The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: you have to get out of it

(Mt 5:38-42)

 

«Other cheek»: climate of inventiveness.

Not opposing the wicked allows one to experience the Beatitudes, the antidote to one-sided relationships; but this is impossible if we do not allow an innate Energy to develop.

The Tao says: "If you want to be given everything, give up everything". In the infinitely repeated reciprocation there is no wisdom that 'reads within'; in the reversal, yes.

[For this reason, e.g. the text of Lk 6,27-38 does not speak of 'merits' (cf. translation CEI 1974) nor of 'gratitude' (translation CEI 2008), but of 'Gratitude' (vv.31.33-34)].

Of course, it is not easy to understand the meaning of the Gift, of the Free: but the Master does not only want us to become more capable of thankfulness and well-behaved.

Jesus in us is not simply concerned with changing the situation and softening it: he wants to replace the whole system of spurious things and artificial relationships - of manner.

Otherwise nothing would be changed, nothing would be radically reversed; far from it: in the goodness of circumstance, the superstructures that alienate us would be strengthened.

The new experience of God is that of a genuine creative Love, which ceaselessly throws up, introduces new powers, and incredibly turns everything upside down.

 

There is a greater Justice: living in the new position that the tide of life and Providence chisels out for each of us.

It is not effort that will make us stay where the (truly perfect) Vocation wants us to stay, but a slow correspondence - even in the swings.

Outside and within us there is another territory, where the affinity of Expectation meets God's Plan: this after a time of Silence that intensely lives the Today, grasping its depth, intuiting it as the unpredictable root of Tomorrow.

There is a different realm, where condescension meets new drives, cosmic and acutely personal; Profile of the Living.

In this way, here we are without precipitation: after an energy of pause, a virtue that becomes the root and sap of the most exclusive future.

The spiral of returning offence can occupy all our space. This dampens our ability to correspond to the new tinkling of the Call.

It robs us of perception, of the whole listening to the Newness of God that is in the dawning.

Generating confusions all our own, it pales the History of Salvation that is on the contrary creating an unprecedented: it is being cut at the root.

This is why the Lord orders the subversion of the customs of ancient religiosity, of his own impetus; of the divisions involved [acceptable or not, friend or foe, near or far, pure and impure, sacred and profane, etc.].

The divine Kingdom starts from the Seed, not from outward gestures or forms; nor does it use conformist sweeteners that leave roles untouched.

In order to grasp the very rhythm of God (who wisely creates) souls must take the pace of things, which mature in linear terms until they overthrow or multiply - not in a 'printed' way, but in a personal way.

The events themselves regenerate spontaneously, outside and even within us; no need to force it.

The growth and destination also remains thanks to the spring of external mockeries and constraints.

In the Tao Tê Ching we read: 'If you want to obtain something, you must first allow it to be given to others'. The flowering will be unforced.

Then, steadfastness in the tribulation, acceptance and endurance of profiteers, the superficial and the vain becomes the offspring of a new child, of an unthought-of Genesis that is just weaving its first roots with that very marshy soil.

 

From ingots nothing is born, from the obstinate the usual things are born, from the hasty the exact opposite; from dung new flowers are born, which we did not even plant.

The suspension experienced in Mystery opens our fate of already decreed foolishness to trust in a new, unrepeatable Act of Being.

It opens up the Sense that you do not expect, in a climate of inventiveness that overrides the action-reaction instinct - so that the chain of normality does not take over the prodigy of vocational Identity, of our character and realisation.

Non-violence is thus not a norm of mere exquisiteness of mind, but a superior Arrow, pointing in a direction of non-mechanical Research, which advances from discovery to discovery.

The truly exemplary life is always of another kind, out of the ordinary.

Exactly, letting everyone, even the opportunists [and holiness actors] move on, does not immediately put us in the saddle or in the shop window, but finally neither will it make us pay too much in person.

It creates the right detachment so that when we are ready, the time will come when we will realise that our mortification was a crossroads: it opened up our destiny to a less short-lived, life-expanding hope.

Says the Tao: "New beginnings are often disguised as painful losses [but] what is yielding overcomes what is hard. The slow overtakes the fast'.If the others are not as we dreamed, it is fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their prodding bring us into contact with our deepest virtues, and with resources to which we have not yet given space.

 

Betrayals, abuse, spite, revenge, outrages, mortifications... that would like to make us uneasy and dishearten us... are preparing our development.

The adventure of extreme Faith is indeed for a Beauty that wounds and an abnormal, prominent Happiness. But only he who knows how to wait finds his Way.

 

The First Testament recognised the principle of justice 'one is worth one' in the right of vengeance.

Thus stemming the volume of retaliation and the overwhelming power of the strong [their possible blind violence as a result of trifles] over the weak within the limits of equality.

But this is not enough not to pervert relationships and allow the Father to propose to us a special realisation-configuration, which imposes 'Suspensions' from the homologising spiral.

Generating confusions all our own, it pales that very story of salvation that is on the contrary creating an unprecedented: it cuts it off at the root.

The whirlpool of returning the offence can occupy all our space and time.

Thus such a vortex dampens the ability to correspond to the new tinkling of the Call.

It takes away the silence, the care, the Listening to the Newness of God that is germinating.

The steadfastness in the tribulation, acceptance and endurance of profiteers, the superficial and vain becomes the Seed of a new son, of an unthought-of Genesis, which is just weaving its first roots in that very marshy soil.

From the 'perfect' and 'brilliant' nothing is born, from the obstinate the usual things are born, from the hasty the exact opposite; from dung new flowers are born, which we did not even plant.

 

Waiting for God opens our destiny of relentless and already decreed foolishness to trust in a new Sap and Power.

It opens up the Meaning you do not expect, in a climate of inventiveness that overrides the action-reaction instinct, so that the chain of normality does not take over the mystery of our Identity-character and Destination.

Non-violence is not a norm, but a superior Arrow, pointing a direction of Search, which advances from discovery to discovery.

Truly exemplary life is always of a different kind, out of the ordinary.

Letting everyone get ahead does not put us in the saddle or in the shop window, but neither will it make us pay too much in person and sense.

It creates the right detachment so that when we are ready, the time will come when we will realise that our humiliation was a dividing line, a critical point.

It has unexpectedly opened up destiny to a less short-lived, life-expanding hope.

A new, unrepeatable Act of Being will take place.

If the others are not as we dreamed, it is fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their sting are preparing us for other joys.

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a Beauty that wounds - sharpening the perception, shifting the gaze, dilating the heart - and for an abnormal, prominent Joy.

 

The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: we must come out of it.

The Gospel [...] contains some of the most typical and forceful words of Jesus' preaching: "Love your enemies" (Lk 6: 27). It is taken from Luke's Gospel but is also found in Matthew's (5: 44), in the context of the programmatic discourse that opens with the famous "Beatitudes". Jesus delivered it in Galilee at the beginning of his public life: it is, as it were, a "manifesto" presented to all, in which he asks for his disciples' adherence, proposing his model of life to them in radical terms.

But what do his words mean? Why does Jesus ask us to love precisely our enemies, that is, a love which exceeds human capacities?

Actually, Christ's proposal is realistic because it takes into account that in the world there is too much violence, too much injustice, and therefore that this situation cannot be overcome except by countering it with more love, with more goodness. This "more" comes from God: it is his mercy which was made flesh in Jesus and which alone can "tip the balance" of the world from evil to good, starting with that small and decisive "world" which is the human heart.

This Gospel passage is rightly considered the magna carta of Christian non-violence. It does not consist in succumbing to evil, as a false interpretation of "turning the other cheek" (cf. Lk 6: 29) claims, but in responding to evil with good (cf. Rom 12: 17-21) and thereby breaking the chain of injustice.

