14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year C)  [6 July 2025]

May God bless us and the Virgin Mary protect us! Even though we are entering the holiday season, I will continue to provide you with comments on the Sunday Bible readings.

 

*First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (66:10-14)

When a prophet speaks so much of consolation, it means that things are going very badly, so he feels the need to console and keep hope alive: this text was therefore written at a difficult time. The author, Third Isaiah, is one of the distant disciples of the great Isaiah and is preaching to the exiles who returned from Babylonian exile around 535 BC. Their long-awaited return proved disappointing in every respect because after 50 years everything had changed. Jerusalem bore the scars of the catastrophe of 587 when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; the Temple was in ruins, as was much of the city, and the exiles had not received the triumphant welcome they had hoped for.  The prophet speaks of mourning and consolation, but in the face of the prevailing discouragement, he is not content with words of comfort, but even dares to make an almost triumphal speech: "Rejoice with Jerusalem, all you who love her. Rejoice with her, all you who mourn for her" (v. 10). Where does this optimism come from? The answer is simple: from faith, or rather from the experience of Israel, which continues to hope in every age because it is certain that God is always present and, even when all seems lost, knows that nothing is impossible for God. Even in times of great discouragement during the Exodus, it was proclaimed: "Has the Lord's arm been shortened?  (Num 11:23), an image that recurs several times in the book of Isaiah. During the exile, when hope was wavering, Second Isaiah communicated on behalf of God: "Is my hand too short to deliver?" (Isaiah 50:2) And after the return, in a period of great concern, the Third Isaiah, whom we read today, takes up the same image twice, both in chapter 59:1 and in the last verse of today's reading: "The hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants" (v. 14). God, who has delivered his people so many times in the past, will never abandon them. Even on its own, the term 'hand' is an allusion to the exodus from Egypt, when God intervened with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. Verse 11 of today's text: "You will be nursed and satisfied at the breast of his consolations" recalls the terrible trial of faith that the people experienced in the desert when they were hungry and thirsty, and even then God assured them of what was necessary.  This reference to the book of Exodus offers two lessons: on the one hand, God wants us to be free and supports all our efforts to establish justice and freedom; but on the other hand, our cooperation is important and necessary. The people left Egypt thanks to God's intervention, and Israel never forgets this, but it had to walk towards the promised land, sometimes with great difficulty. Then, in verse 13, when Isaiah promises on God's behalf, "I will make peace flow like a river," this does not mean that peace will be established magically. The Lord is always faithful to his promises: we must continue to believe that he remains and works at our side in every situation. At the same time, it is essential that we act because peace, justice and happiness need our convinced and generous contribution. 

 

*Responsorial Psalm (65/66, 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a, 16.20)

 As is often the case, the last verse sums up the meaning of the entire psalm: 'Blessed be God who has not rejected my prayer, who has not denied me his mercy' (v. 20). The vocabulary used shows that this psalm is a song of thanksgiving: "Shout, sing, give him glory... let all the earth bow down before you... I will tell of all his deeds," probably composed to accompany the sacrifices in the Temple of Jerusalem. It is not an individual who speaks, but the entire people giving thanks to God. Israel gives thanks as always for its deliverance from Egypt with very clear references: "He turned the sea into dry land... they passed through the river on foot"; or: "Come and see the works of God, terrible in his deeds towards men". Even the expression "the works of God" in the Bible always refers to the liberation from Egypt. Moreover, the similarity between this psalm and the song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 15) is striking, an event that illuminates the entire history of Israel: God's work for his people has no other purpose than to free them from all forms of slavery. This is the meaning of chapter 66 of Isaiah, which we read this Sunday in the first reading: in a very dark period of Jerusalem's history, after the Babylonian exile, the message is clear: God will comfort you. We do not know if this psalm was composed at the same time, but in any case the context is the same because it was written to be sung in the Temple of Jerusalem, and the faithful who flock there on pilgrimage foreshadow the whole of humanity that will go up to Jerusalem at the end of time. And if the text of Isaiah announces the new Jerusalem where all nations will flock, the psalm responds: 'Acclaim God, all you of the earth... let all the earth bow down before you... let them sing hymns to your name'. The promised joy is the central theme of these two texts: when times are hard, we must remember that God wants nothing but our happiness and that one day his joy will fill the whole earth, as Isaiah writes, to which the psalm echoes: "Come, listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me" (vv. 16, 20). The texts of the prophet Isaiah and the psalmist are immersed in the same atmosphere, but they are not on the same level: the prophet expresses God's revelation, while the psalm is man's prayer. When God speaks, he is concerned with the glory and happiness of Jerusalem. When the people, through the voice of the psalmist, speak, they give God the glory that belongs to him alone: "Shout for joy, all you people of the earth; sing to God, sing praises to his name; give him glory with praise" (vv. 1-3). Finally, the psalm becomes the voice of all Israel: "Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his mercy from me" (v. 20). A wonderful way of saying that love will have the last word.

 

*Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Galatians (6:14-18)

"As for me, there is no other boast than the cross." Paul's insistence on the cross as his only boast suggests that there is a problem. In fact, the letter to the Galatians begins with a strong rebuke because the believers had very quickly turned from Christ to another gospel, and some were sowing confusion by wanting to overturn the gospel of Christ. Those sowing discord were Jews who had converted to Christianity (Jewish Christians) who wanted to force everyone to practise all the prescriptions of the Jewish religion, including circumcision. Paul then warns them because he fears that behind the discussion about whether or not to be circumcised there lies a real heresy, since only faith in Christ, made concrete by Baptism, saves us, and imposing circumcision would be tantamount to denying this, considering the cross of Christ insufficient. For this reason, he reminds the Galatians that their only boast is the cross of Christ. But to understand Paul, it must be clarified that for him the cross is an event and he does not focus only on the sufferings of Jesus: for him it is the central event in the history of the world. The cross—that is, Christ crucified and risen—has reconciled God and humanity, and has reconciled people among themselves. When he writes that through the cross of Christ, 'the world has been crucified to me', he means that since the event of the cross, the world has been definitively transformed and nothing will ever be the same again, as he also writes in his letter to the Colossians (Col 1:19-20). The proof that the cross is the decisive event in history is that death has been conquered: Christ is risen. For Paul, the cross and the resurrection are inseparable, since they are one and the same event. From the cross, a new creation was born, in contrast to the old world. Throughout this letter, Paul contrasts the regime of the Mosaic Law with the regime of faith; life according to the flesh and life according to the Spirit; the old slavery and the freedom we receive from Jesus Christ. By adhering to Christ through faith, we become free to live according to the Spirit. The old world is at war and humanity does not believe that God is merciful love and, as a result, by disobeying his commandments, creates rivalry and wars for power and money. The new creation, on the contrary, is the obedience of the Son, his total trust, his forgiveness of his executioners, his cheek turned to those who tear his beard, as Isaiah writes. The Passion of Christ was a culmination of hatred and injustice perpetrated in the name of God; but Christ made it a culmination of non-violence, gentleness and forgiveness. And we, in turn, grafted onto the Son, are made capable of the same obedience and the same love. This extraordinary conversion, which is the work of the Spirit of God, inspires Paul to write a particularly incisive formula: Through the cross, the world is crucified for me and I for the world, which means: The way of life according to the world is abolished; we now live according to the Spirit, and this becomes a source of pride for Christians. Proclaiming the cross of Christ is not easy, and when he says, 'I bear the marks of Jesus on my body', he is alluding to the persecutions he himself suffered for proclaiming the Gospel. A final note: this is the only Pauline writing that ends with the word 'brothers'. After arguing with the Galatians, Paul finally finds in his community the brotherhood that binds evangelisers to the evangelised, and the only source of this rediscovered love is 'in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ' (v. 18). 

