27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year C)  [5 October 2025]

May God bless us and may the Virgin protect us. Paul's recommendations to Timothy are also very useful for us. And the word of the Gospel opens our hearts to humble trust in the fulfilment of our mission.

*First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk (1:2-3; 2:2-4) 

The prophet Habakkuk is not very popular today, but he certainly was at the time of the New Testament, since he is quoted several times. For example, the Virgin Mary's phrase in the Magnificat: "I rejoice in the Lord, I exult in God my saviour" was already found, centuries earlier, in the book of Habakkuk (Hab 3:18); it is also from him that St Paul drew and quoted several times a phrase that is part of our reading today: "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11). This little book is really a booklet, only three chapters, each with about twenty verses, but what a wealth of feelings! From lamentation to violence, from invocation for help to pure exultation. His cries of anguish bring to mind Job: "How long, O Lord, shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? I will cry out to you, 'Violence!' and you will not save?" (Hab 1:2). Yet hope never abandons him: when St Peter invites his readers to be patient, he repeats an expression inspired by Habakkuk: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise..." (2 Pt 3:9). The first verses resemble the book of Job: "How long, Lord, shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? I will cry out to you, 'Violence!' and you will not save?" It is a plea in the face of rampant violence, but above all it is a cry of extreme anguish, that of God's silence. Here, as in the book of Job and in many psalms, the Bible dares to say things in which man seems to call God to account: 'How long, O Lord, shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear? I will cry out to you, 'Violence!' and you will not save?" The violence Habakkuk speaks of is that of Babylon, the new emerging power in the Middle East. Since the beginning of time, the same atrocities of war have been repeated, as we can clearly see even today. Yet Habakkuk does not lose his faith. In another verse, he states: 'I will stand at my watch, I will station myself on the ramparts, and I will keep watch to see what the Lord will say to me' (Hab 2:1). There are at least two things in this expression: first of all, it is the watchman's expectation, certain that dawn will come; it is the same theme as in Psalm 129/130: 'My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the dawn." The second is the awareness that his questioning is somewhat bold: the prophet has asked God for an explanation and expects to be rebuked. Instead, God's response does not bring any condemnation; he only invites him to patience and trust: the days of the enemy's victory will not last forever (cf. Hab 2:2-3). In today's text, Habakkuk does not describe the content of the vision, which will be the subject of the following chapter, but we can already guess that it concerns the liberation of the oppressed. However, one fact remains: God has not really answered the question; he has not said why he sometimes seems deaf to our prayers. He has only reaffirmed that he never abandons us. Habakkuk's message seems to be this: in trials, even the most terrible ones, the only possible path for the believer is to keep faith in God: to accept not understanding, but not to accuse God. Any other position is destructive because distrust of God brings only pain. This is probably the meaning of the final formula: 'The righteous shall live by his faith' (Hab 2:4), or, in other words, it is trust in God that keeps us alive, otherwise suspicion and rebellion wear us down. On the contrary, it is legitimate to cry out in pain: if the Bible has us read cries of anguish and even reproaches directed at God in the book of Job and in the Psalms, it is because believers have the right to cry out in suffering, in impatience in the face of the violence that crushes them. Let us return to the final sentence: 'Behold, the unrighteous man shall perish, but the righteous shall live by his faith' (Habakkuk 2:4). The proud one is Babylon, which boasts of its conquests and thinks it can build lasting prosperity on them; the righteous one, on the other hand, knows that only God gives life. The most famous example in the history of Israel is Abraham: when he left his land and his family to respond to God's call, he did not know where he would be led. When, still obeying God, he prepared to offer his only son, he did not understand, but he continued to trust the One who had given him his son. And once again, his faith gave life to him and his son (Gen 22). Scripture says of him: 'Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness' (Gen 15:6).

*Responsorial Psalm (94/95:1-2, 6-7ab, 7d-8a, 9)

