The Lord wants new people, who listen

(Mt 12:46–50)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is a very different Temple to be built.

To internalise and live out the message:

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

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

From this child, a new light issues forth, shining in the darkness of the night, as we can see in so many paintings depicting Christ’s Nativity. Henceforth, it is from him that blessing comes, from his name – Jesus, meaning “God saves” – and from his human face, in which God, the almighty Lord of heaven and earth, chose to become incarnate, concealing his glory under the veil of our flesh, so as to reveal fully to us his goodness (cf. Tit 3:4). 

The first to be swept up by this blessing was Mary the virgin, the spouse of Joseph, chosen by God from the first moment of her existence to be the mother of his incarnate Son. She is the “blessed among women” (Lk 1:42) – in the words of Saint Elizabeth’s greeting. Her whole life was spent in the light of the Lord, within the radius of his name and of the face of God incarnate in Jesus, the “blessed fruit of her womb”. This is how Luke’s Gospel presents her to us: fully intent upon guarding and meditating in her heart upon everything concerning her son Jesus (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). The mystery of her divine motherhood that we celebrate today contains in superabundant measure the gift of grace that all human motherhood bears within it, so much so that the fruitfulness of the womb has always been associated with God’s blessing. The Mother of God is the first of the blessed, and it is she who bears the blessing; she is the woman who received Jesus into herself and brought him forth for the whole human family. In the words of the liturgy: “without losing the glory of virginity, [she] brought forth into the world the eternal light, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Preface I of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

Mary is the mother and model of the Church, who receives the divine Word in faith and offers herself to God as the “good soil” in which he can continue to accomplish his mystery of salvation. The Church also participates in the mystery of divine motherhood, through preaching, which sows the seed of the Gospel throughout the world, and through the sacraments, which communicate grace and divine life to men. The Church exercises her motherhood especially in the sacrament of Baptism, when she generates God’s children from water and the Holy Spirit, who cries out in each of them: “Abba, Father!” (Gal 4:6). Like Mary, the Church is the mediator of God’s blessing for the world: she receives it in receiving Jesus and she transmits it in bearing Jesus. He is the mercy and the peace that the world, of itself, cannot give, and which it needs always, at least as much as bread.

[Pope Benedict, homily, 1 January 2012]

The Church has consistently recognised Mary as holy and free from all sin or moral imperfection. The Council of Trent expresses this conviction by stating that no one ‘can avoid, throughout their entire life, every sin, even venial sin, except by virtue of a special privilege, such as the Church holds to be the case with regard to the Blessed Virgin’ (DS 1573). The possibility of sinning does not spare even the Christian who has been transformed and renewed by grace. For grace does not preserve one from every sin throughout one’s life, unless, as the Council of Trent affirms, a special privilege ensures such immunity from sin. This is what happened in the case of Mary.

The Council of Trent did not wish to define this privilege, but it did declare that the Church affirms it with vigour: “Tenet”, that is, it holds it firmly. This is a decision which, far from relegating this truth to the realm of pious beliefs or devotional opinions, confirms its character as sound doctrine, firmly rooted in the faith of the People of God. Moreover, this conviction is founded on the grace bestowed upon Mary by the angel at the time of the Annunciation. By calling her ‘full of grace’, kecharitoméne, the angel recognises in her the woman endowed with permanent perfection and a fullness of holiness, without a shadow of sin or any moral or spiritual imperfection.

Some Church Fathers of the early centuries, not yet having come to the conviction of her perfect holiness, attributed moral imperfections or faults to Mary. Even some recent authors have adopted this position. However, the Gospel passages cited to justify these views do not in any way permit the attribution of a sin, or even merely a moral imperfection, to the Mother of the Redeemer.

Jesus’ reply to his mother, at the age of 12: ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ (Lk 2:49), has sometimes been interpreted as a veiled rebuke. A careful reading of the episode, however, makes it clear that Jesus did not reproach his mother and Joseph for looking for him, since they were responsible for looking after him.

Upon finding Jesus after a distressing search, Mary merely asks him the ‘why’ behind his behaviour: ‘Son, why have you treated us like this?’ (Lk 2:48). And Jesus replies with another ‘why’, refraining from any reproach and referring to the mystery of his divine sonship.

Nor can the words spoken at Cana – “What have I to do with you, woman? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4) – be interpreted as a rebuke. Faced with the likely distress that the lack of wine would have caused the bride and groom, Mary turns to Jesus with simplicity, entrusting the problem to him. Jesus, whilst fully aware that as the Messiah he was bound to obey only the Father’s will, grants his Mother’s implicit request. Above all, he responds to the Virgin’s faith and thus begins to perform miracles, revealing his glory.

