5th Sunday in Lent (year C) [6 April 2025]

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us. Tomorrow, Wednesday 2 April, will be the 20th anniversary of the death of St John Paul II. We remember him in prayer, invoking his protection and intercession.

*First Reading From the book of the prophet Isaiah (43:16-21)

At first glance, this text consists of two mutually contradictory parts: the first is a reference to the past, to leaving Egypt, while in the second, the prophet exhorts us to leave the past behind. But which past is it? Let us try to better understand by examining these two parts one after the other. The incipit is as always solemn: "Thus says the Lord" to introduce words of great importance which are immediately followed by the reference to the famous passage in the sea, the miracle of the Sea of Rushes during the Hebrews' flight from Egypt: "The Lord opened a way in the sea and a path in the midst of mighty waters". The reference to the memorable night of the deliverance from Egypt narrated in chapter 14 of the book of Exodus always returns. In the first reading, Isaiah offers further details: "the Lord brought forth chariots and horses, army and heroes at once, and they all lay dead and never rose again, they went out like a lamp. God saved his people by destroying the Egyptians and it is interesting to note that Isaiah uses the name 'Lord' (the Tetragrammaton YHVH), a name that qualifies the God of Sinai as the deliverer of his people. Here is God's work in the past that constitutes the source of hope for Israel's future, and Isaiah points out: 'Behold, I do a new thing'. To understand what this is all about and to whom the prophet foretells a new world, we need to go back to the historical context. The deuteroIsaiah, whom we are reading here, lived in the 6th century BC, during the exile in Babylon (from 587 to 538 BC), a period marked by a terrible trial: deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who had defeated the small kingdom of Judah of which Jerusalem was the capital, the Jews hoped one day to escape from Babylon, but there were serious difficulties because they had to cross the Syrian desert, hundreds of kilometres long and in terrible conditions for fugitives. The prophet therefore has the difficult task of restoring courage to his contemporaries: he does so in this book called the Book of the Consolation of Israel, because chapter 40 begins: 'Console, console my people, says your God'. And when he says: 'your God' he recalls the Covenant that was never broken because God did not abandon them. In fact, one of the formulas of the Covenant was: 'You shall be my people and I will be your God' and whenever the expression my God or your God is echoed, the possessive is an encouraging reminder of the Covenant and, at the same time, a profession of faith. Isaiah intends to keep the exiles' hope alive by reminding them that God has not only not abandoned them, on the contrary, he is already preparing their return to their homeland. Nothing can be seen yet, but it will happen and why is it certain? Because God is faithful to his Covenant and since he chose this people he has never ceased to deliver them and keep them alive, through all the vicissitudes of their history. He has freed them from Pharaoh; he has protected them all along the way; he made them pass through the sea dry when they came out of Egypt.Israel's hope thus rests on its past: this is the meaning of the word 'memorial', constant remembrance of God's work that continues today, and from this we derive the certainty that it will continue into the future. Past, present, future: God is always present alongside his people. This is one of the meanings of God's name: 'I am', that is, I am with you in all circumstances. And precisely during the difficult period of exile, when there was the risk of giving in to despair, Isaiah develops a new metaphor, that of the sprout: "Behold, I am doing a new thing: right now I am sprouting, do you not notice?" Starting from the extraordinary experience of a tiny seed capable of becoming a great tree, it is easy to understand how the word "sprout" has become in Israel and today for us a symbol of hope, and it is important to learn to recognise the sprouts of the new world, the Kingdom that God is building.

*Responsorial Psalm [125 (126)]

 This psalm echoes the first reading, where the prophet Isaiah announces the return of the people exiled in Babylon and sings of this miracle just as the Jews had sung of the prodigy of the exit from Egypt. These are the events: in 587 BC. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had conquered Jerusalem and deported the population, but, in turn, was defeated by Cyrus, king of Persia well known for his successes. Nebuchadnezzar's troops pillaged, plundered, raped, massacred and devastated, systematically deporting the population. Cyrus, on the other hand, adopted a completely different policy: he preferred to rule over prosperous peoples and allowed all deported populations to return to their homelands by providing the means to do so. And so, having conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., he allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem as early as 538 B.C., also granting them economic aid and even returning the objects looted from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers.

The psalm does not say 'when the king of Persia Cyrus restored the lot of Zion' but 'when the Lord restored the lot of Zion', a way of affirming that God remains the Lord of history who pulls all the strings and therefore there is no other god - again a nod to the fight against idolatry. This psalm, probably written long after the return from exile, evokes the joy and excitement of liberation and return. How many times during exile did one dream of this moment! When it was realised, one almost dared not believe it: 'When the Lord restored the lot of Zion, it seemed to us as if we were dreaming ... our mouths were filled with a smile, our tongues with joy'.  One even imagines that the other peoples are also amazed by this miracle: "Then it was said among the nations: 'The Lord has done great things for them'. In this sentence, two elements emerge: an infinite gratitude for the gratuitousness of God's choice and the chosen people's awareness of having been chosen for the world: their vocation is to be witnesses of God's work, an awareness matured precisely during exile. In the psalm, astonishment at God's choice is expressed with the words: 'great things', that is, God's work of deliverance, particularly the liberation from Egypt. Words like feat, work, great things, wonders, which are often found in the psalms, are always a reference to the Exodus. Here, a new work of God's deliverance is added: the end of the exile experienced by the people as a true resurrection. To express this, the psalmist uses two images: The streams in the desert: "Restore, Lord, our lot, like the streams in the Negheb", desert south of Jerusalem, where myriads of flowers bloom in spring. The other image is the seed: 'he who sows in tears, will reap in joy'. the sown grain seems to rot and die... but when the ears sprout, it is like a rebirth, an eloquent image because the return of the exiles meant a true rebirth for the land as well. A final observation: when the return from the Babylonian exile is sung in this psalm, it had already taken place a long time ago, but Israel does not speak of the past just to recount it, but to communicate a message and a teaching for the future: this return to life, historically placed, becomes a reason to hope for other future resurrections and deliverances. Every year, during the Feast of Tents in the autumn, this song was sung during the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As the pilgrims ascend, they sing of the deliverance that has already taken place and pray to God to hasten the day of final deliverance, when the promised Messiah will appear. Even today, there are many places of slavery, many 'Egypt' and 'Babylon'. This is what we think of when we sing: "Restore, Lord, our lot like the streams in the Negheb", asking for the grace to collaborate with all our strength in the work of liberation inaugurated by the Messiah, in order to hasten the day when the whole of humanity can sing: "Great things the Lord has done for us".