We are in the temple in Jerusalem, pilgrims are crowding the steps of the temple for a great celebration: "Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us acclaim the rock of our salvation". The rock of our salvation: this expression alone is a profession of faith. Israel has chosen to rely on God and God alone, as in the early days of the Covenant. The Bible often compares the history of the people of Israel to an engagement with their God. After the initial enthusiasm and promises, doubts and infidelities arose. God, however, always remained faithful, and after every storm and every infidelity, Israel always returned to Him, like a repentant bride grateful for the ever-renewed Covenant: Let us go to Him with thanksgiving. The Hebrew word here is tôdah: it indicates a specific moment in the worship of the Covenant, the sacrifice of tôdah, which expresses gratitude, thanksgiving, praise, repentance, and the desire to love... In modern Hebrew, thanks is still said tôdah. An English term that would sum up this psalm well is gratitude: recognising God, knowing who He is, knowing who we are, and then gratitude overwhelms us.First and foremost, recognising God: our Creator but, even more so, our liberator. It seems simple to trust in this God who guides and protects us, this God who freed us from slavery in Egypt. It is simple, as long as there are no problems. But when trials come, doubts arise. Yet it is precisely in trials that our trust is tested, and this is where the question of trust arises. In the Bible, listening means trusting; listening to his voice is also the opposite of hardening one's heart. In fact, the psalm continues: 'Today, if you hear his voice! Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert, where your fathers tempted me, testing me even though they had seen my works'. Massa and Meriba mean, precisely, temptation and provocation. The episode of Massa and Meriba has remained famous in the memory of Israel as a symbol of the temptation to suspect God as soon as the first difficulty arises. The people began to regret slavery because their newly won freedom seemed very uncomfortable. In Egypt they were slaves, of course, but at least they survived... in the desert, the people were thirsty and a revolt broke out. The text says that the people murmured, but the term is probably stronger than in our English today, because Moses exclaims to God: "A little more and they will stone me!" (Ex 17:4). God intervenes, and water gushes from the rock (here the image returns: God, my rock). How much better it would have been to trust! In suffering, as we saw in Habakkuk in the first reading, we can cry out, beg, call on God, but never doubt Him. Massa and Meriba remain the names of that suspicion that can always resurface in our hearts.

*Second Reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (1:6-8, 13-14)

When Paul writes his second letter to Timothy, he is in prison in Rome, shortly before his execution; he himself says that he is chained like a criminal and asks Timothy not to be ashamed of him, as others have been. He knows very well that he does not have much time left and feels very alone. This second letter to Timothy is therefore a kind of testament: Timothy will have to take his place and Paul gives him recommendations in this regard. It should be noted that, for reasons of style, vocabulary and even content, it is generally thought that the letters to Timothy were not written by Paul, but by one of his disciples after his death. It is not possible to settle this difficult question and, in order to be faithful to the teaching of these letters, we must not get lost in endless discussions. For the sake of convenience, we will therefore continue to refer to Paul and Timothy. After all, whether it is Paul and Timothy or their future disciples is of little importance to us now: what matters is the content of these letters, which contain Paul's recommendations to a young Christian leader, and therefore concern us closely. The first recommendation is perhaps the most important: "Revive the free gift of God"; this gift of God, if we read the rest of the text, is clearly the Holy Spirit. And, visibly, Timothy will really need it! Paul, chained for the Gospel, knows this all too well. Timothy received this gift of the Spirit through the laying on of hands: the words 'confirmation' and 'ordination' did not yet exist, but we know that, from the beginning of the Church, the gesture of laying on of hands signified the gift of the Spirit. 'Stir up the gift of God within you' means that God's gifts can therefore lie dormant within us. Elsewhere Paul says: "Do not quench the Spirit" (cf. 1 Thess 5:19). Here too, we can hear a message that encourages us to carry the fire of the Spirit within us, and even if it seems that we have covered it with ashes, it is still within us, burning under the ashes, since nothing can extinguish it. This Spirit is not a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and self-control. Here we find a theme dear to Paul: that of the transmission of faith. Paul passed on this precious treasure to Timothy, who in turn must pass it on, and so on: Hold fast to the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Elsewhere, in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: 'I have passed on to you what I myself have received' (cf. 15:3-4). This brings to mind a relay race, in which the runners pass on a baton that remains the same from the beginning to the end of the race, while the deposit of faith is inevitably expressed in different terms over the centuries. Faith, in fact, is not a neatly packaged, untouchable object. The problem, however, is knowing whether the transmission is truly faithful. Many controversies over the centuries have arisen from differences among Christians about the content of the deposit of faith. But in reality, we are not the ultimate guarantors of this fidelity: it is the Holy Spirit who is the supreme guardian of the deposit of faith. In order to faithfully pass on the torch to subsequent generations, we need only to rekindle in ourselves the gift of God, the fire of the Spirit that nothing can extinguish.

*From the Gospel according to Luke (17:5-10)