Some have also interpreted Jesus’ statement in a negative light when, at the start of his public life, Mary and his relatives asked to see him. By recounting Jesus’ reply to those who said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and wish to see you’, the evangelist Luke offers us the key to understanding the account, which must be interpreted in the light of Mary’s inner dispositions, quite different from those of his ‘brothers’ (cf. Jn 7:5). Jesus replied: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice” (Lk 8:21). In the account of the Annunciation, in fact, Luke showed how Mary was the model of listening to the Word of God and of generous docility. Interpreted from this perspective, the episode offers a great tribute to Mary, who perfectly fulfilled the divine plan in her own life. Jesus’ words, whilst opposing the attempt made by his brothers, extol Mary’s fidelity to God’s will and the greatness of her motherhood, which she lived out not only physically but also spiritually.

In weaving this indirect praise, Jesus employs a particular method: he highlights the nobility of Mary’s conduct in the light of statements of a more general nature, thereby better illustrating the Virgin’s solidarity with and closeness to humanity on the arduous path to holiness.

Finally, the words: ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!’ (Lk 11:28), spoken by Jesus in response to the woman who declared his Mother blessed, far from casting doubt on Mary’s personal perfection, emphasise her faithful fulfilment of the Word of God: this is how the Church has understood them, incorporating this expression into the liturgical celebrations in honour of Mary.

The Gospel text, in fact, suggests that with this statement Jesus wished to reveal, precisely in her intimate union with God and in her perfect adherence to the divine Word, the highest reason for his Mother’s blessedness.

The special privilege granted by God to the ‘All-Holy One’ leads us to marvel at the wonders wrought by grace in her life. It also reminds us that Mary has always belonged entirely to the Lord, and that no imperfection has ever marred the perfect harmony between her and God.

Her earthly journey, therefore, is characterised by the constant and sublime growth of faith, hope and charity. For this reason, Mary is for believers the radiant sign of divine Mercy and the sure guide towards the lofty heights of evangelical perfection and holiness.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 19 June 1996]

Mk 3:20-35 shows us two types of misunderstanding that Jesus had to face: that of the scribes and that of his own brethren.

The first misunderstanding. The scribes were men educated in the Sacred Scriptures and charged with explaining them to the people. Some of them were sent from Jerusalem to Galilee, where Jesus’ reputation was beginning to spread, in order to discredit him in the eyes of the people: to play the role of gossips, to discredit the other, to remove his authority, to do this awful thing. And they were sent to do this. And these scribes arrived with a specific and terrible accusation — they spared no means; they went straight to the point and said: “He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” (v. 22). That is, the prince of demons is the one who drives Him, which is more or less tantamount to saying: “He is possessed by demons”. In fact Jesus healed many sick people, and the scribes wanted to make others believe that he did so not with the Spirit of God — as Jesus did — but with that of the Evil One, with the power of the devil. Jesus reacted with firm and clear words; he did not tolerate this, because those scribes, perhaps without realizing it, were falling into the gravest sin: denying and blaspheming against God’s Love which is present and active in Jesus. And blasphemy, the sin against the Holy Spirit, is the one unforgivable sin — as Jesus said — because it comes from closing the heart to God’s mercy which acts in Jesus.

But this episode contains an admonishment which is useful to all of us. Indeed, it can happen that deep envy of a person’s goodness and good works can drive one to falsely accuse him or her. Here there is true, lethal poison: the malice with which, in a premeditated manner, one wants to destroy the good reputation of the other. May God free us from this terrible temptation! And if, by examining our conscience, we realize that this weed is sprouting within us, let us go straight away to confess it in the Sacrament of Penance, before it grows and produces its evil effects, which are incurable. Be careful, because this attitude destroys families, friendships, communities and even society.

Today’s Gospel also speaks to us about another, very different misunderstanding with regard to Jesus: that of his brethren. They were worried, because his new itinerant life seemed folly to them (cf. v. 21). In fact, he exhibited such openness toward the people, especially toward the sick and toward sinners, to the extent that he did not even have time to eat. Jesus was like that: people first; serving people; helping people; teaching people; healing people. He was for the people. He did not even have time to eat. Thus, his brethren decided to take him back home to Nazareth. His brethren came to the place where Jesus was teaching and they sent to him and called him. He was told: “‘Your mother and your brethren are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied: ‘Who are my mother and my brethren?’. And looking around on those who sat about him, he said ‘Here are my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother’” (vv. 32-35).

