[Gospel of St Paul's Conversion].

(Mk 16:15-18)

Paul - who is us - manages to free himself from the fetters of subservience to an antiquated and selective religion. He discovers the joy of life.

Severe tradition is supplanted, along with all its false and empty ideal of perfection (individualist or circle).

It sees opportunities, fully. He encounters and perceives the best, which persuades him to take the risk of a life of Faith.

He recognises the Love that well disposes, humanises, intimately convinces because it recovers, reintegrates and makes differences and opposites convivial.

Here he discovers the authentic divine trait. A quality that surpasses the pharisaic purity norms - only sterilising - to which he had hastily adhered.

All this dismantles him, makes him experience another Kingdom, which transmits a different Vision - with no more impossible conditions of indefectibility.

The fraternal experience of the Lord's intimates compels him: he feels he must collapse from the empyrean in which he had placed himself.

He falls not from his horse, but from the artificial pedestals of the inherited belief - which did not encourage him to grow, from within.

He experiences the active dynamics of a grace that does not overpower; undeserved and prevenient - that takes the first step.

He finds it even in his own torn inner life, and in the attentive, hospitable character of the first communities: he is fascinated by it.

Of course, the sudden 'conversion' can have an equally radical, passionate impact... and opposite to the 'starchy' choices.

Excessive, headlong sense - perhaps otherwise one-sided, 'reformers' - can be typical of reversals from previous plastered conformity.

And it can again become one-sided.

But indeed, as a sign of his Presence, Jesus left a free spirit.

Not vintage catwalks, or festivals. Not even fantasies of an abstract, cerebral, disembodied world.

Not a fixed ideology, nor a relic - or particularly dedicated places and times.

In such frankness, which unleashes the Spirit, we all recognise ourselves today.

Namely: in the spirit of the Exodus and in the adventurous breath of the Apostle to the Gentiles, who everywhere and to everyone proposed the Risen One.

He is truly Living in the work of his People who evangelise without ceasing or fence (v.15) - but to the extent that they leap from the idol of distinction to the conviviality of differences.

From contrasts and reversals, to Communion. Which is not a raging torrent, nor a shouting attitude, because it makes room for better understanding, valuing other points of view.

The task appears grandiose and would seem to be beyond our strength, but in the meantime we can initiate a new atmosphere by living in a less distracted way; precisely, by announcing "to every creature" (v.15).

The expression contains an invitation to open the horizons of salvation also to the whole of creation - of which we are not the masters.

After decades of plundering the land and just as the world of devotions has moved on indifferently, perhaps we are beginning to realise that God is calling us to be custodians, not predators.

[Called to a totally different quality of relationship from the opportunist one we have had before our eyes and perhaps helped to perpetrate - just while the churches were still packed, drowsing consciences, as well as many vital energies].

In short, the Risen One activates a new way, place and time: both to encounter ourselves and people, and plants and animals.

The proclamation of Salvation that we are invited to proclaim continues with other very practical "signs" and messages, which, however, have nothing to do with competing with magicians and soothsayers (vv.17-18).

Unfortunately, the sense of these lines interpreted by ear runs the risk of locking the crowds into that misunderstanding that can insinuate a whole way of thinking and a style anchored to the torment of conventional spirituality, empty of content and incisiveness.

In fact, we are still passionate about the search for visions, demonstrative prodigies and religion-show phenomena.

We have behind us a corpus of history that, from the second century onwards, has sought to impose an apologetic conception of 'miracles': utterly cheap shots of lightning and today grounds for righteous rejection.

In essence, the 'preaching of the Gospel' does not deal with arcane things, or with exceptionalities (albeit plausible here and there).

Rather, it is a work of wide-ranging humanisation, thanks to which people abandon the aggressive and dangerous aspect of their nature.

This happens to this day, in favour of encounter and dialogue.

The forces of self-destruction and death are driven away - not by a punctual, lightning-fast prodigy, but by a process of content assimilation, strong friendship, exodus, and realisation. 

Often, the spiritual accompaniment of the Word and an authentic community help people to free themselves from the obsessions of unworthiness that block their lives - thus discovering unexpressed personality sides and powers.

As a commentary on the Tao Tê Ching (XLVII), Master Ho-shang Kung writes: 'The saint [...] from his own person knows the person of others, from his own family knows the family of others: from these he looks at the world'.

A completely new language blossoms in this climate: that of Sensitive Welcoming and Listening, the first step towards a new communication.

It allows us to shift our gaze, to acquire knowledge, to get to know those we did not imagine, to frequent other regions and cultures; and so on.

The 'poisons' - even those that are not easy to identify - are rendered harmless, not because we pass over them and pretend they do not exist. We are not called upon to be disassociated.

We simply acknowledge our own vocational character and the varied inclinations of others. Nothing that is human is merely 'lethal' (v.18).

Thus - by letting each one follow his or her own nature - one becomes mutually tolerant and richer, improving coexistence; without hysteria or mannerism.

On such a vital wave, unparalleled attention to the weak, the sick, the marginalised can appear everywhere.

A skilful natural attitude of attention to the last, no longer forced or imposed, but spontaneous and forthright.

With extreme naturalness, it is precisely the weak who are now enabled to become the centre of the family, of groups, of ministerial activity.

An institution at service, the new Church; which gradually expunges the dirigiste model of the large and self-sufficient.

In this way, our divine DNA manifests itself when we achieve impossible recoveries.

In short, we are the bearers of a force capable of recreating women and men - even desperate ones who have lost energy and self-esteem.