One then understands that for Christians, non-violence is not merely tactical behaviour but a person's way of being, the attitude of one who is so convinced of God's love and power that he is not afraid to tackle evil with the weapons of love and truth alone.

Love of one's enemy constitutes the nucleus of the "Christian revolution", a revolution not based on strategies of economic, political or media power: the revolution of love, a love that does not rely ultimately on human resources but is a gift of God which is obtained by trusting solely and unreservedly in his merciful goodness. Here is the newness of the Gospel which silently changes the world! Here is the heroism of the "lowly" who believe in God's love and spread it, even at the cost of their lives.

Dear brothers and sisters, Lent, which will begin this Wednesday with the Rite of Ashes, is the favourable season in which all Christians are asked to convert ever more deeply to Christ's love.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary, docile disciple of the Redeemer who helps us to allow ourselves to be won over without reserve by that love, to learn to love as he loved us, to be merciful as Our Father in Heaven is merciful (cf. Lk 6: 36).

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 18 February 2007]

1. Come, let us go up the mountain... (Is 2:3; cf. Mi 4:2). Let us listen today to this invitation of the prophet and reread it as an inner imperative: the imperative of the conscience and the imperative of the heart. The day 18 May morally obliges us to come to this mountain; to pause with prayer on our lips before the graves of the soldiers who fell here; to look at the walls of the monastery that then - thirty-five years ago - was reduced to rubble; to remember those events; to try, once again, to learn from them for the future.

We walk here in the footsteps of a great battle, one that gave the decisive blow to the last war in Europe, to the Second Great World War. This war, in the years 1939-1945, involved almost all the nations and states of our continent, it also involved non-European powers in its orbit, it manifested the heights of the heroism of the military, but it also revealed the dangerous face of human cruelty, it left behind the traces of the extermination camps, it took the lives of millions of human beings, it destroyed the fruits of the labour of many generations. It is difficult to enumerate all the calamities that befell mankind with it, showing him - at its end - even the possibility, through the means of the most modern weapons technology, of a possible future mass annihilation, before which the destruction of the past pales.

2. Who conducted this war? Who did the work of destruction? Men and nations. This was a war of European nations, albeit bound together by the traditions of a great culture: science and art deeply rooted in the past of Christian Europe. The men and the nations: this was their war; and, as victory and defeat was theirs, so also the effects of this conflict belong to them.

Why did they fight against each other, men and nations? Surely the truths of the Gospel and the traditions of great Christian culture did not drive them to this terrible fratricidal slaughter.

They were caught up in the war by the force of a system that, in antithesis to the Gospel and Christian traditions, had been imposed on some peoples with ruthless violence as an agenda, while forcing others to resist with arms in their hands. In gigantic struggles, that system suffered a definitive defeat. 18 May was one of the decisive stages in that defeat.

As we come to Montecassino on the XXXV anniversary of that day, we wish, through the eloquent evocation of that day, to understand before God, and before history, the meaning of the whole terrible experience of the Second World War. This is not easy; indeed, in a way, it becomes impossible to express in short words what has been the subject of so much research, study and monographs, and certainly will be for a long time to come. Our entire generation survived this war, which burdened its maturation and development, but still continues to live in the orbit of the consequences of such a conflict. It is therefore not easy to talk about a problem that has such a profound dimension in the lives of us all. Of an issue that is still alive and bound in a certain sense in the blood and pain of so many hearts and nations.

3. However, if we endeavour to understand this problem before God and history, then more than any settling of accounts with the past, the lessons for the future come to the fore. These impose themselves with great force, since history is not only the great polygon of events, but is also, above all, an open book of those same lessons; it is the source of the wisdom of life for men and nations.

What we read in this book, so painfully open before us, leads us to ardent prayer, to a fervent cry for reconciliation and peace. We have come here, above all, to pray for this, and for this to cry out to God and to men. Since, however, peace on earth depends on the goodwill of men, it is difficult not to reflect, at least briefly, in which direction all the efforts of people of goodwill must be directed if we are to secure this great good of peace and reconciliation for ourselves and for future generations.

Today's Gospel contrasts two agendas. One based on the principle of hatred, revenge and strife. Another on the law of love. Christ says: "Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors" (Mt 5:44). This is a great need.

Those who have survived war, like us, who have encountered occupation, cruelty, the violation of all human rights, the most brutal, know how serious and difficult this demand is. Yet, after such terrible experiences as the last war, we become all the more aware that on the principle that says: "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" (Mt 5:38) and on the principle of hatred, revenge, and strife, peace and reconciliation between men and between nations cannot be built; it can only be built on the principle of justice and mutual love. And so it was this conclusion that the United Nations Organisation drew from the experiences of the Second World War by proclaiming the 'Charter of Human Rights'. Only on the basis of full respect for the rights of men and the rights of nations - full respect! - peace and reconciliation of Europe and the world can be built in the future.

4. Let us pray, therefore, at this place of great struggle for freedom and justice, that the words of today's liturgy may be incarnated in life.

Let us pray to God, who is the Father of men and peoples, as the prophet prays today: "that he may show us his ways and that we may walk in his paths ... he will be a judge among the nations and an arbiter among many peoples. They shall forge their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks; one people shall not lift up the sword against another people, they shall no longer practise the art of war...". (Is 2:3-4).

Let us pray thus, bearing in mind that it is no longer a question of swords or spears, but of nuclear weapons; the means of destruction, which are capable of reducing the earth inhabited by men to nothingness.

Let us also recall that at Monte Cassino, Pope Paul VI proclaimed St Benedict Patron of Europe in 1964, during the Second Vatican Council, referring to the millennial Benedictine traditions of work, prayer and culture as the fruit of peace and reconciliation.

Let us remember, finally, that the place on which we stand has been made fertile by the blood of so many heroes: before their death for the great cause of freedom and peace we have come to bow our heads once again.

5. Dear countrymen!

It is unusual at this time, when I can together with you participate in this great anniversary. Thirty-five years ago the battle of Monte Cassino ended, one of those that decided the fate of the last war. For us, who at that time, in 1944, experienced the terrible oppression of occupation, for Poland, which was on the eve of the Warsaw Uprising, this battle was a new confirmation of that unwavering will to live, of the striving for the full independence of the Fatherland, which never left us for a single moment. At Monte Cassino the Polish soldier fought, here he died, here he shed his blood, with his thoughts fixed on the Fatherland, which for us is such a beloved Mother, precisely because love for it demands so many sacrifices and renunciations.

It is not my task to pronounce on the significance of this battle, on the subject of the Polish soldier's achievements here on these rocky slopes. The people of this beautiful country, Italy, remember that the Polish soldier brought their homeland liberation. They remember him with esteem and love. We know that this soldier, in order to return to Poland, travelled a long and winding road: 'from Italian soil to Poland...' as Dabrowski's legions once did. The awareness of a just cause guided him. It is precisely for this just cause that the nation's right to existence, to independence, to a social life that respects the spirit of its convictions, national and religious traditions, to the sovereignty of its state, arose and continues to exist. This right of the nation, violated during more than a hundred years of dismemberment, was brutally violated and threatened again in September 1939. And so, during this time, from 1 September to Monte Cassino, this soldier travelled many roads, with his gaze fixed on God's Providence and the justice of history, with the image of the Mother of Jasna Gora in his eyes... came and again fought like the previous generation 'for our and your freedom'.

6. Today, standing here in this place, at Monte Cassino, I wish to be a servant and herald of this order of human, social, international life, which is built on justice and love: according to the indications of the Gospel of Christ. And that is precisely why I feel with you - especially all of you who fought here 35 years ago - the moral eloquence of this struggle. I feel it together with you, dear countrymen, and at the same time together with all those who rest here: your comrades-in-arms. Together with everyone, starting with the Supreme Commander and the Military Bishop. Everyone, down to the youngest private soldier.

