keys of death and the underworld."  This is a vision that is for the service of the brothers: "Write down the things you have seen", i.e. encourage them and know that past, present and future belong to me. We perceive here the promise of Christ: "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (Jn 11:25).

Note: Exegetes agree that John is the author of the Revelation written during the reign of the Emperor Domitian (81-96) even though this emperor did not organise a systematic persecution of Christians. However, John's community lives in a climate of insecurity: he himself is exiled and there is mention of martyrs throughout the book. Christians are confronted with the demands of the imperial cult promoted by Domitian, and it seems that some local governors showed particular zeal. Moreover, the Christians encountered opposition from the Jews who remained hostile to Christianity. This also seems to emerge from the letters to the seven Churches. There are also other examples of Apocalypse. In the Old Testament, the book of Daniel contains an apocalyptic message written around 165 BC by Daniel to encourage his brothers persecuted by the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes. He too does not attack the problem directly, but narrates the heroic deeds of some faithful Jews during Nebuchadnezzar's persecution four centuries earlier (6th century BC). Only on the surface is this a history lesson, but for those who know how to read between the lines, the message is clear. Here, finally, is an example of Apocalypse in recent history: at the time of Russian rule over Czechoslovakia, a young Czech actress composed and performed several times in her country a play about Joan of Arc: evidently, the story of Joan driving the English out of France in the 15th century was not the Czechs' first concern; and if the scenario had ended up in the hands of the occupying power, it would not have compromised anyone. But for those who could read between the lines, the message was clear: what a young girl of nineteen was able to do, with God's help, so can we.

*From the Gospel according to John (20:19-31)  

"Shalom, peace be upon you!" This is the first word spoken by the risen Jesus. The disciples remembered his last sentence on the cross: "All is accomplished", which closes the account of the Passion in the fourth gospel (Jn 19:30). The evangelist at that moment understood that God's plan was completely fulfilled and with this evidence he now narrates this first apparition. Jerusalem, in the very name Yerushalaïm, bears the Hebrew word shalom, and it is here that Jesus announces and gives, that is, makes effective, his peace: Shalom! He thus greets them twice and, now recognised with God, this word is not a wish, but a gift already realised: by saying peace he gives it and makes it effective.  It is always urgent to believe that Christ by rising has brought us peace even if concrete situations show a world marked by hatred, violence and wars. This is because peace is already there, but it does not come with a wave of a magic wand: it must first be born in the hearts of believers and then spread through the joy that the disciples had "when they saw the Lord". The risen Jesus always appears "on the first day of the week" so that for Christians, this day has become the first day of the new times. The seven-day week reminded the Jews of the seven days of creation, while the new week linked to Christ's resurrection is the beginning of the new creation. For this reason, when the evangelist speaks of the first day of the week, he does not merely provide chronological precision, but invites us to understand that Sunday, from the Latin dies dominicus, is a day consecrated to God, the day of the new creation in which the plan of salvation is accomplished. On the very first day of the week, as the prophet Ezekiel had announced: "I will put my own Spirit within you", Jesus "breathed" on the disciples and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit". John deliberately picks up the term we find in Genesis ( 2:7): (God breathed into the nostrils of the man moulded with dust "a breath of life" (nėšāmāh linked to rûah; in Greek pnoē) and he became a living being) and inaugurates the new creation by blowing upon the apostles his Spirit (pneûma hágion), "the first gift given to believers", as the fourth Eucharistic prayer recalls. In the Bible, the Spirit is always given for a mission and Jesus also sends the disciples to announce to the world the one indispensable truth: God is Mercy. This mission is urgent because man dies if he does not know the truth, as Jesus says: "he who commits sin is a slave to sin" (Jn 8:34) because he does not know God's love. There is no other mission than to reconcile men with God: everything else follows from this. "Whose sins you forgive will be forgiven", we could translate it like this: announce that sins are forgiven and be ambassadors of universal reconciliation. The mission that the Father entrusts to you is urgent and indispensable, and if you do not go, the novelty of reconciliation will not be announced. In this context the phrase: 'those whom you do not forgive will not be forgiven' could be understood in this sense: if you do not bring your brothers and sisters to know God's love (if you do not forgive) they will live outside his love (they will not be forgiven).   What trust and what responsibility! God's plan will only be definitively fulfilled when we, in turn, have fulfilled our mission: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you". The first sin, which is at the root of all the others, is not to believe in God's love: therefore, I send you, move without delay to proclaim God's love to all'.