Jesus formed a new family, no longer based on natural ties, but on faith in him, on his love which welcomes us and unites us to each other, in the Holy Spirit. All those who welcome Jesus’ word are children of God and brothers and sisters among themselves. Welcoming the word of Jesus makes us brothers and sisters, makes us Jesus’ family. Speaking ill of others, destroying others’ reputations, makes us the devil’s family.

Jesus’ response was not a lack of respect for his mother and his brethren. Rather, for Mary it is the greatest recognition, precisely because she herself is the perfect disciple who completely obeyed God’s will. May the Virgin Mother help us to live always in communion with Jesus, recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit who acts in him and in the Church, regenerating the world to new life.

[Pope Francis, Angelus, 10 June 2018]

Which road leads to the Father?

(Mt 12:38-42)

Human correspondence does not grow with the multiplication of dizzying signals. God does not force the unconvinced, nor outclass with proofs; thus He earns a patrimony of love.

His authentic Church, without clamor or persuasive positions - apparently insignificant - is gathered entirely in intimate unity with her Lord.

The Queen of the South was looking for captivating solutions to enigmatic curiosities, but she could know them inside her soul and life.

Incarnation: there are no other valid signs than the events and new relationships with oneself and others - which offer the very and unheard-of Person of the Risen One, without wrappings.

The Eternal is no longer the pure transcendence of the Jews, nor the summit of the wisdom of the ancient world: the moving Sign of God is the story of Jesus alive in us.

We trust in Christ, so no more spiritual drugs that deceive us about happiness.

It is the meaning of the new Creation: abandonment to the Spirit, but all concrete (not in a manner) and which proceeds by dragging the alternative reality.

He is the Sign unique, who frees from the many substitutes of fears’ religion, of fetters, of consolidated roles that would like to imprison the Lord in an "ally" doer of seductive miracles, immediately resolving.

Some community members seemed to want to frame the Messiah into the pattern of normal sacred and scenic expectations.

They were already getting along with the world, starting to recede, and were proving fed up...

In these "veterans" of Mt there was no sign of conversion to the idea of ​​the Son of God as a Servant, confident in dreams without prestige.

In them? No trace of a new idea - nor change of pace that could mark the end of the blatant, dehumanizing society they were used to.

There are always those who remain tied to an ideology of power. So they do not want to open their eyes except to have their senses captured in a trivial way.

For these, the Lord never reserves impressive confirmations - which would be the paradoxical validation of ancient convictions.

The only «sign» is his living Church and the Risen himself pulsating in all those who take him seriously; eg. in recoveries, healings, and impossible revaluations.

But no shortcut lightning.

Guided by the intimate Friend, we will be a single inventive humanity ‘in the Master’.

Our free and life-giving testimony will nourish an experience of regenerating Faith, singularly incisive.

Far more than miracles, the appeals of our essence and reality will make us recognize the call and action of God in men and in the web of history.

The Father wants his sons to produce far more astonishment and prodigies of divine-human goodness than visions and sentimentality, or magic.

The only «sign» of salvation is Christ in us, without hysterical seams; image and likeness of the new humanity.

For authentic conversion: native power - and nothing external.

[Monday 16th wk. in O.T.  July 20, 2026]

What is the Sign of the Mystery?

(Mt 12:38-42)

Jesus encounters unbelief. It comes from various forms of blindness and prejudice, or (especially in the disciples) arises from inattention.

The Lord distances himself from those who test him and from those who reject what is given by God, demanding to dictate how he should act.

The Son of Man respects every person who follows him, but he makes it clear that decisions and, even more so, a lack of acute perception prevent the Encounter and the redemption of life.

From this perspective, believers do not live to 'prove' anything. Christ himself does not wait for us in subliminal and amazing manifestations, but on the shore of an earthly spirituality.

Value does not need applause (a double-edged sword) - a mask for artificial proposals and inauthentic life.

Humanising correspondence does not grow with the multiplication of dizzying signals.

God does not coerce the unconvinced, nor does he overwhelm with proof; in this way, he gains a heritage of Love in growth.

His authentic Church, without clamour or persuasive positions - apparently insignificant - is gathered in intimate unity with his Firstborn: native, portentous and regenerating power - solid and real.

The queen of the south sought captivating solutions to enigmatic curiosities, but she could find them within her soul and in her life.