*Second Reading from the Letter of St Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (3:8-14)

 St Paul uses the image of running, and we know how important the goal and the desire to reach it is for every person. Here the Apostle speaks of himself: "I know only this: forgetting what lies behind me and reaching out to what lies ahead, I run towards the goal, to the prize that God calls us to receive up there in Christ Jesus. To run towards this same goal and obtain the promised prize, one must turn one's back on many things, as St Paul did when he felt conquered by Christ. The Greek verb he uses (katalambano) means to grasp, to seize, to take by force, and expresses the way in which he was completely transformed from a persecutor of Christians into an apostle of the gospel (Acts.9) when Christ literally took possession of him on the road to Damascus. St Paul presents his Christian faith as a natural continuation of his Jewish faith because Christ fully realises the expectations of the Old Testament by ensuring its continuity with the New Testament. Here, however, he insists on the newness that Jesus Christ brings: 'I consider everything to be a loss because of the sublimity of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. The knowledge of Christ brings radical newness because one truly becomes a 'new creature', as he writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, which we read last Sunday (2 Cor 5:17-21). Now he says it in another way: "For him I have given up all these things and consider them rubbish in order to gain Christ and be found in him". In other words: what previously appeared important in my eyes, that is, an advantage and a privilege, I now reject altogether. The advantages of which he speaks were the pride of belonging to the people of Israel, the faith and unshakeable hope of that people, the assiduous and scrupulous practice of all the commandments that he calls obedience to the law of Moses. But now Jesus Christ has taken all the space in his life and he possesses the greatest good, the only true wealth in the world, the true treasure of human existence: to know Christ. Knowing in biblical language does not mean intellectual knowledge but living in intimacy with someone, loving him and sharing his life. Paul insists on this bond with Christ because in the community of Philippi some Christians of Jewish origin wanted to impose circumcision on all Christians before baptism and this created great division as we read in the second reading of the second Sunday of Lent. This issue was resolved by the Apostles at the First Council in Jerusalem by affirming that in the New Covenant, the Law of Moses has been superseded and baptism in the name of Jesus makes us children of God so circumcision is no longer indispensable to be part of the people of the New Covenant. Paul also speaks here of "communion" with Christ's sufferings, of being conformed to his death in the hope of attaining the resurrection from the dead, grafted into him in order to follow his same path: "communion with his sufferings, making me conform to his death". 

Note: St Paul invites us to live like Christ and to accept all the risks of proclaiming the Gospel, but can we say, like him, that the only good for us is the knowledge of Christ and everything else is but rubbish? The word rubbish that is used here translates the Greek word skubala, which has a very strong meaning that can be translated in several ways: as waste, refuse, dry excrement and filth, rotten and spoiled food residue. In short, a total rejection of everything, when one knows Christ and is possessed by him.

*From the Gospel according to John (8:1-11)

We are already in the context of the Passion and the first line mentions the Mount of Olives. Since the evangelists only mention it in the last days of Jesus' public life and the Pharisees want to set a trap for him here, this makes it clear that it has now been decided to try and condemn him. That is why every detail of this text must be carefully examined because it is not a simple episode in Jesus' life, but the very heart of his mission.  At the beginning Jesus is seated as a teacher: "all the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them". However, the question of the scribes and Pharisees immediately puts him in the position of judge and Jesus is the only seated person. This detail helps us to understand that the theme of judgement, in St John, is central: the episode of the adulterous woman implements what he writes at the beginning of his gospel: "God sent the Son into the world, not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). We are faced with a mock trial because the issue is clear: the adulterous woman was caught in the act and there are witnesses; the Law of Moses condemns adultery as one of the commandments given by God on Sinai (Thou shalt not commit adultery, Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18); Leviticus prescribes the death penalty: "If anyone commits adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death" (Lev 20:10). The scribes and Pharisees, who question Jesus, are as always very attached to the Law of Moses, but they forget to add that the Law provides for the condemnation of both offenders, the man and the adulterous woman. The fact that despite knowing this, no one remembers it, shows that the real issue is not the observance of the Law, but something else, and the text says it clearly: "They said this to test him and to have reason to accuse him". It is therefore a trap-question and what do they want to accuse Jesus of? Jesus cannot approve of the stoning because it would contradict the whole preaching on mercy; if, however, he publicly defends the woman, he can be accused of inciting the people to disobey the Law. In John's Gospel (chapter 5), we have already seen him tell the healed paralytic to take his bed, an act forbidden on the Sabbath. They failed to condemn him that day, but this time the disobedience would be public. After all, despite the apparent respect with which they call him 'Master', Jesus is in as much danger as the adulterous woman: both risk death. Jesus does not immediately respond: "He stooped down and began to write with his finger on the ground". With his silence, a constructive silence, he invites each one to reflect without humiliating anyone, and he, the incarnation of mercy, does not put the scribes and Pharisees or the adulterous woman in difficulty: he wants each one to take a step forward by trying to reveal to the Pharisees and scribes the true face of the God of mercy. When he responds, he does so almost by posing a question: 'Let him who is without sin among you cast the stone at her first'. At this point they all leave, "one by one, beginning with the elders". Nothing surprising: the elders appear to be the ones most ready to listen to the call to mercy. Who knows how many times they have experienced God's mercy on them... How many times they have read, sung, meditated on the verse: "God of tenderness and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love" (Ex 34:6). How many times have they recited Psalm 50(51): "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your mercy, in your great goodness blot out my sin". Now they can understand that their lack of mercy is a fault, a lack of faithfulness to the God of the Covenant. Jesus' statement may have led them to this reflection: 'Let him who is without sin among you cast the stone first'. Being the first to throw the stone was an expression known to all in the context of the fight against idolatry. The Law did not say that it had to be the witness of adultery who threw the first stone; but it did say so expressly for the case of idolatry (Deut 13:9-10; Deut 17:7). Thus Jesus' reply can be interpreted as: "This woman is guilty of adultery, in the literal sense of the word, it is true; but are you not committing an even more serious adultery, an unfaithfulness to the God of the Covenant? The prophets often speak of idolatry in terms of adultery.  In the end, only Jesus and the woman remain: it is the face-to-face, as St Augustine says, between misery and mercy. For her, the Word once again fulfils his mission, speaking the word of reconciliation. Isaiah, speaking of the servant of God, had announced it: 'He will not break a cracked reed, he will not quench a smouldering wick...' (Is 42:3). But this is not goodism because Jesus clearly tells the woman to sin no more, sin remains condemned, but only forgiveness can enable the sinner to be reborn to hope.

Note: What does Jesus write on the ground? The evangelist does not specify, and this has given rise to various interpretations: Some Church Fathers, such as St Augustine, speculate that Jesus was writing down the hidden sins of those who accused the woman. This is why, one by one, they go away; It refers to the Mosaic Law: according to a rabbinic interpretation, it could refer to Jeremiah 17:13: "Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the Lord, the source of living water." If so, Jesus would be indicating that the accusers themselves are guilty of unfaithfulness to God. It could be a symbolic act of detachment; writing in the dust could symbolise that the accusations against the woman are ephemeral, destined to fade away; it could indicate a call to patience and reflection; finally, it could be a way of not responding immediately, prompting the accusers to reflect on their hypocrisy.

Jesus' gesture invites us to shift our attention not to the guilt of others, but to our own conscience. No one can condemn another without first examining himself. This episode teaches us that God's mercy exceeds human condemnation, and that forgiveness is always possible when there is a heart willing to change. 

The first reading and this Sunday's Gospel have the same message: forget the past, don't get attached to it... nothing, not even memories, should stop you from moving on. In the first reading, Isaiah speaks to the people in exile... in the Gospel, Jesus speaks to a woman caught in the act of adultery: apparently, two very different cases, but the message is the same: turn your gaze firmly towards the future, no longer think about the past.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

(Jn 5:31-47)

«But I have a greater testimony than John» (Jn 5:36). «Jesus loved others in the Father, starting from the Father – and thus he loved them in their true being, in their reality» [Pope Benedict].

