5. Together with all Christ's disciples, the Catholic Church bases upon God's plan her ecumenical commitment to gather all Christians into unity. Indeed, "the Church is not a reality closed in on herself. Rather, she is permanently open to missionary and ecumenical endeavour, for she is sent to the world to announce and witness, to make present and spread the mystery of communion which is essential to her, and to gather all people and all things into Christ, so as to be for all an 'inseparable sacrament of unity' ".

74. "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 7:21). The consistency and honesty of intentions and of statements of principles are verified by their application to real life. The Council Decree on Ecumenism notes that among other Christians "the faith by which they believe in Christ bears fruit in praise and thanksgiving for the benefits received from the hands of God. Joined to it are a lively sense of justice and a true neighbourly charity".

103. I, John Paul, servus servorum Dei, venture to make my own the words of the Apostle Paul, whose martyrdom, together with that of the Apostle Peter, has bequeathed to this See of Rome the splendour of its witness, and I say to you, the faithful of the Catholic Church, and to you, my brothers and sisters of the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities: "Mend your ways, encourage one another, live in harmony, and the God of love and peace will be with you ... The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor 13:11,13).

[Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum sint]

Today’s Gospel passage urges us to meditate on the topic of salvation. St Luke the Evangelist tells us that while Jesus was travelling to Jerusalem, he was approached by a man who asked him this question: “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (Lk 13:23). Rather than giving a direct answer, Jesus shifts the issue to another level in an evocative way, which the disciples don’t understand at first: “strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (v. 24). Using the image of a door, he wants his listeners to understand that it is not a question of numbers — how many will be saved —, how many is not relevant, but rather, it is important for everyone to know the way that leads to salvation. 

This way means entering through a door. But where is the door? Who is the door? Jesus himself is that door. He says so in the Gospel of John: “I am the door” (10:9). He leads us to communion with the Father, where we find love, understanding and protection. But why is this door narrow, one might ask? Why does he say it is narrow? It is a narrow door not because it is oppressive, but because it demands that we restrain and limit our pride and our fear, in order to open ourselves to Him with humble and trusting hearts, acknowledging that we are sinners and in need of his forgiveness. This is why it is narrow, to limit our pride, which swells us. The door of God’s mercy is narrow but is always open to everyone! God does not have preferences, but always welcomes everyone, without distinction. A narrow door to restrain our pride and our fear; a door open wide because God welcomes us without distinction. And the salvation that He gives us is an unending flow of mercy that overcomes every barrier and opens surprising perspectives of light and peace. The door is narrow but always open wide: do not forget this.

Once more, Jesus extends a pressing invitation to us today to go to Him, to pass through the door of a full, reconciled and happy life. He awaits each one of us, no matter what sins we have committed, to embrace us, to offer us his forgiveness. He alone can transform our hearts, He alone can give full meaning to our existence, giving us true joy. By entering Jesus’ door, the door of faith and of the Gospel, we can leave behind worldly attitudes, bad habits, selfishness and narrow-mindedness. When we encounter the love and mercy of God, there is authentic change. Our lives are enlightened by the light of the Holy Spirit: an inextinguishable light!

I would like to propose something to you. Let us think now for a moment, in silence, of the things that we have inside us which prevent us from entering the door: my pride, my arrogance, my sins. Then, let us think of the other door, the one opened wide by the mercy of God who awaits us on the other side to grant us forgiveness.

The Lord offers us many opportunities to be saved and to enter through the door of salvation. This door is an occasion that can never be wasted: we don’t have to give long, erudite speeches about salvation, like the man who approached Jesus in the Gospel. Rather, we have to accept the opportunity for salvation. Because at a certain moment, the master of the house will rise and shut the door (cf. Lk 13:25), as the Gospel reminded us. But if God is good and loves us, why would he close the door at a certain point? Because our life is not a video game nor a television soap opera. Our life is serious and our goal is important: eternal salvation.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary, the Gate of Heaven, to help us seize the opportunities the Lord gives us in order to cross the threshold of faith and thus to enter a broad path: it is the path of salvation that can embrace all those who allow themselves to be enraptured by love. It is love that saves, the love that already on this earth is a source of happiness for all those who, in meekness, patience and justice, forget about themselves and give themselves to others, especially to those who are most weak.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 21 August 2016]

From the inside and in domestic

(Lk 13:18-21)

The two parables were set forth at a time of doubt about the Master’s proposal and the mission of his intimates.

