The double address of worship, but the Axis is to be with Him

(Lk 6:12-19)

"He went out to the mountain to pray and spent the night in prayer to God" (v.12).

"And the whole crowd sought to touch Him, for a Power went out from Him and healed all" (v.19).

Lk reflects the double direction of worship in the primitive communities.

First, the Prayer as a significant opening to the Father and internal celebration among disciples (vv.13-17). Then 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 pyramidal hierarchies. Sometimes, dispersive cultivation of internal interests passed off as great sensitivity and altruism.

In short, to walk seriously alongside oneself and others, it is essential to first mature, wherever we live.

This applies to taking different initiatives; even possibly to rebelling against the stagnant landscape that likes to return to old-fashioned securities.

In this way, there may be less than noble motives for wanting to get everywhere at once, to run everywhere to make proselytes, and to do so out of opposition, without a "dream of friendship" [cf. encyclical Fratelli Tutti, passim].

For he who cultivates many lusts, projects them; he procures his own murky influences.

That is why prayer and reflection are necessary - indispensable also to Jesus (v.12) - which give us the sense of our being in the world, the Father's vision, and a right disposition.

Deep meditations and spontaneous prayers annihilate infidelities that do not offer genuine life, authentic motives, or values of the spirit.

Prayers undermine and demolish the dehumanisations, the emotions that alienate us and alienate us from our brothers, the pitfalls that tend to build other temples and shrines.

The same charge of universality and 'sense of urgency' are contained in the rootedness to values conveyed by dialogue with God. And his Mystery (for us), in relationships, in intimate self-knowledge.

Indeed... stimuli, virtuous principles, gaps and hidden sides are complementary energetic aspects.

It seems a paradox, but the interest in the needs of the multitudes is an issue exquisitely rooted in the intimate, not at all external.

It is from oneself and from the community that one looks at the world with empathy, knowing how to recover its opposites.

It is the Way of the Interior that interpenetrates and activates the Way of the Exterior.

This is how we willingly pray: to immerse ourselves in the vibrant Source of being, and to shift our hasty gaze.

By contrast and hindrance, the habitual partiality that "gets in the way" does not grasp the value of the social and cultural polyhedron.

On the other hand, unfortunately, it is only by loving strength that one prefers to start from the too distant.

One must first heal what is intimate and close. He who is not free cannot emancipate anyone.

Thus, the only way to peer into the distance is to stick to the reason of things - the principle that one actively knows, if not misled by superficialities and reductions [individualistic or monovalent, one-sided and club-like].

By understanding the nature of creatures and increasingly conforming to it, all are inspired to transmute and complete themselves.

A non-alienating process that also enriches possible cultural sclerosis, without hysterical or external forcing.

All this, practising goodness even with oneself.

The Tao (XLVII) says: "Without going out the door, you know the world; without looking out the window, you glimpse the Way to Heaven. The farther you go, the less you know. That is why the saint does not go around and yet knows, does not see and yet discerns, does not act and yet completes".

It is only from the Source of being - the common home - that an undissociated, all-saved life springs forth, one that effectively endures and can expand. 

Are we a sign of dedication and striving people? We do not do this for 'merit' or to gain sympathy.

Without being a cult, after a good training - which also imparts to us a wise tolerance, from the world within.

No extrinsic purpose, which would lose its soul and bring no change.

Not to distinguish the moment of Vocation from the moment of ministerial sending.

The way to Heaven is intertwined with the way of the Person and with the way of Nature ["like a sister, with whom we share existence, and like a beautiful mother who welcomes us into her arms": Laudato Si', no.1] or we will be busybodies.

None of the Apostles - ordinary people - were worthy of the Call (vv.13-15).

To understand this, and approach the meaning of their missional uniqueness, Jesus must spend an entire night in prayer (v.12).

Most of the first followers have names typical of Judaism, even of the time of the Patriarchs - indicating a mental and spiritual background rooted more in the ancient religion than in the new Faith; baggage not easy to handle.But even for the undecided, the Lord unleashes his power of full Life, precisely because he is an absolutely ordinary person full of limitations; not infrequently perplexed, even open opponents.

Peter was eager to come forward, though often backtracking - backtracking - to the point of becoming for Jesus a 'satan' [(Mt 16:23; Mk 8:33): in the culture of the ancient East, an official of the great ruler, sent to act as a controller and delator - practically an accuser].

James of Zebedee and John were brothers, ardent fundamentalists, and in a wrathful manner wanted the Master for themselves alone, as well as the first places.

Philip [conditioned perhaps by a Hellenistic extraction, as his name indicates] at first sight did not seem a very practical fellow, nor quick to grasp the things of God.

Andrew, on the other hand, seemed to do well: an inclusive person.