Incarnation: there are no other valid signs than events and new relationships - with oneself and with others - which present the very Person and unheard-of nature of the Risen One (the one without wrappings).

The Eternal One is no longer the pure transcendence of the Jews, nor the summit of the wisdom of the ancient world.

The sign of the Most High is the story of Jesus (alive in us). It opens the exciting path that leads to the Father.

Let us trust in Christ, therefore, and reject spiritual drugs that delude us with happiness.

This is the meaning of the new Creation: abandonment to the Spirit - but in a concrete way (not in a mannered way) - which proceeds by drawing along an alternative reality.

His Person is a unique sign that frees us from the many surrogates of the religion of fears, shackles and established roles.

These are those who would like to imprison him as an 'ally' who performs seductive and immediately decisive miracles.

Some would like to see him as a simple purifier of the temple or a character from a fairy tale - and so would we, if we allow ourselves to be manipulated.

In fact, the religious leaders to whom Jesus addresses himself are those returning to his communities!

They were Judaizers who wanted to fit the Messiah into the pattern of normal expectations to which they had always been accustomed.

Or they already understood and were fed up...

In these 'veterans' there was no sign of conversion to the idea of the Son of God as a Servant, trusting in dreams without prestige.

In them? There was no trace of a new idea - nor any change of pace that would mark the decline of the ostentatious, dehumanising - and even sacred - society of the outside world.

Popular leaders sometimes miss the meaning of the only living Sign: Jesus, the Bread of Life.

Because of them, not because of those who are far away, the Lord 'groans in spirit' (cf. Mk 8:12, Greek text) - even today, saddened by so much blindness.

Life is in fact precluded to those who cannot shift their gaze.

Immediately after Mt (16:6), he refers to the danger of the dominant ideology that caused even the leaders to lose their objective perception of events.

A coarse "leaven" but rooted in the painful experience of the people - which stimulated swelling even in the disciples, contaminating them.

To the top of the class, it might have seemed that Jesus was a leader like Moses, because he fed the hungry people in the desert (cf. Mt 14:13-21; 15:32-39).

But the rejection is clear: especially Mark (8:12) brings it to life by emphasising the Master's sense of suffering.

Then, as in Matthew and Luke in the episode of Jonah, there is his radical, peremptory refusal.

To save a people in need of everything, there is no other way than to start from within.

Then proceed towards a fullness of being that spreads, approves us, and, flowing out, allows us to break our lives in favour of our brothers and sisters.

There is no escape. Only communion with the hidden source of one's own eminent Self and respectful and active dialogue with others can save us from a closed group mentality.

In this way, no club is allowed - no club that claims exclusive monopoly over God and souls (Mt 9:38-40) with the explicit claim to discipline the multitudes.

The community of the Risen One abhors the competitive conception of religious life itself, if it is a sacred reflection of the imperial world and of a society that oppresses and embitters the existence of the little ones.

It would be a sick life in search of prestige, even if only apparent.

On the contrary, in fraternal realities, 'whoever humbles himself is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven' (Mt 18:4).Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to avoid a pyramidal mentality and a mentality of rejection creeping into the faithful.

A spirit of competition that inevitably ends up seeking refuge in hypocritical miracle-mongering, a substitute for the life of faith.

The Master does the same to educate members of the Church who remain - perhaps even today - affected by a sense of superiority towards crowds and strangers.

A feeling of being a chosen and privileged people (Lk 9:54-55) that was even infiltrating the early communities.

To those who do not want to open their eyes except to be captivated by phenomena that are yet to be discerned - because despite the official creed they profess, they remain tied to an ideology of power - the Lord never reserves impressive confirmations coming 'from heaven' (Mt 16:1) that would be their paradoxical validation.

The only sign is and will be his living Church: the 'victory' of the Risen One who pulsates in all those who take him seriously.

Without fixed hierarchies - under the infallible guidance of the Call and the Word - the children know how to reinterpret, even in new ways.

Such is the miracle, embodied in a thousand events (in history, in personal and community life); in recoveries, healings and impossible re-evaluations.

The authentic Messiah does not offer any cosmic display.

There are no festivals that force spectators to bow their heads in the presence of such overwhelming glory and condescension, as if he were a heavenly dictator.

And no lightning bolts as a shortcut.

Over the centuries, churches have often fallen into this 'apologetic' temptation, which is entirely internal to devotions with a dry impulse: seeking marvellous signs and trumpeting them to silence opponents.