 Here we find several verses that follow one another and are not similar. It almost seems as if there are two parts to this text: in the first, a dialogue between Jesus and his apostles about faith, with Jesus' somewhat terrible formula: 'If you had faith as small as a mustard seed, you would say to this tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would obey you'. In the second part, there is a kind of parable about the servant, which also ends with a very strong statement by Jesus: 'When you have done all that you were commanded, say, "We are unworthy servants. We have done what we ought to have done." Jesus is certainly not trying to discourage us; on the other hand, if these verses are so close together, without any interruption, it means that there is a connection between them. Here we have a dialogue between Christ and his apostles, that is, his envoys, which means that this phrase of Jesus concerns the activity of evangelisation. The envoys say to the one who sends them: Increase our faith! This is a prayer that is also very often ours when we become aware of our weakness, our powerlessness, and it seems to us that if we were richer in faith we would be more effective. But how can we reconcile this with Paul's words: "If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Cor 13:2)? In his language, Jesus replies that it is not a question of measuring our faith: that is not the problem. Rather, it is a question of relying on God's power, because it is He who acts, not our faith, however small or great it may be. Jesus deliberately emphasises the paradox: the mustard seed was considered the smallest of all seeds, and the large tree he speaks of (in Greek, sycamore) was considered impossible to uproot. Jesus' statement therefore means: You don't need to have a lot of faith: a tiny mustard seed is enough to do seemingly impossible things. It could then be translated as follows: When you act in the name of the Gospel, remember that nothing is impossible for God. Then there is the expression 'useless servants' archreioi (17:10), which we can translate as follows: you are simply servants who are not even indispensable, called to serve in a task that is beyond you. And - I would say - fortunately so, because who would feel strong enough to bear the responsibility of the Kingdom of God? These words of Jesus, therefore, are not harsh or discouraging, but on the contrary, they are meant to encourage us: if we are only subordinates, the responsibility does not fall on us, but that does not make us useless: if the servant were truly useless, no master would keep him. If God takes us as servants, it is because he wants to need us. If Jesus chose the apostles and said that 'the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few' (Mt 9:37-38), and if his words continue to resonate two thousand years later, it is because he wants our collaboration. We are what we are, and God associates us with his work of salvation. Jesus says: "When you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have done what we ought to have done'" (17:10). In doing so, he suggests two attitudes: first, he invites us once again to abandon the logic of merits and rewards, but above all, he invites us to remain serene in the exercise of our mission. He is the master of the harvest, not us. Then we can better understand the connection between the two parts of this text: the message is the same: a little faith, however small, is enough for God to perform miracles. On condition, however, that we faithfully place ourselves at his service.

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

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 Francis of Assisi, October 4]

(Mt 11:25-30)

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 that follows from this is that there are two dimensions of reality: one 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 commenting on the Tao Tê Ching (iv) Master Ho-shang Kung writes:

"Human desires are sharp and subtle, striving 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 were accustomed to evaluate every comma on the basis of their own ludicrous but supponent knowledge - unrelated to real events.

Jesus finds himself against even his own family. Under the cloak and blackmail of customary 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 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 [or abstractions] and usual protagonists [or sophisticated pseudo-teachers] does not make one dream, 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 - on those who are well disposed, and able to understand 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 made into puppets 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 themes and finds everyone against him, except God and the least: the weightless, but with a great 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 was stunned by the rejection of those who were already satisfied with the official religious structure and no longer expected anything that could oust the beaten track, arousing habits (or fantasies) and profit.

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

He brings to full and proper knowledge his Secret: that the Root of the transformation of being into the Unforeseeable 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 lowly, not from the class of elites.

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

Transparency of the Eternal, which comes from another elaboration.

Genesis itself that upsets the established religious relationship, which has sometimes become inert and 'reassuring' - never profound nor decisive for human destiny.

God is Simple Relationship: it 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 ancient Covenant illustrated through the irrepressible powers of nature].

Quite the contrary. In this way, reflexively, and also on the spiritual path, 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 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 the poor of God: those endowed with a family-like attitude (v.27).

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

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

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

It 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 re-fill the Truth as a Gift - and the spontaneous enthusiasm itself, capable of realising it.

A simple prayer of blessing, 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 intimate.

But which, strangely enough, the scholars on the ground who do not live 'the spirit of the neighbourhood' (FT no.152) but on the ground claim positions and always play smart, have never wanted to convey 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 of life and humanity.

Thus they 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 propose as an ideal the aggressive power of the 'big shots'.

In this way, his intimates, instead of only with the 'big' and external, will live of Communion even 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 do not 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 who had greater intellectual and ascetic abilities. Jesus, on the other hand, goes looking for the outcasts, the "infants" (v.25) who did not even have self-esteem.

Even for today's rebirth, Christ has no need of fake phenomena; on the contrary, it is He who frees from external constraints; He unleashes inner strength (and heals the brain too). 

Into the intimacy of the Mystery of divine life enters he who knows how to receive everything and lets go - but remains himself.

God is not distant, but very close; he is not great, but small: the effective itinerary for becoming intimate with the Father is not to make oneself subordinate with effort, but to know how to be dissolved family members.

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 persuaded with confident attitudes and contrived, edgy, imperious actions.

They allowed neither being nor becoming. Their 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 lives of minute people, harassed by the insecurity of distinguish-avoid-observe, and by doubts of conscience.