Jesus does not love the catwalks. The Son remains immersed in the Father: he does not receive support and glory from men nor from “perimeters”, because he is not impregnated with ‘normal’ expectations.

Predictable hopes delay the budding of the Kingdom, of its alternative caliber - in the living experience of further exchanges; in the completeness of being that belongs to us.

The pathology of reputation, of accredited beliefs and practices in accordance with the context, excludes the blow of wings. But every short and rigid perspective rejects God in the name of God.

Only what is not petrified testifies Christ the Lord, the likeness of the Father who doesn’t reject our eccentricities, because he wants to make them grow - recovering the flourishing opposites.

The same "bad moments" that crumble prestige are also a spring to activate ourselves and not to stagnate in the same situations as always; by regenerating, proceeding elsewhere.

In short, our Heaven is intertwined with the flesh that transmutes, with the earth and our dust: It’s inside and below, not behind the clouds or in manners.

In John there is often the aspect of trial (religious) court to which the story of Jesus was subjected.

Sometimes men's aspirations are strangely hinged on the need to recognize one another, whatever it takes. But in this way we always remain “the same as before”.

Our world... centered on the honor that’s received. Theme is: the «Glory» - which however becomes a dialogue between deaf.

«Doxa» in the Greek world means a manifestation of prestige, honor, esteem.

In Hebrew, the term Glory [Kabôd] indicates specific, qualitative ‘weight’ (and manifestation) of the transcendent.

So the ‘glory’ that man gives to God - so to speak - is the opposite of the Hellenist criterion: a humble and grateful recognition, of familiar and humanizing ‘weight’.

No one is called to artificial prestige and strength. The Glory of Jesus himself was only the awareness and confession of being sent by the Father.

Nothing else is due to us.

The failures that put fame in the balance serve to make us realize what we hadn’t noticed, therefore to deviate from a conformist destiny.

The Way in the Spirit is inspired by a dimension of Mystery and Freedom to be discovered: Exodus.

The cages [even "spiritual"] blame everyone who’s different, inculcate tormenting thoughts, curb the most fruitful oddities.

These frames don’t awaken creativity, on the contrary they anesthetize it according to an internal cliché: precisely where one takes «glory from each other» (v.44).

“Prisons” do not teach how to give life momentum in a personal way and at the right time; and even the rhythm does not modulate itself on the different inclinations, on their originality - unique richness, which prepares the unrepeatable and extravagant New.

In fact, the unilateral imprint doesn’t respect nature, so it reinforces what says it wants to drive away. A disaster for a life of meaning and witness in Christ.

The Lord had as his only daily worship - in fact - the void of social support (it did not accept his deviations) and the fullness of the dawning in the Father.

[Thursday 4th wk. in Lent, April 3, 2025]

The greatest Witness

(Jn 5:31-47)

"Christians are a priestly people for the world. Christians should make the living God visible to the world, bear witness to Him and lead it to Him".

"Jesus loved men in the Father, from the Father - and so loved them in their true being, in their reality."

[Pope Benedict].

Jesus does not love catwalks. The Son remains immersed in the Father: he does not receive support and glory from fashionable men or ancient perimeters, because he is not imbued with normal human cultural religious expectations.

They prevent the perception of what we do not know, therefore they conceal the exceptional nature of the particular name; they drench the head and the gaze with current and pedestrian normality, which condition, dissociate, plagiarise, make external.

Predictable expectations delay the germination of the Kingdom of God and its alternative character - in the living experience of further exchanges; of other interpersonal qualities, in the completeness of being that belongs to us.

The specific weight of this unprecedented present and future, which corresponds because it is part of our intimate essence, otherwise remains in the hands of obvious opinions and the usual cheap dragging, which does not expose.

The pathology of reputation, of accredited convictions and the concordant praxis on the side, precludes winging it. But every short, rigid hope rejects God for God's sake.

Only that which is not petrified and conventional bears witness to Christ the Lord, the likeness of the Father who does not reject our eccentricities: he wants to make them grow - recovering their flourishing opposites.

The same 'no moments' that crumble prestige are also a spring to activate us and not stagnate in the same old situations; regenerating, moving forward elsewhere.

Failures that put fame in the balance serve to make us realise what we had not noticed, thus deviating from a conformist destiny.

In short, our Heaven is intertwined with our transmuting flesh, our earth and our dust: it lies within and below, not behind the clouds or in the manners.

In the paradoxical deification of the coming God, the all-worldly mentality of every purist or conformist circle experiences a reversal. Cipher of the great Wisdom of nature.

This is how Master Lü Hui-ch'ing comments on a famous passage from the Tao Tê Ching (LXXVI): "Heaven is on high for ch'ì, Earth is on low for form: ch'ì is soft and weak, form is hard and strong".

The trial-religious aspect to which the story of Jesus [even his intimates] was subjected often appears in John.

The aspirations of the pious men of old are strangely hinged on the need to make a body and recognise one another. Hence always 'those from before'.

Their world, centred on the honour one receives: the theme is Glory - which, however, becomes a dialogue between the deaf. 'Doxa' in the Greek world means manifestation of prestige, honour, esteem.

In Hebrew, the term Glory [Kabôd] means specific, qualitative weight (and manifestation) of the transcendent.

Thus the glory that man gives to God - so to speak - is the opposite of the Hellenist criterion: the principle and evaluation typical of the strutting, 'free', independent and self-confident hero [because of the prestige around].

Conversely, here is 'glory' as humble and grateful recognition, but weighty in the Christian sense: familiar and humanising.

The woman and man called to a particular mission discover in themselves and in reality the conditions of perfection and imperfection.

They lead us to innate fulfilment - not volatile - and the common good, according to specific, personal contribution.

No one is called to artificial prestige and strength, adding something to the honour of what is already in one's vocational essence - sometimes in paradoxical completeness, for a conviviality of differences.

The Glory of Jesus himself was only the awareness and confession of being the Father's Envoy.

That is all that is due to us - also in the sense of growth, of importance in itself, more than "those who become aware".

The devout groups unfortunately not infrequently moved to a level of worldly aspirations - just with a strange mixture of criteria.

So they ended up appreciating each other in circles, patting each other on the back.

Thus - content to be confirmed - they still tend to accentuate the characteristics of what is normally identified as the spiritual dimension, and that easily becomes tainted with the compromise of the artificial external look.

Instead, the inner balance of the Called by Name is re-established through dreams and congenital character - rather than through weighing and the raw influences of conscious life, which distract and level the soul. 

On such a slope, in fact, everyone tends to adopt attitudes that do not fit the very original vocation; on the contrary, they expose the conscience to dissociations and conditioning that distort it.

The Way in the Spirit of Freedom, Love, Newness, is inspired by a dimension of Mystery and spontaneity all to be discovered: Exodus.

Such a character proceeds beyond compartments, denominations filled with established solutions, with conformist thinking hooked on an univocal way of reading the Scriptures and testimonies.

Cages, even 'spiritual' ones, guilt every different, inculcate brooding, curb the most fruitful eccentricities.