A small group of faithful without social connection, could say something to the world?

Despite the commitment, women and men are struggling in all their ancient problems; they feel the weight of suffering and anguish: at first glance everything looks the same (disconnected, chaotic, fragmentary).

What is the point of the small hope of a few believers without a flashy heritage, for the cultural and civic concert - today global?

It seems that in the reality of the cosmos nothing changes... but the Granule has been thrown into the furrow of the earth.

It seems that human pasta is the same as always, but a Yeast is renewing it all, from within.

Jesus was like a seed planted in darkness, nothing sensational. And thrown like in the vegetable garden of the house [v.19 Greek text].

However, the mustard bean has an incredible and intrinsic evolutionary force.

Of course, the moment of growth ends with a very simple tree - a shrub like many, subjected to the weather... yet able to give rest and shelter to anyone who passes (v.19).

Then it’s enough to put a pinch of yeast in the mass to make it completely ferment.

The yeast doesn’t stand out, it’s hidden: it disappears inside. And at that time everything was kept in a simple home bread chest.

Deepening life in the Spirit, we repeatedly realize that we have only seen in part: there is still much [more] to discover - in relation to the development of ordinary life.

Despite the megalomaniacs, the dimensions of the Kingdom of God, the universe of the soul, and the Mission, are not immediately and completely verifiable.

We have to enter a process, personal and all hidden - therefore authentically springy, convinced, and paradoxically wide open.

In fact, even «when the work is done, withdrawing is the Way of Heaven» [Tao Tê Ching, ix].

On the horizon of every journey there is always a new plant, another ‘genesis’, a different flowering in the time of the seasons; an unprecedented effervescence, to be introduced into the ancient arrangement already capitalized.

But seed and ferment work unknown.

Lack of spotlight, poor situation, smallness... are not obstacles to growth, but the condition.

What seems nothing becomes what Creation awaits.

It’s seen hardly or at all - but giving time without forcing and hastening, it gets the cordial and domestic evolution that doesn’t clash with God and the leasts.

To internalize and live the message:

What sensational cunning tried to destroy your land?

What conformity made you pale?

What subdued and calibrated Word on you has not produced hustle and bustle, but has regenerated your passion, and has expanded life?

[Tuesday 30th wk. in O.T.  October 29, 2024]

From within and in the domestic

(Lk 13:18-21)

The two parables were expounded at a time of doubt about the Master's proposal and the mission of his people.

Could a small group of believers with no social connection say anything to the world?

In spite of their commitment, women and men struggle with all their old problems, they feel the weight of suffering and anguish: at first glance everything seems the same, disconnected, chaotic, fragmentary.

What sense does the small hope of a few believers without a conspicuous heritage have for the cultural and civic concert - today global -?

It seems that in the reality of the cosmos nothing changes... but the Grain has been cast into the furrow of the earth.

It seems that the human dough is the same as ever, but a Leaven is renewing it all, from within.

Jesus was like a seed planted in the darkness, nothing sensational. And sown as in the kitchen garden [v.19 Greek text] where no sensational parades are cultivated, but simple potatoes, salad, aubergines, cucumbers, tomatoes - normal things, no big deal.

The mustard seed, however, has an incredible and intrinsic evolutionary power.

Of course, the moment of growth ends with a very simple sapling - a shrub like so many, subjected to the elements... yet able to give rest and shelter to anyone who passes by (v.19).

This brings the final miracle: 'a form of life with the flavour of the Gospel [...] that goes beyond the barriers of geography and space. Here [St Francis] declares blessed the one who loves the other when he is far from him, as much as if he were next to him'.

Although taken from expressions of the First Testament, in the features described by Lk the evangelical figure of the birds of the air illustrates "the essence of an open fraternity, which allows one to recognise, appreciate and love each person beyond physical proximity, beyond the place in the world where he or she was born or where he or she lives" [cf.]

