The Lord wants new people, who listen

(Mt 12:46–50)

    In the life of anyone called to a relationship of faith, in order to become kin to the Father according to the Spirit, it is essential to perceive [in the profound sense of ‘listening’ – not so much ‘seeing’ directly in a physical sense].

Nor is it enough simply to ‘stand on the sidelines’, or to seek to ‘speak’ directly in order to ‘convince’ the Lord (vv. 46–47).

It is necessary to intuit and grasp: a journey to encounter the deepest layers of one’s being, the truth of one’s inclinations, and of life itself.

It is crucial to receive a Word that satisfies, which becomes language and culture, and which possesses creative power: given to our ears and discovered within. Grasped within our personal history and reality, and passed on once more.

To turn away from this Word and this founding Eros is to detach oneself from one’s true self, to scatter into streams that do not belong to us, to plunge into the void [‘void’ not understood as a profound energetic state that prepares the way for new developments].

Paradoxically, both our Freedom and the Salvation of the world are the fruit of Obedience – but not an external obedience, nor one imposed by others.

Rather, it is a matter of attuning ourselves to the part of the Logos within us that is blossoming; truly ‘perfect’. No conditioning model.

No a priori correction, nor coercion based on prejudice: rather, an eternal Metamorphosis – accompanied by the Word, which mysteriously guides us from Exodus to Exodus.

No pre-determined cultural expectation could ever lead to full communion with the great divine spark and fullness within each and every one of us.

The realisation of the Kingdom in every day – even beyond time.

To know Christ intimately, it is not enough merely to look at him and be moved by sympathy or religious emotion.

It is Listening that forges and establishes intimate bonds—which never fade—of captivating harmony with the Master.

Around Jesus, the Word of God creates a new Family, with bonds of spiritual kinship closer than those offered by clan ties.

The Lord desires a different kind of people, born precisely from Perception-premonition.

This union is no longer reserved or exclusive; it becomes accessible to anyone, whatever their circumstances – even if they are ‘blind’ to the outside world, unable to perceive what lies within their grasp.

Each person is the Church, the Father’s House, and thus can fulfil God’s Dream of dwelling amongst humankind and walking alongside them.

He dwells amongst us and within us. In his Word, with no ‘distances’ any longer.

In this way, all our actions must be directed towards this aim: to form the Temple of God, his household, the Body of the living Christ.

To reach this fulfilment, the essential means is to embrace the Vocation that transforms us, a foundation far deeper than any bond or emotion.

What is indispensable is not an (initial) experience of enthusiasm, but rather the safeguarding of the Call that gives meaning to life and becomes a mindset, an inner dynamism that guides us and leads us onto paths to the peripheries.

In ancient Israel, the basis of social coexistence was the extended family. Clans and communities guaranteed protection both for individual households and for individuals.

That bond of genuine solidarity ensured ownership of the land – which gave a sense of freedom – and served as a vehicle for cultural transmission, for the sense of being a people, and for spirituality itself.

Defending the coexistence that guaranteed their collective identity was tantamount to defending the First Covenant.

But in Palestine at the time of Jesus, clan life and the wider community life were in decline.

The excessive taxes payable to collaborationist governments and the Temple, the inevitable rise in the number of people forced to sell themselves into slavery to pay off debts, perhaps the more individualistic mindset of the Hellenistic world, imperial threats, and the obligation to welcome, feed and harbour Roman troops [who often took advantage even of the community’s most vulnerable members], all exacerbated the problems of survival.

In addition to this, the strictness of the purity laws was a further factor in their marginalisation, alongside the growing belief – typical of religions – that there was a link between divine curse and a state of poverty.

Concerns about material well-being and the protection of the individual family accentuated their detachment from communal life.

Jesus wanted to broaden once more the narrow confines of the small household community, and extend them to the great family of the Kingdom of God.

A comparison with the parallel passages of this episode reveals that Jesus had difficulties with his blood relatives.

They tended to try to bring him back within the bounds of tradition, out of fear of reprisals and because they regarded him as an extremist (perhaps even unbalanced).

The Risen One broadens the concept of Family and challenges the bonds that distance us from our identity, character and mission – whether these obstacles are posed by his own family, by Peter, by the disciples, by the powerful, or by the leaders of the official religion.

As mentioned above, at a time of political subjugation and rigid, legalistic religious ideology, the core values of the clan and the community were being eroded due to social and economic collapse.

This situation of external control – social and ideological enslavement – prevented people from coming together and sharing, forcing them to confine themselves to individual problems and the concerns of their own exclusive lineage.

[This was the situation in Jesus’ time, yet these aspects are not entirely alien to us, even from the perspective of certain ‘charisms’ defined in excessive detail, and of realities already established in the local area].

For the new Kingdom to manifest itself, the idea of communal living had to transcend the narrow confines of the individual and the tiny domestic hearth – including from a cultural perspective.

There was a need for a stimulus that would open the way to community life – understood in the spirit of the Beatitudes, for a conviviality of differences; even in actual, indeed harsh, cohabitation.

Even today, in this time of global crisis, the goal is an existence no longer marred by withdrawal, nor compromised by immediate necessities, disembodied fantasies, or ingrained patterns.

There is an urgent need for a new vision of the universal Family, one that transcends the limitations of habitual micro-relationships [namely, those of a group, a movement or even a denomination].

The world we are preparing will no longer make free participation, tolerant and concrete exchange, or the overcoming of domestication so difficult.

A new vision of universal Kinship, which fosters exchange and transcendence.

There is a very different Temple to be built.

To internalise and live out the message:

Do your family and your church group encourage an enlightened listening to the Gospel and ‘putting the Word into practice’, or do they merely offer you ready-made, pre-packaged ‘pills’?

Do they help you, or do they close you off from engaging with different ideas, from becoming aware of yourself, of those far away, and of the wealth of resources available—whether your own or those of others?