Adulterous ‘church’, accused Jesus

(Jn 8:1-11)

What about an ancient codex of the Gospels with a torn 'page'?

Husbands did not want women to have a license of immunity from the Lord himself: God's action baffles.

But how does the Lord deal with those who have made mistakes in life? Or with people of a different cultural background [e.g.] from the West?

Can they be admitted to a direct relationship with Jesus, or must they undergo a long rigmarole of doctrinal and moralistic x-rays?

Christ proceeds without enquiries or accusatory penitential tares.

He only puts people and heterogeneous groups back on their feet - albeit all humiliated and mocked souls by the veterans of the post-war (who secretly concede everything).

He imposes - and chisels - Justice where it has been transgressed, at least in our conventional opinion.

The only solution and judgement is that for the Good that is reliable and convincing.

In Ephesus, bishop Polycrates had had to clash with the intransigents on the issue of the readmission into the community of the lapsi ['slipped' in the confession of faith, under blackmail] or of those who had 'surrendered' the sacred books (traditores) because intimidated by threats of persecution.

The bishop of Rome, Sotère, had taken a position in favour of the rigorists. But as the Apostolic Constitutions testify, the more sympathetic ones referred explicitly to the episode of the adulteress, bearing in mind that God's action is a creative act that recomposes - not a gesture of hasty punishment.

Having disappeared from the Gospel according to Lk (cf. 21:38), the Gospel pearl was recovered by Jn (8:1-11).

Still St. Augustine complained that the passage was excluded by leaders of some communities.

But overcoming petty moralisms, the pericope has significant theological weight.

In religions, the idea of divine justice is identical, because it is in harmony with the concept of common justice: unicuique Jus suum.

On all ancient Egyptian sarcophagi is reproduced the scene of the scales with two plates in perfect balance: on one the feather symbol of Maat goddess of wisdom; on the other the heart of the deceased, who is led by the hand by the god Anubis.

On the weighing depends the future happiness or ruin of the one being judged.

The Qur'an attributes to God the splendid title of 'Best of those who forgive'; yet even in Islam, the Day of Judgement is the moment of separation between the righteous and the wicked - the one ushered into paradise, the other cast into hell.

The rabbis of Jesus' time held that Mercy intervened at the moment of reckoning: it prevailed only when good and evil deeds were equal.

The adulterer and adulteress were to be put to death (Deut 22:22-24): how come the male escaped?

In many Bible passages, the 'woman' is a collective parable - here evoked for a catechesis against the traditionalist prosecutors who were also coming forward in the early communities.

The trouble with moral courts is that too many protagonists seem more inclined to condemn 'symbols' than to get to the bottom of matters.

Despite the strict penitential practices of the early centuries and the controversy between laxists and strictists, the gemstone recovered and previously removed from many manuscripts reiterates the incriminating phrase: 'I do not condemn you'!

And it even portrays a Jesus who does not ask beforehand whether the woman was repentant or not!

Shocking episode? No, because this is theology, not news reporting.

Every day at sunrise the people from the Mount of Olives contemplating the Temple recited the Shemàh, and so did Jesus.

Like many, he spent the nights in a cave, in the open air (Lk 21:37-38; Jn 8:1-2), then went to the Temple to teach.

Another "Day" begins.

The confrontation with the sinner who represents us, begins a new 'dawn' - on the Face of God.

What sentence does the Lord pronounce in his House [Church]?

We are not told what Jesus was teaching, for he himself is 'the' Word, the Teaching.

Every gesture tells how the Father relates to the one who has strayed, or comes from an uncertain background.

He helps the lost son to recover, and says [in short]: 'I do not condemn you, but stop hurting yourself'.

Jesus crosses the bridge-viaduct over the Cedron valley and enters the temple esplanade through the Golden Gate.

There he finds hearts firm to the retributive justice of Sinai, that of the cold stone tablets.

Justice of the scribes and Pharisees of the vice squad who - pressing - were standing over him [so the Greek text].

Justice of scales and synhedrums? No, Benevolence that makes the wicked righteous, that makes pure those who draw near - those from multiform paganism, considered theological adulterers.'Justice is done' for us means that the guilty are straightened out, punished and separated from the unrighteous.

God, on the other hand, makes righteous the once unrighteous. He precisely retrieves the wretch from the abyss, and gives him breath.

[Perhaps the woman is a symbolic image of a subordinate primitive community, coming to Faith but with mixed cultural origins and uncertain practices, judged to be tumultuously free].

Forgiveness is not a defeat, nor a surrender. After all, there is no shortage of those who shield themselves with laws to annoy and hide behind screens.