The experience of the Saint of Assisi with a "heart without boundaries, capable of going beyond distances" introduces a logic of dialogue that avoids "any form of aggression or contention and also of living a humble and fraternal submission" - without ever imposing a "dialectical war" or "doctrines" [FT, 3-4].

So it is enough to put a pinch of yeast in the mass to make it fully ferment.

The leaven does not stand out, it is hidden: it disappears inside. And at that time everything was stored in a simple household cupboard.

As we delve deeper into life in the Spirit, we repeatedly realise that we have only seen in part: there is still much (more) to be discovered - in relation to the development of ordinary life.

So we guess it is basically within everyone's grasp; certainly not mysterious, nor can it be acquired in any of the disciplines of the arcane.

In short, megalomaniacs notwithstanding, the dimensions of the Kingdom of God, the universe of the soul, and the Mission are not something that can be verified immediately and completely.

One must enter into a process, personal and all-concealed - for this is authentically emergent, convinced, and paradoxically wide-open.

Indeed, even 'when the work is done, retreating is the Way to Heaven' [Tao Tê Ching, ix].

On the horizon of every path, there is always a new plant, another 'genesis', a different blossoming in the time of the seasons; a new effervescence, to be introduced into the already capitalised old arrangement.

This hidden radiance and vitality of the intuitive and missionary heart, does not belong to 'cultural' or collective rituals, nor to side duties.

Artificial passes make us prisoners of conditioning that blunt perception and dampen the mission for which we were born.

On the contrary, breaking out of the herd that gives birth to the usual pale (only drugged) models of interpretation will be an opportunity to discover something new.

We will also astound ourselves with our own intimate propulsive capacities - accompanied only by the Friend who sees in the secret.

Seed and ferment work unknown.

Lack of spotlight, poor situation, littleness... these are not obstacles to growth, but the condition.

What seems nothing becomes what Creation awaits.

It is barely visible or not at all - but by giving time without forcing and rushing, it achieves the friendly and domestic evolution that does not clash with God and the least.

The Church to come will not be intrusive: it will not demand adherence [on pain of exclusion].

That is why the dynamism of growth will be out of scale, but only in terms of human and hospitable capacities (v.19), not in terms of excited magnificence.

Deprived of clamorous, resounding and sought-after magnificence, the new divine Bride will be caught in the attitude of fullness. But only because it will correspond to the project of complete life that dwells in our breasts, and we mysteriously sense it to be ours.

We will understand: it will make everyone feel good.

The insecure will become decisive, the loser will be transformed by Grace into the wise. We will understand that to accept the Word and correspond to one's personal Vocation will not be terrifying, but regenerating.

Those who do not wrap themselves up but will shift their thoughts, point everything, will bring out their essence.

We will realise that our being is already calibrated on innate, subdued, personally-matched plots.

In the Spirit and in real life, we will discover the qualitative and special Magnificent that the more conformist and hasty, less dialogic or capable of listening, do not even remotely imagine could excel.

To internalise and live the message:

What sensational cunning has attempted to destroy your land?

What conformity - even of clan - has made you pale?

What subdued Word calibrated to you did not produce turmoil, but regenerated your passion, and expanded your life?

Being Christians, we know that the future is ours and the tree of the Church is not a tree that is dying but a tree that constantly puts out new shoots. Therefore we have a reason not to let ourselves be upset, as Pope John said, by the prophets of doom who say: well, the Church is a tree that grew from the mustard seed, grew for two thousand years, now she has time behind her, it is now time for her to die. No. The Church is ever renewed, she is always reborn. The future belongs to us. Of course, there is a false optimism and a false pessimism. A false pessimism tells us that the epoch of Christianity is over. No: it is beginning again! The false optimism was the post-Council optimism, when convents closed, seminaries closed and they said “but... nothing, everything is fine!”.... No! Everything is not fine. There are also serious, dangerous omissions and we have to recognize with healthy realism that in this way things are not all right, it is not all right when errors are made. However, we must also be certain at the same time that if, here and there, the Church is dying because of the sins of men and women, because of their non-belief, at the same time she is reborn. The future really belongs to God: this is the great certainty of our life, the great, true optimism that we know. The Church is the tree of God that lives for ever and bears within her eternity and the true inheritance: eternal life.