From the very beginning, in a practical, de facto ecumenical and inter-religious style, no particular denominational affiliation has been able to annihilate the spirit of conviviality and coexistence, innate in humanity in search.

In concrete terms, the Lord's proposal has always left room for singular contributions, for even instinctive powers and images, for inner struggles - not denigrated at the outset as in religions.

The Risen One has manifested and expressed Himself through the Mission of His lovable Community, a place favourable to the exchange of gifts; to the settlement of distances, to profound happiness.

This was his own way of revealing the Father's Love to the world - without excessive proclamation - and remaining close to it.

To internalise and live the message:

What are the signs of new life that you have been able and willing to receive, assimilate, put into action, and most correspond to you?

Cross cultural and religious boundaries

"Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15); "make disciples of all nations", says the Lord (Mt 28:19). With these words Jesus sends the Apostles to every creature, so that God's saving action may reach everywhere. But if we look at the moment of Jesus' ascension into heaven, narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the disciples are still closed in their vision, thinking about the restoration of a new Davidic kingdom, and they ask the Lord: "Is this the time when you will restore the kingdom for Israel?" (Acts 1:6). And how does Jesus answer? He responds by opening their horizons and giving them a promise and a task: he promises that they will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and gives them the task of witnessing to him throughout the world, transcending the cultural and religious boundaries within which they were accustomed to think and live, in order to open themselves to the universal Kingdom of God. And at the beginning of the Church's journey, the Apostles and disciples set out without any human security, but with the sole strength of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel and faith. It is the ferment that spreads throughout the world, it enters into the different events and multiple cultural and social contexts, but it remains a single Church. Christian communities flourish around the Apostles, but they are 'the' Church, which, in Jerusalem, Antioch or Rome, is always the same, one and universal. And when the Apostles speak of the Church, they do not speak of their own community, they speak of the Church of Christ, and they insist on this unique, universal and total identity of the Catholica, which is realised in each local Church. The Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic, reflecting in herself the source of her life and her journey: the unity and communion of the Trinity.

(Pope Benedict, address to the consistory 24 November 2012)

Faith not quiet.

Transmitted not to convince but to offer a treasure

Saint Mark, one of the four evangelists, is very close to the Apostle Peter. The Gospel of Mark was the first to be written. It is simple, a simple style, very close [...].

And in the Gospel we read now - which is the end of Mark's Gospel - there is the sending of the Lord. The Lord has revealed himself as saviour, as the only Son of God; he has revealed himself to all Israel, to the people, especially with more detail to the apostles, to the disciples. This is the Lord's farewell, the Lord leaves: he departed and "was lifted up into heaven and seated at the right hand of God" (Mk 16:19). But before he left, when he appeared to the Eleven, he said to them: "Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). There is the missionary nature of faith. Faith is either missionary or it is not faith. Faith is not just something for me to grow by faith: that is a Gnostic heresy. Faith always leads you out of yourself. Going out. The transmission of faith; faith is to be transmitted, it is to be offered, especially through witness: "Go, that people may see how you live" (cf. v. 15).

Someone told me, a European priest, from a European city: 'There is so much unbelief, so much agnosticism in our cities, because Christians do not have faith. If they had it, they would surely give it to people'. There is a lack of missionary spirit. Because at root there is a lack of conviction: 'Yes, I am Christian, I am Catholic...'. As if it were a social attitude. On the identity card you call yourself so-and-so... and 'I am a Christian'. It's a fact on the identity card. This is not faith! This is a cultural thing. Faith necessarily leads you out, leads you to give it: because faith essentially has to be transmitted. It is not quiet. "Ah, you mean, Father, that we all have to be missionaries and go to distant countries?" No, that is a part of missionary work. This means that if you have faith you necessarily have to go out and make faith seen socially. Faith is social, it is for everyone: "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature" (v. 15). And this does not mean proselytising, as if I were a proselytising football team, or a charitable society. No, faith is: 'no proselytising'. It is showing revelation, so that the Holy Spirit can act in people through witness: as a witness, with service. Service is a way of life. If I say that I am a Christian and I live like a pagan, it does not go! That does not convince anyone. If I say I am a Christian and live as a Christian, that attracts. It is the testimony.

Once, in Poland, a university student asked me: 'In the university I have many fellow atheists. What do I have to say to them to convince them?" - "Nothing, dear, nothing! The last thing you have to do is say anything. Start living, and they, seeing your testimony, will ask you: 'But why do you live like this?'". Faith must be transmitted: not to convince, but to offer a treasure. "It is there, you see. And this is also the humility of which St Peter spoke in the First Reading: 'Beloved, clothe yourselves all with humility towards one another, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (1 Peter 5:5). How many times in the Church, in history, have movements, aggregations, been born of men or women who wanted to convince of the faith, to convert... True 'proselytists'. And how did they end up? In corruption.

So tender is this passage from the Gospel! But where is the security? How can I be sure that by going out from me I will be fruitful in the transmission of the faith? "Proclaim the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15), do wonders (cf. vv. 17-18). And the Lord will be with us until the end of the world. He accompanies us. In the transmission of faith, there is always the Lord with us. In the transmission of ideology, there will be teachers, but when I have an attitude of faith that must be transmitted, there is the Lord there to accompany me. Never, in the transmission of faith, am I alone. It is the Lord with me who transmits the faith. He has promised: "I will be with you all days until the end of the world" (cf. Mt 28:20).

Let us pray to the Lord to help us live our faith in this way: the faith of open doors, a transparent faith, not "proselytising", but one that shows: "This is who I am". And with this healthy curiosity, help people to receive this message that will save them.

(Pope Francis, St. Martha homily 25 April 2020)