Many times I have come to this cemetery. I have read the inscriptions on the gravestones, which give testimony to each of those who fell here, and indicate the day and place of their birth. These inscriptions have reverberated in the eyes of my soul the image of the Fatherland, of that in which I was born. These inscriptions, from so many places in the Polish land - from all sides, from east to west and from south to north - do not cease to cry out here, in the very heart of Europe, at the foot of the abbey that recalls the time of St Benedict, they do not cease to cry out, just as the hearts of the soldiers who fought here have cried out: 'O God, who hast protected Poland, for so many centuries...'.

We bow our foreheads before the heroes.

We commend their souls to God.

We commend the Fatherland to God. Poland, Europe, the World.

[Pope John Paul II, Montecassino Polish cemetery 18 May 1979]

In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 5:38-48) — one of the passages that best illustrates Christian “revolution” — Jesus shows us the way of true justice through the law of love which is greater than the law of retaliation, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. This ancient law imposed the infliction on wrongdoers of a punishment equivalent to the damage they caused: death for those who killed, amputation for those who injured, and so on. Jesus does not ask his disciples to abide evil, but asks them to react; however, not with another evil action, but with good. This is the only way to break the chain of evil: one evil leads to another which leads to another evil.... This chain of evil is broken and things truly begin to change. Evil is, in fact, a “void”, a void of good. It is not possible to fill a void, except with “fullness”, that is, good. Revenge never leads to conflict resolution. “You did this to me, I will do it back to you”: this never resolves conflict, nor is it even Christian.

According to Jesus, the rejection of violence can also involve the sacrifice of a legitimate right. He gives a few examples of this: turn the other cheek, give up your coat or money, accept other sacrifices (v. 39-42). But such sacrifice does not mean that the demands of justice should be ignored or contradicted. No, on the contrary, Christian love, which manifests itself in a special way in mercy, is an achievement superior to justice. What Jesus wants to teach us is the clear distinction that we must make between justice and revenge. Distinguishing between justice and revenge. Revenge is never just. We are permitted to ask for justice. It is our duty to exercise justice. We are, however, not permitted to avenge ourselves or, in any way foment revenge, as it is an expression of hatred and violence.

Jesus does not wish to propose a new system of civil law, but rather the commandment to love thy neighbour, which also includes loving enemies: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. (v. 44) And this is not easy. These words should not be seen as an approval of evil carried out by an enemy, but as an invitation to a loftier perspective, a magnanimous perspective, similar to that of the Heavenly Father, who, Jesus says, “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”. (v. 45). An enemy, in fact, is also a human being, created as such in God’s image, despite the fact that in the present, that image may be tarnished by shameful behaviour.

When we speak of “enemies”, we should not think about people who are different or far removed from us; let us also talk about ourselves, as we may come into conflict with our neighbour, at times with our relatives. How many hostilities exist within families — how many! Let us think about this. Enemies are also those who speak ill of us, who defame us and do us harm. It is not easy to digest this. We are called to respond to each of them with good, which also has strategies inspired by love.

May the Virgin Mary help us follow Jesus on this demanding path, which truly exalts human dignity and lets us live as children of our Father who art in Heaven. May she help us exercise patience, dialogue, forgiveness, and to be artisans of communion, artisans of fraternity in our daily life, and above all in our families.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 19 February 2017]

Free of charge: the Near Kingdom and Incarnate Prayer

(Mt 9:36-10:8)

 

Jesus distinguishes himself from the Rabbis of his time, because he does not wait for the exhausted and prostrate people (v.36) to go to him: he seeks it.

And the group of his intimates must be involved, both in works of healing and liberation - fraternity motivated by luminous disinterest.

The Lord enters the prayer assemblies with pastoral concern: to teach, not to discuss. He does not give lessons in logical analysis, but he does bring out Who inhabits him.

He proclaims a Kingdom totally different from how it was instilled by the manipulators of consciences - overflowing with detailed convictions, producing intimate coercion, anonymity, loneliness, passivity.

Still today we are looking for a God to experience, loveable, ‘not invisible’.

Thus the Gospel (v.35) announces Grace: the face of the Father - who does not want anything for himself, but gives everything to transmit us his own Life.

A Friend who Comes, who does not force us to "go up" [in the abstract] nor imprisons in guilt, exhausting already submissive creatures - making them even more desolate than before.

Here a Heaven is revealed that makes us feel adequate, does not punish or impress, but promotes and puts at ease.

The Prodigal Father welcomes people as the Son does in the Gospels - as they are; not by inquiring. Rather by dilating.

His Word-event not only reactivates: it replenishes imbalances and enhances them in perspective of real person paths - without judging or disperse, nor break anything.

For such a work of wise recomposition of being, the Master invites to Prayer (v.38) - first form of disciples’ commitment.

Access to different tunies in the Spirit teaches us to stimulate the gaze of the soul, to value and understand everything and everyone.

Therefore - after making them less unaware - Jesus invites his disciples to get involved in missionary work; not to do the learned, nor moral lessons.

They would be scripted without love, which make the sick people feel yet more desperate.

Mission grows from a small but boundless dimension - that of inner perception, which is aware of the needs and mystery of a favourable Presence.

New configurations of understanding, in spirit: fully discovered only in deep Prayer (v.38). Incarnate Prayer.

Prayer does not want to distract us from our deep realization; on the contrary, it guides us - and relocates the soul scattered in the many common practices to be carried out, to its center.

It makes us feel the struding of desire and of understanding the perfect condition: the Father does not intend to absorb our attitudes, but to empower them. Because everyone has an intimate project, a Call by Name, his own place in the world.

It seems paradoxical, but the outgoing Church is first and foremost a problem of formation and internal consciousness.

In short, we recognize ourselves and become aware of things through the Prayer-hunch, unitive.

In Christ it is not a performance or a devout expression, but an understanding and above all a Listening to the God who in a thousand subtle forms reveals himself and calls.

Thus the fight against infirmities (Mt 9:35-10:1): we recover and win by sharpening our gaze and reinvesting the energy and character even of our own still blurred sides.

All the Free of charge (Mt 10:8) that may spring from it to build life in favor of the brothers, will not sprout as a childish exchange.

The sense of closeness (v.7) to oneself, to others and to reality, will be an authentic - neither programmatic nor alienated - contribution of the Kingdom that reveals itself: Beside.

 

 

[11th Sunday in O.T.  June 14, 2026]

(Mt 9:32–10:15)

 

Itinerant ministry, Vocation, Prayer

 

In support of the oppressed

(Mt 9:32-38)

 

    In the Gospels, healings from illness describe and manifest an experience of Faith.

The earliest communities [here in Matthew, in Galilee and Syria] did not grow by miracle, but through tireless work to redeem and reintegrate people, even from an idealistic perspective.

In a brutally competitive, ruthless and disheartening world, life in communion with Christ enabled church members to recover from any situation of personal despondency and social abandonment.

At the heart of the Mission lies both the Compassion of Jesus and the disciple’s prayer (so that he may overcome disappointments, freely choose a positive attitude, and seek nothing else).

Prayer does not persuade the Father, but transforms the disciple. It stirs consciences to perceive, take notice, listen, welcome, and be moved – in whatever external circumstances.

Prayer enables children to be reborn from the heart – in the small, the faltering, the child, the adolescent, the adult, in nature, in history, in themselves, and in God.

 

In a situation of social collapse and economic exploitation, even the official religion instilled the idea that material blessings were a sign of spiritual standing, and vice versa.

People’s consciences were also stifled by a sense of exclusion (and punishment for sin) that accentuated their low self-esteem.

