Jesus uses the metaphors of salt and light, and his words are directed to the disciples of every age, therefore also to us.

Jesus invites us to be a reflection of his light, by witnessing with good works. He says: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (v. 16). These words emphasize that we are recognizable as true disciples of the One who is the Light of the World, not in words, but by our works. Indeed, it is above all our behaviour that — good or bad — leaves a mark on others. Therefore, we have a duty and a responsibility towards the gift received: the light of the faith, which is in us through Christ and the action of the Holy Spirit; and we must not withhold it as if it were our property. Instead we are called to make it shine throughout the world, to offer it to others through good works. How much the world needs the light of the Gospel which transforms, heals and guarantees salvation to those who receive it! We must convey this light through our good works.

The light of our faith, in giving of oneself, does not fade but strengthens. However it can weaken if we do not nourish it with love and with charitable works. In this way the image of light complements that of salt. The Gospel passage, in fact, tells us that, as disciples of Christ, we are also “the salt of the earth” (v. 13). Salt is an ingredient which, while it gives flavour, keeps food from turning and spoiling — in Jesus’ time there were no refrigerators! Thus, Christians’ mission in society is that of giving “flavour” to life with the faith and the love that Christ has given us, and at the same time, keeping away the contaminating seeds of selfishness, envy, slander, and so on. These seeds degrade the fabric of our communities, which should instead shine as places of welcome, solidarity and reconciliation. To fulfil this mission, it is essential that we first free ourselves from the corruptive degeneration of worldly influences contrary to Christ and to the Gospel; and this purification never ends, it must be done continuously; it must be done every day!

Each one of us is called to be light and salt, in the environment of our daily life, persevering in the task of regenerating the human reality in the spirit of the Gospel and in the perspective of the Kingdom of God. May there always be the helpful protection of Mary Most Holy, first disciple of Jesus and model for believers who live their vocation and mission each day in history. May our Mother help us to let ourselves always be purified and enlightened by the Lord, so as to become, in our turn, “salt of the earth” and “light of the world”.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 5 February 2017]

XXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time  Year B  (8 September 2024)

1. In the first reading of today's liturgy, the prophet Isaiah addresses the Jews deported to Babylon returning to Jerusalem: "Courage, do not be afraid! Behold your God, vengeance comes, divine recompense. He comes to save you'. There is one word that might come as a surprise: 'divine vengeance'.  It is best to point out immediately that it does not have the same meaning with respect to the way we feel. Contextualising it in the historical moment, we understand that when the prophet speaks of God's vengeance, he is referring to salvation, and we understand this better if we formulate the text like this: 'Behold God's vengeance: He comes and will save you', and then: 'Behold God's reward: He himself comes to save you'. Even more helpful in perceiving this message of hope are the promises that follow: the sick will be healed, the blind will regain their sight, the deaf will regain their hearing, the crippled will leap like deer and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. These promises taste like soothing and encouraging balm to the ears of a people deported to Babylon and scarred by the atrocious wounds inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem. It is to them that God assures future days of prosperity and rediscovered joy. But there is more: in the light of the historical and religious framework of that time, 'vengeance' was perceived favourably by the Jews because they knew that the Lord would never abandon his people and would indeed fight against the evil that oppressed them. "Divine vengeance" therefore meant restoring dignity to those who make up this people that the Lord has chosen for himself and who place all expectation in him. And it is precisely in this that God's glory shines. To better understand, it is worth adding that at the beginning of its history, the people of the Bible imagined a vengeful God as men are, and it was only through a centuries-long purification of faith through the preaching of the prophets that they began to discover the true face of the Lord. Then, although the word 'vengeance' remained, its content changed completely, as it did with other words, for example 'sacrifice' and 'the fear of God'. It took centuries to come to recognise the true face of God, a God different from what one could imagine, a God who is love and spends his love for all men.  With the phrase: 'Behold the divine reward. He comes to save you', the prophet wants to imply that God loves more than any other in the world and in any trial, pain and physical or moral humiliation, he does not delay in intervening by manifesting his mercy. How necessary it is to rediscover divine mercy in our lives! God comes to save us, comes to raise us up. A fundamental aspect of faith is precisely the certainty that He has already conquered the arrogance of evil with the omnipotence of His merciful love, and even if satanic forces operating at various levels apparently dominate the world, the Christian does not succumb to the temptation of pessimism because he knows that he is loved by the One who in so many ways wants to show us His Fatherly tenderness and never abandons us.