In order to ensure 'ecclesial' compactness, the various stigmas everywhere play on the inadequacy of the majority interpretation - and guilt typical of the particular 'container'.

Such frameworks do not awaken creativity, rather they anaesthetise it according to internal clichés: where precisely they take "glory from one another" (v.44).

Frames do not teach one to launch oneself personally and at the right time.

The rhythm, too, does not descend on dissimilar inclinations, on their atypicality - a unique richness that prepares the unrepeatable and extravagant New that we do not already know.

Instruction booklets harass us with other people's progressions and goals to reach, all of which turn out to be yet to be surpassed - and outside our own taste and intimate sense; projected into the future, impersonal.

The 'spiritual' path of the pack reflects the life, judgement or idea of the leader and his 'magic' circle; the forma mentis of a generation or a class.

In this way, established trajectories do not announce changes and authentic encounters, which take place in the propulsive, transversal simplicity of the concrete unpredictable.

Stubborn models do not make us aware of a God Person: He calls to life through impulses that would be new blood for transmutation.

The Eternal One communicates Himself in what He speaks within.

Precisely in the needs - not obsessing energies known only to the soul, of conflicts over useless duties, which neither solve anything nor transmit happiness.

The 'egocentric' religious ideology and all directed thought brand crises as inadequacies to collective purposeful action - thus condemning instincts.

But instincts manifest themselves as escapes of the individual heart that seeks a new hearing, desires to surface and realise; it wants to integrate in its own way, or chart paths that prepare for the future.

Not infrequently, the evocation of the usual delimited rituals - e.g. of 'charisma' - as well as the concatenation of normative constitutions, deaden the character in a levelled atmosphere, which drinks of recollected attunements.

They are not our land.

The barnyard of the 'system' operates according to directives and roles.

But compartments limit the range of action, although they seemingly dilute it.

Trivial inclusions 'teach' us to be content with half-steps already chiselled into the little and not over the top.

This is so as not to allow one to enter the regenerations that count.

The self-referential clan often takes away space from any possibility that moves from there.

This makes one dependent on applause. It slows down, when conversely we could dare....

Lest we continue to perceive healthy restlessness. Differences that would redeem us from subordination.

In fact, the one-sided imprint does not respect nature, so it reinforces what it says it wants to banish.

A disaster for a life of meaning and witness in Christ.

The Lord had as his only daily worship - precisely - the emptiness of social support (which did not accept his deviations) and the fullness of beginnings in the Father.

"But I have a greater witness than John, for the works that the Father has given me to do, the very works that I do, testify of me that the Father has sent me" (John 5:36).

To internalise and live the message:

How do you safeguard community living and your transpositions of Faith in Christ?

What is the point of homologation in satisfaction, and where do you place your Preciousness?

Finger pointing: provisional but sure and strong

The commitment of all Christians is to "be witnesses of Jesus", to fill life with "that gesture" that was typical of John the Baptist: "pointing to Jesus". A common "vocation" on which Pope Francis dwelt in his homily during the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on Friday morning, 16 December.

Following the liturgical path that over the past three days has made us reflect "on John, the last of the prophets, the greatest man born of a woman", the Pontiff delved into the Gospel passage (John 5, 33-36) in which the forerunner "is presented, is shown as the witness". It is Jesus himself who speaks clearly: "You sent messengers to John and he bore witness". Precisely this, Francis emphasised, "is John's vocation: to be a witness".

A vocation made even more comprehensible by some concrete examples. Jesus in fact, the Pope recalled, said that John 'was the lamp'. However, he explained, "he was the lamp but not the light, the torch that indicated where the light was, a lamp that indicated where the light was, a witness to the light". Likewise, John 'was the voice', so much so that he himself 'says of himself, "I am the voice crying out in the wilderness"'. But he was not the Word, in fact "he was the voice but who bears witness to the Word, he points to the Word, the Word of God. He only voice'. And so the Baptist who "was the preacher of penance" says clearly: "After me comes another who is stronger than I, he is greater than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to lace. And this one will baptise you in fire and the Holy Spirit'. To sum up: 'Lamp pointing to the light, voice pointing to the Word, preacher of penance and baptiser pointing to the true baptiser in the Holy Spirit'. John, the Pope concluded, 'is the provisional and Jesus is the definitive. John is the provisional who points to the definitive'.

But precisely this provisionality, this 'being for', is 'the greatness of John'. A man 'always with his finger there', pointing to another. In fact, in the Gospel we read that "people wondered in their hearts if John was not the Messiah. And he, clear: "I am not"'. And even when the doctors, the leaders of the people asked him: "But are you or must we wait for another?" he always repeated: "I am not. Another comes', again reminding him that one would come to whom he was not worthy to lace his shoes: 'I am not. Another, who will baptise you'.

It is precisely this, according to the Pontiff, the most eloquent image that tells us who John the Baptist was, his "provisional but sure, strong witness", his being "a torch that did not let itself be extinguished by the wind of vanity" and "a voice that did not let itself be diminished by the force of pride". John, the Pope clarified, is "always one who points to the other and opens the door to the other testimony, that of the Father, that which Jesus says today: 'I, however, have a testimony superior to that of John, that of the Father'. And, the Pontiff added, when we read in the Gospel that "the voice of the Father was heard: 'This is my Son'", we must understand that "it was John who opened this door".

Therefore John "is great", because "he always leaves himself aside". He, Francis explained, is great because 'he is humble and takes the path of lowering himself, of annihilating himself, the same path that Jesus will take later'. And also in this 'he offers a great witness: he opens that road of annihilation, of emptying himself' that was also Jesus' later.

A role that the Baptist incarnated, one could say, even physically: "to the disciples, to his own disciples, once Jesus passed by" he would point with his finger: "That is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That one, not me". And in the face of 'the insistence of the leaders, the people, the doctors' John always repeated: 'It is necessary for Him to grow, for Him to grow, for me to diminish'. In humility, the Pontiff said, "is the greatness of John". So much so that he "diminishes, he annihilates himself, to the end: in the darkness of a cell, in prison, beheaded, for the whim of a dancer, the envy of an adulteress and the weakness of a drunkard".

Several times the Pope, to underline the concept, repeated the expression "Great John!". A great one who, he added, if we were to depict him in a painting, we should simply draw a finger pointing.

At the conclusion of his homily, the Pope brought his meditation, as usual, to the concrete reality of people today. Seeing that there were a number of bishops, priests, religious, and couples celebrating their fiftieth anniversary in the chapel of Santa Marta, he told them: "It is a beautiful day to ask oneself" if "one's Christian life has always opened the way to Jesus, if one's life has always been full of that gesture: pointing to Jesus". It is necessary, he continued, to 'give thanks' for all the times this has been done, but also to 'begin again'. Always begin again, with what the Pontiff called "youthful old age, or youth aged, like good wine!" and always take a "step forward to continue to be witnesses of Jesus". With the help of John "the great witness".

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 17/12/2016].