By exploiting the sense of unworthiness among the voiceless, the spiritual leaders never missed an opportunity to manipulate consciences, prey on the weak, and profit from their misfortunes.

The incredible novelty of the first fraternal communities of Faith stood apart from the ‘competition’ of ancient religion: there emerged the ability to tangibly restore discouraged people and to weave anew both the quality of life and relationships.

The official leaders, irresponsible and utterly disinterested in the real lives of the people, maliciously defended their positions and attempted to dispel the people’s admiration for the friends of Jesus – with the usual nonsense about evil.

Thus sprang the Prayer of the Inner Circle, addressed to the Father to help all his children in their radiant, supportive work; for the birth of a new, urgent vital awareness, and of bonds – out of kindness towards the needy.

In short, God’s teaching is conveyed through attentive listening and contemplative prayer, yet it is not abstract.

The idea and work of Faith stand apart from the world of sophisticated, or empty, standardising spirituality.

It is that of the yeast that leavens the dough: it saves people through people – beginning with the gaze of the soul (lucid, overcoming anxiety).

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

Faced with human and social emergencies, what do you expect, and how do you find refreshment from weariness and opposition? Does anxiety or clarity prevail?

 

 

Prayer-premonition, unitive. So as not to lose the magic of the Mystery

 

Freely: the Kingdom at hand and Incarnate Prayer

(Mt 9:35–10:1, 6–8)

 

Jesus stands out from the rabbis of his time, because he does not wait for the exhausted and prostrate people (v. 36) to come to him: he seeks them out.

And his group must be involved, both in works of healing and of liberation – a brotherhood motivated by luminous selflessness.

He enters prayer gatherings with pastoral concern: to teach, not to pontificate. He does not give lessons in logical analysis, but allows the One who dwells within him to emerge.

He proclaims a Kingdom entirely different from that which was instilled by the manipulators of consciences (overflowing with detailed convictions) – who certainly did not act out of selflessness.

 

The ancient doctrines and their proponents stifled all dissent and produced the worst: internal coercion, anonymity, loneliness, passivity.

They instilled the belief that it was crucial to acquire their flat certainties, certainly not to open oneself to the personal Mystery, to one’s innate character – fruitfully non-conformist to the context.

In fact, they sought to disrupt the soul’s journeys, which sometimes wander in search of self-discovery, and which prefer new vistas to the usual way of seeing – murky, stagnant.

They would not admit that within each believer might dwell a fundamental choice not aligned with their ideology and way of engaging with the world.

Everything in other people’s lives had to function perfectly, according to their objectives. So they did not preach upheaval, but stagnation.

Nothing new was to happen that might call into question the social balance, their authoritarian influence… and their income.

There was to be nothing different to explore and discover.

And yet, yesterday as today, within every woman and man lies a volcano of potential energies – which, according to the dominant ideology, were simply to be stifled and conformed.

 

Because of all this that still drags on, we seek, on the contrary, a God to be experienced, a God who is lovable, not ‘artificially’ constructed… nor invisible or distant from our condition.

We want the One who gives us breath, and understands us.

It is clear: what we harbour is not a pitiful illusion, to be extinguished in favour of external balances.

Indeed, the Gospel (v.35) proclaims Grace: the face of the Father – who wants nothing for himself, but gives everything to impart his very Life to us. And he does so not to stifle our inner energy.

The Good News proclaims a Friend who is Coming, who does not force us to ‘ascend’ [in the abstract] nor imprison us in guilt, wearing down creatures already subjugated – leaving them even more desolate than before.

Here a Heaven is revealed that makes us feel adequate; it does not punish or even intimidate, but rather uplifts and puts everyone at ease; a Merciful One who is not merely good: exclusively good.

The prodigal Father welcomes people as the Son does in the Gospels – just as they are; not by scrutinising, but by expanding.

Even his Word-event not only reactivates: it restores imbalances and values them in the context of the journey of a real person – without judging or scattering, nor breaking anything.

 

For such a work of skilful recomposition of being, the Master invites us to Prayer (v.38) – the first form of commitment for the disciples.

Access to different harmonies in the Spirit teaches us to stimulate the gaze of the soul, to value and understand everything and everyone.

Therefore – having made them less oblivious – Jesus invites his own to become involved in missionary work; not to act as scholars or give moral lessons.

These would be performances without genuine concern, which make the vulnerable feel even more lost.

The Mission grows from a small yet boundless dimension – that of intimate perception, which discerns the needs and the mystery of a benevolent Presence.

New configurations of understanding, in spirit: fully discovered only in deep prayer (v.38). Incarnate Prayer.

It does not seek to distract us from inner realisation; on the contrary, it acts as a guide, and brings the soul—scattered amongst the many common practices to be carried out—back to its centre.

It makes us feel the yearning of desire and of understanding the perfect condition: the Father does not intend to absorb our aptitudes, but rather to enhance them. For each of us has an intimate plan, a Calling by Name, a place of our own in the world.

It seems paradoxical, but the Church that goes forth – the one that does not speculate, nor engage in mass proselytism to impress the mainstream – is first and foremost a matter of formation and inner awareness.

 

In short, we recognise ourselves and become aware of things through unitive Prayer-prescience.

In Christ, this is not a performance or a devout expression, but rather an understanding and, above all, a Listening to the God who reveals himself and calls out in a thousand subtle ways.

The commitment to healing the world cannot be achieved without an awareness of vocation, nor by allowing oneself to be swayed and proceeding haphazardly.

Rather, by sharpening our gaze, and by reclaiming the virtue and character even of those aspects of ourselves that remain in the shadows.

Nor is it essential to always cross every boundary (Mt 10:5-6) with a logic of flight.

For it is not infrequently – alas – that only those who love power begin with what is too far removed from themselves [from what is so remote and out of reach].

The lost ‘sheep’, weary of trying and trying again – the excluded, those considered lost, the marginalised – are not in short supply. They are within reach, and there is no urgency to distance oneself immediately. Almost as if to absolve oneself of responsibility for those closest to us.

The horizon expands of its own accord, if one is convinced and does not favour pretence or subterfuge.

The sense of closeness to oneself, to others and to reality is an authentic fruit of the Kingdom that is revealed: the Near One.

By understanding the nature of creatures and increasingly conforming to it, everyone is inspired to change and become whole, enriching even cultural rigidity, without alienating constraints.

By practising kindness, even towards oneself.

 

Some of the most frequently quoted aphorisms drawn from Taoist culture read: “The way of doing is the way of being”; “He who knows others is wise, he who knows himself is enlightened”; “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”; “The master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision”; “If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place”; “when you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you”.

 

Thus, in the struggle against infirmities (Mt 9:35–10:1): one is restored and triumphs by sharpening one’s gaze and reinvesting energy and character even in those aspects of oneself that remain clouded.

All the ‘Gratis’ (Mt 10:8) that may spring from this to build up life for the sake of our brothers and sisters will flow forth not as a childish [hysterical] quid pro quo or transaction.

It will be a spontaneous, solid and joyful Dialogue of Love, because it is free from those imbalances that smoulder beneath the ashes of superficial conditioning.

 

The sense of closeness (v.7) to oneself, to others and to reality will be an authentic – not programmed, nor alienated – fruit of the Kingdom that reveals itself: Beside.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

Does Prayer in Christ stir your conscience?

What consolation do you await from the God who is Coming?

Perhaps a reward?

Or a gift that triggers – here and now – true Love-understanding, attentive to the calls of every still, small voice?

 

 

The Kingdom has drawn near

 

A great emergence, for a small Name

(Mt 10:1-7)

 

    ‘These twelve Jesus sent out after giving them instructions, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any town of the Samaritans – but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.”