In short: the real defendant of the pericope is the Son and his idea of Justice!

Hence the Finger on the ground: resting on the stone slabs of the Jerusalem temple esplanade.

A very serious accusation against the spiritual guides of official religiosity and all those who, having become leaders of the first Christian realities, immediately intended to replicate their hypocrisies.

Inebriated by the rank of leaders and censors, they too manifested that they had remained in the Sinaitic, stone age.

An age of old supponents devoid of the heart of flesh, estranged from the warmth of the divine Spirit.

Indeed, not a few manuscripts from the early centuries show the obsessive communitarian attachment to a rigid ethical discipline.

There was a risk of a return to the ideology of the 'best': a ruthless and gabellant, icy and judgmental, chastising school; confusing about the passions - that of the 'chosen' and 'whole'.

Acolytes proponents of death; corpses incapable of fiery desire, of explicit passion; because - at least in façade - calibrated to room temperature.

Instead, throughout the scene Jesus remains crouched on the ground!

He even stands in relation to the adulteress looking up at her from below (cf. Greek text)!

He remains subjected even to the adulteress, the icon precisely of an uncertain or 'lesser' church - which gathers together the formerly distant free ones. The same ones who now approach the threshold of the fraternities with a past and perhaps questionable moral baggage.

In short, every demand for mercy is authentic even when it remains only implicit - and in any case Christ relates to each one of us without looming!

In the life of Faith, God stands beneath us, and so do those who authentically represent Him.

The Eternal One is not a legislator, nor a weigher, nor a plaintiff - not even a notary judge who passes sentence at once.

In this way and 'lapidary' tone, Pope Francis has repeatedly said:

"I prefer a Church that is bumpy, wounded and dirty from being out on the streets, rather than a Church that is sick from being closed and comfortable clinging to its own security. I consider missteps less serious than not moving at all!".

The difference between Faith's approach and the assessments of mundane religiosity? The qualitative leap between Finger on the Plate and Looking at People.

To internalise and live the message:

In what situations have you considered, "Justice is done"?

On what occasions have you experienced divine Judgement as understanding and grace?

The Gospel passage recounts the episode of the adulterous woman in two vivid scenes:  in the first, we witness a dispute between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees concerning a woman caught in flagrant adultery who, in accordance with the prescriptions of the Book of Leviticus (cf. 20: 10), was condemned to stoning. In the second scene, a brief but moving dialogue develops between Jesus and the sinner-woman. The pitiless accusers of the woman, citing the law of Moses, provoke Jesus - they call him "Teacher" (Didáskale) -, asking him whether it would be right to stone her. They were aware of his mercy and his love for sinners and were curious to see how he would manage in such a case which, according to Mosaic law, was crystal clear. But Jesus immediately took the side of the woman. In the first place, he wrote mysterious words on the ground, which the Evangelist does not reveal but which impressed him, and Jesus then spoke the sentence that was to become famous:  "Let him who is without sin among you (he uses the term anamártetos here, which is the only time it appears in the New Testament) be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8: 7) and begin the stoning. St Augustine noted, commenting on John's Gospel, that:  "The Lord, in his response, neither failed to respect the law nor departed from his meekness". And Augustine added that with these words, Jesus obliged the accusers to look into themselves, to examine themselves to see whether they too were sinners. Thus, "pierced through as if by a dart as big as a beam, one after another, they all withdrew" (in Io. Ev. tract 33, 5). 

So it was, therefore, that the accusers who had wished to provoke Jesus went away one by one, "beginning with the eldest to the last". When they had all left, the divine Teacher remained alone with the woman. St Augustine's comment is concise and effective:  "relicti sunt duo:  misera et Misericordia, the two were left alone, the wretched woman and Mercy" (ibid.). Let us pause, dear brothers and sisters, to contemplate this scene where the wretchedness of man and Divine Mercy come face to face, a woman accused of a grave sin and the One who, although he was sinless, burdened himself with our sins, the sins of the whole world. The One who had bent down to write in the dust, now raised his eyes and met those of the woman. He did not ask for explanations. Is it not ironic when he asked the woman:  "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" (8: 10). And his reply was overwhelming:  "neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again" (8: 11). Again, St Augustine in his Commentary observed:  "The Lord did also condemn, but condemned sins, not man. For if he were a patron of sin, he would say, "neither will I condemn you; go, live as you will; be secure in my deliverance; however much you sin, I will deliver you from all punishment'. He said not this" (Io Ev. tract. 33, 6). 

