The Coming of the Kingdom not above nor in front

(Lk 17:20-25)

The theme of the coming of the Son of Man is pre-Christian, and all the data of the text already appear in the Jewish apocalyptic. But in it the Eternal One will come and will be seen at the end of time.

Then as now, according to the leaders of popular religiosity, the Kingdom would be established after all the people had come to perfect observance of the Law and traditions.

As a reward for our obedience, God would have granted the coming of the Messiah, and his people would have welcomed him [descended from the pinnacles or clouds] in a solemn manner, as one does a prince.

But in the Gospels the term Kingdom of God designates the sphere in which the Father 'reigns', i.e. the community of believers - where the future of the Lord on earth already breaks through in the logic and active power of Easter.

In it, a creative and regenerating Providence tirelessly intervenes, in the Persons and in the qualitative virtue of its People.

Through the authentic Church semper conformanda, life opens up to its Action - and our lives are radically transformed.

This is accomplished, both through Friendship in us and by casting Hope. Divinising lymph and Dream, which activates new configurations.

For the Father does not govern his children by issuing provisions as a sovereign would, but by transmitting his own Life of indestructible quality. 

Therefore, he does not ask for obedience - like a king - but for likeness.

It is the Gift, and knowing how to read into things, then our relational quality and commitment, that realise or decelerate the establishment of a new, continually replenished world.

Nothing to do with predictions (v.20): it is the unexpected wisdom of the Gift, and God's 'power' in reverse. Not forceful, not aggressive.

He himself places himself not in front of or above, but "in the midst". Nothing peremptory, overflowing, gigantic.

Thus his own who genuinely represent him.

The Father is not a leader; let alone one who can afford to legitimise exclusivist attitudes.

The latter can unfortunately be found in pyramid situations; in insulting choices made by some leaders, who, in order to feel like 'someone', always assign others to be behind or below [especially those who do not revere them].

On the contrary, God is equidistant from everyone, this is the criterion of evaluation - the only overriding attribute, the imperative of true leaders, the most forthright and transparent.

Family style.

In short, 'Heaven' does not dispose that some elected ones be allowed to place themselves near and above - others destined for the rear, discarded because they are less useful to the objectives.

There is no one who says he represents him and can make himself 'big', always in a dominant position. However high - and you small, always below.

On the contrary. "In the middle": to illuminate all circumstances.

To cohabit with women and men, like a bride; to prepare and take root in hearts in an amiable, intimate, convincing way.

The coming of his Kingdom we will not be able to admire as if it were a professional show - a spectacle of old or new elected officials in power, supported by office-bearers (and as many papier-mâché dummies, also scaling).

The Fraternities' presence in the world is woven of real life, not of roles or vague narratives, sophisticated representations or illusions.

Thus the Church will not be an anonymous and hostile society [more or less invoked] of sacred self-celebrations. Nor of meritorious works, or of strength - perhaps for some, of profit.

Nor, turbo-efficient agency, cunningly drawing the greatest 'return'.

The Community that Comes should not belong to the mundane, but escape all predictability and limitation. 

The alternative Kingdom is of the human condition, yet... a form that does not accept finitude as its sole destiny, nor does it adapt to our petty measure of determinacy and reassurance.

The Kingdom in Persona Christi shimmers a lucid and dreamy Energy, close and projective, which does not impose itself: it animates the entire afflatus of creatures who put themselves at stake.

Outside of its ordinary circuits, the Lord does not ask for any glorious manifestation of rich screens, archaic horizons or conversely disembodied; nor intolerance, disparity, detachment.

"The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way that it can be observed, nor will it be said, 'Here or there'" [vv.20b-21a, Greek text].

It is not about the end of the world, but the end of a certain type of successful model of humanity.

And the opportunity to overthrow the [ancient or fashionable] concatenations presents itself at any moment; it flickers immediately (v.24).

"For as the thunderbolt, shining from one end of the sky shines to the other end of the sky, so shall the Son of man be [in his day]".

Jesus is the authentic, sudden Dream of Jacob, which foreshadowed a vast descent; further unfolded (Gen 28:10-22) and become reality.

But no one would have expected the Messiah to be identified with the "Son of Man" (vv.22.24), the One who creates abundance where there is none - and previously it did not seem permissible to expand.

The new bond between God and human beings is in the Brother who becomes the "next of kin", who creates an atmosphere of humanisation with broad contours - not at all discriminating.

"Son of Man" is the one who, having reached the highest human fullness, comes to reflect the divine condition and radiates it widely - not selectively as expected.