The proclamation of the new Faith needed breathing space; yet it would encounter a dense, tenacious barrage of opposition, particularly from those steeped in a deep-rooted and habitual religiosity – linked to the ideology of power.

The initial restriction to Israel had become necessary, precisely in order to expose the most dangerous form of devotion: the empty and closed devotion of the synagogue which – accustomed to awaiting the extraordinary from outside – no longer expected anything authentic that might rouse it.

But the meaning of verses 5–6 is also very profound from a personal perspective, and concerns not only the initial restriction regarding the Chosen People of the messianic Revelation, of the explicit universalist opening, or of the Mission.

 

    None of the apostles was in himself worthy of the Call; yet he is called upon, and can accept his Mandate – as if he were already perfect!

Most of them have names typical of Judaism, even from the time of the patriarchs – which indicates a cultural and spiritual background rooted more in religion than in Faith… not easy to manage.

Peter was eager to step forward, yet he often retreated (backtracked) to the point of becoming a ‘Satan’ to Jesus [in the culture of the ancient East, an official of the great sovereign, sent to act as an inspector and informer – practically an accuser] . James son of Zebedee and John were brothers, fervent fundamentalists, and hysterically wanted the Master all to themselves. Philip did not seem a very practical sort, nor quick or trained to grasp the things of God. Andrew, on the other hand, seems to have got on well: an inclusive person. Bartholomew was probably open-minded but perplexed, because the Messiah did not quite fit his expectations. Thomas was a bit in and a bit out. Matthew a collaborator, a greedy accomplice of the oppressive system. Simon the Canaanite a hothead. Judas Iscariot a self-destructive figure who trusted the old spiritual leaders, steeped in a nationalist ideology, private interest, opportunism and power. Two others (James son of Alphaeus and Judas Thaddeus) were perhaps simply disciples of little note or initiative.

 

But the Kingdom is ‘near’ [v.7: ‘has drawn near’]: God is in our history – this was already being experienced in the early days, in his first community of children.

In ancient devotion, the idea of a distant God produced divisions, pyramidal hierarchies, and the cultivation of internal circle interests (passed off as great sensitivity and altruism).

The idea of an Eternal leader and avenger allowed a priestly class to proliferate which, instead of reconciling and integrating, neglected and abandoned those without influence.

Believing in a divine Presence linked to material abundance dulled minds and the ability to comprehend Redemption.

[The idea of advantage and disadvantage, prosperity and scarcity, always originates within us or in the conventional mindset of opinions].

Therefore, it is essential first to mature, wherever we live.

Indeed, it is not uncommon for there to be less than noble motives for wanting to reach everywhere, to rush about everywhere (to make converts), to spread, to increase, and to do so immediately.

The man or the club with many desires projects them; and frequently brings about within itself or elsewhere its own murky influences.

Hidden disloyalty, which, by failing to propose simplicity of life and spiritual values, drives people away, whilst building other temples and sanctuaries.

 

The power of genuine universality lies in being rooted in values, as well as in the awareness of one’s own shortcomings.

Virtuous principles and hidden aspects are complementary energetic elements, and will bear fruit in due course; in every respect.

We must take this deeply to heart, without vain projections, even regarding the unexpressed aspects.

In short, it seems a paradox, but openness to pagans is an exquisitely internal matter.

It is from oneself and starting from the community that one looks upon the world. Not from the overly exotic – at least initially.

It is the Way of the Inner Self that truly permeates the way of the peripheries. Indeed, only by loving strength does one prefer to start from what is too distant.

One must first of all heal and complete what is close at hand.

After all, those who are not free and aware cannot liberate, nor convince – or drive reality forward.

 

The only way, then, to look far afield is to adhere to the reason of things, a principle known to us if we are not misled by the dispersion of external society (including the sacred).

Once the nature of oneself and of creatures is understood, and by conforming to it increasingly as one develops, all are inspired to complete and transmute themselves.

All this also enriches any cultural rigidity, without alienating constraints.

In this way, by practising kindness first towards oneself… to heal the distress of others’ souls – having known them intimately.

Indeed, the Tao Te Ching [XLVII] states:

‘Without stepping outside the door, know the world; without looking out the window, perceive the Way of Heaven. The further you go, the less you know. For this reason, the sage does not go about and yet knows, does not see and yet discerns, does not act and yet completes.’

Only from the Source of being does a life of salvation spring forth. (It would be harmful to put the cart before the horse).

Are we a sign of dedication and people reaching out? Without forming a sect, after a sound formation, inclusive of opposites: integrating flaws, difficult moments, and insight into one’s own states of mind.

 

Not to distinguish the moment of the Call from that of the Sending.

The Way of Heaven is intertwined with the Way of the Person, not of excellence; not of models – or we shall be overworked ‘fishermen’.

The Kingdom has drawn near and by Name, from the very beginning (vv.2-4): there is no authentic and healing Mission more incisive.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

In your experience, what chain has united Heaven and earth?

The list and the neurotic effort to correct transgressions, or a personal Calling, inclusive of the many facets of your soul – a Vocation sustained by a Church that has become an echo and a free Source of all-encompassing understanding?

 

 

The Proclamation of Peace: the Free Gift before any interest

 

‘Go and preach, saying [that] the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (v.7)

(Mt 10:7–15)

 

    To the friends who proclaim it, Jesus recommends not carrying a bag or money, so as to distinguish themselves from customs and contexts (and to instil the poison of fear). 

The eloquent gesture of ‘Peace’ by the faithful in Christ is not to fill empty vessels, but to help others discover God already Present in those to whom they turn, without preconceptions.

An understanding of woman and man in themselves, in their ‘limitation’ – the divine seed within them – which becomes an impulse to open up.

For a consideration of the human condition that does not start from ‘ideals’, but from reality; that does not proceed from disembodied (and elsewhere) ‘values’ but from the concrete reality.

Compared to other movements seeking a new way of living and coexisting – Pharisees, Essenes, John the Baptist – the believer must not be prejudiced.

By trusting both in the hospitality and in the food of others (all ritually pure), the friend of the Lord broadens the expression of the First Covenant.

Welcoming the needy comes before obligations. It allows one to become human. It lifts the burdens. It does not make ‘guilt’ the measure of life.

The Kingdom is ‘near’. It conveys a sense of adequacy, not of reproach. It starts from conscience, not from error.

 

The small communities of Galilee and Syria to which Matthew directs his message are modest realities – within the reach of ordinary people.

The ‘conversion’ they can propose has no definitive measure.

It gives everyone (including those who proclaim it) permission to make mistakes and fall, without any further shame at their state of need.

Thus, the actions of men and women of Faith inspire a renewed perspective, for they bear witness to closeness and freedom – not to the observance of obsessive, artificial, unnatural obligations.

 

In the small gatherings of the early days and in their selfless action, God himself was made present. Without pyramids or a heap of recriminations.

For a new earth, animated by a new Heaven: that of the Beatitudes which restore torn relationships, and reintegrate into community life precisely those who are imperfect, previously excluded in the name of God.

The Kingdom – a seed of reality in its infancy – would, thanks to the spirit of Gift, transform the world by reconciling opposites.

Proposing the alternative of an unexpected face of the Eternal Lover, but also of the successful man, and of society.

 

What, then, is the driving force behind inclusion? How is Peace conveyed, when so many admit, broken-hearted and disappointed: ‘I have no peace’? It is impossible through mere effort.

Before the eyes of the first protagonists of evangelisation, the solution sprang from a spontaneous development.

Even today, boundless kindness arises simply from recognising the great, absolute privilege of being approved by the Creator Father, precisely because we are ourselves; unique.

[‘The trial for crimes is underway, but what does the jury think? Who are the jurors? Who is the deputy attorney general of humanity?’ (Djibril Tamsir Niane)].