Christians are a priestly people for the world. Christians should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him. When we speak of this task in which we share by virtue of our baptism, it is no reason to boast. It poses a question to us that makes us both joyful and anxious: are we truly God’s shrine in and for the world? Do we open up the pathway to God for others or do we rather conceal it? Have not we – the people of God – become to a large extent a people of unbelief and distance from God? Is it perhaps the case that the West, the heartlands of Christianity, are tired of their faith, bored by their history and culture, and no longer wish to know faith in Jesus Christ? We have reason to cry out at this time to God: “Do not allow us to become a ‘non-people’! Make us recognize you again! Truly, you have anointed us with your love, you have poured out your Holy Spirit upon us. Grant that the power of your Spirit may become newly effective in us, so that we may bear joyful witness to your message!

[Pope Benedict, Chrism homily 21 April 2011]

1. This admonition, dear brothers and sisters, is contained in the part of St Paul's Letter to the Romans that is proposed for common reflection this year on the occasion of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity".

The perspective in which the "Week" is set is that of a humanity united in praising the Lord, the creator of man and his redeemer: "Praise the Lord, all you peoples" (Ps 117:1; cf. Rom 15:5-13), recites the psalm quoted in St Paul's passage. A fundamental contribution to the implementation of such universal praise will certainly be offered by the rebuilding of the unity of Christ's disciples.

The movement, "born by the grace of the Holy Spirit" and "growing larger by the day" (Unitatis redintegratio, 1), which proposes the re-establishment of the full unity of Christians, is by its very nature very complex. It implies profound spiritual motivation, an attitude of religious obedience to the demands of the Gospel, persevering prayer, fraternal contact with other Christians to overcome, through dialogue of the truth and with respect for the integrity of the faith, existing differences, and finally cooperation in the various fields possible for a common witness.

This search for unity in faith and Christian witness finds in St Paul a realistic and admirably fruitful indication, as well as one that is always timely: mutual acceptance among Christians. The Apostle recommends: "Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you for the glory of God" (Rom 15:7).

The spirit of welcome is an essential and unifying dimension of the entire ecumenical movement; it is a vital expression of the need for communion. St Paul indicates some important elements of this welcome: it must be a welcome in faith in Jesus Christ, it must be reciprocal, and it must be for the glory of God.

2. As Christ welcomed you, St Paul exhorts, so you welcome one another, in sincere forgiveness and brotherly love. It is in faith in Christ that the Christian community gathers. It is in the context of the common baptism that mutual acceptance can count on the agglutinating power of grace, whose efficacy endures despite serious differences. The Second Vatican Council emphasises this when it states that those who "believe in Christ and have duly received baptism are constituted in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Catholic Church" (Unitatis redintegratio, 3). They are therefore "justified in baptism by faith, are incorporated into Christ and are therefore given the name of Christians and by the children of the Catholic Church are rightly recognised as brothers in the Lord" (Unitatis redintegratio, 3).

3. Welcoming among Christians, to generate true communion, must also be reciprocal: "Welcome one another" (Rom 15:7). This presupposes mutual knowledge and readiness to appreciate and accept the authentically Christian values lived and developed by others. This is what the Second Vatican Council recalls: 'Catholics should joyfully recognise and esteem the truly Christian values, coming from the common heritage, found among our separated brethren. To recognise the riches of Christ and the virtuous works in the lives of others, who bear witness to Christ sometimes even to the shedding of blood, is a just and salutary thing: for God is always admirable and sublime in his works" (Unitatis redintegratio, 4). The Council goes even further by adding that "what is done by the grace of the Holy Spirit in separated brethren can contribute to our edification" (Unitatis redintegratio, 4). It is therefore our duty to appreciate what is authentically evangelical among other Christians. In fact, "everything that is truly Christian is never contrary to the benefits of faith; on the contrary, it can make the very mystery of Christ and the Church more perfectly attained" (Unitatis redintegratio, 4).

Hence the "golden rule" of ecumenism, the principle of respect for legitimate variety, as long as it is not detrimental to the integrity of the faith (cf. Unitatis redintegratio, 16-17). Some aspects of the revealed mystery in fact, as the Council notes with regard to the Eastern Churches, can sometimes be perceived more adequately by some than by others (cf. Unitatis redintegratio, 17). Openness to welcoming others with their Christian heritage thus proves to be the way to better draw from the superabundant wealth of God's grace.

4. The consequence of this is that, as St Paul says, everything is accomplished "for the glory of God" (Rom 15:7). In the Christian community, united in the name of Christ and guided by the word of the Gospel, God's action on behalf of humanity is reflected and his glory somehow shines forth. Jesus himself reveals this when, in the priestly prayer, addressed to the Father, for the unity of his disciples, he affirms: "The glory that you have given to me, I have given to them that they may be as we are one" (Jn 17:22).

Mutual acceptance for the glory of God is shown particularly in two moments: in the prayer that Christians raise together in praise of the common Lord, and in the concordant witness of charity, from which Christ's loving concern for the people of our time shines forth.

5. Considering the ecumenical situation today in the light of the demands of mutual acceptance, we must give glory to God for the new conditions of Christian brotherhood that have been consolidated. The slowly resumed and sometimes laboriously pursued contacts, the ever arduous and demanding theological dialogue, the events of pastoral collaboration and practical cooperation, have created a truly new situation among Christians. It has been clearly perceived that division is anti-evangelical, and efforts are being made together to re-establish unity in faithfulness.

The theological dialogue between Christians is reaching important goals in terms of clarifying each other's positions and achieving some convergence on issues that were bitterly disputed in the past. But the dialogue must continue in order to reach the goal: full agreement on the common profession of faith. In this regard, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to the Catholic theologians and theologians of other Churches and ecclesial communities who, within the framework of the various joint commissions, devote their attention and efforts to finding the way to overcome the divergences inherited from history, thus facilitating the Magisterium of the Church in fulfilling its duty in the service of revealed truth. Valuable work, therefore, that of theologians, which must be welcomed with gratitude and supported with prayer.

6. The theme of the present "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" is set in the perspective of the universal doxology, which must rise from all peoples in praise of the one Lord.

Let each one feel committed to contribute to it in the ways that are possible for him. Persistent prayer will not fail to hasten the restoration of the full unity of all Christians in the one Church of Christ. Let us therefore also say with the Psalmist: "Praise the Lord, all you peoples, / All you nations, give him glory; / For strong is his love for us / And the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever" (Ps 117:1-2). Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 23 January 1991]

Pope Francis [...] returned to one of his mother ideas: the importance for the Christian, and not only, of reading a few lines of the Gospel every day. For a believer the gospel is not a book like any other but, since Jesus is the Incarnate Word of the Father, the collection of his words makes possible a particular efficacy of the action of the Holy Spirit within each one of us.

In reality, however, we often forget this and this happens because we do not know how to combine the words spoken two thousand years ago with our daily lives. The secret to making the gospel a daily presence is to discover that it is already in itself "a daily presence".

The Sunday on which the Pope asked us to return to giving importance to the Gospel was, for example, the Sunday on which the first half of the football championship ended: that is, the first half of a championship that is the first (and hopefully the last) without a public.

There were a lot of goals and surprising results and, according to the experts, this was largely due to the absence of a public: there are players, especially the younger ones,' said Fabio Capello, for example, 'who score more goals without a public, they perform better, because they have more courage.

