Sources of Hope

(Lk 21:29-33)

Lk ends his Apocalyptic Discourse with recommendations on the attention and penetrating gaze to be placed at the ‘sign of the times’.

And - rooted in the Word of God that becomes event and directs us to the future, Hope inaugurates a new phase in history.

Its depth surpasses all current possibilities, which conversely fluctuate between signs of catastrophe.

Jesus reassures the disciples about the fears of the world’s end, and requires them not to look at coded messages, but Nature.

Only in this way will they be able to read and interpret the events.

Wise discernment, which serves not to close us in the immediate present: it pushes us on a path of uniformity or defense.

Indeed, because of the upheavals, a hasty assessment could lead us to fear reversals, blocking growth and testimony.

The world and things are moving towards a Spring, and above all in this regard we have a sentinel role.

On the ruins of a collapsing century, the Father makes us understand what’s happening - and continues to build what we hope [not according to immediate tastes].

Here and there we can catch the first stirrings of it, like the shoots on the ‘fig tree’.

It’s a tree that alludes to the fruit of love that God awaits from his people, called to be tender and sweet: signs of the new season - that of healthy relationships.

In this way, the spirit of dedication manifested by the sons will be the prefiguration of the imminent advent of a completely different empire - able to replace in consciences all others of a competitive character.

The fig tree is precisely the image of the ideal people of blessings; Israel of the exodus towards freedom, and trace of the Father [in the desert’s reflective sobriety and sharing].

It remains long time stripped and bare; suddenly its buds sprout, open and in a few days it’s covered with luxuriant leaves.

Such will be the passage from chaos to the sensitive and fraternal order produced by the proclamation and assimilation of the Word: not equal thought; divine step in history.

Through suggestions that belong to processes of nature, we are introduced into discernment of the Mystery - expressed throughout the wilde of transformations.

Its riches are contained in the codes of the Word and in the ordinary concrete events, which have a symptomatic weight. Chests of treasure, of invisible realities, which do not pass.

Such a wealth will even develop (and in particular) from confusion and collapses, as per intrinsic strength and essence, day by day.

Not for an abstract exemplarity, but for the fullness of life that finds its roots - rediscovering them in error and in the small.

A paradoxical seed of hope, and harbinger of better conditions.

Because without imperfection and limit there is no growth or flowering, nor nearby Kingdom (vv.30-31) which always takes contact with the wounds [Fratelli Tutti n.261].

Word of God and rhythms of Nature are codes that pass time. Authentic reliefs, created, donated, and revealed.

Sources of discernment, of the penetrating gaze, of the signs of time, of free thought, of Hope that does not queue.

[Friday 34th wk. in O.T.  November 29, 2024]

The Sources of Hope

(Lk 21:29-33)

The Sadducees thought that their exaggerated prosperity was the most expressive sign of the Messianic times.

The Essenes believed that the Kingdom of God [of which they wished to be a foretaste] could only be manifested when the chosen people had completely cleansed themselves of all obscurity and sacred market.

The Pharisees believed that the Messiah would be established when everyone had returned to the sacred traditions, written and oral.

Even among the early Christians, there was a variety of opinions on the matter.

Fortunately (then as now) some considered the Risen One already fully Present, never departed.

His living Spirit is manifested within each believer and in our midst - especially perceptible where there is a struggle for justice, emancipation, the fullness of life for all.

Luke ends his Apocalyptic Discourse with recommendations on the attention and penetrating gaze to be paid to the 'sign of the times'.

And - rooted in the Word of God that becomes an event and directs to the future, Hope ushers in a new phase of history.

Its depth surpasses all current possibilities, which on the contrary oscillate restlessly between signs of catastrophe.

(In old Europe, after several decades of an accommodating and soporific spiritual trend, we experience this by direct observation).

"When they have already sprouted, behold, by yourselves you know that summer is already near" (Lk 21:31).

Jesus reassures the disciples about their fears of the end of the world, and commands them not to look at coded messages, but at Nature.

Only in this way will they be able to read and interpret events.

Wise discernment, which serves not to close us off in the immediate present.

In fact, due to upheavals, a hasty evaluation could lead us to fear reversals, blocking growth and witness.

The world and things walk towards a Spring, and first and foremost in this sense we have a sentinel role.

On the ruins of a collapsing century, the Father makes clear what is happening - and continues to build what we hope [not according to immediate tastes].

Here and there we can catch its wisps, like the shoots on the 'fig tree'.

It is a tree that alludes to the fruit of love that God expects from his people, called to be tender and sweet: signs of the new season - that of healthy relationships.

In this way, the spirit of dedication manifested by the sons will be a prefiguration of the coming advent of a completely different empire - capable of replacing all others of a competitive nature in the consciousness.

The fig tree is precisely the image of the ideal people of blessings; Israel of the exodus to freedom, and a trace of the Father [in the reflective sobriety and sharing of the desert].

It remains for a long time bare and skeletal; suddenly its buds sprout, open up and in a few days it is clothed with luxuriant leaves.

Such will be the transition from chaos to the sensitive and fraternal order produced by the proclamation and assimilation of the Word: thought not equal; divine step into history.

Through suggestions that belong to the processes of nature, we are introduced to the discernment of the Mystery - expressed in the torrent of transformations.

Its riches are contained in the codes of the Word and in concrete ordinary events. Caskets of invisible realities, which do not pass away.

Such richness will even (and especially) develop out of confusion and collapse, as if by intrinsic strength and essence, day by day.

Not out of abstract exemplariness, but out of the fullness of life rediscovering its roots - rediscovering them in error and in the small.

A paradoxical seed of hope, and omen of better conditions.

For without imperfection and limitation there is no growth or blossoming, no neighbouring kingdom (vv.30-31) which always "makes contact with wounds" [Fratelli Tutti n.261].