Discouraged from experiencing first-hand (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, we are called to a paradoxical, personal and class choice: without forcing ourselves, to recognise and stand alongside the humiliated and harassed.

This 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 Fratelli Tutti would answer:

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

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

In the widespread Church, only a few decades ago we overcame 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.

Instinctively, they were able to carve out what no pyramid religion had ever been able to provide and deploy.

In fact, the new, the voiceless, the inadequate and invisible do not know how to calculate in terms of doctrine and laws, norm and code - unbearable ancient 'yoke' (vv.29-30), which crushes people and concrete vocations; particular autonomies or communions.

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

Exacerbating failures, across the board.

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

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. The only one that does not stigmatise.

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 gain breath or do you feel the burden of others' doubts, judgements, prohibitions and prescriptions?

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

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

The Lord's words that we have just heard in the Gospel passage challenge us as theologians or, perhaps better, invite us to make an examination of conscience. What is theology? What is our role as theologians? How can theology be done well? We have heard that our Lord praises the Father because he concealed the great mystery of the Son the Trinitarian mystery, the Christological mystery from the wise and the learned, from those who did not recognize him. Instead he revealed it to children, the nèpioi, to those who are not learned, who are not very cultured. It was to them that this great mystery was revealed. 

With these words the Lord describes in simple terms an episode in his life that already began at the time of his birth, when the Magi from the East ask those who are competent the scribes, the exegetes where the birthplace of the Saviour, of the King of Israel, is located. The scribes know because they are great specialists; they can say immediately where the Messiah is born: in Bethlehem! But they do not feel it concerns them. For them it remains academic knowledge that does not affect their lives; they stay away. They can provide information, but they do not assimilate it and it has no part in the formation of their own lives. 

Then throughout the Lord's public life we encounter the same thing. It is beyond the learned to comprehend that this man, a Galilean who is not educated, can truly be the Son of God. It is unacceptable to them that God the great, the one, the God of Heaven and earth could be present in this man. They know everything, they know all of the great prophecies; they even know Isaiah 53, but the mystery remains hidden to them. Instead it is revealed to the lowly, starting from Our Lady to the fishermen of the Sea of Galilee. They know, just as the Roman centurion beneath the Cross knew: this is the Son of God. 

The basic events of Jesus' life do not only belong to the past but are also present in various ways to all generations. And thus also in our time in the past 200 years we see the same thing. There have been great scholars, great experts, great theologians, teachers of faith who have taught us many things. They have gone into the details of Sacred Scripture, of the history of salvation but have been unable to see the mystery itself, its central nucleus: that Jesus was really the Son of God, that at a given moment in history the Trinitarian God entered our history, as a man like us. The essential has remained hidden! One could easily mention the great names in the history of theology over the past 200 years from whom we have learned much; but the eyes of their hearts were not open to the mystery. 

On the other hand, in our time there have also been "little ones" who have understood this mystery. Let us think of St Bernadette Soubirous; of St Thérèse of Lisieux, with her new interpretation of the Bible that is "non-scientific" but goes to the heart of Sacred Scripture; of the saints and blessed of our time: St Josephine Bakhita, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta and St Damien de Veuster. We could list so many! 

But from all this the question arises: "Why should this be so?". Is Christianity the religion of the foolish, of people with no culture or who are uneducated? Is faith extinguished where reason is kindled? How can this be explained? Perhaps we should take another look at history. What Jesus said, what can be noted in all the centuries, is true. Nevertheless, there is a "type" of lowly person who is also learned. Our Lady stood beneath the Cross, the humble handmaid of the Lord and the great woman illumined by God. And John was there too, a fisherman from the Sea of Galilee. He is the John whom the Church was rightly to call "the theologian", for he was really able to see the mystery of God and proclaim it: eagled-eyed he entered into the inaccessible light of the divine mystery. So it was too that after his Resurrection, the Lord, on the road to Damascus, touches the heart of Saul, one of those learned people who cannot see. He himself, in his First Letter to Timothy, writes that he was "acting ignorantly" at that time, despite his knowledge. But the Risen One touches him: he is blinded. Yet at the same time, he truly gains sight; he begins to see. The great scholar becomes a "little one" and for this very reason perceives the folly of God as wisdom, a wisdom far greater than all human wisdom. 