These are stratagems for a banal attempt to silence those who ask not for parapsychological experiences, but for testimonies that are not withered and without tricks or gimmicks: for concrete disalienation.

Not bad, this activity of ours to liberate the least among us, which is holding its own, unclutched by the idea of a demagogue with triumphalist or consolatory airs.

We prefer the wave of Mystery.

We yearn to be guided by an unknown energy that has a non-artificial goal in store for us - led by the eminent but intimate and hidden Friend (exclusive to us).

We will be one humanity in the Master, on the right path that belongs to us. Even if we walk along interrupted and incomplete paths, even paths of confusion.

Commenting on the Tao Te Ching (i), Master Ho-shang Kung writes: 'The eternal Name wants to be like the infant who has not yet spoken, like the chick that has not yet hatched. The luminous pearl lies within the oyster, the beautiful gem lies in the middle of the rock: however much it shines within, on the outside it is foolish and insipid'.

All this may be considered "unconsciousness" and "inconclusiveness"... but it brings out what we are - expressing another way of seeing the world.

In ourselves and within the Call of the Gospels, we have a fresh power that approves of a path that is different from the immediately normal and the conspicuous.

An Appeal that is enchanting, delightful and splendid, because it activates us by challenging us.

A word that does not think according to patterns. A heartfelt plea that is not impressed by exceptional things, by performances that suffocate the soul in search of meaning and authenticity.

Genuine wonder, an indomitable impulse nestled in the dimension of human fullness, which does not give up: it wants to express itself in its transparency and become reality.

A sort of intimate Infante: he moves in a way that is considered 'abstruse', but he puts things right, inside and out.

His free and invigorating testimony, attentive and always personally brilliant, will be innate and unprecedented, biting, inventive without artifice, unpredictable and completely non-conformist.

It will give rise to and incessantly nourish an experience of Faith that is convinced, singular and incisive - even though it may appear losing and unsuccessful, dishonourable and unspectacular.

Much more than miracles, the supplications of our essence and reality will make us recognise God's call and action in human beings and in the fabric of history.

These invitations can give rise to other astonishing wonders of divine-human goodness, rather than paroxysmal visions tinged with neurosis and empty sentimentality or magic.

The only sign of salvation is Christ in us - without seams or great hysterical gestures.

He is the image and likeness of the new humanity; the manifestation of God's power on earth.

For authentic conversion: nothing external.

To internalise and live the message:

What kind of evidence are you looking for?

How does your Sign (which makes people believe) differ from gimmicks, acts of force, or what others would like you to spread?

2) Il libro di Giona ci annuncia l’avvenimento di Gesù Cristo – Giona è una prefigurazione della venuta di Gesù. Il Signore stesso ci dice questo nel Vangelo del tutto chiaramente. 

Richiesto dai giudei di dar loro un segno che lo riveli apertamente come il Messia, risponde, secondo Matteo: "Nessun segno sarà dato a questa generazione se non il segno di Giona profeta. Come infatti Giona rimase tre giorni e tre notti nel ventre del pesce, così il Figlio dell’uomo resterà tre giorni e tre notti nel cuore della terra" (Mt12,39s). 

La versione di Luca delle parole di Gesù è più semplice: "Questa generazione [...] cerca un segno ma non le sarà dato nessun segno fuorché il segno di Giona. Poiché come Giona fu un segno per quelli di Ninive, così anche il Figlio dell’uomo lo sarà per questa generazione" (Lc 11,29s). Vediamo due elementi in entrambi i testi: lo stesso Figlio dell’uomo, Cristo, l’inviato di Dio, è il segno. Il mistero pasquale indica Gesù come il Figlio dell’uomo, egli è il segno in e attraverso il mistero pasquale.

Nel racconto veterotestamentario proprio questo mistero di Gesù traspare del tutto chiaramente. 