The Tao Tê Ching (LII) says: "The world had a beginning, which was the mother of the world; whoever has come to the mother, from the mother knows the son; whoever knows the son and returns to preserve the mother, until death runs no danger [...] Enlightenment is to see the small; strength is to stick to softness [...] This is called practising the eternal".

The Word of God and the rhythms of Nature are codes that pass time. Authentic, created, given, and revealed.

Sources of discernment, of the penetrating gaze, of the signs of the times, of free thought, of the Hope that does not settle.

To internalise and live the message:

What have you learnt by contemplating nature? A different Wisdom? 

How is it that you consider it so far removed from the usual doctrine and its dirigiste or cerebral codes, which over time prove shoddy?

The world becomes a book. Art of vigilance

One of the characteristic attitudes of the Church after the Council is that of a particular attention over human reality, considered historically; that is, over the facts, events, phenomena of our time. A word of the Council has entered our habits: that of scrutinising 'the signs of the times'. Here is an expression, which has a distant evangelical reminiscence: "Do you not know how to discern - Jesus once asked his hostile and malicious listeners - the signs of the times?" (Matth. 16:4). At that time the Lord was alluding to the wonders He was performing, which were to indicate the coming of the Messianic hour. But the expression has today, along the same lines, if you like, a new meaning of great importance: in fact, Pope John XXIII took it up again in the Apostolic Constitution, with which he called the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, when, after observing the sad spiritual conditions of the contemporary world, he wanted to revive the hope of the Church, writing: "We like to place a firm trust in the divine Saviour ... who exhorts us to recognise the signs of the times", so that "we see amid dark darkness numerous signs, which seem to announce better times for the Church and for mankind" (A.A.S. 1962, p. 6). The signs of the times are, in this sense, portents of better times.

JOHN XXIII AND THE COUNCIL

The expression passed into the conciliar documents (especially in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, n. 4; we glimpse it in the admirable page of n. 10: then in n. 11; so in nos. 42, 44; so in the Decree on the Activity of the Laity, n. 14; in the Constitution on the Holy Liturgy, n. 43; etc.). This locution "the signs of the times" has therefore acquired a current use and a profound, very broad and very interesting meaning; namely that of the theological interpretation of contemporary history. That history, considered in its broad outlines, has offered Christian thought the opportunity, indeed the invitation, to discover a divine plan in it, has always been well known: what is 'sacred history' if not the identification of a divine thought, of a transcendent 'economy', in the unfolding of the events that lead to Christ, and from Christ they derive? But this discovery is posthumous; it is a synthesis, sometimes questionable in its formulations, that the scholar makes when the events are already complete, and can be considered in an overall perspective, and sometimes placed deductively in an ideological framework derived from other doctrinal sources, rather than from the inductive analysis of the events themselves. Now, instead, modern thought is offered the invitation to decipher in historical reality, in the present one especially, the "signs", that is, the indications of a meaning beyond that recorded by the passive observer.

This presence of the 'sign' in the realities perceived by our immediate knowledge deserves lengthy reflection. In the religious field, the "sign" holds a very important place: the divine realm is not ordinarily accessible to our knowledge by direct, experimental, intuitive means, but by way of signs (thus knowledge of God is possible for us through introspection of things, which take on the value of a sign [cf. Rom. 1:20]; thus the supernatural order is communicated to us by the sacraments, which are sensible signs of an invisible reality, etc.); human language, too, comes to us through conventional phonetic or scriptural signs, by which thought is transmitted; and so on. In the entire created universe we can find signs of an order, of a thought, of a truth, which can act as a metaphysical bridge (i.e. beyond the framework of physical reality) to the ineffable, yet surreal world of the 'unknown God' (cf. Act. 17, 23 ff.; Rom. 8, 22; Lumen gentium, no. 16). In the perspective that we are now considering, it is a question of identifying "in the times", that is, in the course of events, in history, those aspects, those "signs" that can give us some news of an immanent Providence (a thought that is usual for religious spirits); or there may be clues (and this is what interests us now) of some relationship with the "kingdom of God", with its secret action, or - even better for our study and our duty - with the possibility, with the availability, with the need for apostolic action. These clues seem to us to be precisely 'the signs of the times'.

THE WORLD BECOMES A BOOK

Hence a series of important and interesting conclusions. The world becomes a book for us. Our life today is very much engaged in the continuous viewing of the external world. The media are so overgrown, so aggressive, that they engage us, distract us, take us away from ourselves, empty us of our personal consciousness. Here: let us be careful. We can move from the position of mere observers to that of critics, of thinkers, of judges. This attitude of reflected knowledge is of the utmost importance for the modern soul, if it wants to remain a living soul, and not a mere screen of the thousand impressions to which it is subject. And for us Christians, this reflexive act is necessary, if we want to discover "the signs of the times"; because as the Council teaches (Gaudium et spes, no. 4), the interpretation of "the times", that is, of the empirical and historical reality, which surrounds and impresses us, must be done "in the light of the Gospel". The discovery of the "signs of the times" is a fact of the Christian conscience; it results from a confrontation of faith with life; not to artificially and superficially superimpose a pious thought on the cases of our experience, but rather to see where these cases postulate, due to their intrinsic dynamism, their very obscurity, and sometimes their very immorality, a ray of faith, an evangelical word, that classifies them, that redeems them; that is to say, the discovery of the "signs of the times" takes place in order to point out to us where they come of themselves to meet higher designs, which we know to be Christian and divine (such as the search for unity, peace, justice), and where a possible action of our charity or apostolate comes to match a maturing of favourable circumstances, indicating that the hour has come for a simultaneous progress of the kingdom of God in the human kingdom.