2. Today is for us the invitation that Isaiah addresses to the exiles in Babylon who return to Jerusalem. Faith assures us that humanity is surely waiting for the definitive deliverance from every form of slavery and offence to human dignity, from every risk of physical and moral blindness that disrupts peace. The Messiah is the promised saviour: Jesus' contemporaries must have understood this because, presenting himself as the Messiah in the synagogue of Nazareth (cf. Luke 4), Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah himself: "The Spirit of the LORD, of GOD, is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up those whose hearts are broken, to proclaim liberty to those who are slaves, the opening of the prison to the captives, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favour, the day of vengeance of our God" (61:1-2).  Note, however, that he purposely omits the last words of the prophecy: 'the day of vengeance of our God', to make it clear that he comes to give hope and salvation to the poor, the prisoners, the oppressed, who would have had difficulty understanding the word 'vengeance'. Now his every action will have the face of mercy.  Mercy, of which tangible signs are the blind who regain their sight, the crippled who walk again, the lepers who are cleansed, the deaf who are able to hear again, the dead who are raised, and above all the gospel proclaimed to the poor, as Christ affirms when replying to John the Baptist's disciples who came to ask him if he is the awaited Messiah (Lk 7:22). This is the gospel: God raises us from our misery and saves us, and this appears clearly in today's page of Mark's gospel (ch.7). Jesus is in pagan land - the territory of the Decapolis - where he heals a man suffering from a double infirmity: he is deaf and mute. The evangelist uses the Greek term "magilalos" (which means one who speaks with difficulty because he is deaf), rarely used in the New Testament and only once found in the Old Testament precisely in the text from Isaiah that we heard in the first reading: "the tongue of the mute shall shout for joy". The evangelist assures that this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus and proof of this is the healing of the deaf mute, symbol of humanity unable to hear and therefore with serious difficulties in communicating (he only stammers). Jesus is asked "to lay his hand on him" and he accomplishes something he had never done before. He pulls him away from the crowd and repeats ritual gestures of the healers: he puts his fingers in his ears and touches his tongue with saliva. Jesus does not change these gestures but imbues them with a new meaning. Unlike the healers, he looks up to the sky, emits a sigh and says: "Effata, that is open".  By raising his eyes upwards, he manifests that he heals by the power conferred on him by the Father. As for the sigh, it is rather a groan: the same word is used that St Paul, in his letter to the Romans, uses to describe both the impatience of creation waiting for deliverance and the way the Holy Spirit prays in the hearts of believers "with inexpressible groans" (Rom 8:26). In the groaning of Jesus we can perceive on the one hand humanity waiting and calling for deliverance, and on the other hand the Spirit interceding for us so that no human suffering leaves us indifferent. The gospel closes with the people full of amazement proclaiming: "He has done all things well: he makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak". We perceive here an anticipation of the profession of faith of the Christian community that will be total and perfect on the lips of the centurion under the cross of Christ towards the end of Mark's gospel: "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mk 15:39).

3. Effatha, i.e. 'Open up' is one of the few Aramaic words directly quoted in the gospel and has remained unchanged in every language. It is found in the rite of baptism, when the celebrant touches the ears and lips of the baptised, adding: "May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, grant that you may soon hear his word, and profess your faith to the praise and glory of God the Father. Every day we hear in the liturgy the psalmist who sings: "Lord open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise (Ps 50/51:17), and the Apostle Paul's affirmation returns frequently in preaching: "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except under the power of the Holy Spirit" (1 Co 12:3). Only God can open man's heart and make his lips worthy of honouring him. Only God saves us: it is, however, up to our freedom to choose to love him and proclaim his praise not simply in words, but with our whole life, becoming a living gospel.

Happy Sunday + Giovanni D'Ercole

[Institution's transience? What about compactness? What about expansion?]