Note 'That day, the first day of the week': in the Hebrew reading of the Creation narrative, this first day was called 'Day ONE' in the sense of 'first day' but also 'unique day', because in a sense it encompassed all the others, as the first ear of the harvest heralds all the harvest... And the Jewish people still await the New Day that will be God's day, when He will renew the first Creation.

Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, I propose a prayer that I take from the book of the Holy Trinity Mercy Shrine in Maccio (Como). The Most Holy Trinity is Infinite Mercy

"Most Holy Trinity, Infinite Mercy, Mercy, Inscrutable Light of the Father who creates; Mercy, Face and Word of the Son who gives Himself; Mercy, Penetrating Fire in the Spirit that gives life; Most Holy Trinity, Mercy that saves in the unique gift of His Triune Being, I trust and hope in you! You, who have given yourself to us, make us all give ourselves to you! Make us witnesses of your Love in Christ our Redeemer, our brother and our King! Most Holy Trinity, I trust in you!"

+Giovanni D'Ercole

Scientists and Lowlies: abstract world and incarnation

(Mt 11:25-30)

The leaders looked at religiosity with a view to interest. Professors of theology were accustomed to evaluate every comma on the basis of their own knowledge, ridiculous but supponent - unrelated to real events.

That which remains tied to customs and the usual protagonists does not make one dream, it’s not an apparition and astonishing testimony of Elsewhere; it detracts expressive richness of the announcement and life.

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

In short, after an initial moment of enthusiastic crowds, the Christ delves deeper into the themes and finds himself all against, except God and the least ones: the weightlesses, but eager to start from scratch.

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

At first even Jesus is stunned by the rejection of those who considered themselves already satisfied and no longer expected anything that could overcome habits.

Then He understands, praises and blesses the Father's plan: the authentic Person is born from the gutter, and possesses «the sense of neighborhood» (FT n.152).

The Creator is simple Relationship: He demystifies the idol of greatness.

The Eternal One is not the master of creation: He is Refreshment that reassures, because makes us feel complete and lovable. He seeks us out, He pays attention to the language of the heart.

He is Custodian of the world, even of the unlearned ones - of the «infants»  (v.25) spontaneously empty of boastful spirit, that is, of those who do not remain closed in their sufficient belonging.

Thus the Father-Son bond is communicated to God’s poor: those who are endowed with the attitude of family members (v.27).

Insignificant and invisible without great external capacities, but who abandon themselves to the proposals of the provident life that comes, like babies in the arms of parents.

In this way, with a pietas’ Spirit that favours those who allow themselves to be filled with innate wisdom.

The only reality that corresponds to us and does not present the "bill": it doesn’t proceed along the paths of functional thinking, of calculating initiative.

Sapience that transmits freshness in the readiness to personally receive, welcome, re-temper the Truth as a Gift, and the spontaneous enthusiasm itself, capable of realizing it.

A simple blessing prayer, for the simple ones - this of Jesus (v.25) - which makes us grow in esteem, fits perfectly with our experience, and gets along well with ourselves.

The new ones, the nullities, the voiceless and invisible do not think in terms of doctrine and laws [vv.29-30: unbearable "yoke" that crushes people, and concrete, particular vocations] but in terms of life and humanity.

Thus they enrich the fundamental and spontaneous experience of Faith-Love, satisfying, fulfilling it without mannerisms or intimate forcing.

While the exteriority of the pyramidal world, the distrust of those who want “to count", the anxiety of a competitive society, impoverish the gaze and contaminate the vital wave.

We, too, do not appreciate too much the energy of the 'models', nor the aggressive power of the “big guys”.

Rather than only with the “big” and external, we wish to live by Communion - even with the 'small' self, or there will be no loveliness, no authentic life.