Dear friends, from the Word of God we have just heard emerge practical instructions for our life. Jesus does not enter into a theoretical discussion with his interlocutors on this section of Mosaic Law; he is not concerned with winning an academic dispute about an interpretation of Mosaic Law, but his goal is to save a soul and reveal that salvation is only found in God's love. This is why he came down to the earth, this is why he was to die on the Cross and why the Father was to raise him on the third day. Jesus came to tell us that he wants us all in Paradise and that hell, about which little is said in our time, exists and is eternal for those who close their hearts to his love.
In this episode too, therefore, we understand that our real enemy is attachment to sin, which can lead us to failure in our lives. Jesus sent the adulterous woman away with this recommendation:  "Go, and do not sin again". He forgives her so that "from now on" she will sin no more. In a similar episode, that of the repentant woman, a former sinner whom we come across in Luke's Gospel (cf. 7: 36-50), he welcomed a woman who had repented and sent her peacefully on her way. Here, instead, the adulterous woman simply receives an unconditional pardon. In both cases - for the repentant woman sinner and for the adulterous woman - the message is the same. In one case it is stressed that there is no forgiveness without the desire for forgiveness, without opening the heart to forgiveness; here it is highlighted that only divine forgiveness and divine love received with an open and sincere heart give us the strength to resist evil and "to sin no more", to let ourselves be struck by God's love so that it becomes our strength. Jesus' attitude thus becomes a model to follow for every community, which is called to make love and forgiveness the vibrant heart of its life.

[Pope Benedict, homily 25 March 2007]

14. Jesus enters into the concrete and historical situation of women, a situation which is weighed down by the inheritance of sin. One of the ways in which this inheritance is expressed is habitual discrimination against women in favour of men. This inheritance is rooted within women too. From this point of view the episode of the woman "caught in adultery" (cf. Jn 8:3-11) is particularly eloquent. In the end Jesus says to her: "Do not sin again", but first he evokes an awareness of sin in the men who accuse her in order to stone her, thereby revealing his profound capacity to see human consciences and actions in their true light. Jesus seems to say to the accusers: Is not this woman, for all her sin, above all a confirmation of your own transgressions, of your "male" injustice, your misdeeds?

This truth is valid for the whole human race. The episode recorded in the Gospel of John is repeated in countless similar situations in every period of history. A woman is left alone, exposed to public opinion with "her sin", while behind "her" sin there lurks a man - a sinner, guilty "of the other's sin", indeed equally responsible for it. And yet his sin escapes notice, it is passed over in silence: he does not appear to be responsible for "the others's sin"! Sometimes, forgetting his own sin, he even makes himself the accuser, as in the case described. How often, in a similar way, the woman pays for her own sin (maybe it is she, in some cases, who is guilty of the "others's sin" - the sin of the man), but she alone pays and she pays all alone! How often is she abandoned with her pregnancy, when the man, the child's father, is unwilling to accept responsibility for it? And besides the many "unwed mothers" in our society, we also must consider all those who, as a result of various pressures, even on the part of the guilty man, very often "get rid of" the child before it is born. "They get rid of it": but at what price? Public opinion today tries in various ways to "abolish" the evil of this sin. Normally a woman's conscience does not let her forget that she has taken the life of her own child, for she cannot destroy that readiness to accept life which marks her "ethos" from the "beginning".

The attitude of Jesus in the episode described in John 8:3-11 is significant. This is one of the few instances in which his power - the power of truth - is so clearly manifested with regard to human consciences. Jesus is calm, collected and thoughtful. As in the conversation with the Pharisees (cf. Mt 19:3-9), is Jesus not aware of being in contact with the mystery of the "beginning", when man was created male and female, and the woman was entrusted to the man with her feminine distinctiveness, and with her potential for motherhood? The man was also entrusted by the Creator to the woman - they were entrusted to each other as persons made in the image and likeness of God himself. This entrusting is the test of love, spousal love. In order to become "a sincere gift" to one another, each of them has to feel responsible for the gift. This test is meant for both of them - man and woman - from the "beginning". After original sin, contrary forces are at work in man and woman as a result of the threefold concupiscence, the "stimulus of sin". They act from deep within the human being. Thus Jesus will say in the Sermon on the Mount: "Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:28). These words, addressed directly to man, show the fundamental truth of his responsibility vis-a-vis woman: her dignity, her motherhood, her vocation. But indirectly these words concern the woman. Christ did everything possible to ensure that - in the context of the customs and social relationships of that time - women would find in his teaching and actions their own subjectivity and dignity. On the basis of the eternal "unity of the two", this dignity directly depends on woman herself, as a subject responsible for herself, and at the same time it is "given as a task" to man. Christ logically appeals to man's responsibility. In the present meditation on women's dignity and vocation, it is necessary that we refer to the context which we find in the Gospel. The dignity and the vocation of women - as well as those of men - find their eternal source in the heart of God. And in the temporal conditions of human existence, they are closely connected with the "unity of the two". Consequently each man must look within himself to see whether she who was entrusted to him as a sister in humanity, as a spouse, has not become in his heart an object of adultery; to see whether she who, in different ways, is the cosubject of his existence in the world, has not become for him an "object": an object of pleasure, of exploitation.