According to well-known traditional identifications, Bartholomew was perhaps open but perplexed, because the Messiah did not correspond to him much.

Thomas always a little in and a little out.

Matthew - a collaborator, greedy accomplice of the oppressive system, and willingly extorting money from his people [the people ruthlessly condemned him].

Simon - the zealot, the Canaanite - a hothead.

Judas Iscariot a tormented, self-destructive for trusting old spiritual leaders - imbued with nationalist ideology, self-interest, opportunism and power.

Two others (James the younger son of Alphaeus, and Judas Thaddeus) mere disciples perhaps of no great prominence or capacity for initiative.

But the Kingdom is "local and universal" [Fratelli Tutti, nn.142-153], Near and by Name - as the Gospel passage from Lk.

This is the manifold, grasping, incomparable, close and precisely personal power that overcomes any possibility of ideal sabotage (due to adverse circumstances).

Power drawn both from prayer directed to the Father in Christ - in his nightly Listening (v.12) - as well as from works of love (vv.17-19).

Power in personal, sensitive, shared symbiosis.

Not for the excellent alone... or even in the time of global emergency there will be no healing work (v.19) but only external, accusatory and aimed at propaganda, proselytism.

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

And the Axis is "being" with Him.

"This is what tradition has then formulated with the well-known expression: 'Contemplata aliis tradere' (cf. St Thomas, Summa Theologiae, IIa-IIae, q. 188, art. 6)". [Pope Benedict].

For a contagion that is neither alarmist nor one-sided, monochromatic, but flourishing, multifaceted, sometimes 'hidden', and restless.

To internalise and live the message:

In your experience, what chain has united heaven and earth?

The (accusatory) list and effort of transgressions to be neurotically corrected?

Or a personal Calling, inclusive of your many faces in the soul - a Vocation supported by a Church that became an echo and a free Source of all-round understanding?

The Church was built on the foundation of the Apostles as a community of faith, hope and charity. Through the Apostles, we come to Jesus himself. The Church begins to establish herself when some fishermen of Galilee meet Jesus, allowing themselves to be won over by his gaze, his voice, his warm and strong invitation:  "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men" (Mk 1: 17; Mt 4: 19). 

At the start of the third millennium, my beloved Predecessor John Paul II invited the Church to contemplate the Face of Christ (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 16 ff.). Continuing in the same direction, I would like to show, in the Catechesis that I begin today, how it is precisely the light of that Face that is reflected on the face of the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 1), notwithstanding the limits and shadows of our fragile and sinful humanity.

After Mary, a pure reflection of the light of Christ, it is from the Apostles, through their word and witness, that we receive the truth of Christ. Their mission is not isolated, however, but is situated within a mystery of communion that involves the entire People of God and is carried out in stages from the Old to the New Covenant. 

In this regard, it must be said that the message of Jesus is completely misunderstood if it is separated from the context of the faith and hope of the Chosen People:  like John the Baptist, his direct Precursor, Jesus above all addresses Israel (cf. Mt 15: 24) in order to "gather" it together in the eschatological time that arrived with him. And like that of John, the preaching of Jesus is at the same time a call of grace and a sign of contradiction and of justice for the entire People of God. 

And so, from the first moment of his salvific activity, Jesus of Nazareth strives to gather together the People of God. Even if his preaching is always an appeal for personal conversion, in reality he continually aims to build the People of God whom he came to bring together, purify and save. 

As a result, therefore, an individualistic interpretation of Christ's proclamation of the Kingdom, specific to liberal theology, is unilateral and without foundation, as a great liberal theologian Adolf von Harnack summed it up in the year 1900 in his lessons on The essence of Christianity:  "The Kingdom of God, insofar as it comes in single individuals, is able to enter their soul and is welcomed by them. The Kingdom of God is the dominion of God, certainly, but it is the dominion of the holy God in individual hearts" (cf. Third Lesson, 100 ff.). 

In reality, this individualism of liberal theology is a typically modern accentuation:  in the perspective of biblical tradition and on the horizon of Judaism, where the work of Jesus is situated in all its novelty, it is clear that the entire mission of the Son-made-flesh has a communitarian finality. He truly came to unite dispersed humanity; he truly came to unite the People of God.

An evident sign of the intention of the Nazarene to gather together the community of the Covenant, to demonstrate in it the fulfilment of the promises made to the Fathers who always speak of convocation, unification, unity, is the institution of the Twelve. We heard about this institution of the Twelve in the Gospel reading. I shall read the central passage again:  "And he went up into the hills and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. The names of the twelve Apostles are these..." (Mk 3: 13-16; cf. Mt 10: 1-4; Lk 6: 12-16). 