"Succeeded Son": the Person with the definitive step, who in us aspires to the most dilated fullness in events and relationships, to an indestructible carat within each one who approaches [and encounters divine marks].

It is growth and humanisation of the people: the quiet, true and full development of the divine plan on humanity.

"Son of man" is therefore not a religious, guarded, controlled and reserved title, but an opportunity for all those who adhere to the Lord's proposal, and reinterpret life in a personal creative way.

They overcome the firm and proper summary boundaries, making room for the Gift; welcoming from Grace fullness of being and character, in its new unrepeatable tracks.

And we particularly precarious ones, feeling totally and undeservedly loved, discover other facets... we change the way we are with ourselves, and the way we read history.

Therefore, we can grow, realise ourselves, flourish, radiate the wholeness we have received - with no more closures.

With no more one-sided supremacy.

Here we are in Christ: from Son of David [the absolutely victorious military leader, who would impose the Law and subjugate the other nations] to 'Son of Man'.

As Card. Bassetti in commenting on the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, the Magisterium's most recent appeal is also a call to "shorten distances and not erect walls".

This brings the faithful into contact with the inner nature of the Kingdom. And in this way they come to know its wisdom, its hidden action - which extracts fruitfulness from the chaotic sides.

From other veins, even dissident ones, yet flowing with Spirit.

Otherwise, it can also appear that God loses control of history.

And we, discouraged, stand on one side of the road, watching intimidated, perhaps surrendered; hoping for the arrival of other, external things.

Instead, step by step his project of humanisation is realised - here - in all those who accept the proposal to accentuate their lives, giving of themselves.

No Dominion.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you incarnate the prophecy of the Messiah who comes without ceasing? Do you personally respond or do you run after striking events?

What do you consider to be the wrong paths or end-of-the-world fantasies that deaden the life of the Kingdom?

Speaking of God, we are touching precisely on the subject which, in Jesus' earthly preaching, was his main focus. The fundamental subject of this preaching is God's realm, the "Kingdom of God". This does not mean something that will come to pass at one time or another in an indeterminate future. Nor does it mean that better world which we seek to create, step by step, with our own strength. In the term "Kingdom of God", the word "God" is a subjective genitive. This means: God is not something added to the "Kingdom" which one might even perhaps drop. 

God is the subject. Kingdom of God actually means: God reigns. He himself is present and crucial to human beings in the world. He is the subject, and wherever this subject is absent, nothing remains of Jesus' message. 

Therefore, Jesus tells us: the Kingdom of God does not come in such a way that one may, so to speak, line the wayside to watch its arrival. "The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you!" (cf. Lk 17: 20ff.). 

It develops wherever God's will is done. It is present wherever there are people who are open to his arrival and so let God enter the world. Thus, Jesus is the Kingdom of God in person: the man in whom God is among us and through whom we can touch God, draw close to God. Wherever this happens, the world is saved.

[Pope Benedict, to the Roman Curia 22 December 2006]

Be the heart of Christ to love and pray, be the hands of Christ to work and serve

4. “EurHope”: Europe and Hope. You wanted to give this title to today's evocative vigil. In the term "EurHope" the words Europe and Hope are inseparably intertwined. It is a beautiful intuition, but also a singularly demanding one. It demands that you be men and women of hope: people who believe in the God of life and love, and proclaim with firm confidence that there is a future for mankind.

You are the young face of Europe. The future of the Continent, as of the whole world, belongs to you, if you know how to follow the path that Christ shows you. The secret is the same as always: it is Christ who died and rose again for the salvation of the world; it is the Cross of Christ. The Pope this evening entrusts you with this ancient and ever new secret: dear young people, follow him who "came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45). Be his hands and his heart, for your brothers and sisters: the heart to love and pray, the hands to work, build and serve. 

[Pope John Paul II, Meeting with young people at Loreto 9 September 1995]

There is a recurring question in Pope Francis' meditations during the masses he celebrated at Santa Marta, and it is the invitation to an examination of conscience: "How is my relationship with the Holy Spirit?". Also in his homily on Thursday 16 November, the Pontiff posed the question again with a particular declension: "Do I really believe that the Spirit makes the kingdom of God grow in me?".

In fact, the kingdom of God was the theme of the reflection that started from the passage in Luke's Gospel (17:20-25) in which the doctors of the law ask Jesus: "You preach the kingdom of God, but when will the kingdom of God come?". It is a question, the Pontiff explained, that also came from the "curiosity of many people", a "simple question that comes from a good heart, a disciple's heart". It is not by chance that it is a recurring request in the Gospel: for example, the Pope suggested, at that "very ugly, dark" moment when John the Baptist - who was in the dark in prison and "did not understand anything, distressed" - sends his disciples to say to the Lord: "But say: is it you or must we wait for someone else? Has the kingdom of God arrived or is it another?".