[Pope John Paul II, Mulieris Dignitatem]

On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the liturgy presents us the episode of the adulterous woman (cf. Jn 8:1-11). In it, there are two contrasting attitudes: that of the scribes and the Pharisees on the one hand, and that of Jesus on the other. The former want to condemn the woman because they feel they are the guardians of the Law and of its faithful implementation. Jesus, on the other hand, wants to save her because he personifies God’s mercy which redeems by forgiving and renews by reconciling.

Let us thus look at the event. While Jesus is teaching in the Temple, the scribes and the Pharisees bring him a woman who has been caught in adultery. They place her in the middle and ask Jesus if they should stone her as the Law of Moses prescribes. The Evangelist explains that they asked the question in order “to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him” (v. 6). One might think that this was their purpose: behold the iniquity of these people — a ‘no’ to the stoning would have been a pretext to accuse Jesus of disobeying the Law; a ‘yes’ instead, to report him to the Roman Authority which had reserved such sentences to itself and did not permit lynching by the people. And Jesus must respond.

Jesus’ interrogators are confined to narrow legalism and want to oblige the Son of God to conform to their perspective of judgment and condemnation. However, he did not come into the world to judge and condemn, but rather to save and offer people a new life. And how does Jesus react to this test? First of all, he remains silent for some time and then he bends down to write on the ground with his finger, almost as if to remind them that the only Legislator and Judge is God who had inscribed the Law on stone. And then he says: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). In this way, Jesus appeals to the conscience of those men: they felt they were the ‘champions of justice’, but he reminds them of their own condition as sinners, due to which they cannot claim the right to life or death over one of their fellow human beings. At that point, one after the other, beginning with the eldest — that is, those who were more fully aware of their own failings — they all went away, and desisted from stoning the woman. This episode also invites each of us to be aware that we are sinners, and to let fall from our hands the stones of denigration, of condemnation, of gossip, which at times we would like to cast at others. When we speak ill of others, we are throwing stones, we are like these people.

And in the end only Jesus and the woman are left there in the middle: “misery with mercy”, as Saint Augustine says (In Joh 33:5). Jesus is the only one without fault, the only one who could throw a stone at her, but he does not do so, because God “does not want the death of the wicked but that the wicked convert and live” (cf. Ez 33:11). And Jesus sends the woman on her way with these wonderful words: “Go and do not sin again” (Jn 8:11). And thus Jesus opens a new path to her, created by mercy, a path that requires her commitment not to sin again. It is an invitation that applies to each one of us. When Jesus forgives us, he always opens a new path on which to go forward. In this Lenten Season, we are called to recognize ourselves as sinners and to ask God for forgiveness. And, in its turn, while forgiveness reconciles us and gives us peace, it lets us start again, renewed. Every true conversion is oriented toward a new future, a new life, a beautiful life, a life free from sin, a generous life. Let us not be afraid to ask Jesus for forgiveness because he opens the door to this new life for us. May the Virgin Mary help us to bear witness to all of the merciful love of God, who through Jesus, forgives us and renders our lives new, by always offering us new possibilities.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 7 April 2019]

(Jn 7:40-53)

In the Gospel passage, the religious authorities judge everyone with contempt.

Anyone who has always imagined himself as master will not be willing to make himself a disciple of a subversive Revelation.

While the élite marginalizes Christ, even the gendarmerie commanded to perpetuate and oversee the world’s security is amazed by the power of the new Word-Person.

The Lord replaces the Torah (vv.37-38). And whoever comes into contact with the new Temple is guided by the intimate ‘root’ that he has in his womb: and he wants to recognize it, inside.

He himself becomes a bubbling Sanctuary, which begins to think and act in conscience - starting from its core [suffocated perhaps, but indestructible].

A lesson in thinking ‘from below’, given to "superiors". Example that re-evaluates the theological judgment of the impious plebs (v.49).

And it’s curious that the disobedience saving Christ [present in his faithful] originates from the lack of minute knowledge of the Law.