Only by grasping the profound connection between the dignity of the Call, the desire for a life of fulfilment, and personal identity and character, will we proclaim the ‘Gratis’ we have received, showing trust in people.

 

A sign of integration will also be not moving from house to house: from a makeshift first accommodation to a flat, then a small house, and finally a mansion (which will absorb all one’s energy).

The missionary and the authentic Church are critical signs in relation to the culture of accumulation – a shame still unspoken and widely spread in the petty gerontocracy – which certainly does not reveal a model of coexistence and appreciation of profound goods.

A passion for another Kingdom above all other interests will be an entirely inner fruit: a recognition of preferences ‘by Name’, the fruit of unique, non-external riches.

Fidelity to a Heaven not to be conquered, but which already dwells within.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

In which of Jesus’ teachings do you recognise yourself? How do you entrust yourself to Providence?

What is your selfless sign that reflects a great extra step?

 

 

‘When the weaver lifts one foot, the other comes down. When the movement ceases and one of the feet stops, the fabric is no longer made. His hands throw the shuttle, which passes from one to the other; but no hand can hope to hold it. Like the weaver’s gestures, it is the union of opposites that weaves our life’ (African Fulani oral tradition).

 

“We are utterly lost if we lose this particular individuality, the only thing we can truly call our own – and whose loss is also a loss for the whole world. It is most precious precisely because it is not universal” (Rabindranath Tagore).

 

“Truth is not at all what I have. It is not at all what you have. It is what unites us in suffering, in joy. It is the child of our Union, born of pain and pleasure. Neither I nor You. Yet I and You. Our shared work, a constant wonder. Its name is Wisdom” (Irénée Guilane Dioh).

 

“The bewilderment and loss of all certainty and refuge is both a kind of trial and a kind of healing” (Pema Chödrön).

 

‘When we suffer a grave disappointment, we never know if it is the conclusion of the story we are living: it could also be the beginning of a great adventure’ (Pema Chödrön).

 

‘To grow means to transcend who you are today. Do not imitate. Do not presume you have reached your goal, and do not try to rush things. Simply strive to grow’ (Svami Prajnanapada) .

 

‘True morality does not consist in following the beaten track, but in finding the path that is right for us and following it without fear’ (Gandhi).

 

‘Truth lies in every human heart, and that is where we must seek it; we must let ourselves be guided by the truth as each of us sees it. But no one has the right to force others to act according to their own vision of the truth’ (Gandhi).

 

‘You must stand up to the whole world even if it means remaining alone. You must look the world in the eye, even if it may happen that the world looks at you with bloodshot eyes. Do not fear. Believe in that little thing within you that resides in the heart and says: abandon friends, wife, everything; but bear witness to that for which you have lived and for which you must die’ (Gandhi).

 

“In Benin, if you see a water jar placed under a tree in front of a house, know that it is for you, a passing stranger; there is no need to knock on the door to ask for a drink, simply open the jar, take the gourd, drink the water and continue on your way if there is no one there” (Raymond Johnson).

 

“We must learn to let go of our defences and our need to control, and trust completely in the guidance of the spirit” (Sobonfu Somé).

 

“Observing and listening are a great art. From observing and listening we learn infinitely more than from books. Books are necessary, but observing and listening sharpen your senses” (Krishnamurti).

 

“Fire is linked to the Dream, to maintaining our connection with ourselves and with our ancestors, and to the art of keeping our visions alive” (Griot of Central Africa).

 

“As in life, opposites coexist everywhere: in social organisation and in emotional life, in interactions between individuals. To live and realise the contradiction, that is the essential’ (Alassane Ndaw).

 

‘The trial for crimes is underway, but what does the jury think? Who are the jurors? Who is the deputy attorney-general for humanity?’ (Djibril Tamsir Niane).

 

“Man must take responsibility for the bonds, visible and invisible, which together give meaning to life” (Aminata Traoré).

“Bringing the spirit of other people into our lives gives us more eyes to see and allows us to transcend our own limits” (Sobonfu Somé).

 

‘In the forest, when the branches quarrel, the roots embrace’ (African Proverb).

 

Indeed, even in a relationship of deep love and coexistence, ‘there is a need to free oneself from the obligation to be equal’ (Amoris Laetitia, n.139).

 

“The waves rise each to its own height, as if ceaselessly competing with one another, but they reach only as far as a certain point; in this way they lead our mind to the great calm of the sea, of which they too are a part and to which they must return with a rhythm of marvellous beauty” (Rabindranath Tagore).

 

 

To internalise and live out the message:

 

What Gospel do you feel called to write with your life?

We have gathered - seminarians preparing for the priesthood, priests, men and women religious and members of the Society for Spiritual Vocations - gathered in the Basilica of Saint Anne, before the shrine to her daughter, the Mother of the Lord. We have gathered here to consider our vocation to serve Jesus Christ and, under the watchful gaze of Saint Anne, in whose home the greatest vocation in the history of salvation developed, to understand it better. Mary received her vocation from the lips of an angel. The Angel does not enter our room visibly, but the Lord has a plan for each of us, he calls each one of us by name. Our task is to learn how to listen, to perceive his call, to be courageous and faithful in following him and, when all is said and done, to be found trustworthy servants who have used well the gifts given us.

We know that the Lord seeks labourers for his harvest. He himself said as much: "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest" (Mt 9:37-38). That is why we are gathered here: to make this urgent request to the Lord of the harvest. God's harvest is indeed great, and it needs labourers: in the so-called Third World - in Latin America, in Africa and in Asia - people are waiting for heralds to bring them the Gospel of peace, the good news of God who became man. But also in the so-called West, here among us in Germany, and in the vast lands of Russia it is true that a great harvest could be reaped. But there is a lack of people willing to become labourers for God's harvest. Today it is as then, when the Lord was moved with pity for the crowds which seemed like sheep without a shepherd - people who probably knew how to do many things, but found it hard to make sense of their lives. Lord, look upon our troubled times, which need preachers of the Gospel, witnesses to you, persons who can point the way towards 'life in abundance'! Look upon our world and feel pity once more! Look upon our world and send us labourers! With this petition we knock on God's door; but with the same petition the Lord is also knocking on the doors of our own heart. Lord do you want me? Is it not perhaps too big for me? Am I too small for this? "Do not be afraid", the Angel said to Mary. "Do not fear: I have called you by name", God says through the Prophet Isaiah (43:1) to us - to each of us.

Where do we go, if we say "yes" to the Lord's call? The briefest description of the priestly mission - and this is true in its own way for men and women religious too - has been given to us by the Evangelist Mark. In his account of the call of the Twelve, he says: "Jesus appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out" (3:14). To be with Jesus and, being sent, to go out to meet people - these two things belong together and together they are the heart of a vocation, of the priesthood. To be with him and to be sent out - the two are inseparable. Only one who is "with him" comes to know him and can truly proclaim him. And anyone who has been with him cannot keep to himself what he has found; instead, he has to pass it on. Such was the case with Andrew, who told his brother Simon: "We have found the Messiah"(Jn 1:41). And the Evangelist adds: "He brought Simon to Jesus" (Jn 1:42). Pope Gregory the Great, in one of his homilies, once said that God’s angels, however far afield they go on their missions, always move in God. They remain always with him. And while speaking about the angels, Saint Gregory thought also of bishops and priests: wherever they go, they should always "be with him". We know this from experience: whenever priests, because of their many duties, allot less and less time to being with the Lord, they eventually lose, for all their often heroic activity, the inner strength that sustains them. Their activity ends up as an empty activism. To be with Christ - how does this come about? Well, the first and most important thing for the priest is his daily Mass, always celebrated with deep interior participation. If we celebrate Mass truly as men of prayer, if we unite our words and our activities to the Word that precedes us and let them be shaped by the Eucharistic celebration, if in Communion we let ourselves truly be embraced by him and receive him - then we are being with him.