Doubt about 'when' often returns, as in the thief's 'impudent, haughty, wicked question': 'If it is you, come down from the cross', which expresses the 'curiosity' of 'when the kingdom of God comes'.

Jesus' answer is: "But the kingdom of God is in your midst". Thus for example, Francis recalled, "the kingdom of God was announced in the synagogue in Nazareth, that joyful announcement when Jesus reads that passage from Isaiah and ends by saying: 'Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your midst'". A happy and, above all, "simple" announcement. In fact, "the kingdom of God grows from within", so much so that Jesus himself explains it with the parable of the seed: "no one knows how", but God makes it grow. It is a kingdom that "grows from within, in secret or hidden like the gem or the treasure, but always in humility".

Here the Pontiff inserted the key passage of his meditation: "Who gives growth to that seed, who makes it sprout? God, the Holy Spirit who is in us'. A consideration that explains the coming of the kingdom with the Paraclete's way of working, which "is a spirit of meekness, of humility, of obedience, of simplicity". And it is the Spirit, the Pope added, "that makes the kingdom of God grow within, not pastoral plans, great things...".

It is, Francis said, a hidden action. The Spirit 'makes it grow and the time comes and the fruit appears'. An action that eludes full comprehension: 'Who was it, or was it,' the Pope asked himself, 'that sowed the seed of the kingdom of God in the heart of the good thief? Perhaps his mother when she taught him to pray? Perhaps a rabbi when he explained the law to him...'. What is certain is that although in life he forgot it, that seed, hidden, was made to grow at some point. All this happens because 'the kingdom of God is always a surprise, a surprise that comes' in that 'it is a gift given by the Lord'.

In his conversation with the doctors of the law, Jesus dwells on the characteristics of this silent action: "The kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to attract attention and no one will say: 'Here it is or there it is'". In fact, the Pontiff added, "the kingdom of God is not a show" or even "a carnival". It does not show itself 'with pride, with pride, it does not like publicity', but 'is humble, hidden and thus grows'.

A striking example comes from Mary. When people looked at her following Jesus, they hardly recognised her ('Ah, that's Mummy...'). She was 'the holiest woman', but because she was 'in secret', no one understood 'the mystery of the kingdom of God, the holiness of the kingdom of God'. And so, "when she was near her son's cross, people said, 'But poor woman with this criminal as a son, poor woman...'". No one understood, "no one knew".

The characteristic of hiddenness, the Pope explained, comes precisely from the Holy Spirit who is 'within us': it is he 'who makes the seed grow, makes it germinate until it bears fruit'. And we are all called to walk this path: 'it is a vocation, it is a grace, it is a gift, it is free, it cannot be bought, it is a grace that God gives us'.

This is why, the Pontiff concluded, it is good that "all of us baptised" who "have the Holy Spirit within us", ask ourselves: "How is my relationship with the Holy Spirit, the one who makes the kingdom of God grow in me?" We need to understand: "Do I really believe that the kingdom of God is in our midst, is it hidden, or do I like the show better?" It is necessary, he added, to pray to "the Spirit within us" to ask for the grace "to make the seed of the kingdom of God sprout in us and in the Church, with strength, so that it may become great, give shelter to so many people and bear fruits of holiness."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 17/11/2017]

Foreign glory, or religiosity giving birth to models and slaves

(LK 17:11-19)

According to the encyclical Brothers All, the custody of differences is the criterion of true fraternity, which does not annihilate the extrovert peaks.

In fact, even in a relationship of deep love and coexistence «we need to free ourselves from feeling that we all have to be alike» [Amoris Laetitia, n.139].

It will be surprising, but the meaning of the Gospel does not concern the thanks to do!

Jesus is not saddened by a lack of gratitude and good manners, but by the fact that only a stranger gives «glory to God» (v.15).

That is: he recognizes Him as his personal Lord - in a relationship, in fact, without mediation.

That personal «make-Eucharist» [...] «and fell on his face at his feet» (v.16 Greek text) has a strong, spousal meaning, of perfect reciprocity in the Way.

All within the horizon of a crucial - decisive - choice between exclusive quality life, or death.

Although marginalized by the "sacred precincts" of the Temple in the Holy City - the distant and rejected (considered bastards and enemies) immediately understand what does not disfigure the face of their humanity.

On closer inspection, in the third Gospel the models of the Faith are all "foreign": centurion, prostitute, hemorrhoid, blind; and so on.