There is a great confusion of opinions regarding Jesus among the people.

For the groups that have established the tyranny of norms, its unforeseen origin - non-mysterious nor overwhelming - is difficult to intend - unacceptable for calibrated thinking.

Some believe him to be the “son of David”, others a Prophet; a deceiver or a good man (v.12) or someone who has ‘no education’ (v.15).

The point is that He doesn’t come to impose the outdated discipline again, nor to patch up its customs.

Not even to purify the Temple, renewing its propitiatory practice.

Christ supplants it with the «now» of Reality that reveals an inconceivable God’s Face, which is grasped and expanded even from within each of us.

It’s by no means the quiet reconfirmation of the usual things.

Tradition [written and oral] boasts deep-rooted arguments, but its fame causes confusion and hard confrontation between opposing supporters.

There is never anything Exceptional in all of this.

But in the depths of each one dwells a ‘naturalness that teaches’, even to the masters of the paradigm.

Spontaneity will not lead us to the weak defense of Jesus made by Nicodemus (vv.51-53) who relies on another obvious law to save the situation.

When you stop wanting to be just addicted - comes the amazement, the God’s vertigo; different interests.

The Christ-icon of Jn 7 wants to develop in us the image and innate talent of the spirit’s teacher who simply draws from the personal experience of the Father, of himself and of reality.

We should not expect true answers come from someone outside, rated more experienced - to whom instead have (we) to teach the New that comes to save us.

The Vocation by Name is entrusted to the unknown Rabbi who already lives in us - and wants to emerge, expressing the divine unconscious already present.

The indispensable Gold, without induced mental burdens: only in conscience and character.

[Saturday 4th wk. in Lent, April 5, 2025]

(Jn 7:40-53)

In the Gospel passage the religious authorities judge everyone with contempt.

Those who have always imagined themselves masters will not be willing to become disciples of a subversive Revelation.

Unthinkable novelty, and not dated, that dares to crumble pedestals and legalisms.

As the elite dump Christ, even the gendarmerie commanded to perpetuate and guard the security of the ancient world is stunned by the power of the new Word-Person.

The Lord replaces the Torah:

"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, he who believes in me. As the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (vv.37-38).

He who comes into contact with the new Temple is guided by the intimate root in his womb, and wants to recognise it in himself.

To give life, to promote it; to love, to rejoice in life itself.

He himself becomes a bubbling sanctuary, which begins to think and act in consciousness - from his own (perhaps suffocated, but indestructible) kernel.

A lesson in thinking from below, given to 'superiors'.

An example that re-evaluates the theological judgement of the ungodly plebs (v.49).

And it is curious that the disobedience that saves Christ from seizure in his faithful originates from a lack of minute knowledge of the Law.

There is great confusion of opinion about Jesus among the people.

For the sects that have established the tyranny of norms, his unforeseen, non-mystical or overwhelming origin - unacceptable to mundane thinking - makes it difficult.

Some consider him a son of David, others a Prophet; a deceiver or a good man (v.12) or someone who has no studies (v.15).

The point is that He does not come to impose the old discipline again, nor to patch up the customs.

Not even to purify the Temple, renewing its propitiatory practice.

Christ supplants it with the now of reality that reveals an inconceivable Face of God, which is grasped and expanded even from within each one of us.

It is by no means the quiet reconfirmation of the usual things.

Tradition (written and oral) boasts deep-rooted arguments, but its reputation causes confusion and harsh confrontation between opposing supporters, [even today] fashionable or not.

Nothing exceptional is ever found in all this.

It is fundamental to realise that we no longer need principals.

The discriminating factor is the Person, in the uniqueness of his Vocation; not the point of view corresponding to a greatness or a mania.

It is in the unexpected Son that the present and the future come - not in a code of ideas that can summarise the cues of "success" and embellish the already past.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (ii): 'The saint implements the unspoken teaching'. Master Wang Pi comments: 'Spontaneity is enough for him. If he rules, he corrupts'.

Within each person dwells a naturalness that teaches, even to masters of the law.

Spontaneity will not lead us to the feeble defence of Jesus made by Nicodemus (vv.51-53), who, in order to save the day, relies on another law, which is obvious after all.

When one stops wanting to be merely dependent - as one who is 'called' to stop the new that is appearing - comes the astonishment, the dizziness of God; different interests.

The Christ-icon of John 7 wants to develop in us the image and innate talent of the teacher of the spirit who simply draws from personal experience of the Father, of himself and of reality.

We should not expect answers to always come from someone outside, assessed as more experienced - instead it is we who must teach the new one who comes to save us.