[Pope Benedict, homily at Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]

Lent, the providential time for conversion, helps us to contemplate this stupendous mystery of love. It is a return to the roots of our faith, so that by pondering the measureless gift of grace which is Redemption, we cannot fail to realize that all has been given to us by God’s loving initiative. In order to meditate upon this aspect of the mystery of salvation, I have chosen as the theme for this year’s Lenten Message the Lord’s words: “You received without paying, give without pay” (Mt 10:8). 

2. God has freely given us his Son: who has deserved or could ever deserve such a privilege? Saint Paul says: “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, but they are justified by his grace as a gift” (Rom 3:23-24). In his infinite mercy God loved us, not permitting himself to be blocked by the grievous state of separation to which man had been consigned by sin. He graciously stooped down to our weakness, and made it the cause of a new and still more wondrous outpouring of his love. The Church does not cease to proclaim this mystery of infinite goodness, exalting God’s free choice and his desire not to condemn man but to draw him back into communion with himself.

“You received without paying, give without pay”. May these words of the Gospel echo in the heart of all Christian communities on their penitential pilgrimage to Easter. May Lent, recalling the mystery of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection, lead all Christians to marvel in their heart of hearts at the greatness of such a gift. Yes! We have received without pay. Is not our entire life marked by God’s kindness? The beginning of life and its marvellous development: this is a gift. And because it is gift, life can never be regarded as a possession or as private property, even if the capabilities we now have to improve the quality of life can lead us to think that man is the “master” of life. The achievements of medicine and biotechnology can sometimes lead man to think of himself as his own creator, and to succumb to the temptation of tampering with “the tree of life” (Gn 3:24).

It is also worth repeating here that not everything that is technically possible is morally acceptable. Scientific work aimed at securing a quality of life more in keeping with human dignity is admirable, but it must never be forgotten that human life is a gift, and that it remains precious even when marked by suffering and limitations. A gift to be accepted and to be loved at all times: received without pay and to be placed without pay at the service of others.

[Pope John Paul II, Message for Lent 2002]

"Service" and "gratuitousness": these are the two key words around which Pope Francis built the meditation of the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on the morning of Tuesday 11 June. They are the fundamental characteristics that must accompany the Christian "along the way", the Pontiff said, along that journey, that "going" that always characterises life, "because a Christian cannot remain stationary".

The teaching comes directly from the Gospel: it is there that we find - as highlighted by the passage from Matthew proposed by the liturgy of the day (10, 7-13) - Jesus' instructions for the apostles who are sent. A mission that, said the Pope, is also that of "the successors of the apostles" and of "each Christian, if sent". Therefore, first of all, 'the Christian life is to make a way, always. Not to stand still'. And in this going, what does the Lord recommend to his own? "Heal the sick, preach saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons". That is, "a life of service".

Here is the first fundamental datum highlighted by the Pontiff: 'The Christian life is to serve'. And it is very sad, he added, to see "Christians who at the beginning of their conversion or their awareness of being Christians, serve, are open to serve, serve God's people", and then, instead, "end up serving God's people. This does so much harm, so much harm to the people of God". The vocation of the Christian therefore is 'to serve' and never 'to serve oneself of'.

Continuing his reflection, Francis then moved on to a concept that, he stressed, "goes right to the core of salvation: 'Freely you have received, freely give'. The Christian life is a life of gratuitousness'. It is clear from Jesus' recommendation to the apostles sent that "salvation cannot be bought; salvation is given to us freely. God saved us, he saves us free of charge. He does not make us pay'. It is, the Pope explained, a principle "that God has used with us" and that we must use "with others". And it is "one of the most beautiful things" to know "that the Lord is full of gifts to give us" and that only one thing is asked of man: "that our heart be opened". As in the prayer of the Our Father, where 'let us pray, let us open our hearts, so that this gratuitousness may come. There is no relationship with God outside gratuity'.

Considering this cornerstone of Christian life, the Pontiff then pointed out possible and dangerous misunderstandings. Thus, he said, "sometimes, when we need something spiritual or a grace, we say: 'Well, I'm going to fast now, I'm going to do a penance, I'm going to do a novena...'". This is all well and good, but "let us be careful: this is not to 'pay' for grace, to 'acquire' grace; this is to enlarge your heart so that grace may come". Let us be clear, in fact: "Grace is free. All God's goods are free. The problem is that the heart shrinks, closes and is not capable of receiving so much love, so much gratuitous love'. Therefore 'everything we do to obtain something, even a promise - "If I have this, I will do that" - this is enlarging the heart, it is not entering into haggling with God... No. With God there is no bargaining". With God, 'only the language of love and the Father and gratuitousness applies'.

And if this is true in the relationship with God, it is also true for Christians - 'Freely you have received, freely give' - and, Francis emphasised, especially for the 'pastors of the Church'. Grace "cannot be sold," he reiterated, adding: "It hurts so much when you find pastors doing business with God's grace: 'I will do this, but this costs so much, this so much...'. And God's grace stays there and salvation is a bargain'. All this, he emphatically reiterated, 'is not the Lord. The Lord's grace is free and you must give it freely'. Unfortunately, he explained, in the spiritual life there is "always the danger of slipping into payment, always, even talking to the Lord, as if we wanted to give a bribe to the Lord". But the relationship with the Lord cannot go "down that road".

Therefore, the Pontiff reiterated, no to the dynamic of the type: 'Lord if you do this to me, I will give you this'; but, eventually, yes to a promise so that with it one's heart may be enlarged 'to receive' what 'is gratuitous for us'. And "this relationship of gratuitousness with God is what will help us then to have it with others both in Christian witness and in the pastoral life of those who are pastors of God's people".

"This is how the Pope summed up his reasoning at the end of his homily'. "The Christian life," he said, "is going. Preach, serve, not 'serve of'. Serve and give for free what you have received for free'. And he concluded: 'Let our life of holiness be this widening of the heart, so that God's gratuitousness, God's graces that are there, gratuitous, that He wants to give, can reach our heart.

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 11.06.19]

Solemnity of Corpus Christi [7 June 2026]

 

First reading from the Book of Deuteronomy (8:2–3, 14b–16)

The text calls on the people of Israel to remember their long journey through the desert following their exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The forty years in the desert were marked by hunger, thirst, poverty, snakes, scorpions and loneliness. But the central point is not the suffering itself: it is God’s faithful presence in the midst of trials. God fed the people with manna; he brought water forth from the rock; he protected Israel during their journey; he concluded the Covenant on Mount Sinai. The trials of the desert are presented as a divine ‘pedagogy’: God educates his people as a father educates his son. Through fragility, Israel learns two truths: its own poverty and dependence, and at the same time God’s constant care. The fundamental message is that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that comes from God: his Word, his Spirit, his presence. The text also emphasises the duty of remembrance: ‘Remember’, ‘do not forget’. To remember means to remain faithful to one’s roots and to the Covenant. Forgetting God leads to idolatry and enslavement to other powers. When Israel settles in the Promised Land of Canaan, the danger will no longer be the desert, but prosperity and forgetfulness. For this reason, obedience to the commandments becomes essential. The final section offers a significant image: memory is like the roots of a tree; a people without memory dies spiritually; the future depends on fidelity to one’s roots. Finally, the text links everything to Jesus Christ, who in the desert echoes the words of Deuteronomy: ‘Man does not live by bread alone’. On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the believer is invited to welcome God into their heart. The memory of a people (or a community, or a couple) is a bit like the roots of a tree: today we see the tree, we do not see the roots… yet it lives only thanks to them and owes everything to them, in a sense. Imagine a tree saying: ‘I am separating myself from my roots; they prevent me from moving, worse still, they prevent me from flying’. The rest of the story would be the death of the tree. In the truest sense of the word, the tree’s future lies in its roots. When Moses tells his people “Remember” or “do not forget”, it is as if he were saying to them “do not cut yourself off from your roots”, “your future lies in your faithfulness to your roots”. Moses does not look to the past out of sentiment; but it is precisely because he is entirely focused on the future that he is concerned with fidelity to one’s roots. He says something along the lines of: ‘If you want to still be standing tomorrow, do not forget today who you are and to whom you owe it.’ From century to century, Israel has built itself up by remaining faithful to its roots. Jesus, in turn, to resist the tempter, simply echoed the words of Deuteronomy: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Mt 4:4).