They immediately perceive the signs of Life, signs of God!

Others more settled or attracted by normalities are content to be reintegrated into ancient and common religious practice, returning to the usual impersonal things, and to mass worship.

But those who allow themselves to be enslaved, lose track of themselves and of Christ (v.17). They become again a slave of the aligned, conventionalist mentality, not examined - and subject to ‘permanence’.

Instead, if recognized [as in the case of the Samaritan] a Presence in our favor makes us find, discover, and understand.

It proceeds unparalleled through all our moods - without remorse for duties that do not belong to us.

This Friendship makes us recover the fixed points of truly intimate human codes, strengthening - out of the line - both the system of self-recognition and the authentic and unrepeatable way of honoring God in our brothers and sisters.

In short, as we walk our very own Way with optimism and hope, we come to meet the living Christ; not to the hubbub of the [ancient or fashionable] Temple.

It no longer sends precious messages; it only notes down. It beats in the head, but does not touch us inside.

It will trap each one in a web of predictable thoughts, of enemy surveillance, induced customs; so on.

Regarding the essential divine readiness to grasp differences as wealth, we recall the teaching of the Sufi master Ibn Ata Allah, who upheld the unparalleled immediacy of the personal Colloquium - where wisdom of analysis and experience of mystical vertigo unite:

«He makes the enlightenment come upon you so that through it you may come to Him; He makes it come upon you to remove you from the hand of others; He makes it come upon you to free you from the slavery of creatures; He makes it come on you to bring you out of the prison of your existence towards the Heaven of the contemplation of Him».

New, full, and definitive Life.

People of Faith detach themselves from external religious identity: they dream, love and invent roads; they deviate and do not follow an already traced path.

[Wednesday 32nd wk. in O.T.  November 12, 2025]

Foreign Glory, or religiosity that gives birth to models and slaves

(Lk 17:11-19)

The impure had to stay out of the way: everything that was different from the dominant thought was shunned.

According to the ancient religious scheme, the places of the 'infected' were regarded as cemeteries.

Diseases were imagined as punishments for defaults.

But leprosy - a disease that corrodes within - was the very symbol of sin [yet here the observant seem to be the walking image of death].

The eventual healing was valued on a par with a miraculous resurrection.

And all (supposed) sins had to be atoned for before being readmitted to society.

Jesus replaces the nerve-wracking globality of these arcane-superstitious rigmarole with a very simple outward path.

Thus he destroys archaic, superstitious idolatrous devotion, supplanting it with a real-life proposal.

The passage is exclusive to Lk but in all the Gospels the term "village" has strongly negative connotations.

"Villages" are the places where the Lord is not welcomed. There is no place for the new there, and if it takes root it becomes an obligatory tradition.

They are territories and swamps of reduction, of stubborn confirmation, of wanting to reproduce established thoughts and impose more or less seraphic customs on anyone. We know them.

In the Church, the 'village' mentality is that of certainty at all costs.

A hypical conviction of those who consider themselves sacredly correct and empowered to marginalise, cast out, reject, keep away, disregard.

The passage has several levels of reading.

The Master walks with the Apostles and addresses them (Lk 17:1-11) but suddenly seems to find himself alone (v.12). As if the 'lepers of the village' were none other than his own [at that time no one afflicted with the disease could dwell in residential places].

The uncleanness contracted by the confirmed disciples, and also by us today, depends precisely on the spoiled, decaying and corrupt condition of the reduced and infected environment.

The latter makes regeneration impossible - because in it the followers themselves (who appear to be intimates) sometimes shut themselves away, all huddled together.

The ten lepers represent us.

The number itself indicates a totality (like fingers).

But right here, if we are at least made aware of the separation from the realisation of our face, here is the first step to a personal involvement with the Lord.

We all have signs of non-life.

Those who think they have arrived and are unharmed by pathologies put up fences to protect themselves and their world, but they remain there, clumsy.

When, on the other hand, they see that development has not yet blossomed, a sense of tolerance towards others is triggered, and the personal spring that overcomes empty, intimist, or coarse adhesions.

Even in the first assemblies of those called to be sons and brothers, there was sometimes a self-congratulatory and isolationist mentality towards the pagans who appeared at the threshold of the communities.

The new ones - x-rayed by the veterans who could not stand different specificities - cried out by appealing directly to Christ himself.

The question was triggered - all topical:

"You who stand at the head [v.13 Greek text], You who lead the church, what do you think of your own? What do you say about this village mentality?"

"The first ones who think they have the right to shun others, do they really have the right to do so?"