Nel primo capitolo del libro di Giona si parla di una triplice discesa del profeta: egli scende al porto di Giaffa; scende nella nave; e nella nave egli si mette nel luogo più riposto. Nel suo caso, però, questa triplice discesa è una tentata fuga davanti a Dio. Gesù è colui che scende per amore, non per fuggire, ma per giungere nella Ninive del mondo: scende dalla sua divinità nella povertà della carne, dell’essere creatura con tutte le sue miserie e sofferenze; scende nella semplicità del figlio del carpentiere, e scende nella notte della croce, infine persino nella notte dello Sheòl, il mondo dei morti. Così facendo egli ci precede sulla strada della discesa, lontano dalla nostra falsa gloria da re; la via della penitenza, che è via verso la nostra stessa verità: via della conversione, via che ci allontana dall’orgoglio di Adamo, dal volere essere Dio, verso l’umiltà di Gesù che è Dio e per noi si spoglia della sua gloria (Fil 2,1-10). Come Giona, Gesú dorme nella barca mentre la tempesta infuria. In un certo senso nell’esperienza della croce egli si lascia gettare in mare e così placa la tempesta. I rabbini hanno interpretato la parola di Giona "Gettatemi in mare" come offerta di sé del profeta che voleva con questo salvare Israele: egli aveva timore davanti alla conversione dei pagani e al rifiuto della fede da parte di Israele, e per questo – così dicono – voleva farsi gettare in mare. Il profeta salva in quanto egli si mette al posto degli altri. Il sacrificio salva. Questa esegesi rabbinica è diventata verità in Gesù.

[Papa Benedetto card. Ratzinger, Lectio in s. Maria in Traspontina, 24 gennaio 2003; in “30Giorni” febbraio 2003]

4. In fact, Jesus invites us to discern the words and deeds that bear witness to the imminent coming of the Father's Kingdom. Indeed, He directs and concentrates all signs in the enigmatic "sign of Jonah." In doing so, He overturns the worldly logic that seeks signs confirming man's desire for self-affirmation and power. As the Apostle Paul emphasises, "while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks seek wisdom, we preach Christ crucified, a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Cor 1:22-23).

As the firstborn among many brothers (cf. Rom 8:29), Christ was the first to overcome in himself the diabolical "temptation" to use worldly means to bring about the coming of the Kingdom of God. This happened from the moment of the messianic trials in the desert to the sarcastic challenge addressed to him while he was nailed to the cross: "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" (Mt 27:40). In Jesus crucified, there is a transformation and concentration of signs: he himself is the "sign of God," especially in the mystery of his death and resurrection. To discern the signs of his presence in history, we must free ourselves from all worldly pretensions and welcome the Spirit who "searches everything, even the depths of God" (1 Cor 2:10).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 23 September 1998]

Here is the Jonah syndrome, which "affects those who are not zealous for the conversion of people, who seek a holiness — if I may use the word — a holiness of the dry cleaners, that is, all beautiful, all well done, but without the zeal that leads us to preach the Lord." The Pope recalled that the Lord "before this generation, sick with the Jonah syndrome, promises the sign of Jonah." He added: 'In the other version, that of Matthew, it says: but Jonah was in the whale three nights and three days... The reference is to Jesus in the tomb, to his death and resurrection. And this is the sign that Jesus promises: against hypocrisy, against this attitude of perfect religiosity, against this attitude of a group of Pharisees'.

To clarify the concept, the Bishop of Rome referred to another parable from the Gospel "that well represents what Jesus wants to say. It is the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple (Luke 14:10-14). The Pharisee is so sure of himself before the altar that he says: 'I thank you, God, that I am not like all these people of Nineveh, nor even like that man over there! And the man over there was the tax collector, who said only: 'Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner'.

The sign that Jesus promises, Pope Francis explained, is his forgiveness through his death and resurrection. The sign that Jesus promises is his mercy, which God had been asking for a long time: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'. Therefore, 'the true sign of Jonah is that which gives us the confidence that we will be saved by the blood of Christ. There are many Christians who think they are saved only because of what they do, because of their works. Works are necessary, but they are a consequence, a response to that merciful love that saves us." Works alone, without this merciful love, are not enough.

Therefore, "the Jonah syndrome affects those who trust only in their personal righteousness, in their works." And when Jesus says "this evil generation," he is referring to "all those who have the Jonah syndrome within themselves." But there is more: "The Jonah syndrome," said the Pope, "leads us to hypocrisy, to that self-sufficiency that we believe we achieve because we are clean, perfect Christians, because we do these works, we observe the commandments, everything. A great disease, the Jonah syndrome!" Whereas "the sign of Jonah" is "the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, who died and rose for us, for our salvation."

"There are two words in the first reading," he added, "that connect with this. Paul says of himself that he is an apostle, not because he studied, but because he was called. And he says to Christians: you are called by Jesus Christ. The sign of Jonah calls us." Today's liturgy, the Pope concluded, helps us to understand and make a choice: "Do we want to follow the syndrome of Jonah or the sign of Jonah?"