THE METHOD TO BE FOLLOWED

This method seems indispensable to us in order to avoid certain dangers, to which the attractive search for the "signs of the times" could expose us. First danger, that of a charismatic prophetism, often degenerating into bigoted fantasy, which gives fortuitous and often insignificant coincidences miraculous interpretations. The greed to easily discover "the signs of the times" can make us forget the often possible ambiguity of the evaluation of the facts observed; and this all the more so if we must recognise to the "People of God", that is, to every believer, an eventual capacity to discern "the signs of God's presence or design" (Gaudium et spes, no. 11): "the sensus fidei" can confer this gift of wise discernment, but the assistance of the hierarchical magisterium will always be providential and decisive, when the ambiguity of interpretation deserves to be resolved either in the certainty of the truth, or in the utility of the common good.

The second danger would be constituted by the purely phenomenal observation of the facts from which one wishes to extract the indication of the 'signs of the times'; and this is what can happen when these facts are detected and classified in purely technical and sociological schemes. That sociology is a science of great merit in itself and for the purpose that interests us here, that is, for the search for a superior and indicative meaning of the facts themselves, we gladly admit. But sociology cannot be a moral criterion in its own right, nor can it replace theology. This new scientific humanism could mortify the authenticity and originality of our Christianity and its supernatural values.

THE ART OF CHRISTIAN VIGILANCE

Another danger could arise from considering the historical aspect of this problem as prevalent. It is true that the study here is concerned with history, it is concerned with time, and it seeks to derive from it signs proper to the religious field, which for us is all gathered in the central event of the historical presence of Christ in time and in the world, from which the Gospel, the Church and its mission of salvation derive. In other words, the immutable element of revealed truth should not be subject to the mutability of the times, in which it spreads and sometimes makes its appearance with "signs" that do not alter it, but allow it to be glimpsed and realised in pilgrim humanity (cf. CHENU, Les signes des temps, in Nouv. Revue Théol. 1-1-65, pp. 29-39). But all this only calls us to attention, to the study of the "signs of the times", which must make our Christian judgement and our apostolate shrewd and modern in the midst of the torrent of transformations in the contemporary world. It is the ancient, ever living word of the Lord that resounds to our spirits: "Watch out" (Luc. 21:36). May Christian vigilance be the art for us in discerning the "signs of the times".

[Pope Paul VI, General Audience 16 April 1969].

Word and diversity

All human things, all things that we can invent, create, are finite. All human religious experiences are also finite, they show one aspect of reality, because our being is finite and only ever understands a part, some elements: "latum praeceptum tuum nimis". Only God is infinite. And therefore his Word is also universal and knows no boundaries. By entering therefore into the Word of God, we truly enter the divine universe. We leave the narrowness of our experiences and enter into reality, which is truly universal. By entering into communion with the Word of God, we enter into the communion of the Church that lives the Word of God. We do not enter into a small group, into the rule of a small group, but we step out of our limitations. We step out into the wide, into the true breadth of the one truth, the great truth of God. We are truly in the universal. And so we go out into the communion of all brothers and sisters, of all humanity, because in our heart is hidden the desire for the Word of God that is one. Therefore, evangelisation, the proclamation of the Gospel, the mission are not a kind of ecclesial colonialism, with which we want to include others in our group. It is getting out of the limits of individual cultures into the universality that connects all, unites all, makes us all brothers.Let us pray again that the Lord will help us to truly enter into the 'breadth' of his Word and thus open ourselves to the universal horizon of humanity, that which unites us with all diversity.

[Pope Benedict, Meditation to the 12th General Assembly of the Synod, 6 October 2008].

At the beginning of our Synod the Liturgy of the Hours presents a passage from Psalm 118 on the Word of God: a praise of his Word, an expression of the joy of Israel in learning it and, in it, to recognize his will and his Face. I would like to meditate on some verses of this Psalm with you. 

It begins like this: "In aeternum, Domine, verbum tuum constitutum est in caelo... firmasti terram, et permanet". This refers to the solidity of the Word. It is solid, it is the true reality on which one must base one's life. Let us remember the words of Jesus who continues the words of this Psalm: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away". Humanly speaking, the word, my human word, is almost nothing in reality, a breath. As soon as it is pronounced it disappears. It seems to be nothing. But already the human word has incredible power. Words create history, words form thoughts, the thoughts that create the word. It is the word that forms history, reality. 

Furthermore, the Word of God is the foundation of everything, it is the true reality. And to be realistic, we must rely upon this reality. We must change our idea that matter, solid things, things we can touch, are the more solid, the more certain reality. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount the Lord speaks to us about the two possible foundations for building the house of one's life: sand and rock. The one who builds on sand builds only on visible and tangible things, on success, on career, on money. Apparently these are the true realities. But all this one day will pass away. We can see this now with the fall of large banks: this money disappears, it is nothing. And thus all things, which seem to be the true realities we can count on, are only realities of a secondary order. The one who builds his life on these realities, on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand. Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, it is as stable as the heavens and more than the heavens, it is reality. Therefore, we must change our concept of realism. The realist is the one who recognizes the Word of God, in this apparently weak reality, as the foundation of all things. Realist is the one who builds his life on this foundation, which is permanent. Thus the first verses of the Psalm invite us to discover what reality is and how to find the foundation of our life, how to build life. 