It is, in a macroscopic way, the problem we all have: giving enormous importance to the judgement of others on us. We all feel the urge to be in the group because being in the group, in the social organisation, makes us feel protected, 'on the right side', we are not alone in facing life. But it is precisely this atmosphere of security that is often the chain that keeps us in prison, that prevents us from being ourselves and that drives us to betray our aspirations.

Each one of us, here is the lesson that comes to us from a championship such as this, has 'an audience' to which we are more or less consciously accountable: and the gospel could help us precisely to rid ourselves of this to a good extent. Jesus Christ, whether we believe he was God or not, was certainly a person who went against the expectations of his 'audience': whether they were the relatives, friends or the powerful of his time.

In a discussion, Christ tells the Pharisees that it is impossible for them to follow him, not because they do not know in their hearts that he is right, but because, by following him, they would have lost the consensus of their group. "How can you believe, you who take glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from God alone?" (John 5:44).

We understand for ourselves that reading a sentence like this in the morning before going to the office or entering into an important relational dynamic would be infinitely liberating: and this regardless of whether one is a believer or a practitioner. That is why Bergoglio's words on the gospel have universal value.

[https://www.agi.it/blog-italia/idee/post/2021-01-28/campionato-senza-pubblico-papa-francesco-vangelo-11184640/]

Today, 25 March, we are in the heart of the Jubilee contemplating the mystery of the Annunciation and Incarnation of the Word. It used to be a predominantly Marian feast, as it still appears in many popular religious traditions. With the liturgical reform, it was highlighted as an important Christological solemnity that immerses us in the heart of the Incarnation of the eternal Word: God becoming man for our salvation. The presence of Mary - The Annunciation - as the one who with her 'yes' made the mystery of our salvation possible, the miracle of the Incarnation, always remains strong; and she invites each one of us to unite our 'yes' to hers, aware that only in humility is the human heart capable of responding to God's call.

IV Sunday in Lent (year C) [30 March 2025] 

*First Reading From the book of Joshua (5, 9a 10- 12)

Moses did not enter the promised land because he died on Mount Nebo, at the Dead Sea, on the side that today corresponds to the Jordanian shore. It was therefore not he who introduced the people of Israel into Palestine, but his servant and successor Joshua. The whole book of Joshua recounts the entry of the people into the promised land, starting with the crossing of the Jordan since the tribes of Israel entered Palestine from the east. The aim of the writer of this book is quite clear: if the author recalls God's work for Israel, it is to exhort the people to faithfulness. Within the few lines of today's text lies a real sermon that is divided into two teachings: firstly, we must never forget that God has delivered the people from Egypt; and secondly, if he has delivered them, it is to give them this land as he promised our fathers. We receive everything from God, but when we forget this, we put ourselves in dead-end situations. This is why the text draws continuous parallels between leaving Egypt, life in the desert and entering Canaan. For example, in chapter 3 of the book of Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan is solemnly recounted as a repetition of the Red Sea miracle. In this Sunday's text, the author insists on the Passover: "they celebrated the Passover, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening". Just as the celebration of the Passover had marked the exit from Egypt and the Red Sea miracle, the Passover now follows the entry into the promised land and the Jordan miracle. These are intentional parallels by which the author wants to say that, from the beginning to the end of this incredible adventure, it is the same God who acts to free his people, in view of the promised land. The book of Joshua comes immediately after Deuteronomy. "Joshua" is not his name, but the nickname given to him by Moses: at first, he was simply called "Hoshéa", "Hosea" meaning "He saves" and the new name, "Joshua" ("Yeoshoua") contains the name of God to indicate more explicitly that only God saves. Joshua after all understood that he alone cannot deliver his people. The second part of today's text is surprising because on the surface it speaks only of food, but there is much more: "On the day after the Passover, they ate the produce of that land: unleavened and toasted wheat. And from the next day, as they had eaten, the manna ceased. The Israelites had no more manna: that year they ate the fruits of the land of Canaan." This change of food suggests a weaning: a new page is turned, a new life begins and the desert period with its difficulties, recriminations and even miraculous solutions ends. Now Israel, having arrived in the God-given land, will no longer be nomads, but a sedentary people of farmers feeding on the products of the soil; an adult people responsible for its own subsistence. Having the means to provide for themselves, God does not replace them because he has great respect for their freedom. However, this people will not forget the manna and will retain the lesson: just as the Lord provided in the desert, so Israel must become solicitous towards those who for various reasons are in need. It is clearly stated in the Book of Deuteronomy: God has taught us to feed the poor by sending down bread from heaven for the children of Israel, and now it is up to us to do the same (cf. Deut.34:6). Finally, the crossing of the Jordan and the entry into the promised land, the land of freedom, helps us to better understand Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, which will become the sign of the new entry into the true land of freedom. 

*Responsorial Psalm (33 (34) 2-3, 4-5, 6-7)

In this psalm, as in others, each verse is constructed in two lines in dialogue and ideally it should be sung in two alternating choruses, line by line. It is composed of 22 verses corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in poetry called an acrostic: each letter of the alphabet is placed vertically in front of each verse, beginning with the corresponding letter in the margin. This procedure, quite frequent in psalms, indicates that we are dealing with a psalm of thanksgiving for the covenant. We could say that it is a response to the first reading from the book of Joshua, where although it tells a story, there is actually an invitation to give thanks for all that God has accomplished for Israel.  The language of thanksgiving is omnipresent, as is evident in the first verses: 'I will bless the Lord at all times ... on my lips always his praise ... magnify the Lord with me ... let us exalt his name together'. The speaker is Israel, witness to the work of God: a God who responds, frees, listens, saves: "I sought the Lord: he answered me; from all fear he delivered me... this poor man cries out and the Lord listens to him: he saves him from all his anguish."  This attention of God emerges in the passage from chapter 3 of Exodus, which was the first reading of last Sunday, the third of Lent i.e. the episode of the burning bush: "I have seen the misery of my people... their cry has reached me... I know their sufferings." Israel is the poor liberated by God's mercy, as we read in this psalm, and has discovered its twofold mission: firstly, to teach all the humble about faith, understood as a dialogue between God and man who cries out his distress and God hears him, liberates him and comes to his aid; secondly, to be willing to collaborate with God's work. Just as Moses and Joshua were God's instruments to deliver his people and bring them into the promised land, so Israel will be the attentive ear to the poor and the instrument of God's concern for them: 'let the poor hear and rejoice'. Israel must echo down the centuries this cry, which is an interwoven polyphony of suffering, praise and hope to alleviate all forms of poverty. It is necessary, however, to be poor in heart with the realism of recognising ourselves as small and to invoke God for help in the certainty that he accompanies us in every circumstance to help us face life's obstacles. 

*Second Reading from the Second Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians (5:17-21)

This text can be understood in two ways and everything revolves around the central phrase: "not imputing (God) to men their faults" (v.19) which can have two meanings. The first: since the beginning of the world, God has kept count of men's sins, but, in his great mercy, he agreed to wipe them out through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and this is what is known as 'substitution', i.e. Jesus took on in our place a debt too great for us. Secondly, God has never counted the sins of men, and Christ came into the world to show us that God has always been love and forgiveness, as we read in Psalm 102 (103): "God turns away our sins from us". The whole path of biblical revelation moves us from the first hypothesis to the second, and in order to understand it better, we need to answer these three questions: Does God keep count of our sins? Can we speak of 'substitution' in the death of Christ? If God does not reckon with us and if we cannot speak of 'substitution', how should we interpret this text of Paul?