The Calling by Name is entrusted to the unknown Rabbi who already inhabits us - and wants to surface, expressing the unconscious divine already present.

The indispensable Gold, without induced mental burdens: only in consciousness and character.

To internalise and live the message:

Do I feel able to receive the message of Life, or am I still jammed in the mechanism of the homologues who turn their eyes and ears away?

Do I remain sensitive to the call of the Lord even in the details of a life without glory or under investigation?

Words and Nature, codes that will not pass away

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? 

Why do you consider it so far removed from the usual doctrine and its dirigiste or cerebral codes, which over time prove to be shoddy?

The world becomes a book. Art of vigilance

One of the characteristic attitudes of the Church after the Council is that of a special 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 amidst obscure 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 especially, the "signs", i.e. 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. Even all human religious experiences are finite, they show one aspect of reality, because our being is finite and always understands only 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].

The people thought that Jesus was a prophet. This was not wrong, but it does not suffice; it is inadequate. In fact, it was a matter of delving deep, of recognizing the uniqueness of the person of Jesus of Nazareth and his newness.

This is how it still is today: many people draw near to Jesus, as it were, from the outside. Great scholars recognize his spiritual and moral stature and his influence on human history, comparing him to Buddha, Confucius, Socrates and other wise and important historical figures.

Yet they do not manage to recognize him in his uniqueness. What Jesus said to Philip at the Last Supper springs to mind: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip?" (Jn 14: 9).

Jesus is often also considered as one of the great founders of a religion from which everyone may take something in order to form his or her own conviction. Today too, "people" have different opinions about Jesus, just as they did then. And as he did then, Jesus also repeats his question to us, his disciples today: "And who do you say that I am?".

Let us make Peter's answer our own. According to the Gospel of Mark he said: "You are the Christ" (8: 29); in Luke, the affirmation is: "The Christ of God" (Lk 9: 20); in Matthew resounds, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16: 16); finally, in John: "You are the Holy One of God". These are all correct answers which are also right for us.

[Pope Benedict, homily 29 June 2007]

But that victory opened, for John Paul II, another front, no less important and no less heartfelt, in which indeed he lavished enormous energy and which he made the subject of constant pastoral and doctrinal reminders. It is the fear, for him rather an awareness, that after the end of communism, a combination of democracy and cultural relativism, the fruit of a consumerist and materialist society, could be born in the countries of successful capitalism. In John Paul II's largely prophetic analysis, this alliance would produce a tragic loss of identity due to secularisation and the disappearance of the religious dimension from the conscience of individuals and the collective behaviour of civil societies.

In his most committed social encyclical, the Centesimus Annus of 1 May 1991, it is very clear that the mixture of freedom without truth appeared explosive and fatal to Pope Wojtyla. From this awareness arose or sharpened in him a tenacious mistrust of modernity, its pressure, its demands, its secularist mechanisms and automatisms. And this diffidence strengthened in him the decisive rejection of the compromises that modernity requires or imposes on the believer, especially on that believer who had thought of accepting the logic of modernity, as the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, many of those clergy and believers who demanded a more democratic, more liberal Church, more in tune with the times.

But being in tune with modern times was not a siren call for John Paul II. To the danger of relativism he opposed Christianity as a strong thought, truth as an antidote to scepticism, faith as a defence against nihilism, as shown by two documents that not a little divided consciences and not a little brought the Pope the accusation of dogmatism or conservatism or pre-conciliar restoration. One is the encyclical Redemptoris missio of 7 December 1990, which speaks of "Jesus Christ the only saviour", the other is the Declaration Dominus Iesus of 6 August 2000, which declares "contrary to the faith of the Church the thesis regarding the limited, incomplete and imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus Christ".

Also from the fear of the alliance between democracy and relativism came Pope Wojtyla's intransigent positions on two fundamental issues.

The first issue is that of identity, in particular European identity, which John Paul II never stopped tracing back to its Christian roots and for whose recognition, even formal, within the new constitution of Europe he fought without retreat. In the face of the Europe of markets and rights, he claimed the Europe of values and spirit, that of the apostles Peter and Paul, and of the saints and martyrs Cyril and Methodius, who carried out the same work of Christianisation in the East of the continent that the former brought to the West. It was the Europe of the 'two lungs', the Europe spiritually unified and not just politically enlarged.