 

*From the Gospel according to Luke (10:1-20)

 This page of the Gospel presents Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. After overcoming all temptations and defeating the prince of this world, he must pass on the baton to his disciples, who in turn must pass it on to their successors. The mission is too important and precious and must be shared. First, there is the invitation to pray to "the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest" (v. 2). God knows everything, but he invites us to pray so that we may allow ourselves to be enlightened by him. Prayer is never intended to inform God: that would be presumptuous on our part, but it prepares us to allow ourselves to be transformed by him. He thus sends the large group of disciples on mission, providing them with all the necessary advice to face trials and obstacles that are well known to him. When they are rejected, as Jesus experienced in Samaria, they must not be discouraged but, setting out, they will proclaim to all: "The Kingdom of God is near you" (v. 9).  And they will add: "Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet, we shake off against you" (v. 11). Here are some specific instructions for the disciples. "I am sending you out as lambs among wolves" (v. 3), which indicates that we must always remain meek as lambs, since the mission of the disciple is to bring peace: "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house. If there is a son of peace there, your peace will rest on him'" (vv. 5-6). In other words, we must believe at all costs in the contagious power of peace, because when we sincerely wish for peace, peace truly grows. And if someone does not accept you, do not let yourselves be weighed down by failure and rejection. Every disciple will have a difficult life because, if Jesus himself had nowhere to lay his head, this will also be the case for his disciples. For this reason, they must learn to live day by day without worrying about tomorrow, content with eating and drinking what is served, just as in the desert the people of God could gather manna only for that day. To evangelise, they will take with them only the essentials: "no purse, no bag, no sandals" (v. 4) and "do not go from house to house" (v. 7). There will often be painful choices to make because of the urgency of the mission, and it will be important to resist the temptation of the vanity of success: "Do not rejoice that the demons submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (v. 20). The desire for fame has always been a trap for disciples, but true apostles are not necessarily the most famous. We might think that the seventy-two disciples passed the test well because, on their return, Jesus was able to say, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky" (v. 18).  As he began his final march to Jerusalem, Jesus felt great comfort because of this, so much so that Luke immediately tells us: "At that moment, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles [29 June 2025]

May God bless us and the Virgin protect us. A special remembrance on this Sunday for Pope Leo XIV and his difficult ministry in this time of grave human and spiritual crisis in the world.

 

*First reading from the Acts of the Apostles (12:1–11)

Jesus was probably executed in April 30. At first, his disciples were very few and did not cause any trouble, but the situation became complicated when they began to perform healings and miracles. Peter was imprisoned twice by the religious authorities: the first time with John, which ended with an appearance before the court and threats; the second time with other apostles whom Luke does not name, who were miraculously freed by an angel (Acts 5:17-20). The religious authorities then had Stephen killed and unleashed a real persecution that drove the most threatened Christians, called 'Hellenists', to leave Jerusalem for Samaria and the Mediterranean coast. James, Peter, John and the rest of the Twelve remained in Jerusalem. In today's episode, the political powers imprison Peter under Herod Agrippa, who reigned from 41 to 44 AD. The nephew of Herod the Great, who reigned at the time of Jesus' birth, Herod Agrippa was careful not to displease either the Roman authorities or the Jews, so much so that it was said that he was Roman in Caesarea and Jewish in Jerusalem. However, in trying to please both sides, he could only be an enemy of the Christians, and it was in this context that, in order to ingratiate himself with the Jews, he had James (son of Zebedee) executed and Peter imprisoned. Peter miraculously escaped again, but what interests Luke much more than Peter's personal fate is the mission of evangelisation: if angels come to free the apostles, it is because the world needs them and God will not allow any power to hinder the proclamation of the Gospel. A historical note: The Jews, reduced to slavery and threatened with outright genocide, were miraculously freed several times and over the centuries proclaimed to the world that this liberation was always the work of God. Unfortunately, in a mysterious reversal, it can happen that those who are charged with proclaiming and accomplishing God's work of liberation end up becoming accomplices to a new form of domination, as happened to Jesus, victim of the perversion of the religious power of his time.  Luke, in his account of Jesus' death and resurrection, highlighted this paradox: it was in the context of the Jewish Passover, the memorial of the liberating God, that the Son of God was put to death by the defenders of God. However, the love and forgiveness of the 'meek and humble' God had the last word: Jesus rose from the dead. And now, in turn, the young Church finds itself facing persecution by religious and political powers, just like Jesus, and once again, this takes place in the context of the Jewish Passover, in Jerusalem. Peter was arrested during the week of Easter, which begins with the Passover meal and continues with the week of Unleavened Bread. The words the angel says to Peter resemble the orders given to the people on the night of the exodus from Egypt (Ex 12:11): "Get up quickly! Put on your belt and your sandals." Luke makes it clear that God is continuing his work of liberation, and the entire account of this miracle is written in the style and with the vocabulary of Christ's passion and resurrection. The scenarios are similar: it is night, there is a prison, there are soldiers, Peter is asleep unlike Jesus, but for both of them the light of God acting rises in the night. In the darkness of trial, Christ's promise to Peter does not fail, because the forces of death and evil will not prevail. The Church, in the throes of history, often repeats Peter's profession of faith: "Now I know that the Lord has sent an angel and rescued me from Herod's hand" (v. 11).

 

*Responsorial Psalm (33/34, 2-9)

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." We sing this psalm after hearing the story of Peter's liberation, knowing that the whole young Church was praying for him. "This poor man cries, and the Lord hears him": faith is crying out to God and knowing that he hears us, as he heard the cry of the community, and Peter was freed. However, Jesus did not escape death on the cross, and Peter, once again a prisoner in Rome, would also be killed. It is often said that everything will be resolved through prayer, but this is not the case, because even those who pray and make novenas and pilgrimages do not always obtain the grace they ask for. So does God sometimes not listen, or when we are not answered as we would like, is it because we have prayed badly or not enough? The answer lies in three points: 1. Yes, God always hears our cry; 2. He responds by giving us his Spirit; 3. He raises up brothers and sisters beside us. 1. God always hears our cry. In the episode of the burning bush (Ex 3), we read: 'God said to Moses, "Yes, I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry under the blows of their overseers. Yes, I know their sufferings." The true believer knows that the Lord is close to us in suffering because he is "on our side," as we read here in Psalm 33/34: I sought the Lord, and he answered me... he delivered me... he hears... he saves... his angel encamps around those who fear him, and he is a refuge. 2. God answers us by giving us his Spirit, as we understand when we listen to what Jesus says in Luke's Gospel: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. God does not magically make all our worries disappear, but he fills us with his Spirit, and prayer opens us to the action of the Spirit who gives us the strength to change the situation and overcome the trial. We are no longer alone: we read in the responsorial psalm that 'This poor man cries, and the Lord hears him; he saves him from all his troubles... I sought the Lord, he answered me and delivered me from all my fears' (vv. 6-7). Believing that the Lord hears us dispels fear and makes anguish vanish. 3. God raises up brothers and sisters beside us. When, in the episode of the burning bush, God says that he has seen the misery of the people in Egypt and heard their cry, he inspires Moses to free the people: "Now, since the cry of the Israelites has come to me... go, I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring my people out of Egypt" (Ex 3:9-10). How many times in the experience of suffering has God raised up the prophets and leaders that the people needed to take their destiny into their own hands. Ultimately, the responsorial psalm expresses the historical experience of Israel, where faith appears as a twofold cry: man cries out his anguish like Job, and God always listens and frees him. Man then prays in thanksgiving like Israel, who, despite a thousand vicissitudes, never lost hope, singing: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be in my mouth. My glory and my praise is the Lord; let the poor hear and be glad" (vv. 2-3).