 

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 147/148 

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! We must note this parallel: Zion and Jerusalem are one and the same. And, moreover, when we speak of Zion or Jerusalem here, we are referring not so much to the city as to its inhabitants—that is, ultimately, the people of Israel. The expression: ‘Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!’ can be easily dated: we are at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile, that is, at the end of the 6th century, when it was necessary to rebuild the city and restore the Temple. Without God’s help, none of this would have been possible: He has strengthened the bars of Jerusalem’s gates! In the previous psalm, God is called the ‘builder of Jerusalem’ and the ‘gatherer of the scattered of Israel’ (Ps 146/147 A,2). But this is not merely a task of architecture that God has accomplished: this return to the homeland is a true restoration of the people; a new life is about to begin—a life of peace and security: ‘He grants peace within your borders and satisfies you with the finest wheat’. In exile, the people ate the bread of tears and bitterness; the return to the homeland is a time of abundance. The second very strong emphasis of this psalm is the keen awareness of the privilege represented by the election of Israel: the Lord has not done this for any other nation; he has not made his laws known to them. We read in the Book of Deuteronomy: ‘You are a people consecrated to the Lord your God: he has chosen you to be his people, his special possession among all the peoples of the earth (Dt 7:6; 10:15). This is a free and inexplicable choice of God, one that never ceases to amaze us and for which we never cease to give thanks. From a human perspective, this choice cannot be explained; the only explanation Moses found is that because he loved your forefathers, he chose their descendants and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and his great power (cf. Dt 4:37). It is therefore simply a love story with no other explanation. At first, Israel did not feel it was living in an exclusive Covenant with the God of Sinai and thought that other peoples had their own protective gods: Israel was not yet monotheistic, but ‘monolatrous’ (also known as ‘enotheistic’), that is, it worshipped a single God, the God of Sinai, who had delivered it from Egypt. It only truly became “monotheistic” during the Babylonian exile (in the 6th century BC). A new leap in faith then took place alongside the discovery of universalism: if the God of Sinai was the one and only God, then He was also the God of all peoples. However, this did not negate the election of Israel, as can be seen in certain texts of the prophet Isaiah: “You, Israel, my servant whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham my friend… Fear not, for I am with you… I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, and uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isa 41:8–10). Isaiah also helped his contemporaries understand that their election now took on a different form: that of a vocation to serve other peoples, to be witnesses of God among them. “I will make you a light to the nations, so that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Is 49:6).

 

Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (10:16–17)

In this text, Paul frames the whole matter with two warnings: ‘Beloved, flee from idolatry’ (v. 14) ‘Do we wish to provoke the Lord to jealousy?’ (v. 22) In the Bible, God’s “jealousy” is always a warning against idolatry.   In Corinth, some Christians, converts from paganism, were tempted to continue taking part in the sacred feasts in the temples of idols, offering animal sacrifices. For Paul, there are no half-measures: either one enters into communion with the living God in the Eucharist, or one seeks another communion. One cannot partake “of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons”. Another practical question was whether a Christian could eat the meat from idolatrous sacrifices sold in the market. Paul replies that one may eat it because idols do not exist and therefore there is no sacred meat; nevertheless, one must avoid causing offence to those who are  weak in faith.

He then emphasises the Christian meal of the Eucharist, which is, in contrast, true communion with Christ. Paul highlights the significance of the Christian meal and asks: ‘Is not the cup of blessing a communion with the blood of Christ? Is not the bread we break a communion with the body of Christ?’ The Greek word is koinonia: communion, intimate participation, mutual belonging.  Christ himself, at the Last Supper, spoke of the ‘New Covenant in my blood’. And in the biblical Covenant there is mutual belonging: ‘You shall be my people and I shall be your God’. The entire Eucharistic Liturgy is the place where the Covenant is fulfilled.  The Eucharist is a meal of communion as in ancient cults, but the value of the sacrifice has changed. God no longer asks for the killing of animals, but for the gift of life: ‘You do not desire sacrifice and offering, [...] so I said: “Here I am”’ (Ps 39/40).   Christ offered his whole life. And, by participating in the Eucharist, we unite our lives to his to offer them to the Father. Paul dares to say: ‘The bread we break is communion with the body of Christ’, that is, we form one body with him, and for this reason we can live as he did. St Augustine sums it up: ‘You become what you receive; you receive what you are.’ By receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we in turn become lives offered for the birth of a new humanity; an exclusive choice, for one cannot serve both God and idols, and, in the logic of the gift, 

the Christian sacrifice is to offer one’s own life united with that of Christ. We become bread broken for others; thus, in a single sentence: we understand that the Eucharist is the place where the transcendent God draws intimately near to us and transforms us into a gift for the world. 

 

From the Gospel according to John (6:51–58)

Here is a discourse that is hard to accept, yet it is the word of Life. After the discourse on the Bread of Life, many disciples abandon Jesus. His words are, humanly speaking, incomprehensible. Jesus then addresses the Twelve directly: ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ And Peter replies: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ It is the paradox of faith: these words cannot be explained by strict logic, but only by living them, and the lesson is clear: it is not from books that one understands what the Eucharist is, but by participating in it and allowing oneself to be drawn into the mystery of Christ. The word ‘life’ recurs several times in this discourse: ‘The bread that I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world’ and, as we read in the Letter to the Hebrews: ‘Entering the world, Christ says: “Behold, I come to do your will.” And God’s will is that the world may have life.  It is a free gift, as Isaiah had already announced: ‘All you who are thirsty, come to the water… buy without money, without payment’ (Is 55:1-3), because what gives us life is the gift of Christ’s life, that is, his sacrifice. The biblical teaching on sacrifice reveals a progressive conversion: from the idea of bloody sacrifices, including human ones, to the absolute prohibition of human sacrifice, leading to the acceptance of sacrifice as an offering of bread and wine (Melchizedek, Gen 14:18). The Songs of the Servant also help us understand that the true sacrifice is to give one’s life for others. And Jesus says that his life is given entirely for humanity. The bread that I will give is my flesh, given so that the world may have life. In the Eucharistic sacrifice, by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, Christ remains in us and we in him; in Jesus, therefore, we receive the very life of God: ‘Just as the Father, who has life, sent me and I live for the Father, so whoever eats me will live for me’. The essential conversion is to move from ‘performing the sacred’—that is, offering things to God—to learning to receive the Life that God gives us in Christ, so that we too may become life given to others. In short: the Eucharist cannot be explained but must be lived, for it is the gift of Christ’s life that draws us into Him, transforms us and enables us to give life for the world. A final note: the word ‘flesh’ that Jesus uses here is equivalent to ‘life’, and we can therefore understand that the Eucharist is his life given so that the world may have life. How? Through his passion, death and resurrection. Immersed in the Paschal Mystery through the Eucharist, each of us is called to welcome the life that God gives us so that we, in turn, may be the Eucharist, a gift of life for all.

 

+Giovanni D’Ercole