[Pope Benedict at the Roman Seminary, 8 February 2013]

2. Jesus says: "The Kingdom of God is like a man who sows a seed in the earth: sleep or wake, night or day, the seed germinates and grows; how, he himself does not know. For the earth produces spontaneously, first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. When the fruit is ready, immediately you put your hand to the sickle, because the harvest has come" (Mk 4:26-29). So the Kingdom of God grows here on earth, in human history, by virtue of an initial sowing, that is, of a foundation, which comes from God, and of a mysterious working of God himself, which continues to cultivate the Church down the centuries. In God's work for the Kingdom, the sickle of sacrifice is also present: the development of the Kingdom is not achieved without suffering. This is the meaning of the parable in Mark's Gospel.

3. We also find the same concept in other parables, especially those gathered in Matthew's text (Mt 13:3-50).

"The kingdom of heaven," we read in this Gospel, "can be compared to a mustard seed, which a man takes and sows in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the other seeds and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven nestle among its branches" (Mt 13:31). This is the growth of the kingdom in the "extensive" sense.

Another parable, on the other hand, shows its growth in an "intensive" or qualitative sense, comparing it to the yeast, which a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour so that it all fermented" (Mt 13:32).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 25 September 1991]

Do Christians 'really believe' in the 'power of the Holy Spirit' within them? And do they have the courage to "sow the seed", to get involved, or do they take refuge in a "pastoral of conservation" that does not let "the Kingdom of God grow"? These are the questions posed by Pope Francis during the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on Tuesday 31 October, in which he outlined a horizon of "hope", for each individual man and for the Church as a community: that of the full realisation of the Kingdom of God, which has two pillars: the disruptive "force" of the Spirit and the "courage" to let this force be unleashed.

The cue came to the Pontiff from the reading of the Gospel passage (Luke 13:18-21) in which "it seems that Jesus struggles a bit: 'But how can I explain the Kingdom of God? To what can I compare it?"" and uses "two simple examples from everyday life": those of the mustard seed and the yeast. They are, Francis explained, both small, they seem harmless, "but when they enter into that movement, they have within them a power that comes out of themselves and grows, it goes beyond, even beyond what can be imagined". Precisely 'this is the mystery of the Kingdom'.

The reality, in fact, is that 'the wheat has power within, the leaven has power within', and also 'the power of the Kingdom of God comes from within; the power comes from within, the growing comes from within'. It is not, the Pope added with a comparison that refers to current events, "a growth as for example occurs in the case of a football team when the number of fans increases and makes the team bigger", but "it comes from within". A concept that, he added, is taken up by Paul in the Letter to the Romans (8:18-25) in a passage "that is full of tension", because "this growth of the Kingdom of God from within, from within, is a growth in tension".

So the apostle explains: "How many tensions are there in our lives and where they lead us", and says that "the sufferings of this life are not comparable to the glory that awaits us". But even the 'waiting' itself, said the Pontiff rereading the epistle, is not a 'quiet' waiting: Paul speaks 'of ardent expectation. There is an ardent expectation in these tensions'. Moreover, this expectation is not only of man, but "also of creation" which is "stretched out towards the revelation of the sons of God". In fact, "creation too, like us, has been subjected to transience" and proceeds in the "hope that it will be freed from the bondage of corruption". Therefore, "it is the whole creation that from the existential transience it perceives, goes right to glory, to freedom from slavery; it leads us to freedom. And this creation - and we with it, with creation - groans and suffers the pains of childbirth to this day'.

The conclusion of this reasoning led the Pope to relaunch the concept of 'hope': man and the whole creation possess 'the firstfruits of the Spirit', that is, 'the internal force that carries us forward and gives us hope' of the 'fullness of the Kingdom of God'. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote "that phrase that teaches us so much: 'For in hope we have been saved'".

It, the Pontiff continued, is a 'path', it is 'that which leads us to fullness, the hope of coming out of this prison, out of this limitation, out of this slavery, out of this corruption and arriving at glory'. And it is, he added, "a gift of the Spirit" that "is within us and leads to this: to a great thing, to a liberation, to a great glory. And that is why Jesus says: 'Inside the mustard seed, that tiny grain, there is a power that unleashes unimaginable growth'".