First: Does God keep count of our sins? At the beginning of the covenant history, Israel was certainly convinced of this and it is clear why. Man cannot discover God unless God himself reveals himself to him. To Abraham God does not speak of sin, but of covenant, of promise, of blessing, of descent, and never does the word 'merit' appear. "Abraham had faith in the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Gen 15:6), so faith is the only thing that counts. God does not keep track of our actions, which does not mean that we can do anything, because we are responsible for building the Kingdom. To Moses, the Lord reveals himself as merciful and forgiving, slow to anger and rich in love (cf. Ex 34:6). David, precisely on the occasion of his sin, understands that God's forgiveness precedes even our repentance and Isaiah observes that God surprises us because His thoughts are not our thoughts: He is only forgiveness for sinners (cf. Is 55:6-8). In the Old Testament, the chosen people already knew that God is tenderness and forgiveness and called him Father long before we did. The parable of Jonah, for example, was written precisely to show that God cares even for the Ninevites, Israel's historical enemies.

Second: Can one speak of 'substitution' in the death of Christ? If God does not keep count of sins and therefore we do not have a debt to pay, there is no need for Jesus to replace us. Moreover, the New Testament texts speak of solidarity, never substitution, and Jesus does not act in our place, nor is he our representative. He is the 'firstborn' as Paul says, who opens the way and walks before us. Mixed in with sinners he asked for Baptism from John and on the cross he accepted to give his life for us. He drew near to us so that we could draw near to Him.

Thirdly: How then is this text of Paul's to be interpreted? First of all, God has never kept count of the sins of men, and Christ came into the world to make us understand this. When he says to Pilate: "I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37), he affirms that his mission is to reveal the face of God who is always love and forgiveness. And when Paul writes: "...not imputing (God) to men their faults" he means to make it clear that God erases our false ideas about Him, those that portray Him as an accountant.  Jesus came to show the face of God Love, but was rejected and therefore accepted to die. He had become too inconvenient for the religious authorities of the time, who thought they knew better than he did who God was, and so he died on the cross because of human pride that had turned into implacable hatred. To Philip in the Upper Room he said: "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9) and even in the midst of humiliation and hatred he only uttered words of forgiveness. We understand at this point the sentence with which this passage closes: "He who knew no sin, God made him sin for our sake, that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (v. 21). On the face of Christ crucified, we contemplate to what extent the horror of our sin reaches us, but also to what extent God's forgiveness reaches us, and from this contemplation our conversion can be born: "They shall look upon him whom they have pierced", a text from the prophet Zechariah (12:10), which we find in the Fourth Gospel (Jn 19:37). Hence our vocation as ambassadors of God's love: "We beseech you in the name of Christ: be reconciled to God" (v.20).

*From the Gospel according to Luke (15:1-3. 11-32)

The interpretive key to this text is found in the very first words. St Luke writes that "all publicans and sinners came to Jesus to listen to him" while "the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, 'He welcomes sinners and eats with them'. The former are public sinners to be avoided, while the latter are honest people who seek to do what pleases God. In truth, the Pharisees were generally upright, pious people and faithful to the Law of Moses, shocked however by the behaviour of Jesus who does not seem to understand who he is dealing with if he even eats and mingles with sinners. God is the Holy One and for them there was a total incompatibility between God and sinners and therefore Jesus, if he was truly from God, had to avoid associating with them. This parable is intended to help one discover the true face of God who is Father. In fact, the main character in this story is God himself, the father who has two kinds of sons, both with at least one point in common, namely the way they conceive of their relationship with their father in terms of merits and accounts, even though they behave differently: the younger offends him gravely, unlike the elder, and in the end, however, acknowledges his sin: "I am no longer worthy to be called your son"; the elder, on the other hand, boasts of having always obeyed but complains that he has never even received a kid as he deserves. The Father is out of these calculations and does not want to hear about merits because he loves his children and in this relationship there is no room for calculating accounts. To the prodigal son, who had demanded 'my share of the inheritance that is due to me', he had gone far beyond the demand, as he will eventually say to both of them: all that is mine is yours. To the prodigal son who returns he does not even leave time to express any repentance, he does not demand an explanation; on the contrary, he wants to celebrate immediately, because 'this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and has been found'. The lesson is clear: with God it is not a matter of calculations, merits, even if we struggle to eradicate this mentality, and the whole Bible, from the Old Testament onwards, shows the slow and patient pedagogy with which God seeks to make himself known as Father, ready to celebrate every time we return to him.

Two small comments to conclude:

1. In the first reading, taken from the book of Joshua, Israel is nourished by manna during the desert crossing, while here there is no manna for the son who refuses to live with his father and finds himself in an existential desert, because he has cut himself off. 

2. Concerning the connection with the parable of the lost sheep, which is also found in this chapter of Luke, it is observed that the shepherd goes to look for the lost sheep and brings it back by putting it on his shoulders, while the father does not prevent the son from leaving and does not force him to return because he respects his freedom to the full.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

(Jn 5:17-30)

The center of Jewish hope was the return to ancient times, which however moved into an indeterminate future ["last day"].

According to the Master, life as saved persons begins now, and from listening to his specific Word-Person (v.24) which supplants every code.

He attributes to himself a total (also juridical) caliber. It replaces the area once believed to be the prerogative of God alone: ​​«He gave all judgment to the Son» (v.22).

Faced with the resounding of the present Logos and the Father's incisive and life-giving Dream which becomes actual, death loses all destructive efficacy.

The aspect of human and operative reality prevails over what to religions seemed to be reserved for the God of Heaven alone, and projected into a perfect future.

The Memorial is now. To redo the triumph - through Golgotha, here.

Impossible to confuse the scope of incessant life with observances.

Difficult to call God with the term Father [Abba, papa] if He transmitted to us the desire to be and to do, only with detachment.

The healing of the paralytic (vv.1-16) has in fact existential traits that pass in divine character. It is not comparable to the results of a doctor's activity, but to the work of the Spirit in us.

The time of man's diminution before the Most High is over: his plan is not for anguish, but for growth - which authentically manifests the Judgment of the Eternal.

Judgment: not of custody of order, but of love and regeneration. Human imprint in transmitting the divine condition (v.18) in fullness of being and freedom, in the intimate experience of his Heart.

Jesus expresses immanence with the Father by expanding his creative work, which is by no means finished: it continues to vivify us.

God supports the universe and our being, so He’s always active. Here and now; not on the other side of time - therefore He doesn’t incline to the quiet drowsiness of conscience.

The Father always works, the Son - his first and incessant imprint - imitates his quality of action in continuity.

It’s a concrete Pact for the people: His Council all to be implemented, really comes to us.

To this end, He’s not afraid to transgress an approximate and narrow precept, an idol of the sacred, albeit very devout, ancient tradition.

Moreover, even in the sabbath rest [!] the Creator blesses and consecrates (Genesis 2,3).

The whole multiple history is in a sort of unity’s principle: time of intervention for salvation and relationship with the Mystery.