(Mk 9:30-37)

"A little boy was playing at being a priest with a boy his age on the steps of his house. All went well until his little friend, fed up with just being an altar boy, climbed to a higher step and started preaching. The child rebuked him sharply: 'I can only preach! You can't preach! My turn! You spoil the game, you are bad!' Summoned by the shouts, his mother intervened and explained to the child that out of duty of hospitality he had to allow the other to preach. At this point the child sulked for a moment, then brightening up he climbed to the top step and replied: 'All right, he can continue preaching, but I will do God' [...]".

(B. Ferrero, La Scala, in: C'è Qualcuno Lassù?, p.24)

The mentality of precedence and supremacy was ingrained to the point that even in Paradise hierarchies were said to exist.

But «Son of Man» already designates in First Testament the character of a holiness that surpasses the ancient fiction of rulers, who would pile on top of one another reciting the same script.

Instead, in the Kingdom of Jesus there must be a lack of ranks - which is why the plan of the most ambitious Apostles does not match His.

«Son of man» is the person according to a criterion of humanisation, not a beast that prevails because it’s stronger than the others (Dan 7).

Every man with a heart of flesh - not of wild animal, nor of stone - spontaneously identifies himself with the «paidìon» (vv.36-37): a house servant, the shop boy.

The term [diminutive] designates the person who is always attentive to the needs of others, who makes himself available.

It alludes precisely to the dimension of holiness transmissible to anyone, but creative like love, therefore all to be discovered!

Jesus embraces an 8-12 year old boy who counted for nothing at that time - in fact, a house valet, an attendant.

It is the only identification Jesus loves and wishes to give us.

«If anyone wants to be first» (v.35): the Master does not exclude our right to do something great... but He doesn’t identify it with having, power and appearance.

Rather, it relies on our freedom to give, to go down and to serve - a work of emancipation entrusted first and foremost to the top of the class (vv.31-35).

The Lord makes us reflect on authentic fulfilment.

It is not an external conquest, but an intimate and made part of oneself.

It is thus able to sculpt our profound identity, in its richness of faces and in the time of a Path.

Aristotle stated that - beyond artificial petitions of principle or apparent proclamations - one only really loves oneself. This is no small question mark.

Granted and ungranted, the growth, promotion and blossoming of our qualities lies within a wise Way, an even interrupted journey that knows how to allow itself the right pace - even to encounter new states of being.

Genuine and mature love expands the boundaries of the ego-loving primacy of self, visibility and return, understanding the You in the I.

Itinerary and Vector that then expands capacities and life. Otherwise, in all circumstances and unfortunately at any age, we will remain in the puerile game of those who scramble up the steps to prevail.

As Pope Francis said about the mafia phenomena: «There is a need for men and women of Love, not honour!».

The Tao Tê Ching (XL) writes: «Weakness is what the Tao uses». And Master Wang Pi comments: «The high has the low for a foundation, the noble has the vile for a foundation».

Thus the ‘personal’ flows into the plural and global.

To internalise and live the message:

In the balance of nature, have you ever seen a plant that lives only in the light? Or a creature that did not have its shelter in the shade?

[25th Sunday in O.T. (B)  September 22, 2024]

Revolution of Healthy Tenderness: selfishness without reduction

(Mk 9:30-37)

No plant lives only in the light: it would die. No animal: it would perish - if it did not have its den in the shade.

The man who denies his dark side lies.

Biblical spirituality is not empty; on the contrary, it is very sober and connected to concrete and multifaceted life; at times opposed to - not at all prone to - consolatory or one-sided sentimentalistic retreats.

In Deut 6:4-5 (Hebrew text) the love owed to the Lord invests "the whole heart" i.e. all decisions, "the whole life" i.e. every moment of existence, and "all your much" [sharing of goods; which the Son of God means in a universal sense].

Jesus' proposal evolves decisively towards overcoming fences, freedom, and awareness. It tends to reclaim the entire creaturely being - and is not even prone to the liturgy of fulfilments (nor to enhancing performances).

The Son of God defines the coordinates of true Love towards the Father in terms that surprise us, because to the ancient criterion he adds questioning the intelligence of the things of man, of God, and of the Church.