The following verse says: "Omnia serviunt tibi". All things come from the Word, they are products of the Word. "In the beginning was the Word". In the beginning the heavens spoke. And thus reality was born of the Word, it is "creatura Verbi". All is created from the Word and all is called to serve the Word. This means that all of creation, in the end, is conceived of to create the place of encounter between God and his creature, a place where the history of love between God and his creature can develop. "Omnia serviunt tibi". The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing which happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motive for everything, the motive for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and his creature. In this sense, salvation history, the Covenant, precedes creation. During the Hellenistic period, Judaism developed the idea that the Torah would have preceded the creation of the material world. This material world seems to have been created solely to make room for the Torah, for this Word of God that creates the answer and becomes the history of love. The mystery of Christ already is mysteriously revealed here. This is what we are told in the Letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians: Christ is the protòtypos, the first-born of creation, the idea for which the universe was conceived. He welcomes all. We enter in the movement of the universe by uniting with Christ. One can say that, while material creation is the condition for the history of salvation, the history of the Covenant is the true cause of the cosmos. We reach the roots of being by reaching the mystery of Christ, his living word that is the aim of all creation. 

"Omnia serviunt tibi". In serving the Lord we achieve the purpose of being, the purpose of our own existence. Let us take a leap forward: "Mandata tua exquisivi". We are always searching for the Word of God. It is not merely present in us. Just reading it does not mean necessarily that we have truly understood the Word of God. The danger is that we only see the human words and do not find the true actor within, the Holy Spirit. We do not find the Word in the words. 

In this context St Augustine recalls the scribes and pharisees who were consulted by Herod when the Magi arrived. Herod wants to know where the Saviour of the world would be born. They know it, they give the correct answer: in Bethlehem. They are great specialists who know everything. However they do not see reality, they do not know the Saviour. St Augustine says: they are signs on the road for others, but they themselves do not move. This is a great danger as well in our reading of Scripture: we stop at the human words, words form the past, history of the past, and we do not discover the present in the past, the Holy Spirit who speaks to us today in the words from the past. In this way we do not enter the interior movement of the Word, which in human words conceals and which opens the divine words. Therefore, there is always a need for "exquisivi". We must always look for the Word within the words. 

Therefore, exegesis, the true reading of Holy Scripture, is not only a literary phenomenon, not only reading a text. It is the movement of my existence. It is moving towards the Word of God in the human words. Only by conforming ourselves to the Mystery of God, to the Lord who is the Word, can we enter within the Word, can we truly find the Word of God in human words. Let us pray to the Lord that he may help us search the word, not only with our intellect but also with our entire existence. 

At the end: "Omni consummationi vidi finem, latum praeceptum tuum nimis". All human things, all the things we can invent, create, are finite. Even all human religious experiences are finite, showing an aspect of reality, because our being is finite and can only understand a part, some elements: "latum praeceptum tuum nimis". Only God is infinite. And therefore His Word too is universal and knows no boundaries. Therefore by entering into the Word of God we really enter into the divine universe. We escape the limits of our experience and we enter into the reality that is truly universal. Entering into communion with the Word of God, we enter a communion of the Church that lives the Word of God. We do not enter into a small group, with the rules of a small group, but we go beyond our limitations. We go towards the depths, in the true grandeur of the only truth, the great truth of God. We are truly a part of what is universal. And thus we go out into the communion of all our brothers and sisters, of all humanity, because the desire for the Word of God, which is one, is hidden in our heart. Therefore even evangelization, the proclamation of the Gospel, the mission are not a type of ecclesial colonialism, where we wish to insert others into our group. It means going beyond the individual culture into the universality that connects all, unites all, makes us all brothers. Let us pray once again that the Lord may help us to truly enter the "breadth" of His Word and thus to open ourselves to the universal horizon that unites us with all our differences. 

At the end, we return to a preceding verse: "Tuus sum ego: salvum me fac". The text translates as: "I am yours". The Word of God is like a stairway that we can climb and, with Christ, even descend into the depths of his love. It is a stairway to reach the Word in the words. "I am yours". The word has a Face, it is a person, Christ. Before we can say "I am yours", he has already told us "I am yours". The Letter to the Hebrews, quoting Psalm 39, says: "You gave me a body.... Then I said, "Here I am, I am coming'". The Lord prepared a body to come. With his Incarnation he said: I am yours. And in Baptism he said to me: I am yours. In the Holy Eucharist, he say ever anew: I am yours, so that we may respond: Lord, I am yours. In the way of the Word, entering the mystery of his Incarnation, of his being among us, we want to appropriate his being, we want expropriate our existence, giving ourselves to him who gave Himself to us. 

"I am yours". Let us pray the Lord that we may learn to say this word with our whole being. Thus we will be in the heart of the Word. Thus we will be saved.

[Pope Benedict, Meditation to the 12th General Assembly of the Synod 6 October 2008]

1. "Then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory" (Mk 13: 26). 

On this last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the liturgy speaks to us of Christ's second coming. The Lord will appear in clouds, clothed in power and glory. He is the same Son of man, merciful and compassionate, whom the disciples knew during his earthly journey. When the moment comes for his manifestation in glory, he will come to give human history its definitive fulfilment. 

Through the symbolism of cosmological upheavals, the Evangelist Mark recalls that God will pronounce his last judgement on human events in the Son, putting an end to a universe corrupted by falsehood and torn by violence and injustice.

3. Your daily experience brings you face to face with difficult and sometimes dramatic situations, which jeopardize human security. However the Gospel comforts us, presenting the victorious figure of Christ, the judge of history. With his presence, he brightens the darkness and even man's despair, and offers those who trust in him the comforting certainty of his constant assistance. 

In the Gospel just proclaimed we heard an important reference to the fig tree, whose branches, when their new leaves sprout, announce that springtime is near. With these words, Jesus encourages the Apostles not to give up before the difficulties and uncertainties of the present. 

Rather, he urges them to know how to wait and to prepare themselves to welcome him when he comes. Today, dear brothers and sisters, you too are invited by the liturgy to "read the signs of the times", an expression coined by my venerable predecessor, Pope John XXIII, who was recently beatified. 