On the site of the revelation, "the mount", taking initiative that demonstrates absolute awareness and determination, Jesus establishes the Twelve so that, together with him, they are witnesses and heralds of the coming of the Kingdom of God. 

There are no doubts about the historicity of this call, not only because of the antiquity and multiplicity of witnesses, but also for the simple reason that there is also the name of Judas, the Apostle who betrayed him, notwithstanding the difficulties that this presence could have caused the new community. 

The number 12, which evidently refers to the 12 tribes of Israel, already reveals the meaning of the prophetic-symbolic action implicit in the new initiative to re-establish the holy people. As the system of the 12 tribes had long since faded out, the hope of Israel awaited their restoration as a sign of the eschatological time (as referred to at the end of the Book of Ezekiel:  37: 15-19; 39: 23-29; 40-48). 

In choosing the Twelve, introducing them into a communion of life with himself and involving them in his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom in words and works (cf. Mk 6: 7-13; Mt 10: 5-8; Lk 9: 1-6; 6: 13), Jesus wants to say that the definitive time has arrived in which to constitute the new People of God, the people of the 12 tribes, which now becomes a universal people, his Church.
Appeal for Israel 

With their very own existence, the Twelve - called from different backgrounds - become an appeal for all of Israel to convert and allow herself to be gathered into the new covenant, complete and perfect fulfilment of the ancient one. The fact that he entrusted to his Apostles, during the Last Supper and before his Passion, the duty to celebrate his Pasch, demonstrates how Jesus wished to transfer to the entire community, in the person of its heads, the mandate to be a sign and instrument in history of the eschatological gathering begun by him. In a certain sense we can say that the Last Supper itself is the act of foundation of the Church, because he gives himself and thus creates a new community, a community united in communion with himself. 

In this light, one understands how the Risen One confers upon them, with the effusion of the Spirit, the power to forgive sins (cf. Jn 20: 23). Thus, the Twelve Apostles are the most evident sign of Jesus' will regarding the existence and mission of his Church, the guarantee that between Christ and the Church there is no opposition:  despite the sins of the people who make up the Church, they are inseparable.

Therefore, a slogan that was popular some years back:  "Jesus yes, Church no", is totally inconceivable with the intention of Christ. This individualistically chosen Jesus is an imaginary Jesus.

We cannot have Jesus without the reality he created and in which he communicates himself. Between the Son of God-made-flesh and his Church there is a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity by which Christ is present today in his people. He is always contemporary with us, he is always contemporary with the Church, built on the foundation of the Apostles and alive in the succession of the Apostles. And his very presence in the community, in which he himself is always with us, is the reason for our joy. Yes, Christ is with us, the Kingdom of God is coming.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 15 March 2006]

1. A priestly, sacramental, prophetic community, the Church was established by Jesus Christ as a structured, hierarchical and ministerial society, in function of the pastoral governance for the formation and continuous growth of the community. The first subjects of this ministerial and pastoral function are the twelve Apostles, chosen by Jesus Christ as the visible foundations of his Church. As the Second Vatican Council says, "Jesus Christ, the eternal Shepherd, built up the holy Church and sent the Apostles as He Himself was sent by the Father (cf. Jn 20:21), and He willed that their successors, that is, the bishops, should be shepherds in His Church until the end of time" (LG 18). This passage from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church - Lumen Gentium - reminds us first of all of the original and unique position of the Apostles in the institutional framework of the Church. From the Gospel story we know that Jesus called disciples to follow him and from among them he chose twelve (cf. Lk 6:13).

The evangelical narration makes us know that for Jesus it was a decisive choice, made after a night of prayer (cf. Lk 6:12); a choice made with a sovereign freedom: Mark tells us that Jesus, having ascended the mountain, called to himself "those whom he wanted" (Mk 3:13). The Gospel texts record the names of the individuals called (cf. Mk 3:16-19 et par.): a sign that their importance was perceived and recognised in the early Church.

2. By creating the group of the Twelve, Jesus created the Church, as a visible structured society at the service of the Gospel and the coming of the Kingdom of God. The number twelve referred to the twelve tribes of Israel, and Jesus' use of it reveals his intention to create a new Israel, the new people of God established as the Church. Jesus' creative intention transpires from the same verb used by Mark to describe the institution: 'He made twelve . . . He made the twelve'. "Make" recalls the verb used in the Genesis account about the creation of the world and in Deutero-Isaiah (Is 43:1; 44:2) about the creation of God's people, ancient Israel. The creative will is also expressed in the new names given to Simon (Peter) and James and John (Sons of Thunder), but also to the group or college as a whole. In fact, Luke writes that Jesus "chose twelve, to whom he gave the name of apostles" (Lk 6:13). The Twelve Apostles thus became a characteristic, distinct and, in some respects, unrepeatable socio-ecclesial reality. In their group emerged the Apostle Peter, about whom Jesus manifested more explicitly his intention to found a new Israel, with the name given to Simon: "stone", on which Jesus wanted to build his Church (cf. Mt 16:18).

