Controversy over descent (and the abstract world)

(Jn 8:51-59)

The Gospel passage addresses the disciples of the Johannine communities who were still hesitant to declare themselves fully Christ's.

Hunted down and insulted by the veterans of Judaic learning, they found it difficult to identify the immanence of the Eternal with a mere carpenter.

Christ's dignity cannot be established by comparison with the most celebrated figures of salvation history: his is an eternal being, though he appears [in us] of insufficient figure.

But as effectively as he communicates, he does not exist only in a specific place or at a specific moment in time.

So he could not be a tool for contrived cultural claims, nor a means to accentuate elective nationalistic tares.

Its mystery seems difficult to probe and describe.

To express it briefly, we can refer it to the Appeal of precious but unsophisticated life, in the paradoxical reversal of the categories "from up there" and "from down here" (cf. vv.21-30).

His is an earthly spirituality, not an empty one - founded on the creative Love of personal Faith that surpasses the common religious sense.

And in the believer it becomes a vital forge, which becomes a reality, even a summary one; yet continuous, present.

In those who are united to Him, the implied Mystery becomes a new Person, gushing forth, majestic in its modesty; creative with light, yet unpretentious.

Like someone who subtly has no beginning and no end, everywhere.

Although lacking in overt fame, intimate with the Lord, we too can become a bridge between two worlds - without much showiness.

This teaches us to recognise "his day" (v.56).

Here Jesus claims divine status, ridiculing the knowledge of the ancient experts, who were only advocates of position.

And ignorant of their specifics - that is, of life in the Spirit - apart from some vague concordist thinking; partial, apodictic but inadequate, or extravagant.

Leaders old or new always feel diminished by the sword of the Word in action.

Seed that in those who receive it, make it their own and cultivate it, transmits an indestructible power of regeneration.

Word that emanates a perspective, a rejoicing of being; new beginnings, without the cloak of descent or à la page ideas.

He who wants to break free from the land of bondage, cherishes this Proposal. It emancipates us from the sense of belonging at all costs, and does not die.

Nor does it capitulate before the snares of ancient or glamorous power.

A system that despite its great promises does not give the quality of life of the Eternal; it does not make us Allies.

At most it locks us into the bewilderment of devotions, facades, opportunisms, fantasies.

The Name of God that Jesus attributes to Himself indicates that He is a sacrament of enlightenment.

Not a little picture to keep on the bedside table, to send kisses to [to snatch reassurance or position].

This is not the Seal He pours out.

Nor is "I Am" the attribute of a character to be counted in the gallery of those who have fought and paid for their ideas - fathers in the faith and prophets.

The Lord is our Deliverer. In Him we can say "I" with dignity.

This - although as in the Gospel passage, the snobs or the old (and logical) slickers of the worldly quarters consider the true believers to be deranged and demented.

Those who follow them unfortunately remain on the leash of the land of bondage and fail to express themselves; they remain pawns of twilight, of narrow quarters.

Such a follower will not err "track" or "manners"... only by fixed and aligned opinion.

Instead, the Inner Friend does not die: he also allows us to wander, but he knows where.

He guides infallibly to the destination.

He leads from the experience of stylistic and doctrinal hoods, all noble and out of phase, to the luminosity of open horizons, vital because they are still raw, unsophisticated.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (xix): 'Omit holiness and repudiate wisdom, and the people will gain a hundred doubles'.

Master Ho-shang Kung comments: 'Omit the regulating and creating of saints [...] return to non-acting [according to intentions or dirigisme] [...] The activities of agriculture develop the sense of community without selfishness'.

The Lord blesses and approves. Presence always unseen, deployed in every spark and distracted by manipulation.

Thus prompting one to cross conditioning cliques, and every threshold - to access further experiences of self, group, God, and neighbour outside, which becomes intimate.

Projected beyond the sacred enclosure reduced to a swamp, on the wave of his Word related to events we are introduced into the knowledge of the One who now comes out of the Temple (v.59).

From traditional or chic religiosity to personal faith.

With the boundless breadth of concrete and sovereign Abode, always successive, not weighing on the heart.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you live the "If anyone keeps my Word, he will never see death"? 

What about your relationship with those who feel they are specialised doctors?

Joy and Hope, or abstract world

"In the two readings" proposed by the liturgy today, the Pontiff was quick to point out in his homily, "there is talk of time, of eternity, of years, of the future, of the past" (Genesis 17:3-9 and John 8:51-59). So much so that precisely 'time seems to be the most important reality in the liturgical message of this Thursday'. But Francis preferred 'to take another word' which, he suggested, 'I believe is precisely the message in the Church today'. And they are the words of Jesus reported by the evangelist John: "Abraham, your father, rejoiced in the hope of seeing my day; he saw it and was filled with joy".