To internalize 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

[St Catherine of Siena, April 29]

(Mt 11:25-30)

The one prayer of Jesus little taught

Scientists and Little People: abstract world and incarnation

(Mt 11:25-27)

"The world gives credit to the "wise" and the "learned", while God prefers the "little ones". The general teaching from this is that there are two dimensions of reality: one is deeper, true and eternal, the other marked by finiteness, impermanence and appearance" [Pope Benedict].

God's Broad Reason is not according to "fortune", or "measure"

In commentary on the Tao Tê Ching (iv) Master Ho-shang Kung writes:

"Human desires are sharp and subtle; they strive to appropriate merit and glory. When they are blunted, man masters them, and in imitation of the Way, does not fill himself".

The leaders looked at religiosity with an interest. Professors of theology used to evaluate every comma from their own ridiculously supponent knowledge - unrelated to real events.

Jesus finds himself against even his own family. Under the cloak and blackmail of habitual social conventions, they too were subjected to the preconception of the opinion of the 'great' and the evasive oral tradition, which did not convey nourishment to the concrete fabric of human time.

The Lord observes: even the Apostles are not free people; that is why they do not emancipate anyone and even prevent any breakthrough (cf. Luke 9).

Their way of being is so grounded in standard attitudes and compulsory behaviour 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 and value surprises behind the secret sides of reality and personality.

That which remains bound to ancient customs [or abstractions] and usual protagonists [or sophisticated pseudo-teachers] does not make one dream, it is not an apparition and astonishing testimony of the Other; it takes away expressive richness from the Announcement and from life.

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

[At a certain point in the spiritual journey, one realises in Christ that one must detach oneself from the idolatry of deference: it stifles and mocks life.

Faith proceeds on the track of the Happiness of the concrete woman and man, conversely rendered puppet-like by a false piety that is all exhibitionist or disembodied].

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 with a strong desire 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 everything - "only by identifying himself with the least came to be a brother to all" (no. 287).

At first, even Jesus is stunned by the rejection of those who were already satisfied with the official religious structure and were no longer waiting for anything that could oust the beaten track, arousing habits (or fantasies) and gaining advantage.

Then it overcomes the initial surprise: it fully grasps, praises and blesses the Father's plan, making it its own, holding it close to itself.

He brings to full and proper knowledge his Secret: that the Root of the transformation of being into the Unseen of God is concealment, "tapinōsis" [(tapeínōsis, "lowering"), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, "low") [v.29; Lk 1:48].

Here, the Son knows and understands the nucleus of the Expectations and Promises of the Covenant, and its protagonists - on the contrary: the trustworthy Person is born precisely from the slums, not from the class of elites.

In short, Christ intuits the all-round authenticity precisely of the unfortunate - the profound impulse, motive, motor, quintessence and unique energy of salvation history.

Transparency of the Eternal, which comes from another elaboration.

Genesis itself upsets the established religious relationship, which at times has become inert and "reassuring" - never profound nor decisive for human destiny.

God is Simple Report: he demythologises the idol of greatness.

The Eternal One is no longer the master of creation [He who manifested Himself strong and peremptory; in His action, still in the Old Covenant illustrated through the irrepressible powers of nature].

Quite the opposite. In this way, reflexively, and also in the spiritual journey, the Father does not lead us to alienation, to the hysteria of forcings we do not want, to inner dissociations.

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

He is Keeper of the world, even of the unlearned - of the "infants" (v.25) spontaneously empty of a boastful spirit, that is, of those who do not remain closed in their sufficient belonging.As it is, 'perfect' in order to their mission in the world. Not empty glasses, only to be re-educated in institutional function.

No longer souls to be chiselled according to models.

If anything, hearts to be guided to total awareness; souls to be completed in the sense of complete self-discovery, in the opposites of character and vocational essence.

In this way, the Father-Son relationship is communicated to God's poor: those endowed with a family-like attitude (v.27).

Capable of coexistence, yet more autonomous than the identified and well-integrated... totally committed to tracing, in order to be recognised.

The poor remain genuine: what they are; not outsiders.

Insignificant and invisible, devoid of great gifts, but strangely always filled with an Other 'power'.