 

*Second reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (4:6-8, 17-18)

It is thought that the two letters to Timothy were perhaps written a few years later by a disciple of Paul, but everyone agrees that the text we read today is his; indeed, it represents his testament and his last farewell to Timothy. Imprisoned in Rome, Paul is aware that he will be executed and that the moment of his great departure has come, certain that he must appear before God. He therefore looks back on his past, from when Christ seized him like a sword on the road to Damascus, and takes stock of his life using four flashbacks that clearly outline the itinerary of his mission. 1. The first image is linked to worship: "I am already being poured out as a drink offering" (v. 6), alluding to an ancient cult practice called libation, which consisted of pouring a liquid (wine, oil, water, milk or honey) as a sacred offering, symbolising the total gift of life to the deity. Paul uses this image to say that his existence is a total sacrifice to Christ. 2. The second image is linked to navigation: "the time has come for me to leave this life" (v. 6). Paul knows that his journey is almost over after storms and problems of all kinds. He chose the Greek word 'analusis' (dissolution, liberation), used in nautical and military contexts to indicate the loosening of the ropes that hold a ship anchored so that it can set sail for the open sea, and in military contexts to indicate the dismantling of tents in a camp when soldiers leave for a new mission. Paul means that his life is about to be freed from earthly ties to set sail for his homeland, the house of the Father. 3. The third image is linked to the struggle, not violent but internal and spiritual, to evangelise: 'I have fought the good fight' (v. 7). His life is marked by struggles, persecutions, bitter confrontations and betrayals, yet, as he writes later, he has always been delivered "from the lion's mouth" (v. 17). 4. The fourth image is connected to sport: "I have finished the race" (v. 7). The race run in ancient stadiums is a symbol of the Christian who never abandons the missionary path and, at the end, if he keeps the faith, receives the "crown" that the Lord reserves for the true disciples of Christ. This race is not a competition between athletes because each one advances at his own pace towards Christ and "his manifestation". And so, like Jesus and Stephen, at the moment of his execution, Paul forgives those who abandoned him, certain of the Lord's power to deliver him from all evil. And the real danger from which God preserved him is that of renouncing his mission until death. However, this is not a reason for boasting, because he knows that God saved him, and for this reason he sings the song of glory as he is born into true life: 'To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.'

 

*From the Gospel according to Matthew (16:13-19)

This episode marks a turning point in the life of Jesus and Peter because as soon as Simon proclaims who Jesus is, he receives from him the mission for the Church. Christ builds his Church on a man whose only virtue is that of having proclaimed what the Father revealed to him: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v. 16). This means that the only true pillar of the Church is his faith in Christ, who immediately responds: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church" (v. 18). This famous "Petrine" text is built on three symbols: The first is the "rock" that is linked to the Aramaic name Kefa: "You are Peter". In Greek: "Σὺ εἶ Πέτρος (Petros)" means "you are Peter" or "Rock". Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter, giving him a new mission and identity. In the Semitic context, changing a name indicates a change in a person's destiny and reality. Simon thus becomes the rock on which Christ lays the foundation of the Church, which remains his and of which he is forever the irreplaceable "cornerstone." In ancient times, stone was a symbol of stability and security, so building on stone means building on a firm and immovable foundation, and on Peter the Lord begins to give visible form to his community. He promises that his Church, founded on this rock—faith and Peter's mission (see v. 6)—will resist the forces of evil, and Peter thus becomes the first visible shepherd of the community, even though the true foundation and eternal Shepherd is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). The second symbol is the keys: 'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven'. The keys, a sign of authority and responsibility over a house, are an effective image of the power that Christ transmits to Peter. Entrusting the keys is equivalent to conferring the power to open and close, to allow or deny access. Peter is not the founder and ruler of a kingdom, but the immediate leader who exercises delegated power by guiding the community of believers, teaching and making binding decisions in matters of faith and morals. The third symbol is expressed in the twofold action of binding and loosing: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (v. 19). The expressions "to bind" and "to loose" were common in rabbinic language and indicated the power to declare something lawful or unlawful, to permit or prohibit certain actions. Applied to Peter, they emphasise his authority to make doctrinal and disciplinary decisions in full fidelity to the word of God (Jn 20:23), an authority he shares in the Church with the other apostles (Mt 18:18), even though Peter retains a unique and pre-eminent role. Finally, Jesus says, 'I will build my Church': it is therefore he who builds and guides the Church that remains forever his, so that we can walk safely because 'the powers of hell will not prevail against it' (v. 18).

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

Victory of the Risen Lord, without hysteria

(Jn 20:24-29)

 

The Gospel passage has a liturgical flavour, but the question we glimpse in the watermark is crude. We too want «to see Him».

How to believe without having seen?

It is the most common question starting from the third generation of believers, who not only hadn’t known the Apostles, but many of them not even subsequent pupils.

In particular: how do we go from «seeing»… to «believing» in a defeated, even subjected to torture?

There is an authentic Church, but held together by fear (v.19).

Not only because the arrest warrant always hangs over the real witnesses.

Also out of fear of confrontation with the world, or inability to dialogue.

Thomas is not afraid to stand outside the barred doors.

He does not withdraw into himself; he does not dread the encounter, the confrontation with life that pulsates and comes.

In this sense he is «said to be the twin» [δίδυμο] of each one - and of Jesus.

 

Our context resembles that of the Johannine realities of Asia Minor, lost in the immensity of the Roman Empire; small churches sometimes seduced by its attractions.

Ephesus in particular had hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.  Commercial emporium, banking center and major cosmopolitan city [whose centerpiece was of course the great Temple of Artemis - wonder of the ancient world] was the fourth city of the empire.

Distractions were many.

And already from the first generations of faithful the routine began to take over: the fervor of the beginnings was dying out; participation became sporadic.

Under Domitian, believers suffered social marginalization, discrimination.

 

Even today, one of the decisive elements of the ability to manifest the Risen One Present remains the direct encounter with sisters and brothers, within a living fraternity.

People who welcome surprises and encourage the ability to think and debate; who are themselves and make others breathe.

Women and men who spend their material resources and wisdom, according to particular history and sensitivity.

Where each one as he is and where is - real in the round, not dissociated from himself - becomes food for others with the crumbs he has.

 

Here then is the «recognize»: it’s a question not of obedience to an abstract world, but of personal Likeness.

It’s a matter of attuning the “physiognomy” and our small «actions» with the Source of Love consumed to the end [our «finger» and its «Hands»;  our «hand» and his «pierced Side»].

Even with our limitation, 'by entering into the wounds'. And by attraction, Faith will spring forth spontaneously (v.28).

Thus (vv.29-31 and 21:25) Jn invites each one to write his own personal Gospel.

When our works are at least a little the same as Christ's, everyone will ‘see’ Him.

 

So is there any evidence that Jesus lives?

Of course. He concretely manifests Himself in an assembly of non-conformist people, who are themselves; endowed with the capacity for autonomous thinking skills.

«Twins» of Him and of Thomas.

People Free to live in the world; outside locked doors - to listening, descending, serving.

And doing it with conviction: personally, without forcing or hysteria.

 

We too want to «see» Him.

 

 

[St. Thomas the Apostle, July 3rd]

Thomas: without hysteria

(Jn 20:19-31)

 

The Manifestation, the Spirit, the remission

(Jn 20:19-23)

 

The Johannine Pentecost does not suffer any temporal delay (v.22), yet the Lucan account also emphasises the link with Easter, of which it is but a further specification.