To realise, to seek to understand, to dialogue in order to enrich oneself, to bring oneself up to date, to scrutinise everything... these are not cerebral and individual trappings, but decisive steps towards communion with others and with the Father [Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30; Lk 10:27].

In pagan religions it made no sense to speak of love for the gods. They lived a capricious life and decided by lottery who should be favoured among men and who should endure a life of hardship, insignificance.

The fortunate and (materially) blessed gave thanks by fulfilling prescriptions; e.g., worship obligations. The others idem - at least to keep the heavenly hosts happy and thus not be the object of retaliation.

Love puts one on an equal footing. Fear created hierarchical pyramids.

Obviously it was impossible to have such passion for the denizens of Olympus, or demigods, nymphs, heroes - in short, for anyone who towered above... with the cloak of many duties to be observed [to win their favour].

For the unseen, personal and social contempt was obviously reserved - sacralised by the unquestionable supernal will, identified with destination to the slum class; in the case, punitive. However, swampy.

[Forget 'bowels of mercy': a maternal expression, common since the First Testament!]

Then the archaic idea of punishment or even endless blessing, for merits heaped up in life, formed the fabric of the religious mentality of all times.

This also in the civitas christiana, until recently.

Thus the 'theology of retribution' has effectively annihilated all personal passion, with the hypocritical idea of exchange and meritocracy.

Configuration even projected to the rank of Paradise - worst of all selfishness. We are all levelling at putting up "crosses".

The complex procedures of the 'weighing of the heart' and the 'divine judgement' on the souls of the dead are well known, as far back as the sarcophagi and the Book of the Dead of ancient Egypt.

Entrenched, forensic-like concatenations have humiliated the idea of divine law.

Despite this, such all too 'normal' beliefs became common to all beliefs in the Mediterranean basin and the ancient Middle East.

Higher Justice places Justice where there is none.

Now detached from the ancient invasion of obsessive catechesis about the terrible Last Judgement populated by acolytes armed with pitchforks, we finally feel understood in a personal way, and with exclusively vocational, not massified, criteria.

As a creaturely given, we are souls called and activated to a path that can bear unrepeatable fruit - a decisive and untestable contribution to the whole of salvation history. Each of us.

In the vision-proposal of Jesus, our being is not evaluated as omnipotent in goodness. The Lamb brings no condemnation, not even to the powerless.

We are conformed to the need to receive love - as if we were children in front of Parents who make their children grow up healthy with an overabundance of initiatives, which lead them to surpass themselves.

This, in spite of the vagaries; indeed, because of them: a magma of opposing yet malleable energies, which see further than easy identifications, and are preparing subsequent developments.

The experience of evangelical tenderness does not come from good character and social meekness. But by having experienced first-hand the value of eccentricities.

And having developed an understanding of one's own dark sides, or reworked and brought out deviations that at some point in life have become amazing resources.Even the same evolution and transmutation can be seen in the aspects of ourselves that we do not like and would like to correct... 

Then, such sparks in the course of days amaze, and we discover that they are the best part of ourselves: the true inclination and the reason we were born.

One's deviant and unbalanced character contains the essential secret of the Calling by Name and one's destiny.

This is the starting point for recognising the specific weight of differences, and the equally enriching dissonances of sisters and brothers.

It is not goodism, that of the Lambs [oscillating in situation, and linked to contrived ways, devious interests or partisanship]: the opposite!

As Pope Francis said: 'Lambs, not fools; but lambs'.

In personal life and communion, evangelical tenderness is real understanding and genuine inclusion of the 'different'. Beginning not from an erratic, momentary, glamorous and circle (fickle) ideology but from one's own intimate and relational life experience.

It will lead us to experience a Father who provides well for us, just as we brighten the lives of others - enriching our own! - in the confluence and re-harmonisation of our many faces.

Tenderness in the round, convinced in earnest; without the homologated masks of the usual 'staples' of banal (recited) tenderness, perhaps forced and activated by a weakened conforming identity.

This is the wise contagion that will revive us from the great global crisis: indulgence that does not become indolence.

And that does not remain sectorial - because it starts not from external manners or knots, but from being oneself and here recognising the You (together, seeds of the Logos).