3. Jesus' purpose in establishing the Twelve is defined by Mark: "He made twelve of them to be with him, and also to send them out to preach, and that they might have power to cast out demons" (Mk 3:14-15). The first constitutive element of the group of the Twelve is therefore an absolute attachment to Christ: they are people called to "be with him", that is, to follow him, leaving everything behind. The second element is the missionary element, expressed on the model of the mission of Jesus himself, who preached and cast out demons. The mission of the Twelve is a participation in Christ's mission by men closely linked to him as disciples, friends, trustees.

4. In the mission of the Apostles, the evangelist Mark emphasises "the power to cast out demons". It is a power over the power of evil, which in a positive sense means the power to give men the salvation of Christ, the One who casts out the "prince of this world" (John 12, 31). Luke confirms the meaning of this power and the purpose of the institution of the Twelve by quoting the word of Jesus giving the Apostles authority in the Kingdom: "You are the ones who have persevered with me in my trials. And I lay down for you a kingdom as the Father has laid down for me" (Lk 22:28). Also in this statement, perseverance in union with Christ and the authority granted in the kingdom are intimately linked. It is a pastoral authority, as is evident from the text on the mission specifically entrusted to Peter: 'Shepherd my lambs . . . Shepherd my sheep" (John 21: 15-17). Peter personally receives supreme authority in the shepherding mission. This mission is exercised as participation in the authority of the one Shepherd and Master, Christ. The supreme authority entrusted to Peter does not cancel the authority given to the other Apostles in the kingdom. The pastoral mission is shared by the Twelve under the authority of the one universal Shepherd, mandatary and representative of the Good Shepherd, Christ.

5. The specific tasks inherent in the mission entrusted by Jesus Christ to the Twelve are the following: a) mission and power to evangelise all nations, as the three Synoptics clearly attest (cf. Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:16-18; Lk 24:45-48). Among them, Matthew highlights the relationship established by Jesus himself between his messianic power and the mandate he gave to the Apostles: "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:18). The Apostles will be able and must carry out their mission by the power of Christ manifested in them. b) mission and power to baptise (Mt 28:19), as the fulfilment of Christ's mandate, with a baptism in the name of the Most Holy Trinity (Ibid), which will be carried out in the name of the Most Holy Trinity (Ibid). Trinity (Ibid), which, being linked to the paschal mystery of Christ, in the Acts of the Apostles is also considered as baptism in the name of Jesus (cf. Acts 2:38; 8:16). c) mission and power to celebrate the Eucharist: "Do this in memory of me" (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25). The commission to redo what Jesus accomplished at the Last Supper, with the consecration of the bread and wine, implies a power of the highest level; to say in the name of Christ: "This is my body", "this is my blood", is almost an identification with Christ in the sacramental act. d) mission and power to forgive sins (Jn 20:22-23). It is a participation of the Apostles in the power of the Son of Man to forgive sins on earth (cf. Mk 2:10): that power which in Jesus' public life had caused the astonishment of the crowd, of which the evangelist Matthew tells us that they "gave glory to God who had given such power to men" (Mt 9:8).

6. To fulfil this mission, the Apostles received, besides power, the special gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 20:21-22), which was manifested at Pentecost, according to Jesus' promise (cf. Acts 1:8). By virtue of this gift, from the moment of Pentecost they began to fulfil the mandate of evangelising all peoples. The Second Vatican Council tells us this in the Constitution Lumen Gentium: "The Apostles . . . preaching everywhere the Gospel, accepted by the hearers through the motion of the Holy Spirit, gather together the universal Church, which the Lord founded on the Apostles and built on blessed Peter, their head, while Jesus Christ himself is its cornerstone (cf. Rev 21:14; Mt 16:18; Eph 2:20)" (LG 19).

7. The mission of the Twelve included a fundamental role reserved for them, which would not be inherited by others: to be eyewitnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Christ (cf. Lk 24:48), to transmit his message to the primitive community, as a hinge between divine revelation and the Church, and for this very reason to initiate the Church in the name and by virtue of Christ, under the action of the Holy Spirit. For this function of theirs, the Twelve Apostles constitute a group of unique importance in the Church, which since the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Symbol is defined as apostolic (Credo una sanctam, catholicam et 'apostolicam' Ecclesiam) because of this indissoluble link to the Twelve. This explains why also in the liturgy the Church has included and reserved special solemn celebrations in honour of the Apostles.