Here then is the reality foreshadowed by the parable: "Within us and in creation - because we are going together towards glory - there is a force that unleashes: there is the Holy Spirit. That gives us hope'. And, Francis added, 'To live in hope is to let these forces of the Spirit go forth and help us grow towards this fullness that awaits us in glory'.

Next, the Pontiff's reflection looked at another aspect, for in the parable it is added that 'the mustard seed is taken and thrown. A man took it and threw it into the garden' and that even the leaven is not left unturned: 'a woman takes and mixes'. That is, 'if the grain is not taken and thrown, if the leaven is not taken by the woman and mixed, they remain there and that inner strength they have remains there'. In the same way, Francis explained, 'if we want to keep the grain for ourselves, it will be one grain. If we do not mix with life, with the flour of life, the yeast, only the yeast will remain'. It is therefore necessary to 'throw, to mix, that courage of hope'. Which "grows, because the Kingdom of God grows from within, not by proselytism". It grows "with the power of the Holy Spirit".In this regard, the Pope recalled that 'the Church has always had both the courage to take and to throw, to take and to mix', and also 'the fear of doing so'. And he noted: "Many times we see that we prefer a pastoral of conservation" rather than "letting the Kingdom grow". When this happens 'we remain what we are, little ones, there', perhaps 'we stay safe', but 'the Kingdom does not grow'. Whereas "for the Kingdom to grow it takes courage: to cast the grain, to stir the yeast".

Someone might object: 'If I throw the grain, I lose it'. But this, the Pope explained, is the reality of always: 'There is always some loss, in sowing the Kingdom of God. If I mix the yeast I get my hands dirty: thank God! Woe to those who preach the Kingdom of God with the illusion of not getting their hands dirty. These are museum-keepers: they prefer beautiful things" to "the act of throwing so that force may break out, of stirring so that force may grow".

All this is encapsulated in the words of Jesus and Paul proposed by the liturgy: the "tension that goes from the slavery of sin" to the "fullness of glory". And the hope that 'does not disappoint' even if it is 'as small as wheat and as leaven'. Someone, the Pontiff recalled, 'said that it is the most humble virtue, it is the servant. But there is the Spirit, and where there is hope there is the Holy Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit who brings forth the Kingdom of God'. And he concluded by suggesting to those present to think back to 'the mustard seed and the yeast, the tossing and the stirring' and to ask themselves: 'How is it, my hope? Is it an illusion? A 'maybe'? Or do I believe, that there is the Holy Spirit in there? Do I speak with the Holy Spirit?"

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 31 October 2017]

XXIX Sunday Ordinary Time (B) - 20 October 2024

1. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many". The Son of Man of whom the gospel speaks is a clear reflection of the figure of "my righteous servant" announced by Isaiah in the first reading: he is Jesus, the humiliated and mockingly crowned with thorns Christ, who before Pilate proclaims himself king not of this world, he is the Saviour of humanity. But the only way to meet him and know him is to bend our intelligence to the incomprehensible because he is a God who surprises and amazes us, forcing us to enter into his logic that is totally different from ours: he makes himself a servant and humbles himself to the point of the impossible, he suffers the unjust passion and death on the cross, but rises again and humbles himself again to the point of becoming broken bread to nourish hope and love, the true nourishment of life that does not die. If you want to try to come closer to Christ, kneel before the mystery of the Eucharist and repeat with St Francis: "Who are you, God, and who am I"? If you want to follow him to the point of allowing yourself to be transformed by him, you must know that you risk misunderstanding, isolation and even persecution. Probably the episode that we read today in the gospel and Christ's response to the disciples found an echo in the community for which Mark writes the gospel: a community already under persecution and aware that the work of liberation from all that prevents one from encountering the true face of the God of Jesus Christ was not finished, but would require the contribution of many martyrs, which would last for centuries and millennia. What should make us reflect is that the absolute novelty of God becoming man and taking upon himself the sins of all mankind, becoming 'the guilty one' in our place, has not entered our hearts, and therefore our way of life is not converted.