This is the 'virtue' of the infirm, who abandon themselves to the proposals of the providential life that comes, like children in the arms of parents.

With a spirit of 'pietas' - which favours those who allow themselves to be filled with innate wisdom.

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

Wisdom that conveys freshness in the readiness to receive, welcome, personally reinvigorate the Truth as Gift - and the spontaneous enthusiasm itself, capable of realising it.

A prayer of blessing that is simple, for the simple - this of Jesus (v.25) - that makes us grow in esteem, fits perfectly with our experience, and agrees with ourselves; starting from the innermost.

But that strangely, the learned in the territory who do not live 'the spirit of the neighbourhood' (FT no.152) but in the territory claim positions and always play smart, have never wanted to transmit to us.

The new, the voiceless and invisible do not reason in terms of doctrine and laws - vv.29-30: unbearable 'yoke' that crushes people and concrete, particular vocations - but in terms of life and humanity.

This is how we enrich the fundamental and spontaneous experience of Faith-Love, fulfilling it without mannerisms or intimate forcing that then pulls us out of ourselves.

Because the exteriority of the pyramidal world, the distrust of those who want to "count", the anxiety of the competitive and epidermic society, impoverish the gaze; they contaminate the vital wave.

For God, it is better to 'count' little.

He does not force us into the energy of models, nor does he put forward the aggressive power of the 'big shots' as an ideal.

In this way, his intimates, rather than only with the 'great' and external, will live in communion with the 'small' in themselves; or they will not enjoy amiability, nor 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?

The Yoke on the Little Ones

Religion turned into obsession - for "held back"

(Mt 11:28-30)

The rabbis chose disciples from among those with greater intellectual and ascetic abilities. Jesus instead goes after the outcasts, the "infants" (v.25) who did not even have self-esteem.

Even for the rebirth that is on the horizon today, Christ has no need of false phenomena; on the contrary, it is He who frees from external constraints; He releases inner strength [and also heals the brain]. 

Into the intimacy of the Mystery of divine life enters those who know how to receive everything and let go - but remain themselves.

God is not distant, but very near; he is not great, but small: the effective way to become intimate with the Father is not to make oneself subordinate with effort, but to know oneself as a dissolved family member.

Only here can we grasp him in the centre of his unveiling: wise power, succouring, united; for us, as we are.

The pundits of official religion - overflowing with self-love and a sense of election - preached a God to be convinced with confident attitudes and a contrived, cutting, imperious manner.

They let neither being nor becoming be. Intransigence was a sign that they did not know the Father.

The Eternal One transformed into the Controller had become a source of discrimination and obsession for the intimate life of tiny people, harassed by the insecurity of distinguishing-avoiding-observing, and by doubts of conscience.

Discouraged from living personally (and as a class) the conversion they preached to others, the professors did not realise that they had to empty themselves of absurd presumptions and become - they - pupils of ordinary people.

In short, as children we are incessantly invited to build a multifaceted family, where we are not always on the alert.

We are not the subordinates of a frowning and all-distant - but manipulative - Lord.

Rather, they were called to a paradoxical, personal and class choice: and without forcing it, to recognise themselves - to stand alongside the humiliated and harassed.

This is while provincial false piety continues to drag burdens - precisely those of the thwarted and weary, of existence made more hesitant rather than free; obsessed and heavy, rather than light.

Why? Without mincing words, the Encyclical Brothers All would reply:

"The best way to dominate and advance without limits is to sow the seeds of hopelessness and arouse constant distrust, albeit disguised with the defence of certain values" (no.15).

As if to say: when the authorities and the top of the class have little credibility, only the sowing of fear produces significant conditioning in the people, and puts them on a leash.

In the widespread Church, we have only for the past few decades overcome the cliché of moralistic and terroristic preaching [e.g. even at Advent time] divorced from a meridian sense of humanisation.

The excluded, dejected and exhausted by meaningless fulfilments have nevertheless continued to meet the Saviour frankly, finding rest of soul, conviction, peace, balance, hope.

By instinct, they have succeeded in carving out what no pyramidal religion had ever been able to offer and deploy.