"Has the Father you proclaim become exactly like the sullen God of religions again?"

In fact, the 'lepers' do not ask for healing, but for compassion.

In short, the Call is 'internal'.

This means that it is precisely the phenomena of the acquired - perhaps colonialist - role or ministry that should be healed.

Conditioned by false guides, we also not infrequently approach Christ in an abstruse, wrong way: asking him for 'mercy'.

A Friend or a Father is not asked for 'Mercy'.

That is why Jesus is clear. Those who consider themselves unclean or want to be pitied must go elsewhere, turn to the official religion.

Everyone is complete, and this is seen in the choice of the stranger who alone understands and returns to Christ.

No one needs to chastise himself by submitting to conformist protocols.

But back then it was the Temple priests who checked and decided whether the already healed (!) could be readmitted to society.

In short, all of us sinners are made pure not by miracles that descend like lightning, but in the Exodus.

It is the journey that moves us out of the putrid, diseased environment - well before anyone checks, makes trivial recommendations, and dictates the pace of posthumous practices.

It is only the 'village' that makes us - and considers us - unclean... because we do not look like it!

We need only step out of ghettoising thoughts and customs to gain serenity and motivation: we will no longer feel rejected and pointed at.

We will discover ourselves and the God-with.

He made us this way for a special Mission; not modelled on prototypes to be copied as if we were idiots: but supremely lovable children.

The Father sees us as perfect, and in his time he will raise astounding pearls precisely from our supposed or intruded unworthinesses.

Inadequacies to the "village", which make up and complete the baggage of our precious personality, and unrepeatable Vocation.

As it happens, we only fulfil ourselves spiritually by crossing local 'cultural' fences.

Even not by obeying orders, but by transgressing them (vv.14ff.)!

In this way, Jesus does not contemplate inquisitors.

We must allow ourselves to be controlled solely by the Spirit, who already animates us.

This is a decisive question. In fact: the meaning of the text is not about thanksgiving!

Jesus is not saddened by a lack of thankfulness and good manners, but by the fact that only a stranger gives "glory to God" (v.15).

That is: he recognises him as his personal Lord - in a relationship, indeed, without mediation.

That personal "making-Eucharist" [...] "and fell on his face at his feet" (v.16 Greek text) has a strong, spousal meaning, of perfect reciprocity in the Way.

All in the horizon of a crucial choice - not peaceful, nor calm and good-natured, but diriment - between life of exclusive quality, or death.

Although marginalised by the 'holy precincts' of the Temple in the Holy City - precisely the distant and rejected (considered bastards and enemies) immediately understand what does not disfigure the face of their humanity.

Here Lk quotes the term alloghenès (v.18) carved in large letters in the tablets affixed to the first of the inner parapets of the Jerusalem Sanctuary [the one that under penalty of death prevented pagans from participating in the Jewish cultic sacrifice].

But on closer inspection, in the Third Gospel the models of Faith are all 'outsiders': centurion, prostitute, hemorrhoid, blind man, and so on.

They immediately perceive the signs of Life, signs of God!

Others who are more settled or attracted to normality are content to be reintegrated into old-fashioned and common religious practice, returning to the usual impersonal things, and mass worship.

And yet, those who re-adapt to the way of all, become enslaved; they lose track of themselves and of Christ (v.17).

He who becomes a slave again to the aligned, conventionalist mentality; unexamined - and subservient to 'permanence'.

According to the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, the custody of differences is the criterion of true fraternity, which does not annihilate extrovert peaks.

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, no.139].

Pope Francis again:

"While Solidarity is the social planning principle that allows unequals to become equals, Fraternity is what allows equals to be different people" [Message to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, 24/04/2017].

In short, by optimistically and hopefully walking our very own Way, we come to meet the living Christ; not the hubbub of the Temple [ancient or fashionable].

It no longer sends precious messages; it only notes. It knocks on the head, but does not touch inside.

It traps us in a web of predictable thoughts, enemy surveillance, induced customs; so on.

Domestics devoid of affinity with events of specific weight - without the allied step of people of a particular culture and sensitivity.

Those who are healing the world.

Despite the exhibited belonging, behind sacred official scenes, relationships often loosen; they do not regenerate.

Models and prototypes, codes and patents, the obtuseness of petty primitives - figurines of narrowness - are often birthed there.

Instead, when recognised [as e.g. in the case of the Samaritan] a Presence in our favour makes us find, discover, and understand.

It proceeds unparalleled through all our states of mind - with no more remorse towards duties that do not belong to us.