[Pope Francis, St. Martha's, in L'Osservatore Romano, 15 October 2013]

Weeds and possibilities: the sense of the happy Mystery - from the shortcomings

(Mt 13:24-30)

The metaphor that follows the initial parable is intended to emphasize that the presence of “evil” in the world is not to be attributed to the lack of vitality of the Seed, nor to the divine Work.

And Jesus upsets the precipitous cliché of apostolic morality:

«So You want us to go and gather them? But He declares: No, for by reaping the tares you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.» (vv.28-30).

In his commentary on Tao Tê Ching xxxvi master Wang Pi writes: «By conforming to the nature of creatures, the best way to avoid future difficulties is to induce them to spontaneously run to ruin, without subjecting them to punishment».

Qualities are intertwined with errors, weaknesses and inconsistencies, but from the earliest days in the communities, some believers struggled to live with the different mentalities of their brethren of faith - a situation that nevertheless allowed life to teem.

It was experienced that time was the best medicine to make the parasitic weed spontaneously dry up: and it did not even was turning out to be so infertile; quite the contrary.

The parable of the good wheat and the weeds is meant to help us not to fall into exclusivism - not because of ideological issues, but vital ones.

The rough hands of some disciples would tear up all the intertwining of the various roots with the earth and each other.

Premature sorting would ruin everything good in the present, and the future itself.

The Lord's teaching is a reminder.

It is not immediate to understand the multifaceted significance of these preparatory energies, which from their magma and dissent will give birth to the unexpected attunements of God's inopinable future.

New opportunities also sprout from personal or institutional mediocrity. Even it a paradoxical condition of growth and prosperity of the Church, 'perfect' to the extent that it recognises itself on the path of conversion to Christ: «semper conformanda».

As in the Community, those who face life in the Spirit and wish their adventure to flourish, must learn to respect discomforts and make contradictions live within themselves.

The uniformity of fundamentalists or purists would like an external, immediate and decisive justice (in eloquent forms) but only God is able to plumb the depths of events.

Fraternities must not enclose themselves within suffocating hedges.

They have the mission to learn dialogue with differences and standing with disparate oppositions, so that life becomes rich through diverse relationships and the concrete exchange of personal gifts, in varied and even discordant contexts.

Such is the added value that opens up New Life, while the myth of indefectibility remains confined to sects.

In fact, not infrequently that very side of ourselves that we do not want, that we reject, that we would like to exclude or correct - and misjudged by others - has perhaps already revealed itself or will in time reveal itself to be the best part of us, both from the point of view of exceptional realisation of personality and of the Calling by missionary Name.

Each believer is both 'ally' and unfaithful at the same time, but in such friction lurks the new sparks [also of disappointment, but fruitful] and our completion - traversing the paradoxes of fallibility.

As well as unprecedented cultural, even economic, political and social paths.

The Church is imperceptible beginning, not extraordinary term

(Mt 13:31-35)

Jesus helps people to discover the things of God and man in everyday life.

The Master teaches that the extraordinary of the eternal world is hidden in ordinary things: life itself is a transparency of the Mystery.

He reveals the Kingdom becoming Present, describing precisely the essential characteristics of the community of disciples - and using here the simple comparisons of the «mustard seed» and the «leaven».

To say: the authentic Church is within reach of everyone, everywhere - nonetheless exiguous; inapparent, yet intimately dynamic.

In it, we experience a contrast between beginnings and term: we experience the Kingdom 'within' each one that welcomes the character of an inapparent Word-event, but one that activates transformative and hospitable capacities.

The first term of comparison related to the life of the people [the little seed] mentions the story of a very small grain: a common concrete event, which is not very noticeable.

Around the Lake of Galilee, mustard shrubs can reach a maximum height of 3 metres, no more.

It is not the same development as the majestic cedars of Lebanon - rather of just any small tree in the kitchen garden (v.32), however, capable of giving a little refreshment to the birds that take refuge there.

It indicates a presence of little fuss: quite normal, mixed in with aubergines, courgettes and cucumbers...

Nothing big, yet hospitable to those suffering from the powerful heat of those places.

In short, the fraternities that the Lord dreams of will have nothing magnificent and outward, but they will know how to give shelter and rest.

The strength of the «mustard speck» is intimate, yet strong-willed: it will grow - though not by much.

That is, the authentic Church should not resemble a majestic ocean liner.

Maybe it will be more like a small barque: no big deal - yet it will raise hopes of life.

It will do so through the discreet witness of amiable evangelisers, who still proclaim and work, radiating light, captivating people.