So today's central message is 'the joy of hope, the joy of trust in God's promise, the joy of fruitfulness'. Precisely "Abraham, in the time of which the first reading speaks, was ninety-nine years old and the Lord appeared to him and assured the covenant" with these words: "As for me, behold, my covenant is with you: you will become a father".

Abraham, Francis recalled, "had a son of twelve, thirteen years old: Ishmael". But God assures him that he will become "father of a multitude of nations". And "he changes his name". He then "goes on and asks him to be faithful to the covenant" saying: "I will establish my covenant with you and with your descendants and after you from generation to generation, as an everlasting covenant". Basically, God tells Abraham 'I give you everything, I give you time: I give you everything, you will be a father'.

Surely Abraham, the Pope said, 'was happy about this, he was full of consolation' on hearing the Lord's promise: 'Within a year you will have another son'. Of course, at those words 'Abraham laughed, the Bible says later: but how, at a hundred years a son?'. Yes, "he had begotten Ishmael at the age of eighty-seven, but at a hundred years a son is too much, you cannot understand!" And so he "laughed". But precisely "that smile, that laughter was the beginning of Abraham's joy". Here, then, is the meaning of Jesus' words re-proposed today by the Pope as the central message: 'Abraham, your father, rejoiced in hope'. In fact, "he dared not believe and said to the Lord: 'But what if at least Ishmael lived in your presence?'". He received this reply: "No, it will not be Ishmael. It will be another'.

For Abraham, therefore, "joy was full," said the Pope. But "even his wife Sarah laughed a little later: she was a little hidden, behind the curtains of the entrance, listening to what the men were saying". And 'when these envoys of God told Abraham the news about his son, she too laughed'. This, Francis reiterated, is 'the beginning of Abraham's great joy'. Yes, "the great joy: he exulted in the hope of seeing this day; he saw it and was filled with joy". And the Pope invited us to look at "this beautiful icon: Abraham who stood before God, who prostrated himself with his face to the ground: he heard this promise and opened his heart to hope and was full of joy".

And precisely "this is what these doctors of the law did not understand," Francis remarked. "They did not understand the joy of the promise; they did not understand the joy of hope; they did not understand the joy of the covenant. They did not understand." And "they did not know how to rejoice, because they had lost the sense of joy that, alone, comes from faith". Instead, the Pope explained, "our father Abraham was able to rejoice because he had faith: he was made righteous in faith". For their part, those doctors of the law "had lost faith: they were doctors of the law, but without faith!". But "more: they had lost the law! For the centre of the law is love, love for God and for one's neighbour". They, however, "had only a system of precise doctrines, which they made more precise every day that no one touched them".

They were 'men without faith, without law, attached to doctrines that also became a casuistic attitude'. And Francis also offered concrete examples: "You can pay tax to Caesar, can't you? This woman, who has been married seven times, when she goes to heaven will she be the wife of those seven?" And "this casuistry was their world: an abstract world, a world without love, a world without faith, a world without hope, a world without trust, a world without God". Precisely "for this reason they could not rejoice".

And they did not rejoice even if they had some party to enjoy themselves: so much so that, the Pope said, they must surely have "uncorked a few bottles when Jesus was condemned". But always 'without joy', indeed 'with fear because one of them, perhaps while they were drinking', must have remembered the promise 'that he would rise again'. And so "immediately, with fear, they went to the procurator to say 'please take care of this, let there be no trick'". All this because "they were afraid".

But 'this is life without faith in God, without trust in God, without hope in God', the Pope said again. "The life of these," he added, "only when they realised they were not right" did they think there was only the way left to take the stones to stone Jesus. "Their hearts were petrified". In fact, "it is sad to be a believer without joy," Francis explained, "and joy is not there when there is no faith, when there is no hope, when there is no law, but only prescriptions, cold doctrine. This is what applies'. In contrast, the Pope re-proposed "the joy of Abraham, that beautiful gesture of Abraham's smile" when he heard the promise to have "a son when he is a hundred years old". And "also Sarah's smile, a smile of hope". Because 'the joy of faith, the joy of the Gospel is the touchstone of a person's faith: without joy that person is not a true believer'.

In conclusion, Francis invited people to make Jesus' words their own: "Abraham, your father, rejoiced in the hope of seeing my day; he saw it and was filled with joy". And he asked "the Lord for the grace to be exultant in hope, the grace to be able to see the day of Jesus when we are with Him and the grace of joy."

[Pope Francis, s Marta, in L'Osservatore Romano 27/03/2015].