We could continue to interpret the holy story in this way. Just one more observation. These erudite terms, sofòi and sinetòi, in the First Reading are used in a different way. Here sofia and sìnesis are gifts of the Holy Spirit which descend upon the Messiah, upon Christ. What does this mean? It turns out that there is a dual use of reason and a dual way of being either wise or little. In the whole range of sciences, starting with the natural sciences, where a suitable method for the research of matter is universalized, there is a way of using reason that is autonomous, that places itself above God. God has no part in this method, so God does not exist. And, in the end, this is so in theology too: one fishes in the waters of Sacred Scripture using a net in which only fish of a certain size may be caught. Therefore a fish exceeding this size is too big for the net and hence cannot exist. It is in this way that the great mystery of Jesus, the Son made Man, is reduced to a historical Jesus: a tragic figure; a ghost, not of flesh and blood; a man who stays in the tomb, whose body is corrupt and who is truly dead. The method is able to "catch" certain fish but the great mystery eludes it, because the human being himself established the measure. He takes pride in this which is the same time great foolishness, because it renders absolute certain methods that are unsuitable for treating the great realities. He enters into this academic spirit that we have seen in the scribes, who answered the Magi Kings: it does not concern me. I remain closed into my own life that will not be affected. It is a specialization that sees all the details but can no longer discern the whole. 

Then there is the other way of using reason, of being wise that of the man who recognizes who he is; he recognizes the proper measure and greatness of God, opening himself in humility to the newness of God's action. It is in this way, precisely by accepting his own smallness, making himself little as he really is, that he arrives at the truth. Thus reason too can express all its possibilities; it is not extinguished but rather grows and becomes greater. Sofìaand sìnesis in this context do not exclude one from the mystery that is real communion with the Lord, in whom reside wisdom and knowledge and their truth. 

Let us now pray that the Lord will give us true humility. May he give us the grace of being little in order to be truly wise; may he illumine us, enable us to see his mystery in the joy of the Holy Spirit. May he help us to be true theologians who can proclaim his mystery because we are touched in the depths of our hearts, of our very existence. Amen.

[Pope Benedict, homily to the members of the International Theological Commission, 1 December 2009]

1. "Bless you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have kept these things hidden from the wise and the learned and revealed them to babes" (Mt 11:25).

We come here, dear brothers, to repeat with Christ the Lord these words, to "bless the Father".

- We come to bless him because of what he revealed, eight centuries ago, to a "Little One", to the Poverello of Assisi;

- the things in heaven and on earth, which the philosophers "had not even dreamed of";

- the things hidden from those who are only humanly "wise", and only humanly "intelligent";

- these "things" the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth, has revealed to Francis and through Francis.

Through Francis of Pietro di Bernardone, that is, the son of a rich merchant of Assisi, who abandoned all the inheritance of his earthly father and married "Lady Poverty", the inheritance of the heavenly Father offered to him in Christ crucified and risen.

The primary purpose of our pilgrimage to Assisi this year is to give glory to God.

In a spirit of veneration, let us also celebrate the Eucharist together, all of us, Pastors of the Church in Italy with the Bishop of Rome, successor of Peter.

2. "Yes, O Father, for it pleased thee" (Mt 11:26).

After eight centuries, relics and memories remain. The whole of Assisi is a living relic and a testimony of man. Of man alone? Of the unusual man alone?

- It is the testimony of a particular delight that the Heavenly Father, through his Only-Begotten Son, had in this man, in this "little one", in the "Poverello", in Francis who - like very few throughout the history of the Church and of humanity - learned from Christ to be meek and humble of heart.

Yes, Father, such was your contentment. So many men come here to follow in the footsteps of your complacency. Today we come, Bishops of Italy.

We have come to close and, at the same time, crown in this Jubilee Year of St Francis of Assisi the work carried out during the entire year of the visit "ad limina Apostolorum" to which the tradition and the law of the Church have invited our episcopate at this time.

3. We find ourselves in the presence of the Saint, who at the same time is the patron saint of Italy, hence the one who, among the many canonised and beatified sons and daughters of this land, unites Italy with the Church in a special way. In fact, the Church's task is to proclaim and realise in every nation that vocation to holiness that we have from the Father in the Holy Spirit through the work of Christ crucified and risen; of this Christ, whose wounds St Francis of Assisi bore in his body: 'For I bear the stigmata of Jesus in my body' (Gal 6:17).

So we stand in his presence and meditate on the words of the Gospel, sentence after sentence:

"Everything has been given to me by my Father; no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal him" (Mt 11:27).

Here, we find ourselves before a man, to whom the Son of God wished to reveal, in a particular measure and with particular abundance, what has been given to him by the Father for all men, for all times. Certainly, Francis was sent with the Gospel of Christ especially in his own time, in the transition from the 12th to the 13th century, in the midst of the Italian Middle Ages, which was a splendid and at the same time difficult period: but every age has retained something of it. However, the Franciscan mission did not end then; it continues to this day.