Wherever we proceed, those who reflect God do not stun of prejudices on human reality: instead they are already there and remain indefinitely.

Sons in the «Son of man» (v.27) - to dialogue, open, support, give refreshment, make every situation intense and delicate.

Honoring the Most High is honoring humanity in need of everything, at any time.

Only this ‘manifests’ Him, even in ‘infractions’ - a land rich in new springs that shorten distances.

This is the reciprocal and singular Work of God (Jn 6:29): to love, not «works» (v.28) heavy with law and nomenclature.

[Wednesday 4th wk. in Lent, April 2nd, 2025]

(Jn 5:17-30)

The centre of the Jewish hope was the return to ancient times, which, however, was transferred to an indeterminate future ["last day"].

According to the Master, life as saved begins now, and from listening to his specific Word-Person (v.24) that supersedes every code.

He ascribes to himself a total (even legal) character. It replaces the sphere once believed to be the prerogative of God alone: "He has given all judgment to the Son" (v.22).

Faced with the resounding of the present Logos and the efficacious and life-giving Dream of the Father, death loses all destructive efficacy.

The aspect of human and operative reality prevails over what to religions seemed to be reserved for the God of Heaven alone, and projected into a perfect future.

The Memorial is now. To remake the triumph - through Golgotha, here.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (xxi): "From ancient times until now, his Name does not pass away, and so he consents to all beginnings. From what do I know the manner of all beginnings? From this'.

Jesus expresses the intimate immanence with the Father by expanding his creative work, which is by no means finished: he continues to enliven us. He sustains the universe and our being, so he is always active.

It is impossible to confuse the scope of unceasing life with observances.

It would be difficult to call God by the term Father [Abba, papa] if He conveyed to us a desire to be and to do, only with detachment.

In fact, the healing of the paralytic (vv.1-16) has existential traits that pass in divine character; it is not comparable to the results of a doctor's activity, but to the work of the Spirit in us.

The time of man's diminishment before the Most High is over: his design is not for distress, but for growth - which authentically manifests the Judgement of the Eternal.

A judgement not of the preservation of order, but of love and regeneration: a human imprint in transmitting to us the divine condition [(v.18); cf. commentary on Jn 10:31-42: You make yourself God, you are Gods] in fullness of being and freedom, in the intimate experience of his Heart.

Here and now; not on the other side of time - so there is no inclination to the quiet slumber of conscience.

Indulgent yes, but because of the falls in the risk - of witnessing at least a crumb of his image within, without the lowest denominator.

In the encounter with the Person of Jesus, we become aware of his resurrection power: devoid of partiality, consistent and objective on the terrain of both life and death, remission, and judgement.

Unceasingly we assimilate his thoughts, impulses, words, actions, charged events: everything becomes a young experience of God revealing himself.

The Father always works, the Son - his first and unceasing imprint - imitates his quality of action in continuity.

It is a concrete covenant for the people: his all-embracing Council truly comes to us.

To this end, he is not afraid to transgress an approximate and narrow precept, an idol of the sacred, albeit devout, ancient tradition.

After all, even in the Sabbath rest the Creator blesses and consecrates (Gen 2:3).

Father and Son are not custodians of tranquillitas ordinis, nor do they induce a drowsiness of conscience.

The whole of manifold history is in a kind of unity principle: time of intervention for salvation, and relationship to the Mystery.

Wherever we proceed, he who reflects God does not stun with prejudices about human reality: instead, he is already there and remains to the bitter end.

Sons in the "Son of Man" (v.27) - to dialogue, to open, to support, to give refreshment, to make every situation intense and delicate.

To honour the Most High is to honour humanity in need of everything, at all times.

Only this manifests him, even in the infractions - a land rich in new springs that shorten distances.

This is the reciprocal and singular Work of God (Jn 6:29): to love, not "works" (v.28) burdensome with law and nomenclature.

To internalise and live the message:

How to be the face of the Father, creator of life, friend and brother, who raises up?

How to recognise the new Covenant and correspond to it? What does it mean for you to believe in the victory of life over death?

You make yourself God

(Jn 10:31-42)

In Jn the term Jews indicates not the people, but the spiritual leaders. A blasphemous Jesus claims mutual immanence with the Father, and dares to expand to us the boundaries of the Mystery that envelops and fills him.

But the divine condition manifested in its human fullness is rejected by the religious leaders precisely in the name of adherence to the Eternal.

The authorities reject the Son in the name of the Eternal and fidelity to the traditional idea, to the irreducible image of the victorious God (from which springs a certain type of competitive society, ruthless even in spiritual life).

According to Jesus, the Father is not revealed by reasoning and cerebral arguments, but by the indestructible quality of 'beautiful' works (vv.32-33). 

The Greek term stands for the sense of fullness and wonder - truth, goodness, fascination, amazement - that emanates from the one action required in any work (major or minor): the love that resurrects the needy.

And Scripture recognises in each of us this sacred spark, which gives all happenings and emotions the step of Vertigo that surpasses the things around us, or how they 'should' be done.

Of course, to support us we need a Face, a relationship and a close kinship to identify what moves us, to peer inside what appears or is aroused.

The Unity of natures - He in us and we with the Father - corresponds to us in the Face of Christ, and is made manifest in listening, welcoming, not rushing to condemn, but making the weak strong.

The symbiosis with God in our activities, with our way of proposing or reacting, throughout our lives, unfolds in each Son His Likeness, even in difficult circumstances.

Everything that happens, even persecutions and assassination attempts due to misunderstanding or spiritual envy, can be looked at from a different perspective.

They are events, external happenings that activate overall energies: they become cosmic outside and acutely divine within us.

Rather than dangers and annoyances, they trace an Exodus destiny - like a river that carries, but in Christ escapes us from the hands of a deadly stasis (v.39), and admirably resonates with the forces that lead to the peripheries - where we must go.

From Son of David to Son of Man

The Church is Catholic because Christ embraces the whole of humanity in his mission of salvation. While Jesus' mission in his earthly life was limited to the Jewish people, "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24), it was nevertheless oriented from the beginning to bring the light of the Gospel to all peoples and to bring all nations into the Kingdom of God. Confronted with the faith of the Centurion in Capernaum, Jesus exclaims: "Now I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 8:11). This universalistic perspective emerges, among other things, from the presentation Jesus made of himself not only as "Son of David", but as "son of man" (Mk 10:33), as we also heard in the Gospel passage just proclaimed. The title "Son of Man", in the language of the Jewish apocalyptic literature inspired by the vision of history in the Book of the Prophet Daniel (cf. 7:13-14), recalls the person who comes "with the clouds of heaven" (v. 13) and is an image that heralds an entirely new kingdom, a kingdom supported not by human powers, but by the true power that comes from God. Jesus uses this rich and complex expression and refers it to Himself to manifest the true character of His messianism, as a mission destined for the whole man and every man, overcoming all ethnic, national and religious particularism. And it is precisely in following Jesus, in allowing oneself to be drawn into his humanity and thus into communion with God, that one enters into this new kingdom, which the Church announces and anticipates, and which overcomes fragmentation and dispersion.

[Pope Benedict, address to the Consistory 24 November 2012].