8. However, Jesus conferred on the Apostles a mission of evangelisation of all nations, which takes a very long time, and indeed lasts "until the end of the world" (Mt 28:20). The Apostles understood that it was Christ's will that they should provide successors, who, as their heirs and legates, would carry on their mission. They therefore established "episcopes and deacons" in the various communities "and arranged that after their death other approved men should receive their succession in the ministry" (Clement of Rome, Ep. Ad Cor., 44, 2; cf. 42, 1. 4). In this way Christ established a hierarchical and ministerial structure of the Church, formed by the Apostles and their successors; a structure that did not derive from a previously established community, but was created directly by him. The Apostles were, at one and the same time, the seeds of the new Israel and the origin of the sacred hierarchy, as stated in the Council's Constitution Ad Gentes (AG 5). This structure therefore belongs to the very nature of the Church, according to the divine plan realised by Jesus. According to this same plan, it has an essential role in the entire development of the Christian community, from the day of Pentecost to the end of time, when in the heavenly Jerusalem all the elect will fully participate in the 'New Life' for eternity.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 1 July 1992]

"Prayer and witness" are the "two tasks of the bishops" who are "pillars of the Church". But if they weaken, the whole people of God suffers. That is why, Pope Francis asked during the mass celebrated on Friday morning 22 January in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, we must pray insistently for the successors of the twelve apostles.

The Pontiff's reflection on the figure and mission of the bishop started from the passage from the evangelist Mark (3:13-19) proclaimed during today's liturgy. "There is a word in this Gospel passage that attracts attention: Jesus 'constituted'". And this word "appears twice". In fact, Mark writes: "'He constituted twelve, whom he called apostles'". And then he resumes: 'He therefore constituted the twelve', and names them, one after the other'. Therefore, the Pontiff explained, 'Jesus, among so many people who followed him - the Gospel tells us - "called to himself those he wanted"'. In short, 'there is a choice: Jesus chose those whom He wanted'. And, indeed, "he constituted twelve. Whom he called apostles'. In fact, Francis continued, "there were others: there were the disciples" and "the Gospel speaks of seventy-two, on one occasion". But 'these were something else'.

The "twelve are constituted so that they might be with Him and to send them out to preach with the power to cast out demons," the Pope explained. "This is the most important group that Jesus chose, 'so that they might be with Him', closer, 'and to send them out to preach' the Gospel." And "with the power to cast out demons," Mark further added. Precisely those 'twelve are the first bishops, the first group of bishops'.

These twelve 'chosen ones,' Francis noted, 'were aware of the importance of this election, so much so that after Jesus had been taken up into heaven, Peter spoke to the others and explained to them that, given Judas' betrayal, it was necessary to do something'. And so from among those who had been with Jesus, from John's baptism until his ascension, they chose "a witness 'with us' - says Peter - of the resurrection". Here, continued the Pope, that "the place of Judas is filled, it is taken by Matthias: Matthias is chosen".

Then "the liturgy of the Church, referring to "some expressions of Paul", calls the twelve "the pillars of the Church". Yes, said the Pontiff, 'the apostles are the pillars of the Church. And the bishops are the columns of the Church. That election of Matthias was the first episcopal ordination of the Church'.

"I would like to say a few words today about bishops," Francis confided. "We bishops have this responsibility to be witnesses: witnesses that the Lord Jesus is alive, that the Lord Jesus is risen, that the Lord Jesus walks with us, that the Lord Jesus saves us, that the Lord Jesus gave his life for us, that the Lord Jesus is our hope, that the Lord Jesus always welcomes us and forgives us." Here is 'the testimony'. Consequently, he continued, 'our life must be this: a testimony, a true testimony to the resurrection of Christ'.

And when Jesus, as Mark recounts, makes "this choice" of the twelve, he has two reasons. Firstly, "so that they might be with Him". Therefore "the bishop has the obligation to be with Jesus". Yes, "it is the bishop's first obligation: to be with Jesus". And it is true "to such an extent that when the problem arose, in the early days, that orphans and widows were not well cared for, the bishops - these twelve - got together and thought about what to do". And "they introduced the figure of the deacons, saying: 'Let the deacons take care of the orphans, of the widows'". While the twelve, "says Peter", are assigned "two tasks: prayer and the proclamation of the Gospel".

Therefore, Francis reiterated, "the first task of the bishop is to be with Jesus in prayer". In fact, "the bishop's first task is not to make pastoral plans... no, no!". It is "to pray: this is the first task". While 'the second task is to be a witness, that is to preach: to preach the salvation that the Lord Jesus brought us'.

They are 'two tasks that are not easy,' the Pontiff acknowledged, 'but it is precisely these two tasks that make the columns of the Church strong'. In fact, "if these columns weaken, because the bishop does not pray or prays little, he forgets to pray; or because the bishop does not proclaim the Gospel, he occupies himself with other things, the Church also weakens; it suffers. The people of God suffer". Precisely 'because the pillars are weak'.