For a Tenderness of Dialogue without neurosis.

In this way, the "saint" becomes the one who, walking his own path in the wake of the Risen One, has learned to "identify himself with the other, regardless of where [nor] from where [...] ultimately experiencing that others are his own flesh" (cf. FT 84).

Winning the race

(Mk 9:30-37)

"A little boy was playing at being an altar boy together with a boy his age, on the steps of his house. All went well until his little friend, fed up with just being an altar boy, climbed to a higher step and began to preach. The child rebuked him sharply: 'I alone can preach! You cannot preach! My turn! You spoil the game, you are bad!' Summoned by the shouting, his mother intervened and explained to the child that out of duty of hospitality he had to allow the other to preach. At this point the child sulked for a moment, then brightening up he climbed to the top step and replied: 'All right, he can continue preaching, but I will do God' [...]".

(B. Ferrero, La Scala, in: C'è Qualcuno Lassù?, p.24)

The mentality of precedence and supremacy was ingrained to the point that even in heaven, hierarchies were said to exist.

But 'Son of Man' already designates from the OT the character of a holiness that surpasses the ancient fiction of the rulers, who piled on top of each other reciting the same script.

The masses were left speechless: whatever ruler seized power, the petty crowd remained subdued and suffocated.

The same rule was in force in religions, whose leaders lavished the people with a strong horde drive and the contentment of the gregarious.

Instead, in the Kingdom of Jesus there must be a lack of ranks - which is why the most ambitious Apostles' plan does not match his.

"The 'Son of Man' is the person according to a criterion of humanisation, not a beast that prevails because it is stronger than the others (Dan 7).

Every man with a heart of flesh - not of beast, nor of stone - spontaneously identifies himself with the "paidìon" (vv.36-37): a household servant, the shop boy.

The term (diminutive) designates the person who is always attentive to the needs of others, who makes himself available.

It alludes precisely to the dimension of holiness transmissible to anyone, but creative like love, therefore all to be discovered!

In the Gospels, the Son of Man - the true and full development of the divine plan for mankind - is not hindered by the habitués of the sacred precincts, but by the habitués of the places of evil.

The growth and humanisation of the people is not opposed by 'sinners', but precisely by those who would have the ministry of making the Face of God known to all!

Jesus embraces an 8-12 year old boy who at that time counted for nothing - precisely, a house servant, a shop boy.

It is the only identification that Jesus loves and wishes to give us: that with the one who cannot afford not to recognise the needs of others.

A dimension of holiness without distinctive haloes: shareable, because it is linked to empathy, to spontaneous friendship towards women and men.

Obviously: this is not a proposal compromised with doctrinaire religion and discipline that drives back eccentricities: far more sympathetic and amiable.

That of the Son of Man is the holiness that makes us unique, not one that is always abhorring and exorcising the danger of the unusual.

This is precisely why - instead - the fixation on antecedence has characterised the life of the Church for centuries; as has the feudal and monarchical idol of pyramidal stability for life.

"If anyone wants to be first" (v.35): the Master does not exclude our right to do something great... but he does not identify it with having, power and appearance.

For a path of Bliss, He does not excite the impulses of holding, rising and dominating: they do not give Happiness.

Rather, it relies on our freedom to give, to go down and to serve - a franchise entrusted first and foremost to the top of the class (vv.31-35) who have grown accustomed to overwhelming others with moralisms and judgments.

God does not deny the legitimate urges of the self to be recognised. We do not participate in life as gods destined to fail, but as promoted - not suppressing our own requirements.

But not to win the race. The Lord makes us reflect on authentic fulfilment.

This is not an external conquest, but an intimate and self-made one. It is thus able to sculpt our deepest character, in its richness of faces and in the time of a Path.

Aristotle stated that - beyond artificial petitions of principle or apparent proclamations - one only really loves oneself. It is no small question mark.

Granted and not granted, the growth, promotion and blossoming of our qualities is located within a wise Path, a (even interrupted) path that knows how to give itself the right rhythm - even to encounter new states of being.

Genuine and mature love expands the boundaries of the ego lover of primacy, visibility and gain, understanding the You in the I.