Such Friendship makes us recover the fixed points of truly intimate human codes, enhancing - outside the lines - both the system of recognising ourselves and the authentic and unrepeatable way of honouring God in our brothers and sisters.

No longer the exclusive privilege of the elect and the best ... all non-decisive.

Regarding the essential divine readiness to embrace differences as richness, let us recall the teaching of the Sufi master Ibn Ata Allah, who advocated the unparalleled immediacy of the Personal Colloquy - where wisdom of analysis and experience of intoxication come together:

"He brings enlightenment upon you in order that through it you may come to Him; He brings it upon you to remove you from the hand of others; He brings it upon you to free you from the bondage of creatures; He brings it upon you to bring you out of the prison of your existence to the heaven of contemplation of Him."

New, full, definitive life.

People of Faith break away from external religious identity: they dream, love and invent paths; they deviate and do not follow a path already mapped out.

The Gospel [...] presents Jesus healing 10 lepers, of whom only one, a Samaritan and therefore a foreigner, returned to thank him (cf. Lk 17: 11-19). The Lord said to him: "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well" (Lk 17: 19). This Gospel passage invites us to a twofold reflection. It first evokes two levels of healing: one, more superficial, concerns the body. The other deeper level touches the innermost depths of the person, what the Bible calls "the heart", and from there spreads to the whole of a person's life. Complete and radical healing is "salvation". By making a distinction between "health" and "salvation", even ordinary language helps us to understand that salvation is far more than health: indeed, it is new, full and definitive life. Furthermore, Jesus here, as in other circumstances, says the words: "Your faith has made you whole". It is faith that saves human beings, re-establishing them in their profound relationship with God, themselves and others; and faith is expressed in gratitude. Those who, like the healed Samaritan, know how to say "thank you", show that they do not consider everything as their due but as a gift that comes ultimately from God, even when it arrives through men and women or through nature. Faith thus entails the opening of the person to the Lord's grace; it means recognizing that everything is a gift, everything is grace. What a treasure is hidden in two small words: "thank you"!

Jesus healed 10 people sick with leprosy, a disease in those times considered a "contagious impurity" that required ritual cleansing (cf. Lv 14: 1-37). Indeed, the "leprosy" that truly disfigures the human being and society is sin; it is pride and selfishness that spawn indifference, hatred and violence in the human soul. No one, save God who is Love, can heal this leprosy of the spirit which scars the face of humanity. By opening his heart to God, the person who converts is inwardly healed from evil. 

"Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mk 1: 15). Jesus began his public life with this invitation that continues to resonate in the Church. [...]

Let us ask Our Lady for the gift of true conversion for all Christians, so that they may proclaim and witness consistently and faithfully to the perennial message of the Gospel, which points out to humanity the path of authentic peace.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 14 October 2007]

"Mga kaibigan" (Dear friends)

"Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat" (I warmly thank you all). 

I would have liked to visit you at your homes, but it was not possible. I thank you for coming to meet me instead. Thank you for wanting to represent the others who wanted so much to come but could not. Being with you today brings great joy to my heart. I greet you with affection and I hope you know how much I have looked forward to our meeting. 

In my previous pastoral visits to Africa and Brazil, I met other men and women suffering from leprosy. These encounters left a deep impression on me, because I was able to appreciate the loving patience and courage with which they live in spite of trials and adversity. 

1. I stand here in the name of Christ Jesus to remind you of his extraordinary love for all his brothers and sisters, but particularly for each one of you. The Gospels bear witness to this truth. Think for a moment how often Jesus manifested his concern by transforming situations of need into moments of grace. In St Luke's Gospel, for example, Jesus is approached by ten lepers who ask to be healed. The Lord orders them to show themselves to the priests, and along the way they are healed. One of them returns to give thanks. In his gratitude he demonstrates a faith that is strong, joyful and full of praise for the wonder of God's gifts. Evidently Jesus has touched the deep intimacy of this man's being with his love. 

2. Again in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, we are presented with a leper who asks Jesus to heal him but only if it is his will. What great gratitude the man feels when his request is heard! He sets out to spread the joyful news of the miracle to all he meets. Such great happiness comes from man's faith. His words 'if you will you can cleanse me' reflect a readiness to accept whatever Jesus wishes for him. And his faith in Jesus was not disappointed! Dear brothers and sisters, may your faith in Jesus be no less firm and constant than the faith of these people in the Gospels. 