However complex and difficult situations may be, do not lose trust. In the human heart, the seed of hope must never die. Indeed, always be attentive to discovering and encouraging every positive sign of personal and social renewal. Be prepared to further the courageous building of justice and peace with every possible means.

[Pope John Paul II, homily 19 November 2000]

An invitation to "think in a Christian manner", because "a Christian does not think only with his head, he also thinks with his heart and with the spirit within", was addressed by Pope Francis this morning, Friday 29 November, during the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta. It is a particularly timely invitation in a social context where - the Pontiff pointed out - 'weak thinking, uniform thinking, ready-to-wear thinking' is increasingly creeping in.

The Bishop of Rome focused his reflection on the Gospel passage from Luke (21:29-33) proposed during the liturgy, in which the Lord "with simple examples teaches the disciples to understand what is happening". In this case, Jesus invites them to observe "the fig tree and all the trees", because when they sprout one understands that summer is near. In other contexts the Lord uses similar examples to rebuke those Pharisees who do not want to understand "the signs of the times"; those who do not see "the step of God in history", in the history of the people of Israel, in the history of the human heart, "in the history of humanity".

The teaching, according to the Holy Father, is that "Jesus with simple words encourages us to think in order to understand". And it is an encouragement to think "not only with the head", but also "with the heart, with the spirit", with our whole self. This is precisely 'thinking in a Christian manner', to be able to 'understand the signs of the times'. And those who do not understand, as in the case of the disciples of Emmaus, are defined by Christ as "foolish and slow of heart". Because - the Pope explained - he who "does not understand the things of God is such a person", foolish and hard of understanding, while "the Lord wants us to understand what is happening in our hearts, in our lives, in the world, in history"; and to understand "what is happening now". Indeed, it is in the answers to these questions that we can detect 'the signs of the times'.

Yet this is not always the case. There is an enemy lurking. It is 'the spirit of the world', which - the Holy Father recalled - 'makes other proposals to us'. Because 'it does not want us people, it wants us mass. Without thought and without freedom'. The spirit of the world, in essence, pushes us along "a road of uniformity, but without that spirit that makes up the body of a people", treating us "as if we did not have the ability to think, as people who are not free". And in this regard, Pope Francis expressly clarified the mechanisms of covert persuasion: there is a certain way of thinking that must be imposed, "this thinking is advertised" and "one must think" in this way. It is 'uniform thinking, equal thinking, weak thinking'; a thinking that is unfortunately 'so widespread', commented the bishop of Rome.

In practice, 'the spirit of the world does not want us to ask ourselves before God: but why is this happening? And to distract us from the essential questions, "it proposes to us a ready-made way of thinking, according to our tastes: I think as I like". This way of thinking "suits" the spirit of the world; while what he "does not want is what Jesus asks of us: free thinking, the thinking of a man and a woman who are part of the people of God". After all, 'salvation was precisely this: to make us people, God's people. To have freedom'. Because "Jesus asks us to think freely, to think in order to understand what is happening".

Of course, Pope Francis warned, "alone we cannot" do everything: "we need the Lord's help, we need the Holy Spirit to understand the signs of the times". In fact, it is precisely the Spirit who gives us "the intelligence to understand". It is a personal gift given to every man, thanks to which "I must understand why this is happening to me" and "what is the way the Lord wants" for my life. Hence the concluding exhortation to "ask the Lord Jesus for the grace to send us his spirit of intelligence", so that "we do not have a weak thought, a uniform thought, a thought according to our tastes", to have instead "only a thought according to God". And "with this thinking - of mind, heart and soul - which is a gift of the Spirit", try to be able to understand "what things mean, to understand well the signs of the times."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 30/11/2013]

How to place oneself in "astral" upheavals

(Lk 21:20-28)

At the time of Jesus the eternal city was self-destructing, but the distances between heaven and earth were thinning.

Living Word and Ecclesial meditation.

Even today we are experiencing reversals: suddenly the fulfilling center becomes a battered suburbs, and vice versa.

What is the trauma finalized for? And what about the fall of faith that results from it?

But what matters of the crisis is precisely in the indwelling states, triggered by the overthrows - despite the external perceptions of loss.

It’s necessary to disengage from apparent causes; to enter deep into the spaces that we feel violated.

That pain is part of ourselves, of the way of Faith.

By acknowledging and accepting it as an intimate vein, a genuine side of the being that belongs to us, we regain integrity; we can start again.

The authentic Church thinks of the meaning of the journey... even of the whole story, reflecting in particular on the instability [what was high now falls ruinously].

On the rubble here is looms the end of the ancient order, upset in the archaic prestige and in the same ordering.

The new world will have inverted hierarchies (vv.25-26).

They have ended up extinguishing their useless attractiveness; they have run out of time.

Bitter fruits generated by elect powers, from ‘celebrities’ that seemed heavenly [sun, moon, stars and powers that have always overpowered humanity: vv.25-26].

A veil was taken away from their unilateral teachings.

They had partial, purely temporal programs. They didn’t form the whole of life.

And here finally is the trigger of a new Kingdom, which is inaugurated in the aspect of a Son, a Friend with a heart of man and not of a beast (cf. Dn 7:2-14).

At the bottom of the institutional history there is a sense of death, but right here the soul is liberated and sublimated.

The truths yet established will finally be ‘measured’ by a saving Presence.

‘Flesh’ like us and ‘Rock’ like God.

A demanding Grace is rising on the supposed catastrophe, an inexorable stage for the establishment of a completely different Fraternity - and the appearing of a new Creation.

In such a way, ruin and destruction will turn into high consciousness; Exodus, joy of transformation, sense of freedom.

We will be without regrets for the impressive "smoke" of what has self-destroyed - because of its scarce human-divine figure.