In this way, the new, the voiceless, inadequate and invisible, never know how to calculate in terms of doctrine and laws, norm and code - ancient 'yoke' (vv.29-30) unbearable, which crushes people and concrete vocations; particular autonomies or communionalities.

In short, no 'patriarch' is empowered by God to pack our souls, force directions, and keep a maniacal, perfectionist, and meticulous eye on us.

Exaggerating failures, across the board.

Everyone has an inherent way of being in the world, all their own - even if it is habitual. It is an opportunity of impulse and richness for all.

We ourselves do not want to exacerbate events by regulating every detail, even 'spiritual' ones, from irritating patterns of vigilance that do not belong to us.

We prefer to let personal ways of dealing with reality flow; thus tracing its essential and spontaneous energies.

We reason according to codes of life and humanisation: temperament, unrepeatable history, cultural influences, broad friendships. We do not live to prevent.

Only in this way can we enrich the fundamental experience: Love - which does not come from judgements, cuts and separations, but from the Father-Son relationship. One that does not irritate.

The root of the transformation of being in God's unpredictable is precisely concealment, 'tapinōsis' [(tapeínōsis, 'lowering'), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, 'low') [v.29 Greek text; Lk 1:48].

Only those who love strength start from the too far from themselves.

To internalise and live the message:

Do you find yourself more or less free and serene in community?

Does your Calling obtain breath or do you feel the burden of others' doubts, judgments, prohibitions and prescriptions?

Do you suffer from some guide or from yourself a kind of controller complex?

The world considers a long life fortunate, but God, more than age, looks at the uprightness of heart. The world gives credit to the "wise" and "intelligent", while God prefers the "lowly". The general teaching that we can draw from this is that there are two dimensions to reality: a more profound, true and eternal one and the other, marked by finitude, transience and appearance. Now, it is important to emphasize that these two dimensions are not placed in simple temporal succession, as if true eternal life were to begin only after death. In reality, true life, eternal life already begins in this world, although within the precariousness of human history; eternal life begins in the measure to which we open ourselves to the mystery of God and welcome it in our midst. It is God, the Lord of life, in whom "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17: 28), as St Paul said at the Areopagus in Athens.

God is the true wisdom that never ages, the authentic wealth that never corrupts, the happiness to which every man aspires in the depths of his heart. This truth, that passes through the Wisdom Books and re-emerges in the New Testament, comes to fulfilment in the existence and teaching of Jesus.

[Pope Benedict, homily 3 November 2008]

1. An innumerable host of "wise virgins" like those praised in the Gospel parable we have just heard, have known, throughout the Christian centuries, how to await the Bridegroom with their lamps, well stocked with oil, to participate with him in the feast of grace on earth, and of glory in heaven. Among them, today shines before our gaze the great and beloved Saint Catherine of Siena, splendid flower of Italy, most resplendent gem of the Dominican Order, star of unparalleled beauty in the firmament of the Church, whom we honour here on the sixth centenary of her death, which occurred on a Sunday morning, about the third hour, on 29 April 1380, while the feast of Saint Peter the Martyr, whom she loved so much, was being celebrated.

Happy to be able to give you a first sign of my lively participation in the centenary celebration, I cordially greet all of you, dear brothers and sisters, who, to worthily commemorate the glorious date, have gathered in this Vatican Basilica, where the ardent spirit of the great Sienese woman seems to hover. I greet in a special way the Master General of the Friars Preachers, Father Vincent de Couesnongle, and the Archbishop of Siena, Monsignor Mario Ismaele Castellano, the main promoters of this celebration; I greet the members of the Dominican Third Order and of the Ecumenical Association of the Catholics, the participants in the International Congress of Catholics Studies, and all of you, dear pilgrims, who have travelled so many roads of Italy and Europe to unite yourselves in this centre of Catholicity, on such a beautiful and significant feast day.

2. Today, we look to St Catherine first of all to admire in her what immediately struck those who approached her: the extraordinary richness of her humanity, in no way obscured, but rather increased and perfected by grace, which made her almost a living image of that true and healthy Christian "humanism", the fundamental law of which is formulated by Catherine's brother and teacher, St Thomas Aquinas, in the well-known aphorism: "Grace does not suppress, but supposes and perfects nature" (St Thomas, Summa Theologia, p. 4). Thomas, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 1, a. 8, ad 2). The full-sized man is the one who is realised in the grace of Christ.