Pentecost is not a matter of a date, but rather an event that happens without ceasing, in the assembled assembly; where a joy-filled Peace is made present, which founds the Mission.

Jesus did not assure easy life. But the "closed doors" indicate that the Risen One has not returned to his former existence: he has been introduced into the divine condition, into a total form of life.

The complete configuration of his being is not in the order of flesh and bones; it eludes our senses.

'Resurrection of the flesh' is not the same as the improvement of the previous condition. From a man [as from a seed] there has blossomed a form of life that subsists in God himself.

The disciples rejoice at seeing the wounds (v.20). The reaction is not surprising: it is the perception-vertigo of Presence, springing up and pouring out from inner senses.

The Risen One who reveals Himself is the same Jesus who delivered the gift of life, in the Spirit.

The Father's World bears his Name - that is, his whole history, all real.

The heavenly World no longer remains that of religions. It is not exclusive, nor is it fanciful or abstract; nor is it sterilised.

 

The Manifestation is placed on "the one of the Sabbaths" (v.19) to say that the disciples can meet and see the Risen One every time they come together on the Lord's Day.

Thanks to the Gift of the Spirit (v.22) his disciples are sent on Mission, to continue and expand the work of the Master - insisting in particular on the work of remission of sins (v.23).

At the time, there was a widespread conception that men acted badly and allowed themselves to be defiled by idols, because they were driven by an unclean instinct that began to manifest itself at an early age.

One was under the illusion that one could overcome or at least keep such an evil spirit at bay with the study of the Torah - but it was easy to see the failures: the indications of the Law, though right, did not give the strength to follow that path.

After so many failures even of kings and the entire priestly class, it was expected that God Himself would come, precisely to deliver us from impurities, through the outpouring of a good impulse.

Throughout the ancient world [also in classical culture: especially Ovid] people wondered about the meaning of this creaturely block.

Inwardly, humanity was caught and torn between intuition and desire for goodness, and inability to realise it (cf. Rom 7:15-19).

No religion or philosophy had ever guessed that it is in the discomfort and imperfection that the most precious mouldable energies, our uniqueness, and the non-conformist solution to problems lie.

Through the mouth of the Prophets, God had promised the gift of a new heart - of flesh and not of stone (Ez 36:25-27).

An outpouring of the Spirit that would renew the world, enliven the desert and make it fruitful.

On Easter Day, the prophecies were fulfilled.

The "breath" of Christ recalls the moment of Creation (Gen 2:7; cf. Ez 37:7-14).

 

We are at the origin of a new humanity of generating mothers and fathers - now able to bring forth only life, eliminating death from the face of the earth.

Jesus creates the new man, no longer a victim of the invincible forces that lead him to evil, despite his profound aspirations.

He transmits an enterprising, clear, alternative, self-confident energy that spontaneously drives to goodness.

Where this Spirit reaches, sin is annihilated.

It was the first experience of the Church: the unmistakable action of divine power, which became present and operative in people who were fearful and disregarded.

Throughout the book of Acts of the Apostles, the protagonist is precisely the impetuous Wind of the Spirit.

 

Up to this point, the concept of forgiveness of sins was missing in John. But the meaning of the expression in v.23 is not strictly sacramental.

Neutralising and defeating defaults concerns everyone who gets involved in the work of improving life in the world.

In short, we are called to create the conditions so that by tilling the soil of hearts, everyone is opened to divine action.

Conversely, the inability to do good drags on: in this way, sin is not 'remitted'.

The Shalôm received by the disciples is to be announced by them and transmitted to the world.

It is a Peace that is not the fruit of worldly, cunning compromises: the only powerful means to be used is forgiveness.

Not so much for tranquillity and 'permanence', but to introduce unknown powers, to accentuate life, to bring to the surface aspects we have not given space to; to transmit a sense of adequacy and freedom.

In each and all times, the Church is called upon to make the complete and personal Gratis of the Lord effective.As a Gift in the Spirit: without ever "holding back" (v.23) the problems, nor making them paradoxical protagonists of life [even of assembly].

Such the priestly, royal and prophetic dimension of the fraternal Community. Such is its Newness.

 

 

Victory of the Risen One, Church of free people

 

Without hysteria

(Jn 20:24-31)

 

The passage has a liturgical flavour, but the question that we discern in the watermark is stark. We too want to "see".

How can we believe without having seen?

And even how could the identification of the sufferer with the bliss experienced, and the divinity itself, go without saying?

This is the most common question from the third generation of believers, who had not only not got to know the Apostles, but many of them not even their pupils.

The evangelist assures us: compared to the first witnesses of the Resurrection, our condition is not disadvantaged at all, on the contrary: more open and less subject to conditioning or special circumstances.

We must go deeper than immediate experience.

Even the direct disciples struggled, trying to move to another vocabulary and grammar of revelation; and from 'seeing', to 'believing'.

There are unfortunately common traits, e.g. the search for Magdalene in the places of death. Or here the carefully barred doors, where one does not enter without forcing the closures - but above all significant deviations.

In particular, we reiterate the burning question. How do we go from 'seeing'... to 'believing' in a defeated, even subjected to torture?

 

We do not believe, just because there are truthful witnesses.

We are certain that life supersedes death, because we have 'seen' first-hand; because we have gone through a personal recognition.

For He does not make Himself a leader, but repeatedly "in the midst" (vv.19.26).

In the collection of the Manifestations of the Risen One [so-called "Book of the Resurrection"] Jn designates the conditions of Easter Faith.

He sets out the witnessing experiences of the first churches (morning and evening, and eight days later) as well as of the disciples who accept the missionary mandate.

Then as now, perceiving the realities hidden to the simple gaze, internalising the readiness to make an exodus to the peripheries, depends on the depth of the Faith.

Nor does the readiness to stake one's life on building a kingdom of upside-down values compared to common, ancient, imperial religious values.

 

At the time the Thomas episode is written, the dimension of the eighth day [Dies Domini] already had a prevailing configuration, compared to the Sabbath of the early, radically Judaizing Messianics.

"Shalôm" is, however, still understood in the ancient sense: it is not a wish, but the present fulfilment of the divine Promises.

Messianic "Peace" would have evoked the undoing of fears, liberation from death; reconciliation with one's life, the world, and God.

"Shalôm" - here - comes to surprise us: it comes from the gift of self carried to the end; beyond, the capacity.

Wounds are part of the character of the Risen One.

Any image that does not make explicit the signs of the excessive gratuitousness of the new kingdom inaugurated by Christ [even the gilded bronze sculpture in the Sala Nervi] is misleading.

Joy comes from the perception of the Presence 'beyond' biological life.

 

Our happiness is diminished and lost if we lose the Witness of life - through whom every slightest gesture or state of mind (even fear) becomes unveiling, meaning, intensity of relationship.

By going out into the world, the Sent Ones embrace the same mission as Jesus: that all may be saved.

And the gift of the working Spirit is precisely like the beginning of a new creation.

In fact, the Johannine Pentecost springs from the unprecedented and genuine perspective of salvation: loving, serene, not "whole", nor forced.

On closer inspection, according to the book of Acts, Peter's preaching provokes a ruckus of conversions. In Jn everything is conversely discreet: no roar or fire and storm; nothing appears from outside, nor does it remain external.

These are apostles empowered to open locked doors, and to arrange the conditions of gratuitousness.

This with passive rather than active virtues; e.g. 'forgiveness', where there is none. 

In this way, all gratuitousness to lift people out of any trouble, so that good triumphs over evil and life over death.