For this reason, Francis said, 'I would like to invite you today to pray for us bishops: because we too are sinners, we too have weaknesses, we too have the danger of Judas: he too was elected as a pillar'. Yes, he continued, 'we too run the danger of not praying, of doing something other than proclaiming the Gospel and casting out demons'. Hence, the Pope reiterated, the invitation to "pray that the bishops be what Jesus wanted and that we all bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus".

Moreover, he added, "the people of God pray for the bishops, in every mass we pray for the bishops: we pray for Peter, the head of the episcopal college, and we pray for the local bishop". But 'this may not be enough: one says the name out of habit and moves on'. It is important "to pray for the bishop with the heart, to ask the Lord: 'Lord, take care of my bishop; take care of all the bishops, and send us bishops who are true witnesses, bishops who pray and bishops who help us, with their preaching, to understand the Gospel, to be sure that You, Lord, are alive, are among us'".

Before resuming the celebration, the Pope suggested, again, to pray "therefore for our bishops: it is a task of the faithful". In fact, 'the Church without a bishop cannot go on'. Here, then, that "the prayer of all of us for our bishops is an obligation, but an obligation of love, an obligation of children towards the Father, an obligation of brothers, so that the family may remain united in the confession of Jesus Christ, living and risen".

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 23/01/2016]

XXVIII Sunday Ordinary Time (B) October 13, 2024

1. "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? So addresses such a one surely animated by good will and sincere intention to Jesus, who replies to him: if you want to enter eternal life you must keep the commandments i.e., do not kill, do not steal, do not be false, do not treat others badly, honor your father and mother, and the interlocutor replies that he knows all the commandments well, he has even put them into practice since his youth. Surely he expects applause for this, proper recognition, which is after all obvious if he really is such a faithful observer of the Mosaic law. Jesus, however, is not a doctor of the law, a master rabbi of doctrine, and he is not content to explain what one must do to be in good standing with God. Faithful observance of the commandments constitutes only a stage and not the goal of life. As always happens when one encounters God, this person is about to cross the greatest opportunity of his existence: Jesus fixes his gaze on him, loves him, and in this gesture there is everything. Here we are at the center of the story but also of this man's life, the moment when one can decide one's destiny by letting oneself be fixed by a gaze of love that is proposal and request, offer and provocation. In such cases it is risky and liberating to trust totally. To let oneself be taken in or to reject God's love is the very issue of eternal life. Of this encounter the evangelist seems to offer a detail that only the person concerned could report with such finesse. Some even think that St. Mark is recounting what he experienced as a protagonist. It could in fact be him, the young man who in the passion narrative (Mk 14:51 f; 16:5 f) follows Jesus from afar until in the Garden of Gethsemane he flees naked and abandons everything: he will later become a faithful disciple of Peter and will write the second gospel where traits with an autobiographical flavor are glimpsed. Christ's gaze of love continues to be a source of sadness until one gives up and the restlessness it leaves in one's soul can only be fruitful. Only one thing you lack, Christ tells him! This is not advice, it is an invitation to open our eyes, to wake up from the sleep of uncertainty, to understand what we really need to inherit eternal life, to enter the Kingdom. What is lacking? Go, sell everything you own and give it to the poor. Is there not a different way of expressing the commandment of love of neighbor here? The rich man loves the poor when he distributes all that he possesses to those who have nothing and nothing they can render him in return. And love for God must always be combined with this concrete love for others: we do not love God whom we cannot see if we do not love our neighbor who crosses our path instead.  Sell everything, then follow me! Only if you are free can you embrace the gospel: the proposal of following is immediate and clear. Here, however, we touch on the fragile side of the existence of this man whom tradition sometimes identifies as the rich young man: he has realized that to follow Christ and be part of the group of his disciples, one must be free of everything and he has realized that his riches enslave him, as a junkie depends on drugs. As a result, he leaves really sad and his sadness appears as a confession of his selfishness. However, the fact that he becomes sad is a positive sign because he is becoming aware and when he finishes thinking that heaven is not earned but is God's love offering, he will be ready to accept salvation, a free gift from his heavenly Father and not man's conquest. Jesus provoked him to deprive himself of everything, reversed the perspective: salvation cannot be earned, but is received on one's knees with a grateful spirit. To be able to come to do this there is no other way but freedom of heart: that is, we must be ready to detach ourselves from everything that in any way keeps us bound and prevents us from loving in earnest. At this point, St. Mark seems to take pleasure in showing that even the apostles are not in tune with Jesus' thinking because they too reason with the logic of merit. We are all, after all, in one way or another, in many ways slaves to ourselves!