The second issue is that of the recognition of the dignity of the person in any manifestation and phase of existence, from which sprang his firm and unhesitating condemnation of every form of disrespect for man, from abortion to euthanasia, from contraception to artificial insemination, from genetic experimentation to embryo research. John Paul II, the same one who had asked 'pardon' for the Church's errors in the Galileo case, but who had never embraced the scientist principle of the complete autonomy of scientific research, rejected the idea and practice of the limitlessness of the boundaries of bioethics, which instead must stop where it clashes with respect for human life and dignity. The battle against cultural relativism also marks a moment of tension or rethinking in the work of John Paul II. He had been the initiator of the inter-religious dialogue project, the aim of which was to unite the three great monotheistic religions under the common banner of spirituality in order to enhance their points of contact and strengthen their mission. But this very dialogue, by its very logic, risked running the risk of cultural relativism.

The problem is well known and terribly intricate. Dialogue assumes that the truth of one can be exchanged or corrected for the truth of the other. Therefore, dialogue rejects absoluteness and admits reciprocity of positions. But, then, if dialogue is practised, how can Christ be said to be the only truth and therefore the absolute truth? And conversely, if Christ is the only truth, on what basis, beyond that of personal respect for the interlocutors, is dialogue possible?

Right in the midst of rampant relativism, John Paul II was faced with this distressing dilemma. He could not reject interreligious dialogue, which was part of his conception and action, and he could not run the risk that this dialogue would shake the foundations of the Christian faith.

The fight against cultural relativism marked another tension in the work of John Paul II, especially in recent years, when global changes have accelerated dramatically and the evil of a new totalitarianism, that of Islamic fundamentalism responsible for 9/11, has again loomed in history. In the face of this tragic event and its consequences, Pope Wojtyla chose the strong position of taking sides on the front of peace and also pacifism, against war and resolutely against the hypothesis of a clash of civilisations. This was also a tension, because to affirm the good and bring peace it is sometimes necessary to fight against evil, as John Paul II knew first hand, he son of a martyred land, a constant victim of aggression and oppression, the last of which were the Nazis and the Communists.

I have spoken of tensions, others have said of contradictions and taken critical, even harshly critical positions in the face of what seemed to be the 'closures' of John Paul II. But for those who understand the meaning of faith, criticism is definitely out of place. Contradiction is the spirit of the Gospel, it is the essence of Christianity, which is in the world in order to give the world a meaning that is outside the world, which lives the historical condition in order to redeem it, not to accommodate or lie down in it. The theological and pastoral problems provoked by these tensions, always essential and never avoidable, will be the heritage and the challenge of whoever succeeds John Paul II. With history back in motion, evil returning, and a new demand for religious identity pressing in, he will need firm and clear vision, firmness and gentleness, tenacity and openness. Those same qualities to which Pope Wojtyla was a tireless witness during his 27 years of pontificate.

[Pope John Paul II, Address to the Senate 5 April 2005; website commentary]

The passage of the Gospel which we have heard presents to us a scene set in the Temple of Jerusalem, at the culmination of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, after which Jesus proclaimed a great prophecy revealing himself as the source of “living water”, that is, the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 7:37-39). Then the people, deeply impressed, begin to talk about him. Today people are still talking about him. Some are excited and say: “This is really the prophet” (v. 40). Someone even says: “This is the Christ” (v. 41). But others reject that by saying that the Messiah does not come from Galilee, but from the line of David, from Bethlehem; and thus, without knowing it, they confirm the very identity of Jesus.

The chief priests send guards to arrest him, as do dictators, but they return empty-handed, saying: “No man ever spoke like this man!” (v. 46). There, that is the voice of truth, which resounds in the simple people.

The Word of the Lord, yesterday as today, always provokes division: the word of God divides, always! It makes a distinction between those who accept it and those who refuse. Sometimes an interior contrast sparks in our heart; this happens when we experience the charm, the beauty and the truth of the words of Jesus, but at the same time we reject them because they call us into question, they put us in difficulty and they cost us too much to observe them.

Today I have come to Naples in order to proclaim together with you: Jesus is Lord! But I don’t want to say it alone: I want to hear it from you, from everyone, now, all together: “Jesus is Lord!”, one more time: “Jesus is Lord!”. No one speaks like He does! He alone has words of mercy that can heal the wounds of our heart. He alone has words of eternal life (cf. Jn 6:68).

Christ’s word is powerful: it doesn’t have the world’s power, but God’s, which is strong in humility, and in weakness. His power is that of love: this is the power of the word of God! A love that knows no boundaries, a love that lets us love others before ourselves. The word of Jesus, the holy Gospel, teaches that the truly blessed are poor in spirit, non-violent, meek, workers of peace and justice. This is the force that changes the world! This is the word that gives strength and is capable of changing the world. There is no other way to change the world.