 

All in the concrete, therefore through a process that demands time; like walking a Way.

Intensity of a very 'different' nature, to which our contemplation alone is suitable - in comparison with the more propaganda and less collected literature of Acts 2, where the reflections of disbelief and doubt disappear.

As if the identity of the crucified Jesus and the Risen One were of no concern whatsoever!

And in the Fourth Gospel the concept of "forgiveness of sins" was missing so far.

But precisely it is necessary to pass from ocular "vision" to Faith.The new way of life of the Son is known in the life of the Church, but it is best and fully accessible only to those who, although a little inside and a little outside, do not remain closed.

Thomas is chosen by Jn as the junction point between generations of believers.

Like each of us, he is not an indifferent sceptic: he is not afraid of the world, rather he wants to verify, to scrutinise well.

In him, Jesus launches his appreciation towards future believers, who will recognise his divine status on the basis of their own experience - as profound as it is intensely lived.

 

There is perhaps an elite part of the authentic Church, yet held together by fear (v.19).

Not only because the warrant of arrest always hangs over the true witnesses. Also because of fear of confrontation with the world, or incapacity for dialogue.

Even today: fear of culture, science, Bible studies, emancipation, philosophical, ecumenical, interreligious confrontation; and so on.

Thomas is not afraid to stand outside barred doors.

He does not retreat and does not fear the encounter, the relationship with life that pulsates and comes.

In this sense he is 'said to be the twin' [δίδυμο] of each one - and of Jesus.

 

Our context resembles that of the small Johannine realities of Asia Minor, lost in the immensity of the Roman empire; sometimes seduced by its attractions.

Ephesus in particular had hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.

A commercial emporium, banking centre and major cosmopolitan city [the centrepiece of which was of course the great Temple of Artemis - wonder of the ancient world] it was the fourth city of the empire.

The distractions were many.

Already in the first generations of believers routine began to set in: the fervour of the beginnings was fading; participation became sporadic.

Under Domitian, believers also suffered marginalisation and discrimination.

 

Some believers were then disappointed by the closed and monologue attitude of community leaders. Others by ambiguous internal grey areas and the mixture of compromises (especially of the leaders) that discouraged the most sensitive.

Even today, one of the discriminating elements of the ability to manifest the Risen One Present remains the direct encounter with the brothers, within a living solidarity.

Coexistence not held hostage by confined circles, which only integrate members on the nomination of those already in office.

People who welcome surprises and stimulate the capacity for thought and debate.

Women and men who are themselves, and make others breathe.

Not indoctrinated and plagiarised gullible people - or spineless sophisticates.

Sisters and brothers who spend their material resources and wisdom, according to particular history and sensibilities.

Where each one as he is and where he is - real in the round, not dissociated from himself - makes himself food for others with the crumbs he has.

 

Here then is 'recognition': it is a question not of obedience to an abstract world, but of personal likeness.

It is a matter of attuning our physiognomy and our little 'actions' to the Source of Love consumed to the full [our 'finger' and His 'Hands'; our 'hand' and His 'pierced side'].

Even with our limitation, 'entering into the wounds'. By attraction, Faith will spring forth spontaneously (v.28).

Thus (vv.29-31 and 21,25) Jn invites each one to write his own Gospel.

When our works are at least a little the same as Christ's, everyone will 'see' him.

 

Is there, then, evidence that Jesus lives?

Certainly, He manifests Himself concretely in an assembly of non-conformist people; who are themselves.

Souls endowed with the capacity for autonomous thought. 'Twins' of Himself and of Thomas.

Free creatures to be in the world; outside locked doors - to listen, to descend, to serve.

And to do so with conviction: personally, without forcing or hysteria.

 

We, too, want to "see Him".

Proverbial scene of the doubting Thomas that occurred eight days after Easter is very well known. At first he did not believe that Jesus had appeared in his absence and said:  "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20: 25).

Basically, from these words emerges the conviction that Jesus can now be recognized by his wounds rather than by his face. Thomas holds that the signs that confirm Jesus' identity are now above all his wounds, in which he reveals to us how much he loved us. In this the Apostle is not mistaken.

As we know, Jesus reappeared among his disciples eight days later and this time Thomas was present. Jesus summons him:  "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing" (Jn 20: 27).

Thomas reacts with the most splendid profession of faith in the whole of the New Testament:  "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20: 28). St Augustine comments on this:  Thomas "saw and touched the man, and acknowledged the God whom he neither saw nor touched; but by the means of what he saw and touched, he now put far away from him every doubt, and believed the other" (In ev. Jo. 121, 5).

The Evangelist continues with Jesus' last words to Thomas:  "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (Jn 20: 29). This sentence can also be put into the present:  "Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe".

In any case, here Jesus spells out a fundamental principle for Christians who will come after Thomas, hence, for all of us.

It is interesting to note that another Thomas, the great Medieval theologian of Aquinas, juxtaposed this formula of blessedness with the apparently opposite one recorded by Luke:  "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!" (Lk 10: 23). However, Aquinas comments:  "Those who believe without seeing are more meritorious than those who, seeing, believe" (In Johann. XX lectio VI 2566).

In fact, the Letter to the Hebrews, recalling the whole series of the ancient biblical Patriarchs who believed in God without seeing the fulfilment of his promises, defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb 11: 1).

The Apostle Thomas' case is important to us for at least three reasons:  first, because it comforts us in our insecurity; second, because it shows us that every doubt can lead to an outcome brighter than any uncertainty; and, lastly, because the words that Jesus addressed to him remind us of the true meaning of mature faith and encourage us to persevere, despite the difficulty, along our journey of adhesion to him.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 27 September 2006]

The Upper Room in Jerusalem too was a kind of “school of faith” for the Apostles. However, in a sense, what happened to Thomas goes beyond what occurred near Caesarea Philippi. In the Upper Room we see a more radical dialectic of faith and unbelief, and, at the same time, an even deeper confession of the truth about Christ. It was certainly not easy to believe that the One who had been placed in the tomb three days earlier was alive again.

The divine Master had often announced that he would rise from the dead, and in many ways he had shown that he was the Lord of life. Yet the experience of his death was so overwhelming that people needed to meet him directly in order to believe in his resurrection: the Apostles in the Upper Room, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the holy women beside the tomb. . . Thomas too needed it. But when his unbelief was directly confronted by the presence of Christ, the doubting Apostle spoke the words which express the deepest core of faith: If this is the case, if you are truly living despite having been killed, this means that you are “my Lord and my God”.

In what happened to Thomas, the “school of faith” is enriched with a new element. Divine revelation, Jesus’s question and man’s response end in the disciple’s personal encounter with the living Christ, with the Risen One. This encounter is the beginning of a new relationship between each one of us and Christ, a relationship in which each of us comes to the vital realization that Christ is Lord and God; not only the Lord and God of the world and of humanity, but the Lord and God of my own individual human life.

[Pope John Paul II, vigil at Tor Vergata, 19 August 2000]

We have to get out of ourselves and go onto the streets of mankind to discover that the wounds of Jesus are still visible today on the bodies of all those brothers and sisters who are hungry, thirsty, naked, humiliated, enslaved, in prison and in hospital. And precisely by touching these wounds, by caressing them, it is possible to 'adore the living God in our midst'.

The anniversary of the feast of St Thomas the Apostle offered Pope Francis the opportunity to return to a concept that is particularly close to his heart: putting his hands into the flesh of Jesus. The gesture of Thomas putting his finger into the wounds of the risen Jesus was in fact the central theme of the homily given during the Mass celebrated this morning, Wednesday 3 July, in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Concelebrating with the Pope, among others, was Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who accompanied a group of employees of the dicastery.