2. What can Jesus do but constellate reality?  The Son of Man, who is homeless and does not even own a stone for a pillow, came into the world to show the path of freedom that leads to happiness, and he has to admit that even good people like this rich personage and even his disciples prefer the bank account to the gift of love that he proposes. The gospel narrates that at Jesus' words the apostles are amazed, indeed bewildered: therefore, even they are not in tune with their Master. We can understand them, however, because riches, as appears in some Old Testament texts, were considered a gift from heaven; the one who therefore possessed an abundance of them was considered fortunate and blessed. Jesus, however, as in other situations, does not sugarcoat his way of expressing himself, he does not discount because he did not come to abolish the Mosaic law but to bring it to full fruition, and he insists, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Each of us resembles the camel that claims to enter through the eye of a needle. It is a paradoxical image that always surprises, although Jesus is neither the first nor the only one to use it to indicate the near impossibility of accomplishing anything. There is, for example, another Hebrew saying from the same era, which we find in the Talmud of Babylon, about an elephant passing through the eye of a needle. Certainly the image is striking, indeed shocking, but Jesus uses it to warn: it is indeed difficult for those whose hearts are weighed down by material concerns to enter into the logic of God's kingdom. Attachment to material well-being, to what we possess, ends up making us feel self-sufficient and we easily become possessed by it, missing the opportunity to discover the beauty of life as a gift. However, what is impossible for humans becomes possible to God and if he can do everything, he also possesses every means to save us: only he can and will save us because saving oneself is neither easy nor difficult: it is absolutely impossible for man. Salvation is not purchased; it is a gift.

3. At this point Peter takes the floor on behalf of all: "Behold we have left everything and followed you." The step necessary to. enter the Kingdom of Heaven we have taken and we have left everything behind, so we certainly deserve something. Jesus takes them at their word and announces that they are entitled to the reward, but this reward comes with pain and toil: it is persecution following in the Master's footsteps because the disciple's mission will know the same mystery of the cross, the only path of liberation and salvation. He does not want to discourage them and promises much more than what they gave up to follow him: a hundredfold of everything except for what concerns the father because those who leave everything to follow Jesus discover the face of the one Father who is in heaven. The Father awaits us in eternal life as a gift and not as a reward. Ultimately detaching oneself from everything places in the human heart the deepest roots of hope that opens wide the gates of heaven. I am reminded in this regard of a phrase by Georges Bernanos from his famous novel "Diary of a Country Parson" in which he explores the themes of faith, suffering and hope. He writes, "I do believe that the world will be saved by the poor. These poor are there only we know them badly because they know each other badly too. They have made no vow of poverty: it is the good God who has made it for them, unbeknownst to them. The poor have the secret of hope." Jesus is the model of poverty who encourages us to embrace, serve and love the poor who become, as St. Vincent de Paul teaches, "our masters," and St. Louis Orione adds, "and we their servants" because they concretely live, without often realizing it, the gift of hope and, burdened by the labors of this earthly life, they confidently await heaven. "Such a poor man," Bernanos writes, "eats daily in the hand of God.

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

XXVII Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) 6 October 2024

1. It often happens, as on this Sunday, that the Gospel and the first reading refer to each other as if to complete the message that God wants to communicate to us. In the first reading, taken from the book of Genesis, we read: "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone: I want to make him a helper who will be a match for him'" (Gen 2:18- 24). It is best to clarify at once that Genesis is not a history book, but a wisdom text dating back to the 10th century B.C., when a theologian, probably in King Solomon's court, wanted to reflect on the existential anxieties of the human being, asking himself, for example, "Why death? Why suffering? Why so many problems and difficulties in our lives? And to seek an answer, he developed a symbolic tale analogous to the parables of Jesus. The author of the book of Genesis is therefore not a scientist who wants to explain to us the why and when of creation, but rather a believer who wants to help us understand God's plan regarding the human being, with symbolic elements to be well interpreted because we are not talking about a hypothetical first couple of mankind - Adam and Eve - but in general about the origin of mankind and in fact in Hebrew the word Adam is not the name of someone, it means instead 'earth' that is made of dusty soil (adamah). For the creation of woman, the author of the sacred text uses the image of sleep and the rib taken from man. What does the Word of God want to tell us? Firstly, woman is part of creation from the beginning, and while this is a completely obvious fact for us, in those times it was an absolute novelty. In Mesopotamia, Abraham's homeland, it was thought that woman had not been created from the beginning and that man had previously lived well on his own.  The Bible, on the other hand, places the creation of woman right at the beginning and above all introduces her as a gift from God; without her, man could not be happy and humanity would be incomplete. The divinities of the peoples of the time, often rivals among themselves, created men to keep them as slaves; on the contrary, in the Bible God is One and by creating man he places him in the garden of paradise to be happy together with him. The phrase "It is not good that man should be alone" shows that he cares a great deal about our happiness and this constitutes an absolute and important novelty: that is, human sexuality, understood as a love relationship, is beautiful and good, an integral part of the original design of creation, willed by God as an element united to relational enjoyment between man and woman.  The idea of the rib taken from Adam emphasises that the Creator's design is not the domination of man over woman, but their equality in dialogue, which implies both intimacy and distance in a climate of mutual gift. The Hebrew helps us to better perceive why man is called 'Ish' and woman 'isha', two close terms that indicate belonging to the same family, even though one is different from the other.