And here we, Bishops and Pastors of the Church, to whom are entrusted the Gospel and the Church of our times - how apparently splendid, how far removed from the Middle Ages according to the measure of earthly progress! and at the same time how, how difficult! - we Bishops and Pastors of the Church in this same Italy, pray above all for one thing. Let us pray that the same words of our Master, which were fulfilled on Saint Francis, be fulfilled upon us; that we be the sure depositories of the Revelation of the Son! That we be the faithful stewards of what the Father Himself handed down to the Only-Begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. That we are stewards of this truth and this love, of this word and this salvation, which all mankind and every man and every nation have in him and from him; for "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him" (Matthew 11: 27).

Such is the pastoral and apostolic purpose of our pilgrimage today.

4. And behold, Francis seems to address us and speak to us with the accents of Paul the Apostle: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers" (Gal 6:18)!

Thank you, holy Poverello, for these good wishes with which you are receiving us!Looking with the eyes of the spirit

your figure 

and meditating on the words of the letter to the Galatians 

with which today's liturgy speaks to us, 

we wish to learn from you 

this 'belonging to Jesus 

of which your whole life constitutes 

such a perfect example and model. 

"As for me... 

let there be no other boast than in the cross 

of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through whom the world for me 

was crucified as I for the world" (Gal 6:14).

Let us hear Paul's words, 

which are also, Francis, 

your words. 

Your spirit is expressed in them. 

Jesus Christ has allowed you, 

just as he once 

had allowed that Apostle 

who became a "chosen instrument" (Acts 9:15), 

to "boast", solely and exclusively, 

in the Cross of our Redemption.

In this way you have arrived at the very heart 

of the knowledge of the truth about God 

about the world and man; 

truth that can only be seen 

only with the eyes of love.

Now that we stand before you 

as successors of the Apostles 

sent to the men of our time 

with the same Gospel of the Cross of Christ, 

we ask: teach us, just as the Apostle Paul 

taught you 

to have "no other boast than 

in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ".

May each one of us, 

with all the insight of the gift of fear, 

of wisdom and fortitude 

know how to penetrate the truth 

of these words about the Cross 

in which the "new creature" begins, 

about the Cross that constantly brings 

to humanity "peace and mercy".

Through the Cross, God has expressed himself to the end in human history; God who is "rich in mercy" (Eph 2:4). In the Cross, the glory of Love willing to do everything is revealed. Only with the Cross in his hand - like an open book - can man learn to the full about himself and his dignity.

He must finally, fixing his eyes on the Cross, ask himself: 'who am I', man, in the eyes of God, if he pays such a price for me and my love!

"The Cross on Calvary," I wrote in the encyclical "Redemptor Hominis", "by which Jesus Christ - man, son of the Virgin Mary, putative son of Joseph of Nazareth - 'leaves' this world, is at the same time a new manifestation of the eternal fatherhood of God, who in him draws near once again to humanity, to every man, giving him the thrice holy 'Spirit of Truth' (cf. Jn 16:13)... His is love that does not recoil from anything that in Himself demands justice.

And for this reason the Son 

"who had known no sin, 

God treated him as sin for our sake" (2 Cor 5:21; cf. Gal 3:13). 

If he "dealt from sin" 

He who was absolutely 

without any sin, 

he did so to reveal the love 

which is always greater 

than all creation, 

the love that is himself, 

for 'God is love' (1 Jn 4:8, 16)" (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 9).

This is exactly how you looked at things 

you, Francis. 

They called you the "Poor Man of Assisi", 

and you were and remained 

one of the men who gave 

most generously to others. 

You had therefore an enormous wealth, 

a great treasure. 

And the secret of your wealth 

was hidden in the Cross of Christ.

Teach us, 

Bishops and Pastors of the 20th century 

which is drawing to an end, 

to boast similarly in the Cross, 

teach us this wealth in poverty 

and this giving in abundance.

5. The first reading from the book of Sirach recalls the words about the high priest Simon, son of Onias, who "in his life repaired the temple and in his days strengthened the sanctuary" (Sir 50:1).

The liturgy refers these words to Francis of Assisi. He remained in tradition, literature and art as the one who 'repaired the temple... and fortified the sanctuary'. As the one who "caring to prevent the fall of his people, fortified the city against a siege (Sir 50:4).

The reading goes on to speak of Simon, son of Onias, and we relate these words to Francis, son of Peter of Bernardone. We also apply these comparisons to him:

"Like a morning star among the clouds, / like the moon in the days when it is full, / like the sun blazing over the temple of the Most High, / like the shining rainbow among clouds of glory" (Sir 50, 6-7).

6. We gladly borrow these words from the book of Sirach to venerate, after eight hundred years, Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy.

That is why we have all come here, Bishops and Pastors of the Church that is in all of Italy together with the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter.

However, the purpose of our pilgrimage is particularly apostolic and pastoral.

When we hear Christ's words about the yoke that is sweet and the burden that is light, (cf. Mt 11:30) we think of our mission as Bishops and pastoral service.