2. A question arises: why did God want to go through the drama of death to save us?  Let us start from the last words of the Gospel text: "The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many". The word 'ransom' over the centuries has completely changed its meaning compared to Jesus' time, so that in interpreting its meaning with modern logic we risk going off the rails. In fact, if someone speaks of ransom today we immediately think of a hostage and therefore of the need to negotiate with the kidnappers and the ransom is the sum to be paid to free the kidnapped person. At the time of Christ, the word 'ransom' meant something else, it meant liberation, and the Greek word translated as 'ransom' comes from a verb meaning to loosen, to free. It would therefore be a contradiction to the Greek text of Mark's gospel if we thought that Jesus had to pay something on our behalf to appease the wrath of a God provoked by our sins. Jesus' disciples, who knew the Old Testament, knew well that the whole Bible speaks of a God who wants to free his people and later the whole of humanity from all forms of slavery. The God of the Bible is a God who liberates, and this constitutes the first article of Israel's creed. Furthermore, all the prophets fought against the practice of human sacrifice, calling it an abomination.  So when Jesus states that he must give his life as a ransom for many, it does not occur to anyone that God could demand the death of his only Son to appease anyone's anger. On the contrary, they were well aware that God has no resentment or hatred towards mankind and especially does not demand sacrifices, especially human sacrifices. Israel was waiting for deliverance, at first certainly from the occupation of the Romans, and this misunderstanding remained in their minds for a long time: in this key we can for example understand the behaviour of Judah.  The Jewish people were believers who, supported by the preaching of the prophets, awaited the liberation of mankind from all forms of evil, whether physical, moral or spiritual. The disciples, knowing the scriptures and in the school of Jesus, understand that he must consecrate his life for this liberation of humanity and know that true liberation comes through conversion of heart that makes one capable of giving life even unto death. And, precisely to sustain them in this faith, the Lord for the third time announces his passion, death and resurrection even though this effort of his does not seem to calm their restlessness and fear. The evangelist makes us understand this when, recounting that Jesus goes towards Jerusalem at the head of the group of twelve, they follow him without haste, seized by a dark foreboding because they know what awaits them. And when James and John, after Jesus announces his passion and death for the third time, seem to exorcise their fear by asking whether, after having faced the trial with him to the end, they too will be able to share in his glory, Jesus reiterates that the path of suffering and death is not avoidable even for them.

3. Instead, he insists that he did not come to be served but to serve. He does not present himself as a triumphant king, but as the "just servant" of God who will justify many by taking on their iniquities, recalling the prophecy of Isaiah who in the first reading speaks of the "just servant of God", a title insistently present in the four cantos of the "Servant of the Lord" of the so-called Deutero-Isaiah. If the early Christians immediately interpreted that the righteous servant is Jesus, the prophet was probably pointing to the small group of Jewish people in exile who were faithful to God despite many difficulties. But how to internalise this phrase: "It pleased the Lord to prostrate him with sorrows?" It would be nonsense to believe that God takes pleasure in making men suffer, and it also clashes with the oft-repeated statement that God is love. In no text of the Bible is it said that God took pleasure in prostrating his people with suffering. The verb 'it pleased', which is always used to say that God accepted the sacrifices and gave his absolution to all the people, emphasises that the righteous suffering servant imitates God in taking on suffering as a work of reparation and transforming it into a source of salvation. The expression: "prostrate him with sorrows" therefore recalls the image of the broken heart spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel and Psalm 50/51: a heart of stone that through suffering becomes a heart of flesh, especially when it is provoked by the afflictions inflicted by men. In every form of painful trial one reacts either by hardening the heart (with hatred and the desire for revenge) or with forgiveness and love, and in this way the suffering of the righteous servant becomes a path of light as Isaiah notes: 'after his torment he will see the light'.  From every evil God can draw a good, and it is in this mystery of hatred and forgiveness that the power of his love shines through. It follows that the righteous suffering servant contributes to the salvation of all, and of the injustice suffered he makes a path of light. The Lord accepts the intention of the heart and forgives all, even the executioners; that is, he accepts the attitude of the heart that offers him suffering and forgiveness as a sacrifice of atonement, and in his mercy he himself makes reparation and forgiveness. As Isaiah notes, crushed by the hatred of men, the righteous man responds with silence and forgiveness that becomes a saving force for those he persecutes and can convert their hearts. However, the most important message Isaiah summarises in this way: 'the will of the Lord will be done through him'. Through the sacrifice of the righteous, God saves humanity by freeing it from every chain of evil, hatred, violence and jealousy that devours the heart. For if the righteous servant makes his life a sacrifice of reparation, through this very giving of himself God will accomplish his will and reconciled sinners can begin a new life. "My righteous servant shall justify many, he shall bear their iniquities. The salvation of the persecutors is in the hands of the victims, and only the forgiveness given by the victims can melt the hardness of the persecutor's heart. Jesus prophesied: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself"(Jn 12:32) and the prophet Zechariah: "I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and consolation: they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced"(12:10; and "in that day there shall be for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem a gushing spring to wash away sin and impurity"(13:1).  Consoling and challenging is the message of God's word: humanity is saved when nonviolence, forgiveness, service, humility are the only means employed to change human hearts, and challenging is the programme that Jesus proposes to his disciples: "the rulers of the nations rule over them and their leaders oppress them. But let it not be so among you. All of you, my disciples, if you are the leaven and the seed of the new humanity, follow my example by sacrificing your lives as I do for the good of all.