After the readings (Ephesians 2:19-22; Psalm 116; John 20:24-29), the Holy Father first of all dwelt on the different attitudes taken by the disciples "when Jesus, after the resurrection, showed up": some were happy and cheerful, others doubtful.

Unbelieving was also Thomas to whom the Lord showed himself only eight days after that first apparition. "The Lord," said the Pope in explaining this delay, "knows when and why he does things. To each one he gives the time he thinks most opportune". To Thomas he gave eight days; and he wanted the wounds to still appear on his own body, even though it was "clean, beautiful, full of light", precisely because the apostle, the Pope recalled, had said that if he did not put his finger in the Lord's wounds he would not believe. "He was a stubborn man! But the Lord,' the Pontiff commented, 'wanted precisely a stubborn man to make us understand a greater thing. Thomas saw the Lord, he was invited to put his finger in the plague of nails, to put his hand in his side. But then he did not say, 'It is true, the Lord is risen'. No. He went further, he said: 'My Lord and my God'. He was the first of the disciples to make the confession of Christ's divinity after the resurrection. And he worshipped him'.

From this confession, the bishop of Rome explained, we understand what God's intention was: exploiting unbelief led Thomas not so much to affirm the resurrection of Jesus, but rather his divinity. "And Thomas," said the Pope, "worships the Son of God. But to adore, to find God, the Son of God had to put his finger in the wounds, put his hand at his side. This is the path'. There is no other.

Of course 'in the history of the Church,' the Pontiff continued in his explanation, 'there have been some mistakes on the path to God. Some have believed that the living God, the God of Christians" could be found by going "higher in meditation". But this is "dangerous; how many get lost on that path and do not arrive?" the Pope said. "They arrive, yes, perhaps, at the knowledge of God, but not of Jesus Christ, Son of God, second Person of the Trinity," he pointed out. They do not arrive at that. It is the path of the Gnostics: they are good, they work, but that is not the right path, it is very complicated" and does not lead to a good end.

Others, continued the Holy Father, "have thought that to reach God we must be good, mortified, austere and have chosen the path of penance, only penance, fasting. Even these have not arrived at the living God, at Jesus Christ the living God". These, he added, "are the Pelagians, who believe that by their own effort they can arrive. But Jesus tells us this: 'On the way we saw Thomas. But how can I find Jesus' wounds today? I cannot see them as Thomas saw them. You find the sores of Jesus by doing works of mercy, by giving to the body, the body and also the soul, but I emphasise to the body of your brother who is soiled, because he is hungry, because he is thirsty, because he is naked, because he is humiliated, because he is a slave, because he is in prison, because he is in hospital. Those are the wounds of Jesus today. And Jesus asks us to make an act of faith in him through these wounds'.

It is not enough, the Pope added, to establish "a foundation to help everyone", nor to do "many good things to help them". All this is important, but it would only be the behaviour of philanthropists. Instead, Pope Francis said, "we must touch the wounds of Jesus, we must caress the wounds of Jesus. We must tend the wounds of Jesus with tenderness. We must literally kiss the wounds of Jesus". St Francis' life, he recalled, changed when he embraced the leper because he "touched the living God and lived in adoration". "What Jesus asks us to do with our works of mercy," the Pontiff concluded, "is what Thomas had asked: to enter into the wounds.

[Pope Francis at s. Marta, in L'Osservatore Romano of 04.07.2013]

(Mt 8:28-34)

 

In all religions, man is invited to bind himself to divine consent to receive light and strength, submitting to his authority.

The dilemma of the Judaizing assemblies of Galilee and Syria - reflected here - is whether to close or open the circuit of the sacred.

And whether to customize, or step back and repeat.

The passage associates the icons of the sea (vv.27.32) and of the wandering possessed ones, separated from God and people; deprived of a regenerating inner strength.

The optics is that of our baptismal purification in Christ, which drowns impurities and germs of death.

In this way: those who have not yet met Jesus proceed haphazardly, they are «furious» (v.28); without criterion or goal.

The only constant these souls have in common is to put fear into others: they live in a belligerent, disorderly, pre-human situation, impeded in themselves and of a hindrance to all (v.28).

But the fact appeared within the norm (v.29).

 

In Semitic literature, the image of «sea» alludes to disordered forces, aimlessly and not in accordance with God's project on woman and man.

Powers that generate chaos in our existence.

It is the bitter panorama of a world that loses the foundation of its being and becoming.

Ambit assiduously forced to groping... to solve problems and not permanently lose the vitality-wave.

«Pig» [symbol of paganism] is a figure of that kind of irremediable contamination that prevented the human being from having a relationship with God - and feeling his welcome.

The critical moment is the Presence of the Lord: suddenly the evil crumbles completely, revealing its emptiness - unexpectedly devoid of all solidity.

A disproportion takes over: between what seemed fearful and invincible, and the nothingness that appearances were masking (v.31).

 

Imperial ideology was threatening and destructive. It leveraged on people's fears in order to subdue consciences.

This was the situation of persons - crumbled inside - before Jesus arrival.

Power then ideologically manipulated popular beliefs about demons - to shatter singular personalities and accentuate the surrender of the already oppressed masses.

 

Conversely, in the experience of life’s victory over death, early Christian communities gained breath of Faith and a return to oneself - as a soul therapy.

They experienced a kind of disproportion and self-control, despite defeats in preaching.

The ancient assembly that once had the horror of contaminations began to open the doors of the purist ghetto, making everyone participate.

The church broke away from common beliefs, which transmitted perverse competitions, and to the weak a feeling of mortifying awe - lack of autonomy and conscience.

Of course, the early heralds were quick to realize that the new sense of freedom produced a twofold feeling: oppressed men do not always want to be freed from their alienations and torments.

 

Jesus fascinates and consternates. He precipitates inconsistent bonds, and common idols.

His Message is decisive and beneficial, but it forces us to upset habits, purposes, and every closure.

 

 

[Wednesday 13th wk. in O.T.  July 2, 2025]

(Mt 8:28-34)

 

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the only schools of Judaism that survived were those of the Pharisees and the Jewish Christians.

Both had maintained that the coming of the Messiah had nothing to do with direct political struggle against the Romans.

This was despite their opposition to the unsustainable ideology of power, oppression and exploitation of the humble.

However, while the Pharisees were reorganising and gradually beginning to dominate the Jewish community that wanted to rebuild itself, in the mid-70s, the communities of Mt. were living under oppression in Syria and Galilee.

All this took place in the marginalisation of the empire and the rejection of their co-religionists [who considered them traitors to their roots].

 

In this passage of the Gospel, the evangelist wants to encourage and motivate the members of the church.

Matthew emphasises the 'power' of Jesus' life, who manifests himself as Lord even in difficult territories, ages and times.

In an unclean and deathly place ('tombs'), precisely among the unclean 'pigs', i.e. those most separated from God [probably an image-epithet of some Roman legions: Mk 5:9], the Lord exercises an internal regenerating force.

The background scenario is a figure of 'baptismal immersion' and its outcomes, which are also critical from a family and social point of view.

In short: those who have not yet encountered Jesus proceed haphazardly, they are 'furious' (v. 28); without criteria or goal.

The only constant that unites these souls is that they frighten others: they live in a savage, disordered, pre-human situation, impeded in themselves and a hindrance to everyone (v. 28).

But this seemed normal (v. 29)...

 

The turning point is the new Presence: suddenly, evil crumbles completely, revealing its emptiness - unexpectedly devoid of any solidity.

A disproportion arises: between what seemed frightening and invincible, and the nothingness that appearances were masking (v. 31).