When, in my ministry, I insist on drawing everyone's attention to the dignity and values of man, which must be defended, respected and served today, it is above all of this nature that came forth from the hands of the Creator and was renewed in the blood of Christ the Redeemer that I speak: a nature that is good in itself, and therefore healable in its infirmities and perfectible in its gifts, called to receive that "more" that makes it share in the divine nature and in "eternal life". When this supernatural element is grafted into man and can act on him with all its force, we have the prodigy of the 'new creature', which in its transcendent elevation does not annul, but makes richer, denser, firmer everything that is purely human.

Thus our saint, in her nature as a woman endowed with imagination, intuition, sensitivity, volitional and operative vigour, communicative capacity and strength, willingness to give of herself and to service, is transfigured, but not impoverished, in the light of Christ who calls her to be his bride and to mystically identify with him in the depths of 'interior knowledge', as well as to commit herself to charitable, social and even political action, among the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant. And she, almost illiterate, becomes capable of making herself heard, and read, and taken into consideration by governors of cities and kingdoms, by princes and prelates of the Church, by monks and theologians, by many of whom she is even revered as 'teacher' and 'mother'.

She is a prodigious woman, who in that second half of the 14th century shows in herself what a human creature is capable of, and - I insist - a woman, the daughter of humble dyers, when she knows how to listen to the voice of the only shepherd and master, and nourish herself at the table of the divine Bridegroom, to whom, as a 'wise virgin', she has generously consecrated her life.

It is a masterpiece of the renewing and elevating grace of the creature to the perfection of holiness, which is also the full realisation of the fundamental values of humanity.

3. Catherine's secret in responding so meekly, faithfully and fruitfully to the call of her divine Bridegroom can be grasped from the same explanations and applications of the parable of the 'wise virgins' that she makes several times in her letters to her disciples. Particularly in the one sent to a young niece who wants to be a 'bride of Christ', she lays down a small summary of spiritual life, which applies especially to those who consecrate themselves to God in the religious state, but is of guidance and direction to all.

"If you want to be a true bride of Christ," writes the saint, "you better have the lamp, the oil and the light."Do you know what is meant by this, my child?".

And here is the symbolism of the lamp: "By the lamp is meant the heart, which must resemble a lamp. Thou seest well that the lamp is wide above, and narrow below: and so is our heart made, to signify that we must always have it wide above, by holy thoughts, holy imaginations, and continual prayer; with the memory always turned to remembering the benefits of God, and especially the benefit of the blood by which we have been recompensed...".

"I also told you that the lamp is narrow below: so also is our heart, to signify that it must be narrow towards these earthly things, neither desiring them nor loving them disorderly, nor coveting them in greater quantity than God wants to give us, but we must thank him always, admiring how sweetly he provides for us, so that we never lack anything..." (Letter 23).

In the lamp you need oil. "The lamp would not be enough if there were no oil in it. And by oil is meant that sweet little virtue of deep humility.... Those five foolish virgins, glorying solely and vainly in the integrity and virginity of the body, lost the virginity of the soul, because they did not bring with them the oil of humility..." (Ibid).

"Finally, it is necessary for the lamp to be lit and for the flame to burn in it: otherwise it would not be enough for us to see. This flame is the light of the most holy faith. I say living faith, because the saints say that faith without works is dead..." (Ibid; cf. Letters 79, 360).

Throughout her life, Catherine actually nourished the lamp of her heart with great humility, and kept the light of faith, the fire of charity, and the zeal of good works done for the love of God burning, even in the hours of tribulation and passion, when her soul reached its greatest conformation to Christ crucified, until one day the Lord celebrated the mystical wedding with her in the small cell where she lived, made all resplendent by that divine presence (cf. Life, nos. 114-115).

If men today, and especially Christians, could rediscover the wonders that can be known and enjoyed in the "inner cell", and indeed in the heart of Christ! Then, yes, man would find himself, the reasons for his dignity, the foundation of his every value, the height of his eternal vocation!