2. There is one detail on which we focus our attention. In the second chapter of Genesis we read that the Lord asked man to name all the cattle, all the birds of the air and all the wild animals, entrusting him with power over the whole of creation. Adam, however, "found no help to match him" (Gen 2:20); only in front of the woman is his cry full of emotion and gratitude in the sense that he recognises her as part of himself and therefore considers her his "alter ego". In the astonishment of this moment, Yahweh's words take on resonance: "I want to make him a helper who corresponds to him", so that she may be his "interface". And when he specifies that 'it is not good for man to be alone', it is not to be understood that it is bad for man to remain unmarried, but that humanity is complete in its duality of man and woman, in a relationship of dialogue that harmonises intimacy with respect for mutual otherness. Herein lies the vocation of the couple: to be the image of God One and Trinitarian Communion. Another wisdom book of the Old Testament, The Song of Songs, a poetic dialogue between two lovers, reveals the mystery of divine intimacy by resorting to the outbursts, tenderness and intimacy of a loving couple. In Jewish tradition it is proclaimed at Passover/Pesach, which always falls in spring, a time of renewal and flowering, which ties in well with the themes of love and fertility expressed in the Canticle. Even more interestingly, the Jews proclaim the Song of Songs in the Passover celebration, the feast of the Covenant between God and his people, thus taking on a deep spiritual meaning: it is not just a hymn to human love, but a celebration of salvation and spiritual rebirth. Just as the Jews were freed from physical slavery, so divine love gives human life a new beginning. It was original sin that wounded the enchantment of the relationship with God, and this is reflected in the conjugal relationship that has become tiring and difficult because, as St Augustine writes in this regard: "marriage is a good whose union cannot be broken without sin" (De bono conjugali,24)

3. In the gospel, the Pharisees ask Jesus a provocative question about divorce, and he, as always, does not answer directly, instead helping them to seek the elements of the answer themselves.  Divorce existed in the Old Testament along with the act of repudiation, but was not codified systematically in the Torah, but only mentioned in Deuteronomy in a specific context without establishing detailed rules (Deut 24:1-4). By Jesus' time it had become a relatively widespread practice and there were different interpretations and practical applications. For Jesus, it is not casuistry that is important, but going back to the original plan of God who created human beings in his image - man and woman - so that the man detached from his family would be united with the woman to form one (Gen 2:24). If the couple reflects the image of God, its vocation can only be indivisibility, indissolubility, so that the conclusion becomes logical: 'So let no man put asunder what God has joined together'. Easy to say and complicated to realise as experience shows. This is because marriage is not a human invention, but God's plan, and it is only possible to bring it to full fruition with His support. That is, goodwill and human resources are not enough to preserve the unity of a couple and family. Only when one prays and lives united to God, with the help of his mercy does what is humanly impossible become a possible reality and the source of peaceful coexistence.  This is the heroism of couples who embrace the Gospel to the point of martyrdom of love in spite of everything: canonised married couples and many others hidden in the simplicity of daily fidelity. They courageously overcome obstacles and accept that the inevitable daily misunderstandings will never break their unity that the Lord has welded with matrimonial consecration. If this is the ideal that should never be hidden or reduced for fear of asking too much of those called to Christian marriage, a question often challenges our communities: what to do with couples who have lost their way or who prefer cohabitation to marriage? Every pastor has the duty to accompany everyone with patience and open-mindedness, especially when lacerating wounds mark their existence. However, while being aware of the existing problems, it would be a mistake to stop believing that only God's love can save the unity of the couple and the family from the shipwreck of divorce. In the gospel, Jesus adds: "because of the hardness of your heart" Moses allowed the writing of an act of repudiation, making it clear that the law is only a stage in divine pedagogy, while the goal always remains the supreme law of love. The risk is therefore 'hardening of the heart', that is, the pretence of being able to rely only on one's own strength. Referring to children, Jesus teaches that if unity in the family is to be preserved, the humble simplicity of the child full of trust in those who love him must be preserved. The secret then is to experience God's merciful love.

Happy Sunday to you all.

+Giovanni D'Ercole