All this we will activate, even if we were deemed unwise, for the common configurations.

More reason, to make us invited who ‘realize of’.

In Him the upheavals will turn into acute consciousness and happy relationships, emancipated from infinity and justice.

New Majesty, who does not reject the night.

Because when we dwell in the pain that we would like to flee, the distances between heaven and earth are narrowing.

[Thursday 34th wk. in O.T.  November 28, 2024]

Placing oneself in the "astral" upheavals

(Lk 21:20-28)

«And there will be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and on the earth anguish of nations in bewilderment by the roaring of the sea and the waves» (v.25).

"In these years, the daily reality of our century, tormented already at the dawning of a new millennium, bears the hopes of humanity. The historical process of inculturation of the Gospel and evangelisation of cultures is far from having exhausted all its latent energies. The eternal newness of the Gospel encounters the emergence of cultures in genesis or undergoing renewal. The emergence of new cultures clearly appeals to the courage and intelligence of all believers and all people of goodwill. Social and cultural transformations, political upheavals, ideological ferment, religious restlessness, ethical research, it is a whole world in gestation that aspires to find form and orientation, organic synthesis and a new prophetic season. We know how to draw new answers from the treasury of our hope.

Faced with socio-political imbalances, with scientific discoveries that are not fully controlled, with technical inventions of unprecedented magnitude, mankind remains confusedly the twilight of old ideologies and the wear and tear of old systems. New peoples provoke the old societies, as if to awaken them from their laxity. Young people in search of ideals aspire to give meaning to the human adventure. Neither drugs, violence, permissiveness nor nihilism can fill the void of existence. Minds and hearts are searching for the light that illuminates and the love that warms. Our age reveals to us in the void the spiritual hunger and immense hope of consciences".

[Pope John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Council for Culture 13 January 1986].

At the time of Jesus the eternal city was self-destructing, but the distance between heaven and earth was thinning.

Living Word and ecclesial meditation.

Today, too, we experience reversals: suddenly the fulfilling centre becomes shabby periphery, and vice versa.

And in all walks of life, everyone aspires, tries, explores, migrates, wants to live completely; they are no longer content with the conditions of departure.

Disquiet also spreads to the religious institution, which seemed fixed, certain, eternal, immutable.

Recently, the Pontiff himself spoke of internal 'degeneration'.

How can this be explained? What is the trauma aimed at? And the resulting fall in faith?

On the contrary, what matters about the crisis is precisely in the inner states it activates - despite external perceptions of loss.

We have to disengage ourselves from apparent causes, to enter the depths of the spaces we feel violated.

That pain is part of ourselves, part of the journey of Faith.

By recognising and welcoming it as an intimate vein, a genuine side of being that belongs to us, we regain integrity; we can start again.

The authentic Church thinks about the meaning of the journey... also of the whole of history.

It reflects in particular on the unravelling of the holy city and the instability of its cosmos - that of the venerable hierarchies: what was on high now falls ruinously.

The old land of 'promise' is suddenly strewn with ruins: its seemed a heavenly time, passed off as divine; instead, it was a moment, perhaps largely earthly.

On the rubble looms the end of the ancient order, shattered in its archaic prestige and order itself.

As Pope Francis [for example] declared: 'In a Church for the poor, more missionary, there is no room for those who enrich themselves or their magic circle by unworthily wearing the cassock'.

The new world will have reversed hierarchies (vv.25-26) and is already causing the crumbling of the pedestals of political, pious and social mythology that have been revealed as earthly.

They have exhausted their useless appeal; they have run out of time. This while a 'wonderful people follow Jesus Christ'.

First the obsession with sin, awe and inadequacy preached to all, and the dehumanising, barren steppes produced by civil, military and religious power.

Bitter fruits generated by chosen powers, by worldly princelings, by the stars that seemed celestial [sun, moon, stars and powers that have always towered above humanity: vv.25-26].

The veil has been removed from their teachings: they were not at all angelic, but of this world.

They had partial, purely temporal agendas. They did not form the whole of life.

And here, finally, is the beginning of a new Kingdom, which is inaugurated in the appearance of a Son, of a Friend with the heart of a man and not of a beast (cf. Dan 7:2-14).

A sense of death lurks at the bottom of institutional history, but it is here that the soul is liberated and sublimated.A new Calling stirs the personal conscience and supplants the ancient principalities. Social summits that laid down the law and controlled everything, oppressing and crushing every new expression of life that rose from below.

Conversely, the Vocation by Name offers the harmony and fraternity of the original Design, conceived as a nuptial feast.

Truths still established will instead be (finally) measured by a saving Presence.

"Flesh" like us and "Rock" like God.

A challenging Grace is rising over the supposed catastrophe, an inexorable stage for the establishment of a whole new Fraternity - and the appearance of a new Creation.

Thus, ruin and destruction will turn into high consciousness; exodus, joy of transformation, sense of freedom.

Childlike hope that recomposes the fear of those who thought the Solemn Religion and the sublime enthroned Talar authorities as a safe fortress.

The task of the new communities in Christ will be the initiation, the building and the fulfilment of a humanising history, the source in itself of Hope; which overcomes the pre-human time and supplants it with extreme decision.

The relationship between the faithful and the pyramidal mundane - once passed off as sovereign and almost placed in the heavens, on high - will be one of contrast.

The cosmos that has now become meaningless is imploding, in the agony of its finiteness.

For such an upheaval there is only to rejoice.

On the contrary, the style of those who make the world human will be a harbinger of the victory that divinises each one - a triumph that is otherworldly.

For the leaven of history is that of the body bent in service, and the head lifted up in expectation of the Lord who comes in continuity.

On every occasion, the attitude of the woman and man of Faith will remain that of one who prepares a new, unpredictable and decisive event [as the appointment with the Coming Christ and Wayfarer always reveals itself even in the details of existence].