3. I know that your affliction brings intense suffering, not only through its physical manifestations, but also through the misunderstandings that so many people in society continue to associate with Hansen's disease. You often come across very old prejudices, and these become an even greater source of suffering. For my part, I will continue to proclaim before the world the need for even greater awareness of the fact that, with appropriate help, this disease can indeed be overcome. This is why I ask everyone everywhere to support more and more the courageous efforts that are being made to eradicate leprosy and effectively treat those who still suffer from it. 

4. I pray that you will never be discouraged or aggravated. Wherever and whenever you encounter the Cross, embrace it as Jesus did, that the Father's will may be done. May your suffering be offered up for the benefit of the whole Church, so that you may say with St Paul: "Therefore I am glad in my sufferings... and I complete in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His Body, which is the Church..." (Col 1:24). 

Three days ago I beatified in your country sixteen martyrs of Nagasaki. Among them is Blessed Lazarus of Kyoto, who was a leper. How we rejoice at the help Blessed Lazarus gave to the missionaries as a translator and guide. Finally, his commitment to spreading the Gospel cost him his life; he died shedding his blood for the faith. His love for Christ involved much suffering, even torturous pain! He experienced the incomprehension, rejection and hatred of others in his service to the Church! But by the power of God's grace, Blessed Lazarus bore witness to the faith and merited the precious gift of the crown of martyrdom. 

Dear friends, I invite you to imitate the courage of Blessed Lazarus who is so close to you. Share the convictions of your faith with your brothers and sisters who suffer with you. Return the love of the doctors, nurses and volunteers who so generously care for you. Work to build a living community of faith, a community that supports, strengthens and enriches the universal Church. This is where your service to Christ is! It is here that your lives are challenged! It is here that you can manifest your faith, your hope and your love! 

May God bless you, dear brothers and sisters! Bless all those suffering from leprosy in this country! May he bless your families, your friends and all those who care for you! "Ai higit sa lahat, inihahabilin ko ang aking sarili sa inyong panalangin, sa inyong pagmamahal" (And above all, I commend me to your prayer and love).

[Pope John Paul II, Address to the Tala Leprosarium, Manila 21 February 1981]

Today, I would like to focus on the prayer of thanksgiving. And I take my cue from an episode recounted by the Evangelist Luke. While Jesus was on the way, ten lepers approached Him, begging: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (17:13). We know that those who had leprosy suffered not only physically, but also from social marginalization and religious marginalization. They were marginalized. Jesus did not back off from meeting them. Sometimes, he went beyond the limitations imposed by the law and touched the sick — which was not permitted — he embraced and healed them. In this case, there was no contact. From a distance, Jesus invited them to present themselves to the priests (v. 14), who were designated by law to certify any healings that had occurred. Jesus said nothing else. He listened to their prayer, he heard their cry for mercy, and he sent them immediately to the priests.

Those 10 lepers trusted, they did not remain there until they were cured, no: they trusted and they went immediately, and while they were on their way, all 10 of them were cured. The priests would have therefore been able to verify their healing and readmit them to normal life. But here is the most important point: only one in the group, before going to the priests, returned to thank Jesus and to praise God for the grace received. Only one, the other nine continued on their way. And Jesus points out that that man was a Samaritan, a sort of “heretic” for the Jews of that time. Jesus comments: “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (17:18). This narrative is touching.

This narrative, so to speak, divides the world in two: those who do not give thanks and those who do; those who take everything as if it is owed them, and those who welcome everything as a gift, as grace. The Catechism says: “every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving” (n. 2638). The prayer of thanksgiving always begins from here: from the recognition that grace precedes us. We were thought of before we learned how to think; we were loved before we learned how to love; we were desired before our hearts conceived a desire. If we view life like this, then “thank you” becomes the driving force of our day. And how often we even forget to say “thank you”.

For us Christians, thanksgiving was the name given to the most essential Sacrament there is: the Eucharist . In fact, the Greek word means precisely this: thanksgiving . Eucharist: thanksgiving. Christians, as all believers, bless God for the gift of life. To live is above all to have received life. All of us are born because someone wanted us to have life. And this is only the first of a long series of debts that we incur by living. Debts of gratitude. During our lives, more than one person has gazed on us with pure eyes, gratuitously. Often, these people are educators, catechists, persons who carried out their roles above and beyond what was required of them. And they stirred gratitude within us. Even friendship is a gift for which we should always be grateful.