The word of Christ wants to reach all people, in particular those who live in the peripheries of existence, so that they may find in Him the centre of their life and the source of hope. And we, who have had the grace to receive this Word of Life — it is a grace to receive the word of God! — we are called to go, to come out from behind our fences and, with zealous hearts, to bring to all the mercy, the tenderness, the friendship of God: this is a job that pertains to everyone, but in a special way it pertains to you priests. To bring mercy, to bring pardon, to bring peace, to bring joy through the Sacraments and through listening. That the people of God may find in you men who are merciful like Jesus. At the same time that every parish and every ecclesial reality may become a sanctuary for the one who seeks God and a welcoming home for the poor, the elderly and those who find themselves in need. To go and to welcome: so that the heart of Mother Church, and of all her children, will beat. Go, welcome! Go, seek! Go, bring love, mercy and tenderness.

When hearts are open to the Gospel, the world begins to change and humanity is resurrected! If we welcome and live the word of Jesus every day, we are resurrected with Him.

The Lent we are living makes this message echo in the Church, as we journey towards Easter: the hope of resurrecting with Christ, our Saviour, is rekindled in the people of God. May the grace of this Easter not be in vain for the people of God, of this city! May the grace of Resurrection be accepted by each one of you, so that Naples may be filled with the hope of Christ the Lord! Hope: “Make way for hope”, this is the motto of my visit. I say it to you all, in a special way to young people: open yourselves to the power of the Risen Jesus, and you will bear the fruits of new life in this city: the fruits of sharing, reconciliation, service and brotherhood. Allow yourselves to be enveloped and embraced by his mercy, by the mercy of Jesus, by that mercy which only Jesus gives us.

[Pope Francis, homily Naples 21 March 2015]

And the present matters, not the genealogy

(Jn 7:1-2.10.25-30)

Christ reveals himself in a progressive and unconventional way. He asks us to reinterpret and reveal divine Presence in an equally creative mode.

He only guards life, and life is always new. It does not cling to standards, to thought, to explanations.

The Envoy obeys an unthinkable and non-local Call. This is what distinguishes action and even divine geography, which surpasses the "synagogue" established in the area.

Recognizing Christ as our Lord means accepting the dangers and rejection that this harmony and choice entail.

He can be rejected by calculation, not spontaneously. By denying Him we exclude our root; however, by welcoming, everything and even survival are at stake. What to do?

Isn't better to blend in to keep things going?

After the abandonment of some disciples in Galilee - following the discourse on the Bread of Life (Jn 6:60-71) - Jesus even adds to the dose, and doesn’t depart.

Pretending, we too could marginalize Him to preserve immediate security. But if we didn’t proceed towards our Source, we would not encounter crystal clear water.

In the fourth Gospel the threat of death on the Lord is constant. People are attracted, but in Him they stumble. For the authorities: unexpected Origins, to be killed in order not to be replaced.

According to the Synoptics, during public life Jesus is in Jerusalem only once [in which He was condemned by the religious institution].

According to the fourth Gospel, two or three times, on the occasion of Easter.

It’s likely that He has been to the Holy City several times, in private.

But the image of the hidden Christ alludes here to His ‘presence’ in the common faithful, forced not to make clear the adhesion of the heart - especially after the rupture between synagogue and church (Ecclesia) at the end of the first century.

The ‘knowledge’ of God now passes through the challenge of ‘recognizing’ a subversive, condemned to death and fugitive (v.1): the Nazarene in us, the unrecognized fulcrum of our solemnities.

The eminent feast of the Jewish, that of the Booths [Sukkot], commemorated the «mirabilia Dei» of the Exodus and looked to the future by celebrating hopes of prestige and victory over other nations.

Well, even if we were considered 'to be re-educated', it would be obvious to oppose the idea of a violent and artificial prosperity, as well as the perverse influence of an empty, circumstantial spirituality.

And should some opportunists want to lay their hands on us out of self-interest, or perhaps just because we do not respect their ways, doctrines, and fantasies, the turn of events will save the true Witnesses from any danger (v.30).

It will be the “impossible origins” to bring the Unknown to replace the official «educators» (v.28) clinging only to ideas.

The experience of divine glory living is still «sub contraria specie»: in the kingship that pushes down.

A reverse Force: it allows metamorphoses to surface and let us discover astonishing metamorphoses.

And by not allowing the Lord to be killed again for convenience, we will be able to protect both the community experience and personal transpositions of Faith.

Change of Face and cosmos, though unexpected. Development and ‘passage’ that convinces the soul.

[Friday 4th wk. in Lent, April 4, 2025]