4. But Christian spirituality does not exhaust itself in an intimistic circle, nor does it push towards an individualistic and egocentric isolation. The elevation of the person takes place in the symphony of the community. And Catherine, who keeps the cell of her home and heart to herself, has lived since her youth in communion with so many other children of God, in whom she feels the mystery of the Church vibrate: with the friars of St Dominic, to whom she is united in spirit even when the bell calls them in choir, at night, for matins; with the capes of Siena, among whom she is admitted for the exercise of works of charity and the common practice of prayer; with her disciples, who grow to form around her a cenacle of fervent Christians, who welcome her exhortations to the spiritual life and the incitements to renewal and reform that she addresses to all in the name of Christ; and one can say with the entire 'mystical body of the Church' (cf. Dialogue, can. 166), with whom and for whom Catherine prays, works, suffers, offers herself, and finally dies.

His great sensitivity to the problems of the Church of his time is thus transformed into a communion with the 'Christus patiens' and the 'Ecclesia patiens'. This communion is at the origin of the same outward activity, which at a certain moment the saint is driven to carry out first with charitable action and the lay apostolate in her city, and soon on a broader level, with commitment on a social, political, ecclesial scale.

In any case, Catherine drew from that inner source the courage for action and that inexhaustible hope that sustains her even in the most difficult hours, even when all seems lost, and allows her to influence others, even at the highest ecclesiastical levels, with the strength of her faith and the charm of her person completely offered to the cause of the Church.

At a meeting of Cardinals in the presence of Urban VI, according to the account of Blessed Raymond, Catherine "showed that divine Providence is always present, especially when the Church suffers"; and she did so with such ardour that the pontiff finally exclaimed: "What has the vicar of Jesus Christ to fear, if the whole world were to turn against him? Christ is more powerful than the world, and it is not possible for him to abandon his Church!" (Vita, n. 334).

5. That was an exceptionally serious moment for the Church and the Apostolic See. The demon of division had penetrated the Christian people. Discussions and fights were breaking out everywhere. In Rome itself there were those who plotted against the Pope, not without threatening him with death. The people were rioting.

Catherine, who did not cease to hearten pastors and faithful, felt however that the hour had come for a supreme offering of herself, as a victim of expiation and reconciliation together with Christ. And so he prayed to the Lord: "For the honour of your name and for the sake of your holy Church, I will gladly drink the cup of passion and death, as I have always wished to drink; you are my witness, since, by your grace, I began to love you with all my mind and with all my heart" (Ibid., no. 346).

From then on it began to deteriorate rapidly. Every morning of that Lent of 1380, "she went to the church of St Peter, prince of the apostles, where, having heard mass, she remained long in prayer; she did not return home until the hour of vespers", exhausted. The next day. early in the morning, "starting from the street known as Via del Papa (today St Clare's Street), where she was at home, between Minerva and Campo dei Fiori, she went swiftly to St Peter's, making a journey to tire even a healthy man" (Ibid., no. 348; cf. Letter 373).

But at the end of April, he could no longer get up. He then gathered his spiritual family around his bed. In her long farewell, she declared to her disciples: 'I commit life, death and everything into the hands of my eternal Spouse.... If it pleases him that I should die, hold firm, my dear children, that I have given my life for the holy Church, and this I believe by the exceptional grace which the Lord has granted me' (Ibid., no. 363).

Shortly afterwards she died. She was but 33 years old: a beautiful youth offered to the Lord by the 'wise virgin' who had come to the end of her waiting and service.

We are gathered here, six hundred years since that morning (Ibid., no. 348), to commemorate that death and especially to celebrate that supreme offering of life for the Church.

My dear brothers and sisters, it is consoling that you have come in such great numbers to glorify and invoke the saint on this auspicious occasion.

It is fitting that the humble Vicar of Christ, like so many of his predecessors, should inspire, precede and guide you in paying homage of praise and thanksgiving to her who loved the Church so much, and who worked and suffered so much for her unity and renewal. And I did so wholeheartedly.