Whoever approaches the threshold of the churches - the reference is to the distant and pagan - must feel at ease, at home.

Even the 'wanderers' will be fully entitled to take up their position and build their nest [in such a common Abode] even if they then decide to take flight again as soon as they have used it.

The next comparison - of the «leaven» (v.33) - insists on caring for the life goals of other brethren, with respect to the Community of believers.

In this way, it is called to be a sign of the Father's concern for all his sons.

The leaven is not useful to itself, but to the mass.

Likewise, the Church shall not serve itself; it will not be concerned with its own celebration and development [material, or with a view to proselytism; and so on].

Every Fraternity in Christ is a function of people's lives alone, where and how they are - just as they are.

To internalize and live the message:

What seed had you neglected because of its smallness, and then it turned out to be essential for your growth and the needs of others as well?

Completeness: Duplicity

From the fascinating proposal of Faith to the fatigue of withdrawal

(Mt 13:24-43)

The parable of the Sower as historically narrated by Jesus (vv.3-8) and that of the tares (vv.24-30) denote the total positivity of his Message.

The Lord proclaimed a new world; above all a different, tolerant and benevolent Heaven.

Even vv.18-23 contain a Good News, rather than a judgment: in our field both good wheat and weeds arise spontaneously, but all this is not a curse; on the contrary (v.23c).

It must however be admitted that the metaphor of vv.37-43 transforms the original parable (vv.24-30) into a moral allegory.

With symbolic elements, the different figurative expressions take up the original narrative of Jesus, trying to interpret it according to the common codes of traditional rabbinic preaching.

As for the teachers of Israel, here too the [next] intent is to shake the listeners, in order to emphasize the personal, community and spiritual importance of the fundamental choices - in the present.

At House (v.36), that is, in the Church, a debate is created first of all on the explanation of why Jesus does not impose a preventive sterilization of the wheat field.

In the uncertainty, particular clarifications are attempted - according to which, however, the passage [which is the result of subsequent editing, debate and reflection] risks overturning the meaning of the Jesus parable itself.

Well, in his people of brethren and in society, the Master did not intend to erase a priori the profitable sense of the ineffable and mysterious dynamics of ‘mixing’: reality of this world with full rights.

Such is the essential, universalist Proclamation of the young Rabbi, in spite of the ancient purist clichés.

Legalist religiosity was selective, élitist, conformist; attentive to the maintenance of social hierarchies.

In this way, it constituted a dense-mesh cultural hood, and evaluated in an abstract, preventive mode, what should be considered good or bad for all.

Yet the idea of algid perfection [sterile of life] did not allow the energies of concrete existence to prepare the future and generate the same Novelty of the Spirit.

Christ's encounter with the believer changes everything in his life, certainly - but not from an assumed gradation of values, procedures and pre-written sentences.

In reality one becomes attentive to perceive the eccentricity of the sisters and brothers by the fact that one has experienced the blessing embrace of the Father on his own "defects".

Not for a sense of emotional paternalism, but because not infrequently the resources that solve real problems and activate the Redemption of God come from the whirlwind of precious contradictions and indigences that we have inside.

They make us less one-sided, more flexible and complete. Exceptional, alive; able to rely on the internal world, instead of the external one.

So capable to implement a turning point.

We see it: to make the world grow and reborn from the global crisis, each subject (even institutional) is called to reinvent itself outside of every score already arranged and recognized.

And today perhaps starting from what in the habit of thought was  considered nothing but sin, or annoying dissonance; incompleteness, limit... so on.

Suddenly and blatantly, imbalances and fluctuations make a difference also in terms of quality. They become opportunities not to be missed: an extra gear; spring power, a drive to activate the unprecedented, and open up.

Here is a substantial difference between common religiosity and the life of Faith. The character of Duplicity makes us healthier and more perfect - and God is not biased.

Indeed, in the eyes of the Father it is precisely the unrepeatable uncertainties [not by protocol] that make every one of his sons special, unique.

In short, you grow, get richer, and correspond to your personal Vocation, only by putting into play, integrating and transmuting boundaries - not denying them.

«St Augustine commenting on the parable noted “many are at first tares but then become good grain”, and he added: “if these, when they are wicked, are not endured with patience they would not attain their praiseworthy transformation” (Quaest. septend. in Ev. sec. Matth., 12, 4: PL 35, 1371)»

[Pope Benedict; Angelus July 17, 2011]

[16th Sunday in O.T. (year A)  July 19, 2026]