The ideology of domination seemed to everyone to be something extraordinary; suddenly it disintegrates.

Faced with the true Power of Life, the two spontaneously convert and ask for Baptism: a gesture of immersion in the waves of primordial chaos, to drown (v. 32) their self-destructive spirits.

 

In short: Christ and his vital energy are always visiting our territory, whatever it may be.

With Him, we can recover; we are not marked for life.

And there is no need for exhausting climbs or progressions, long and unsustainable trials: everything can happen in an instant.

But autonomy frightens an inert, consolidated, habitual society - alerted by the guardians of the ancient world (v.33).

For some, it is better to be sheep and carve out their usual little securities [even though they do not feel welcomed by God, nor totally alive] than to take on the burden of managing the new Freedom.

The ancient 'onions of Egypt' seem more succulent: chosen out of an atavistic fear of a new life.

It is like saying: better a religion that subjugates us and feeds our fears and anxieties than the spirit of enterprise and risk in Faith.

An unpredictable existence, which would otherwise put us back in the game, which would draw on the strength of life itself and the regenerated autonomy of people in Christ.

On the other hand, many prefer to hold on to their little demons, and so they expel Him as undesirable (v. 34).

 

The Gospels insist on describing the victory of believers over the forces of evil and death.

At the time of Matthew, these were the backbone of Eastern mystery beliefs [which were spreading].

This is to encourage us to overcome the swamp of addiction and the satanic uncertainties instilled by religions that fill hearts with empty spirituality.

And to continue on the good path that finally does not alienate simple people, nor subjugates society and the world - still today here and there inoculated with unfounded terrors and punishments.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

Even gently, how many times have you prayed to Jesus to stay away from your territory?

Have you already become accustomed to Him, or do you feel yourself being activated?

From what alienating power has faith in Christ saved you?

What amazing example do you have to offer?

 

 

Jesus and his disciples reached the other side

 

In all religions, man is invited to bind himself to divine approval in order to receive light and strength, submitting himself to His authority.

The dilemma of the Roman assemblies - reflected here - is whether to close or, conversely, open the circuit of the sacred.

And whether to personalise, or retreat and repeat.

The passage from Mark associates the icons of the sea, the cemetery, the wandering demoniac, and the Roman legions.

The perspective is that of our baptismal purification in Christ, which drowns impurity and the seeds of death.

 

In Semitic literature, the image of the 'sea' alludes to disorderly forces, aimless and not in accordance with God's plan for man.

Powers that generate chaos in our existence.'Cemetery' is the bitter panorama of a world that loses the foundation of its being and becoming.

A circle assiduously forced to grope around... to solve problems and not lose the vital wave forever.

The 'pig' is a figure of that kind of irremediable contamination [symbol of paganism] that prevented human beings from relating to God - and feeling His welcome.

'Legion' is the name of every power (here religious, political and military) that stifled the yearning for happiness, producing confusion, marginalisation and inner division.

It was the milieu and determining factor of processes that worsened the very conditions of poverty.

 

The imperial ideology was threatening and destructive. It played on people's fears in order to subjugate their consciences.

This was the situation of the people - crumbling inside - before the arrival of Jesus.

The legions then ideologically manipulated popular beliefs about demons in order to shatter individual personalities and accentuate the submissiveness of the already oppressed masses.

 

Conversely, in the experience of the victory of life over death, the early Christian communities experienced a breath of faith and a return to themselves, like a therapy for the soul.

They lived a kind of disproportion and self-control, despite their defeats in preaching.

The ancient assembly that had once abhorred contamination began to open the doors of the purist ghetto, making everyone participants.

The church detached itself from the common beliefs in the capital of the empire, which conveyed perverse competition and a sense of mortifying subjugation to the weak - a lack of autonomy and conscience.

Of course, the first heralds immediately realised that the new sense of freedom produced a double feeling: the oppressed man does not always want to be freed from his alienation and torments.

 

Jesus fascinates and disconcerts. He breaks down insubstantial bonds and common idols.

His message is decisive and beneficial, but it forces us to disrupt habits, goals, and all forms of closure.

 

 

God is not a ticket inspector

(Mk 5:18-20)

 

We are called to a more intense enjoyment of existence and to a new "Witness".

The latter does not involve effort, sacrifice or facile moralism.

The Lord does not want us to mix with the sick officialdom of those who crowd around him, but rather to follow our own path.

Jesus' invitation (Mk 5:19) is astonishing.

Ideological demons mortify the being and must be cast out, even if the devout masses are satisfied with them.

Perhaps people have become accustomed to welcoming them into the environment they love, and now consider them part of the indispensable landscape (Mk 5:1-17).

Here, then, is the adventure of Faith - based on one's own experience of God.

In this way, the baptismal proclamation has the 'task' of broadening horizons and expanding communication between Heaven and earth.

This starts with the extraordinary nature of the person. For the joy of all.

 

The Prophet disturbs the ancient balance because he does not adapt to a quiet life.

He goes against the tide... out of a need for an inner fire, which he feels like a burning bush that cannot be extinguished.

He does not seek the opinion of others, but the ever-fresh and crystal-clear water of the Source in action.

The innate paradigm that lies within the Call gives him a vision of a path, an instinct to move forward. Even the essential equipment.

An impulse of life - or exodus - that enables us to set out towards that destination, which is absolute because it is unrepeatable.

The natural interface of the journey lies in the deep identity of each individual.

 

Its extraordinary, incomparable and unusual uniqueness manifests itself in privileged emotional inclinations - and in personal eccentricities - often already detectable at an early age.

Vocation reveals itself to the soul in a burning desire and through a real image [unique to each person, even if dreamlike but lasting] perceptible to the inner eye, which periodically peeps out.

It may be a glimpse of a future situation - not only individually unique and singular (or something else).

It possesses the authentic perfection of character, even relational, of the divine condition. But with its own point of view - albeit communal and joyful - which echoes perseveringly and accompanies the path to be followed.

 

Interacting with the surrounding environment and also by contrast, each root will bear its fruit.

But any distraction from one's own character will become a tiring labyrinth...

Normally, a struggle arises between the individual divine spark and the restriction of the accustomed environment, already endowed with its own twisted expertise.

Consequently, the difficulty of continuing the journey is guaranteed by that hidden icon that is our real and ideal capacity.

This is much more important than the reassurances offered by prevailing knowledge - in situ - or skill and discipline.

Self-realisation will rhyme with trust, but in contrast to the ancient meaning.In fact, in order to achieve one's aspirations, one does not need to improve by imitating 'right' models and becoming skilled, or by imposing greater efforts on oneself.

 

As Pope Francis reiterated: 'God is not a ticket inspector'.

To make your dreams come true, you don't have to fixate, obey external voices, or sweat.

Rather, we must let ourselves go to our innate nature, to our quintessence: there lies the secret of our happiness.

Here, even through partial attempts and momentary errors that recalibrate, everyone finds their own path and fulfils themselves. They do not remain at the starting blocks forever, nor do they feel inferior to their more accomplished friends.

They have gained the confidence of knowing how to please themselves and the Father.

Because they produce attractive effects, their spontaneous beauty also involves others.

And it is this beauty that has found a way to throw off so much ballast: the old artificial posturing, with useless and static things.

By turning a corner... we reconnect with the ancient energy of exceptional inclination - even in our infirmities.

 

In the pious life, in order to grow, one must normally submit to a prescribed task and, if one really wants to excel, exhaust oneself in rigid procedures that have already been followed by others.

In this way, one can hope to have a religious 'career', even a spiritually athletic or catwalk one, co-opted into the upper echelons of good manners.