This “thank you” that we must say continually, this thanks that Christians share with everyone, grows in the encounter with Jesus. The Gospels attest that when Jesus passed by, he often stirred joy and praise to God in those who met Him. The Gospel accounts of Christmas are filled with prayerful people whose hearts are greatly moved by the coming of the Saviour. And we too were called to participate in this immense jubilation. The episode of the ten lepers who are healed also suggests this. Naturally, they were all happy about having recovered their health, thus being allowed to end that unending forced quarantine that excluded them from the community. But among them, there was one who experienced an additional joy: in addition to being healed, he rejoices at the encounter with Jesus. He is not only freed from evil, but he now possesses the certainty of being loved. This is the crux: when you thank someone, you express the certainty that you are loved. And this is a huge step: to have the certainty that you are loved. It is the discovery of love as the force that governs the world. Dante would say: the Love that “moves the sun and other stars” (Paradise, XXIII, 145). We are no longer vagabonds wandering aimlessly here and there, no: we have a home, we dwell in Christ, and from that “dwelling” we contemplate the rest of the world which appears infinitely more beautiful to us. We are children of love, we are brothers and sisters of love. We are men and women of grace.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us seek to remain always in the joy of the encounter with Jesus. Let us cultivate joyfulness. The devil, instead, after having deluded us — with whatever temptation — always leaves us sad and alone. If we are in Christ, there is no sin and no threat that can ever prevent us from continuing our journey with joy, along with many fellow travel companions.

Above all, let us not forget to thank: if we are bearers of gratitude, the world itself will become better, even if only a little bit, but that is enough to transmit a bit of hope. The world needs hope. And with gratitude, with this attitude of thanksgiving, we transmit a bit of hope. Everything is united and everything is connected, and each one can do their part wherever they are. The path to happiness is the one that Saint Paul described at the end of one of his letters: “Pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit” (1Thess 5:17-19). Do not quench the Spirit, what a beautiful project of life! Not quenching the Spirit that we have within leads us to gratitude.

[Pope Francis, General Audience 30 December 2020]

(Lk 17:7-10)

Increase Faith? The Gift is not a material alms, but an Appeal. Therefore Jesus doesn’t even answer - nevertheless he makes us reflect on the results of the eventual adhesion.

A minimum involvement would suffice and extraordinary results would be produced in the world (v.6); in communities, in families, in personal life.

We would achieve the impossible and important. The real problems would be solved. Even the simplest actions would be transformed.

Very provocative words, those of Jesus, that neither condemn a priori nor demonize the Way contrary to his.

But he puts us on notice about how things work in the pyramidal environment (vv.7-9).

«When you have done all that you have been "ordered"...» (v.10).

The Lord alludes to the obedience of the Torah, and would like to free us from the obsessive, limiting, petty and anxiety-inducing yoke of the ancient Law. 

It produces impoverishment of souls.

It’s as if the Lord were saying:

«Try along to follow the predictable, plastered, shock-free model... Try and you will see on your skin what inconclusiveness, what lacerations and disasters it produces!».

In a perspective of Faith and human growth in Christ, the standard scheme (limiting) «subjected-Sovereign» must be abandoned.

It removes expressive richness from the Announcement and from life.

The welcoming-likeness Faith will lead us instead to grow from ‘useless’ slaves to Sons; collaborators and allies of the Father.

From narrow submissive and obedient slaves, to family members, friends and consanguineous-resembling.

Otherwise we will remain in the childish condition of big kids and roundsmen «of no account» (v.10) who do not express themselves or reinterpret, but remain subjected and do only "what they must".

The religion of merits and roles is deleterious; it produces malaise, it goes on by inertia and with a defensive attitude.

It does not reinvent the present, nor does it open the future.

It does not listen to needs, rather it pushes us to imprint relationships on the basis of selfishness, even spiritual.

Here we no longer look at what spontaneously appears - forcing our faculties to all predictable, conformist assessments.

Life therefore impoverishes, desertifying itself, because it’s intimidated.

Becoming an absurd farce that Jesus doesn’t want: a jumble of swampy attitudes, unable to reactivate us - inattentive to special actions that turn routine into adventure.

To paraphrase the encyclical Brothers All, in those conditions it would sound «like madness» also to elaborate «great goals for the development of our entire human family» (n.16).

There would be no sense of the Mystery, never perceiving it in the furrows of history: we would drag ourselves into remedies, protecting only the usual grind newspaper.

Therefore no unexpected change, no unexplained transformation, no exceptional recovery (v.6).

No unpredictability would see the ‘sacred’ in the thousand situations that Providence invents, stimulating new answers.

The mystic Ibn Ata Allah - Master of the two Sciences [wisdom of analysis and experience of mystical inebriation] - argued:

«If you want that the door of the fear is opened to you, look at what from you goes to Him. If you want that the door of the Hope is opened to you, look at what comes from Him to you».

[Tuesday 32nd wk. in O.T.  November 11, 2025]