And let us repeat with confidence and joy the words of the Responsorial Psalm: "I said to God: 'You are my Lord, /Without you I have no good. / The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: / in your hands is my life. / I bless the Lord who has given me counsel.... / I always place before me the Lord, / he stands at my right hand, I cannot waver" (Ps 15 [16]).

With joy we have accepted the invitation to come here to Assisi, heard in a certain way in the words of our Lord and Master: "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). Let us hope that they will be fulfilled on us all, as well as the further words: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, who am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Mt 11:29).

So we wish, Christ! Thus we desire! With such a thought we have come to Assisi today. We thank you for the holy "burden" of priesthood and episcopacy. We thank you for Saint Francis, who did not feel worthy to accept priestly ordination. Yet to him you entrusted, in such an exceptional way, your Church.

7. And behold, as we look towards Francis, who "poor and humble, enters richly into heaven, honoured with heavenly hymns" (Cant. ad Evang.), we would still like to apply to him the words of the book of Sirach, which summarise his famous vision so well: "Francis, take care to prevent the fall of your people"!

Francis! As in your life, so also now, repair the temple! Fortify the sanctuary!

For this we pray, we Pastors of the Church, who at the school of the Second Vatican Council have learned anew to surround the Church, Italy and the contemporary world with a common solicitude.

And with our beloved people we repeat:

"The Lord is my inheritance and my cup: / in your hands is my life; / I bless the Lord who has given me counsel;... / I always place before me the Lord'.

Yes, brothers and sisters, always! And so be it.

[Pope John Paul II, homily Assisi 12 March 1982]

“I give you thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25).

Peace and all good to each and every one of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank you for being here, in this Square so full of history and faith, to pray together.

Today, I too have come, like countless other pilgrims, to give thanks to the Father for all that he wished to reveal to one of the “little ones” mentioned in today’s Gospel: Francis, the son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi. His encounter with Jesus led him to strip himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse “Lady Poverty” and to live as a true son of our heavenly Father. This decision of Saint Francis was a radical way of imitating Christ: he clothed himself anew, putting on Christ, who, though he was rich, became poor in order to make us rich by his poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). In all of Francis’ life, love for the poor and the imitation of Christ in his poverty were inseparably united, like the two sides of the same coin.

What does Saint Francis’s witness tell us today? What does he have to say to us, not merely with words – that is easy enough – but by his life? 

1. The first thing he tells us is this: that being a Christian means having a living relationship with the person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him.

Where did Francis’s journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself. Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of San Damiano, as he prayed before the cross which I too will have an opportunity to venerate. On that cross, Jesus is depicted not as dead, but alive! Blood is flowing from his wounded hands, feet and side, but that blood speaks of life. Jesus’ eyes are not closed but open, wide open: he looks at us in a way that touches our hearts. The cross does not speak to us about defeat and failure; paradoxically, it speaks to us about a death which is life, a death which gives life, for it speaks to us of love, the love of God incarnate, a love which does not die, but triumphs over evil and death. When we let the crucified Jesus gaze upon us, we are re-created, we become “a new creation”. Everything else starts with this: the experience of transforming grace, the experience of being loved for no merits of our own, in spite of our being sinners. That is why Saint Francis could say with Saint Paul: “Far be it for me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to remain before the cross, to let the crucified Christ gaze upon us, to let ourselves be forgiven, and recreated by his love.

2. In today’s Gospel we heard these words: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:28-29).

This is the second witness that Francis gives us: that everyone who follows Christ receives true peace, the peace that Christ alone can give, a peace which the world cannot give. Many people, when they think of Saint Francis, think of peace; very few people however go deeper. What is the peace which Francis received, experienced and lived, and which he passes on to us? It is the peace of Christ, which is born of the greatest love of all, the love of the cross. It is the peace which the Risen Jesus gave to his disciples when he stood in their midst (cf. Jn 20:19-20).

Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Hardly! That is not the real Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with forces of the cosmos… That is not Franciscan either! It is not Franciscan, but a notion that some people have invented! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is found by those who “take up” their “yoke”, namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have loved you (cf. Jn 13:34; 15:12). This yoke cannot be borne with arrogance, presumption or pride, but only with meekness and humbleness of heart.

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to be “instruments of peace”, of that peace which has its source in God, the peace which Jesus has brought us.