+ Giovanni D’Ercole

He Called to Himself: emergency by Name, before than around

(Lk 6:12-19)

Lk reflects the double direction of worship in primitive communities: Prayer as a significant openness to the Father and internal celebration among disciples (vv.13-17) - and the public Proclamation with works, to the people.

The community is close: God is in our history. The idea of a distant Kingdom produces separations, pastorally inconsistent pyramids, and dispersive cultivation of interests.

In short, it’s crucial to mature first, wherever we live.

Whoever cultivates many cravings projects them; he causes his own murky influences. For this reason Prayer and reflection are necessary, which - from Listening - transmit to us the sense of our being in the world and a right disposition.

It seems a paradox, but concern for the needs of the multitudes is a problem exquisitely rooted in the depths.

It is from oneself and from the community that we look with empathy at the world itself, knowing how to recover its opposite sides.

It is the Way of the Interior that penetrates and activates the way of the outside.

Thus we immerse ourselves in the Source of Being: to shift our hasty gaze. He who is not free cannot free.

The only wise way to scrutinize far is to stick to the reason for things, a principle that we actively know, if not misled by superficiality and reductions.

Understanding the nature of creatures and conforming to them in a growing way, everyone is inspired to transmute and complete, enriching even the cultural sclerosis without alienating forcing.

All this, activating a practice of goodness even with oneself.

Not to distinguish the moment of the Vocation from that of the ministerial Sending: the way of Heaven is intertwined with the path of the Person.

It’s in short to approach the sense of the missional uniqueness of each Apostle that Jesus spends an entire night in Prayer (v.12).

Most of the early followers have names typical of Judaism, even of the time of the Patriarchs - which indicates a mental and spiritual extraction rooted more in ancient religion than in the new Faith: reality not easy to manage.

But also for them the Lord releases his full strength of Life, despite the fact that in themselves they were ordinary individuals, full of limits.

However, the Kingdom is «local and universal» [Brethren All, nn.142-153], Near and by Name - as the Gospel passage from Lk.

This is the multiple force, biting, incomparable, close and personal, which wins any possibility of ideal sabotage [because of adverse circumstances].

Power drawn both from direct prayer to the Father in Christ - in his night Listening (v.12) - and from the works of love (vv.17-19).

Powers in personal, sensitive, shared symbiosis.

Mission not only for excellents, nor unilateral, but for a restless contagion.

Announcement of new Light received in Gift: where precisely not a single form or colour appears.

And the Axis is for us: hiding sometimes with Him.

«This is what tradition was subsequently to formulate in the well-known saying: "Contemplata aliis tradere" (cf. St Thomas, Summa Theologiae, IIa-IIae, q. 188, art. 6)» [Pope Benedict].

To internalize and live the message:

In your experience, which chain united Heaven and earth?

[St  Simon and Jude, October 28, 2024]