But one must help oneself to perceive the closeness of this impersonated meaning: the choice between collapse and despair or happiness and liberation happens now, in the time of life that turns to the moment of the encounter with the glorious Risen One.

We will be without regrets for the impressive 'smoke' of that which has self-destructed - because of its low human-divine figure.

And at all costs we will remain faithful not to ideologies or "solid" idols of flab and papier-mâché, but to the experience of God in a missionary dimension, aware that the future is fulfilled day by day.

All this we will activate, even when we are deemed unwise, for the common configurations.

Thus - ousted from roles - we will compromise our beautiful and more serene careers as officials.

All the more reason for us to be convivial.

In Him the upheavals will be transformed: into acute consciousness and happy relationships, emancipated of infinity and justice.

New Majesty, who does not reject the night.

For when we pause in the pain we would like to flee, the distances between heaven and earth are thinning.

To internalise and live the message:

How human is your divine?

And in ecclesial matters:

Assuming the language of Pope Francis, what do you think of the "invisible enemy" that still obstructs the reform of internal (paganising) mechanisms and anomalies in the apostolic palaces [and "fake lay friends" everywhere] that do little to suit the evangelical spirit and an ideal "glass house"?

Crisis of a civilisation

Paganisation", "worldliness", "corruption" lead to the destruction of the person. But the Christian, called to confront the 'trials of the world', in the difficulties of life has a horizon of hope because he is invited to the 'wedding of the Lamb'. During the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on the morning of Thursday 29 November, Pope Francis continued to follow the cues of the liturgy which, in the final week of the liturgical year, proposes a series of provocations on the theme of the end, of the "end of the world", of the "end of each one of us".

In the day's liturgy of the word, the Pontiff explained at the beginning of his homily, the two readings taken from Revelation (18, 1-2.21-23; 19, 1-3.9) and from Luke's gospel (21, 20-28) are both characterised by "two parts: one part destruction and then one part trust; one part defeat, one part victory". The focus is on two cities with great evocative power: Babylon and Jerusalem, "two cities that are defeated".

First of all Babylon, "symbol of the worldly city, of luxury, of self-sufficiency, of the power of this world, rich". A reality that "seems joyful", yet "will be destroyed". Revelation affirms this by describing "a rite of victory: 'It has fallen. Babylon, the great, has fallen. It has fallen'". Considering her "incapable of being faithful", the Lord condemns her: "He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her prostitution".Still referring to the biblical text, the Pontiff went into detail about the reality of Babylon. "That ostentation of luxury, of glory, of power," he said, "was a great seduction that led people to destruction. And that great city so beautiful showed its truth: 'it became a den of demons, the refuge of every unclean spirit, the refuge of every unclean bird, the refuge of every unclean and hideous beast'". Behind the "magnificence", therefore, lies "corruption: the feasts of Babylon seemed to be feasts of happy people", but "they were fake feasts of happiness, they were feasts of corruption". And for this reason, the Pope explained, the gesture of the angel described by Revelation has a symbolic power: "He took a great stone, as big as a millstone and threw it into the sea, exclaiming: 'With this violence Babylon, the great city, will be destroyed'".

Significant is the list, recalled by the Pontiff, of the consequences reserved for it. First of all, there will be no more feasts: "The sound of the musicians, of the players of zither, flute and trumpet, will no longer be heard in you". Then, since it is "not a city of labour but of corruption", there will no longer be "any craftsman of any trade" in it and "the sound of the millstone" will no longer be heard. And again: 'The light of the lamp will no longer shine in you; it will perhaps be an enlightened city, but without light, not bright; this is the corrupt civilisation'. Finally, 'the voice of the bridegroom and the bride will no longer be heard in you'. There were many couples, many people, but there will be no love'.

A destiny of destruction, the Pontiff remarked, that 'begins from within and ends when the Lord says: "Enough". And there will be a day when the Lord will say: 'Enough, to the appearances of this world'". In fact, he added, this 'is the crisis of a civilisation that thinks it is proud, sufficient, dictatorial, and ends like that'.

But a sad fate is also reserved for the other symbol-city, Jerusalem. This is spoken of in the Gospel passage in which Jesus - who "as a good Israelite" loved Jerusalem, but saw it as "adulterous, not faithful to the law" - says: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its devastation is near"". That is, Francis explained, the city 'is destroyed because of another kind of corruption: the corruption of infidelity to love'. Because of this infidelity it 'has not been able to recognise the love of God in his Son'. For Jerusalem, too, therefore, the fate is harsh: "And it will fall, and there will be days of vengeance. Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles".

It is precisely in this passage from Luke's Gospel that the Pontiff singled out "a phrase that helps us understand the meaning of the destruction of both cities: the worldly city and the holy city: 'Until the days of the Gentiles are fulfilled'". The holy city will be punished because it has opened "the gates of its heart to the pagans". The Pope explained how here emerges "the paganisation of life, in our case, Christian life"; and he launched a provocation: "Do we live as Christians? It seems so. But in truth, our life is pagan'. The Christian, that is, enters into the same "seduction of Babylon and Jerusalem lives like Babylon. He wants to make a synthesis that cannot be made. And both will be condemned". Hence the questions: "Are you a Christian? Are you a Christian?" Then, he urged, 'live as a Christian', because 'you cannot mix water with oil'. Instead, today we are witnessing the 'end of a civilisation that is contradictory in itself, which says it is Christian' but 'lives as a pagan'.