3. Francis began the Canticle of the Creatures with these words: “Praised may you be, Most High, All-powerful God, good Lord… by all your creatures (FF, 1820). Love for all creation, for its harmony. Saint Francis of Assisi bears witness to the need to respect all that God has created and as he created it, without manipulating and destroying creation; rather to help it grow, to become more beautiful and more like what God created it to be. And above all, Saint Francis witnesses to respect for everyone, he testifies that each of us is called to protect our neighbour, that the human person is at the centre of creation, at the place where God – our creator – willed that we should be. Not at the mercy of the idols we have created! Harmony and peace! Francis was a man of harmony and peace. From this City of Peace, I repeat with all the strength and the meekness of love: Let us respect creation, let us not be instruments of destruction! Let us respect each human being. May there be an end to armed conflicts which cover the earth with blood; may the clash of arms be silenced; and everywhere may hatred yield to love, injury to pardon, and discord to unity. Let us listen to the cry of all those who are weeping, who are suffering and who are dying because of violence, terrorism or war, in the Holy Land, so dear to Saint Francis, in Syria, throughout the Middle East and everywhere in the world. 

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Obtain for us God’s gift of harmony, peace and respect for creation!

Finally, I cannot forget the fact that today Italy celebrates Saint Francis as her patron saint. I greet all the Italian people, represented by the Head of Government, who is present among us. The traditional offering of oil for the votive lamp, which this year is given by the Region of Umbria, is an expression of this. Let us pray for Italy, that everyone will always work for the common good, and look more to what unites us, rather than what divides us.

I make my own the prayer of Saint Francis for Assisi, for Italy and for the world: “I pray to you, Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies: Do not look upon our ingratitude, but always keep in mind the surpassing goodness which you have shown to this City. Grant that it may always be the home of men and women who know you in truth and who glorify your most holy and glorious name, now and for all ages. Amen.” (The Mirror of Perfection, 124: FF, 1824).

[Pope Francis, homily Assisi 4 October 2013]

Why the Announcement, without knots in the throat

(Lk 10:13-16)

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

That’s why in the Announcement we are not orphans, with so many knots in the throat.

Master himself is not alone. The testimony of even the non disciples is part of the Way of Christ to the Father.

Road that Comes. It is not the established "internal" commitment that builds a more authentic world, with divine traits.

It’s rather the Kingdom - effusive in itself - that gives rise to the path towards the "distant", and activates unthinkable scenarios.

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

The varied experience, the environment full of surprises of the non followers, generates blooms, of each one - in the discovery of the limit, of their own profound states - for communion.

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

Gospel overcomes the peoples barriers and if necessary leaves behind its cradle of mitigating cultures, closed in a cast-in mentality, perhaps intolerant; annoyed with everything.

Whoever in full warning and deliberate consent rejects the Word because the world will no longer be "like before", suddenly finds himself hopeless, without sons, with no possibility of life and expansion.

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

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

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

Thus the Proclamation unleashes the Spirit, it opens up unusual doors wide: even a window on the inner world.

Where opposites already have a right to exist. In addition, they call for New Covenant, which teaches to be with sides that do not like.

As such we will investigate and discover: the struggle of blockages, of fears of what we do not want to see outside and inside ourselves, must cease.

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

Also and above all, the shadows call the Exodus, a new Alliance - where we are absolutely not alone and unilateral, but more complete.

In short, the Mystery that dwells in us goes beyond the snares of convictions, it makes us less divided. Starting 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 the One who sent me» (v.16).

«The Father in fact does not judge anyone but has given every judgment to the Son so that everyone honors the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him» (Jn 5:22-23).

[Friday 26th wk. in O.T.  October 3, 2025]

Silence and contemplation have a purpose: they serve, in the distractions of daily life, to preserve permanent union with God. This is their purpose: that union with God may always be present in our souls and may transform our entire being. 

Silence and contemplation, characteristic of St Bruno, help us find this profound, continuous union with God in the distractions of every day. Silence and contemplation: speaking is the beautiful vocation of the theologian. This is his mission: in the loquacity of our day and of other times, in the plethora of words, to make the essential words heard. Through words, it means making present the Word, the Word who comes from God, the Word who is God. 

Yet, since we are part of this world with all its words, how can we make the Word present in words other than through a process of purification of our thoughts, which in addition must be above all a process of purification of our words? 

How can we open the world, and first of all ourselves, to the Word without entering into the silence of God from which his Word proceeds? For the purification of our words, hence, also for the purification of the words of the world, we need that silence which becomes contemplation, which introduces us into God's silence and brings us to the point where the Word, the redeeming Word, is born. 

St Thomas Aquinas, with a long tradition, says that in theology God is not the object of which we speak. This is our own normal conception. 

God, in reality, is not the object but the subject of theology. The one who speaks through theology, the speaking subject, must be God himself. And our speech and thoughts must always serve to ensure that what God says, the Word of God, is listened to and finds room in the world. 

Thus, once again we find ourselves invited to this process of forfeiting our own words, this process of purification so that our words may be nothing but the instrument through which God can speak, and hence, that he may truly be the subject and not the object of theology.

[Pope Benedict, homily, 6 October 2006]