The soul that runs on the track of its completeness, on the other hand, removes the swampy mentality (which discourages the unusual) and heads towards a new birth and childhood.

A genesis and development that reawaken our interests, or our 'obsession', and allow us to spread our wings of vivacity. A wave that belongs to us.

 

An astonishing example.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

From what alienating power has faith in Christ saved you?

Returning to yourself or something else? What matters to you in the community? The healing of dissipated humanity or the usual bond - insubstantial and destined to collapse - with common idols?

 

 

Faith, caricatures and a different way of following

Mk 5:18-20 [Lk 9:57-62]

 

For Semites, parental figures indicate a bond with ethnicity, tradition, the past and the cultural environment.

Jesus seems to exclude any correlation with such figures, even though he addresses his own in an exclusive and singular way.

He never speaks of fathers, but of the Father - who is not a repeater.

He therefore imposes on everyone a horizontal break with customs that could delay or condition his Call, the profound discovery of the meaning of events, the emergence of a new mentality, the Sequela.

He diversifies Vocations, to make each person understand the intimate character, by Name, of the relationship of Covenant in Faith - which does not depersonalise as in religions.

Symbiosis with the surrounding mentality or intellectual knowledge itself can paradoxically obscure the very intelligence of the unique inclinations that manifest the incomparable signature of the Creator in our innermost being.

The authentic Call captures women and men in an exclusive and penetrating way, in the uniqueness of their experience. What kind of Covenant and Mission would it be otherwise?

Sometimes the best thing to do for oneself and for others is to cut the umbilical cord and distance oneself from the expectations of those one usually associates with.

This decision is essential in order to seek the meaning of the Spirit, which is only personal Love - and becomes true Passion.

Here, the inner state of individuation and independence must be very present in the soul.

By frequenting the same conformist environments, we identify with people and situations: this blocks the centre of our expectations and dreams. The doors to other worlds, to another realm, do not open.

The personality wants its space of autonomy, because life in its fullness is experiencing a fresh cascade of rebirths in Christ - celebrating together, but standing on one's own two feet.

Impossible for our nature... but the Source of being leads us like a skilled director, always from novelty to novelty. And his profound Wisdom will make us dance - even if we have never learned to dance in style.

What kind of life of faith would it be that seeks to stem the waves of the open sea so that we can always remain in the familiar, reassuring harbour?

Leaning on family, friends, habitual opinions, the clubhouse or the beach of the movement [in short, wanting to be like everyone else in order to gain immediate approval] does not allow us to experience new genesis.

Jesus is peremptory, because the choice is decisive.

Those who keep their heads down or look backwards – or engage in confrontation – cannot experience the adventure of faith; they do not live, but drag the religion of the dead behind them.

Those who live only in the future and have no sense of reality experience illusions. But those who remain in the past or with models live with skeletons (not only in the closet) and do not perceive the meaning of change.

They easily become obsessed or brood, turning things into chronic conditions. Meanwhile, new stimuli could introduce them to a chain of unexpected leaps.

This is why insistent family and cultural ties can take away the intensity or character of the Call by Name.

They encroach on the necessary space, invaded by too many 'Yes, sir's' - which do not belong to us and we do not want. They only block the mechanisms that lie dormant.

In the passionate exodus with Jesus, the pleasure of the Vocation cannot allow the inclinations of others [and those who conform] to spill over, pervade and occupy our personal world and time.

In order to listen to and make our own the Call to Mission, we need to build a sphere of the Self that is eminent, unassailable, friendly and protected, whose pace and horizons we will learn to follow over time.

This identifying sphere, whose boundaries are protected from interference, will help us in the Dialogue of prayer. It will also ward off the danger of being absorbed by the common, impersonal, accommodating mentality.

The defence of this intimacy, dense with the Unpublished and non-institutional, becomes the driving force and determination of our committed life, which does not back down.

Over time, this Nest will teach us to express the quality of relationships in a genuine way, rather than in a conventional way, even if we completely disagree with the prevailing external mentality, which is powerful if it is trivial.

Those who choose otherwise will sooner or later have to compensate for the cut (of themselves) with gratifications of various kinds, which will distance them from their own face and from the ideal that intimately corresponds to them.

[Even a dreamy, saintly wickedness can serve to rediscover the intimate core of a person, the sacredness of each individual].

We are not called to conform to a neutral do-goodism that only wants to please on the outside, perhaps because it is afraid of being excluded from the circle or judged badly - even the opposite.

Behind the main lines of each person's personality lies a Pearl, which, in order to make a significant contribution according to the Lord's plan, must reveal its own unique nuances.

Especially in our spousal relationship with God, we must not adapt to roles that do not belong to us.

Over time, compromise becomes a habit that causes us to lose our natural tendencies: these tendencies contain the chromosomes of our vocation.

The realisation of our unique missionary calling does not happen according to a character or established and widespread principles – conciliatory and successful – nor because it goes hand in hand with the whole world of veterans [or those who are 'à la page'].

Contrary to adapting and letting ourselves be influenced by irenicism, at a certain point we deviate to follow the inner Friend who knows where to lead us and does not know the act of always agreeing.

Otherwise, having lost the energy-Person and the goal that lead us to our destination, Uniqueness fades in the mediations that hold us hostage - behind events, lines of thought and roles that have now faded away.

Finally, we lose sight of our own founding Eros, which wanted to move our desires, our way of knowing the world and our activities.

[The result: a now blurred Core, a Source that recycles and no longer gushes as before, dispersed in a thousand rivulets of transformation - astute shortcuts for a career without ups and downs].

Hence the great dances on nothing: that of missed dangers - staged as quiet compensation by those whom Christ would call 'empty shells' ['doers of vain things': Lk 13:27 original text].

Not infrequently, it is precisely the caste or herd objectives linked to tribal and sectarian thinking that consolidate - they take over the specific weight and intimacy of values, replaced by facile and conformist slogans or adultoids that plagiarise existence.

Every missionary knows that entrusting one's life to serious and quiet opinions, reassuring initiatives or textbook choices does not bear fruit; on the contrary, it becomes counterproductive.

Concordism seems like an attractive refuge, but it only becomes a den of flattery.

 

According to Chinese thought, in order to acquire polish and escape a polluted and worn-out servility, the saints 'learn from animals the art of avoiding the harmful effects of domestication that life in society imposes'.

In fact: 'Domestic animals die prematurely. And so do men, whom social conventions forbid to obey spontaneously the rhythm of universal life'.

'These conventions impose continuous, self-interested, exhausting activity [whereas it is appropriate] to alternate periods of slow life and exultation'.

"The saint does not submit to retreat or fasting except in order to reach, through ecstasy, escape through long journeys. This liberation is prepared by invigorating games, which nature teaches."

"One trains for paradise by imitating the pleasures of animals. To become holy, one must first become brutalised – that is, learn from children, animals and plants the simple and joyful art of living only for the sake of life."

[M. Granet, Il Pensiero Cinese (Chinese Thought), Adelphi 2019, Kindle pp. 6904-6909].The suggestion of the past to be perpetuated, the bond of narrow judgements and the ties of the circle can rob us of hidden riches, stealing the present and the future: this is the real mistake to avoid!

What matters is not restoring the situation, copying the ancients or the acclaimed and powerful, identifying with them in order to remain quiet and not make mistakes, but rather renewing ourselves in order to evolve, grow, expand and amaze. 

Otherwise, our clumsy problems will always be the same and there will be no exuberant Path or Promised Land, but only a vicious circle of regrets or false reassurances.

To live the Faith of the real moment - without giving up and putting things in order - we cannot be schoolchildren repeating the place or fashions, the time or the day before.