At this point, the horizon of hope suggested by the readings opened up in Francis' reflection. In fact, 'after the end of the worldly city and the paganised city of God, the voice of the Lord will be heard: "After this I heard as a mighty voice of an immense crowd in heaven saying: Alleluia!"'. Hence: 'after destruction there is salvation'. As we read in chapter 19 of Revelation: 'Salvation and glory and power are of our God, for true and just are his judgments'. And the destruction of the two cities, the Pontiff explained, is "a judgement of God: He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her prostitution, avenging on her the blood of her servants!" For that worldly city "sacrificed the servants of God, the martyrs. And when Jerusalem became paganised, it sacrificed the great martyr: the Son of God".

The vision of Revelation is grandiose: "And for the second time they said, "Hallelujah!" And the angel said: "Come, blessed are those invited to the wedding of the Lamb!"". It is the image of the "great feast, the true feast. Not the pagan feast and the worldly feast". An image of victory and hope also evoked by Jesus in the gospel: "At that moment of tragedy, then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and glory. When these things begin to happen, arise - in the face of tragedy, of the destruction of paganism, of worldliness, arise - lift up your heads, for your deliverance is at hand'.

Here is the message that challenges every Christian: 'There are tragedies, even in our lives, but in the face of these, look to the horizon, because we have been redeemed and the Lord will come to save us. And this,' Francis added, 'teaches us to live the trials of the world not in a pact with worldliness or paganism that leads us to destruction, but in hope, detaching ourselves from this worldly and pagan seduction, and looking at the horizon, hoping for Christ, the Lord'.

In this perspective of hope, the Pope invited us to cast a glance at the past, even the recent past, in order to reread history in the light of the word of God: "Let us think of how the 'Babylonies' of this time have ended. Let us think of the empires of the last century, for example: "It was the great, the great power...". All collapsed. Only, the humble remain who have their hope in the Lord. And so the great cities of today will also end". In the same way "our life will end if we continue to take it down this road of paganisation. It is the opposite of hope: it leads you to destruction. It is the Babylonian seduction of life that draws us away from the Lord'. Instead, the Lord, the Pontiff concluded, invites us to a "contrary path: to go forward, to look with that Alleluia of hope", because "we are, all of us, invited to the wedding feast of the Son of God". So "let us open our hearts with hope and turn away from the paganisation of life".

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 30/11/2018].

The Lord’s Coming continues, the world must be penetrated by his presence and this ongoing Coming of the Lord in the proclamation of the Gospel requires our continuous collaboration. Moreover the Church, who is, as it were, the Betrothed, the promised Bride of the Lamb of the Crucified and Risen God (cf. Rev 21:9), in communion with her Lord, collaborates in this Coming of the Lord, in which his glorious return has already begun. 

Today the word of God calls us to this, outlining the lines of conduct we should follow to be ready for the Lord’s Coming (...)

In the midst of the upheavals of the world or in the deserts of indifference and materialism, may Christians accept salvation from God and bear witness to it with a different way of life, like a city set upon a hill. “In those days”, the Prophet Jeremiah announced, “Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord is our righteousness” (33:16). The community of believers is a sign of God’s love, of his justice which is already present and active in history but is not yet completely fulfilled and must therefore always be awaited, invoked and sought with patience and courage.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 2 December 2012]

1. Once again you are faithfully attending the annual meeting of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Coming as you do from Africa, from North and Latin America, from Asia and Europe, your presence reminds us of the vast panorama of cultures throughout the world; some have already been made fruitful by Christ's message, and their fruitfulness endures. Others are still awaiting the light of Revelation, for every culture is open to the highest human aspirations, and capable of fusing with the Gospel to produce something new and creative.

Ours is a troubled century, and that fact is being impressed upon us daily; yet even now a new millennium is dawning, bearing new hope for humankind. The historical process of the inculturation of the Gospel and the evangelization of cultures is far from having exhausted all its latent energies. As new cultures arise, or go through the pangs of rebirth, they encounter the eternal newness of the Gospel. It is obvious that the emergence of new cultures calls for courage and intelligence on the part of all believers and of everyone of good will. Social and cultural change, political upheaval, ideological ferment, religious questionings, ethical probing, all show a world in gestation, in search of form and direction, organic wholeness, prophetic renewal. May we know how to draw fresh responses from the treasury of our hope.

Shaken by socio-political imbalance, scientific discoveries not fully under control, and technical inventions of incredible potential, people are confused as old ideologies fade away and old systems wear out. The new nations provoke the old-established societies, as if to arouse them from their lassitude. The young in search of an ideal are trying to give real meaning to the human adventure. Neither drugs nor violence, neither permissiveness nor nihilism can fill the emptiness of existence. Minds and hearts are seeking light to shine on them, love to bring them warmth. Our era reveals to us how deep is the spiritual hunger of the human mind, how immense its hope.

2. The recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, in which we had the grace of participating here in Rome, gave us a renewed awareness of these profound hopes of humanity and of the prophetic inspiration of the Second Vatican Council, 20 years ago. At the invitation of Pope John XXIII, father of this Council of modern times, as we are all its sons, we must bring the modern world into contact with the life-giving energies of the Gospel (cf. the Bull Humanae Salutis, Christmas 1961, announcing the Council.

Yes, we are at the beginning of a gigantic work of evangelization of the modern world, which is presented in new terms. The world has entered an era of profound turmoil, on account of the stupefying range of human inventions, which threaten to destroy humanity itself unless they are integrated into an ethical and spiritual vision. We are entering a new era of human culture, and Christians are faced with an immense challenge. Today we are in a better position to gauge the extent of Pope John XXIII's prophetic exhortation to banish the prophets of doom, and to put our hands courageously to the formidable task of renewing the world and its "encounter with the face of the risen Jesus ... shining through the whole Church to bring salvation, joy and light to the nations of the world" (Message Ecclesia Christi, Lumen Gentium, 11th September 1962).

[Pope John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Council for Culture 13 January 1986]