Now let me give you a final remembrance, which is meant to be a message, an exhortation, an invitation to hope, a stimulus to action: I take it from the words that Catherine addressed to her disciple Stefano Maconi and to all her companions in action and passion for the Church: "If you will be what you must be, you will set fire to the whole of Italy..." (Letter 368). (Letter 368); indeed, I would add: in the whole Church, in the whole world. Humanity needs this 'fire' even today, and indeed perhaps more today than yesterday. May Catherine's word and example awaken in so many generous souls the desire to be flames that burn and that, like her, are consumed in order to give their brothers and sisters the light of faith and the warmth of charity "that does not fail" (1 Cor 13:8).

[Pope John Paul II, homily VI centenary s. Catherine of Siena, 29 April 1980]

Today we celebrate the feast of St Catherine of Siena, Co-Patroness of Italy. This great figure of a woman drew from communion with Jesus the courage of action and that inexhaustible hope that sustained her in the most difficult hours, even when all seemed lost, and enabled her to influence others, even at the highest civil and ecclesiastical levels, with the strength of her faith. May her example help each one to know how to unite, with Christian consistency, an intense love for the Church with an effective solicitude in favour of the civil community, especially in this time of trial. I ask Saint Catherine that she protect Italy during this pandemic; and that she protect Europe, because she is the patroness of Europe, that she protect all of Europe so that it may remain united.

[Pope Francis, greetings after the General Audience 29 April 2020]

(Jn 3:1-8)

Jn introduces the Gospel passage with the highly representative Jewish leader, insisting on the imperfection of believing in prodigies that only grasp the outward side.

On the contrary, it seems to emphasise that the devotion-show so coveted by religious leaders only arouses deviant expectations and ambiguous hearts (2:18-25).

In the fourth Gospel, the notable represents precisely the Jews intrigued by the figure of Jesus [called Jews because they were related to the Judaizers of the first communities].

Some of them question themselves and do not silence the questions, but remain perplexed - because they are educated to other messianic, peremptory and clamorous expectations.

In fact, they cultivated the whole issue concerning the Kingdom of God (vv.3.5) in an approximate and conformist manner.

In addition, Jesus teaches that all speculation does not bring good results for life in the Spirit.

Our profound experience is not generated from what woman and man devise or do for God, from their possibilities - as assumed in ancient religions.

We must rely on the Grace that enters the scene, overturning petty hopes - in this way, not relying on our own measures, skills and dexterity; nor on thoughts, as established as they are inadequate.

The new Rabbi makes it clear that to understand the Mystery one must shake off the outer book of the Law, and embark on an experience of ideal and practical transmutation, like a Birth - alongside a regenerating Agent.

Christ prompts Nicodemus to make the leap from normal traditional devotion, with its reasonable intentions and expectations, to the adventure of Faith that grasps, dreams and maps out the future, surpassing the habitual chain of expectations.

One does not understand the Newness of God according to common knowledge, starting with the patriarchs - or by reading it in the watermark of a normative, albeit sharable.

The new order of existence is superior to all dexterity, restraint, and resilience. That which is born from the flesh is, however, subject to all boundaries.

Vice versa, the path 'from above' creates a new personality, thanks to which we are enabled to correspond perfectly to the Calling by Name, which propose itself again wave after wave in an increasing and dissimilar manner.

Recreated by the indestructible Life that Comes, we too are enabled to generate something similar to the same Nature that gives birth to us. As sparks somehow conforming to the divine: similis sibi similem parit.

Precisely: the too normal is unable to redefine the codes of a new look, and of the inconceivable space of unknown love.

What does not coincide with the inherited ideas is actually activating the new developments.

What is contrary to established customs, or fashions, is preparing another world, a different person, another trail to follow.

The Kingdom is not set up: it is welcomed - because it always throws us off guard.

The relationship with the God of religions usually comes up with static and reassuring recipes, but the experience of Faith in Christ convinces “by Way” that each stage must instead correspond to another genesis.

Indeed, the thorny trials are all called to a leap of over-nature; to sprout again.

Birth in the Spirit does not happen once and for all: only then will living not be a reward, nor perishing a punishment.

For we have become like a Wind.

[Monday 2nd wk. in Easter, April 28, 2025]