Itinerary and Vector that then expands skills and life. Otherwise in all circumstances and unfortunately at any age we will remain in the puerile game of those who scramble up the steps to prevail.As Pope Francis said about the mafia phenomena: 'There is a need for men and women of Love, not honour!

The Tao Tê Ching (XL) writes: 'Weakness is what the Tao uses'. And Master Wang Pi comments: 'The high has the low for a foundation, the noble has the vile for a foundation'.

Thus the personal flows into the plural and global:

"This universalistic perspective emerges, among other things, from the presentation Jesus made of himself not only as 'Son of David', but as 'son of man'. The title of 'Son of Man', in the language of Jewish apocalyptic literature inspired by the vision of history in the Book of the Prophet Daniel (cf. 7:13-14), recalls the person who comes 'with the clouds of heaven' (v. 13) and is an image that heralds an entirely new kingdom, a kingdom sustained not by human powers, but by the true power that comes from God. Jesus uses this rich and complex expression and refers it to Himself to manifest the true character of His messianism, as a mission destined for the whole man and every man, overcoming all ethnic, national and religious particularism. And it is precisely in following Jesus, in letting oneself be drawn into his humanity and thus into communion with God, that one enters into this new kingdom, which the Church announces and anticipates, and which overcomes fragmentation and dispersion".

[Pope Benedict, Consistory 24 November 2012].

Transience of the institution? And the compactness? And expansion?

The mentality of precedence was ingrained to the point that even in heaven hierarchies were said to exist.

But "Son of Man" already designates from the OT the character of a holiness that you do not expect, that surpasses the ancient fiction, that of the dominators, who piled on top of each other reciting the same script; a mentality of competition and supremacy.

The masses were left high and dry: whatever ruler seized power, the petty crowd remained subdued and suffocated. 

The same rule was in force in religions, whose leaders lavished the people with a strong horde drive and the contentment of the gregarious.

Instead, Jesus' Kingdom lacked ranks - which is why the most ambitious Apostles' plan did not match his.

"Son of man" is the true person according to a criterion of humanisation; not a beast that prevails because it is stronger than the others (Dan 7); not a fair, but one who educates, convincing.

Every man conforming to the divine Plan and with a heart of flesh, not of wolf, spontaneously identifies with the 'paidìon' (vv.36-37): a house servant, a shop boy.

It depicts the person who is always attentive to the needs of others, who puts himself at their disposal.

Dimension of holiness transmissible to anyone, but as creative as love, therefore all to be discovered! Danger then for the stability of any closed 'system'.

How to guard against it? And his reputation? Is it possible for community leaders to renounce precedence? Unacceptable - perhaps - for those who value unilateral expansion!

A church without a recognisable chain of command would probably not appear to be a stable group. It would seem to some to be a transitional institution. 

Furthermore [from the point of view of the 'leaders']: what will make the like-minded individuals and the diverse mass homogeneous? Difficult to have a naturally compact crowd!

A person must be convinced, and it is not easy to persuade them!

The usual reproaches about conduct are not enough; one must understand the events.

And if one demands its adherence to a largely fixed cultural paradigm, here is the external coercion of the multitude in which it lives.

[Hence, a hierarchy of co-optees that guarantees fixity of belief, defined even in detail].

By natural reckoning, a primitive mass can evolve into an articulate and well-organised group if it is subjected to leaders who ensure durability through a collective formation that takes hold and inculcates itself in the primitive categories of thought codes.

And such a coining must be easy to use, so that it corresponds to all the varied situations on the ground.

Here, then, is a catechesis capable of inculcating itself through a simple proposal, immediately enjoyable; complacent and recognisable to the crowd.

Indeed, we note that in the Gospels the 'Son of Man' - the true and full development of the divine plan on humanity - is not hindered by 'sinners', but by the very ones who would have the ministry of making him known.

Instead, the Son has an identity that is not at all prone to the calculation of balanced concordances; his signature is simple, yet lordly.

Its benevolence is placed on another plane: the horizon of the God who reveals himself.

And it does so without artifice; in quality relationships and in configured and real Good; not in positions of domination, command, overpowering.

Jesus embraces the 8-12 year old boy ["paidìon"] who at that time counted for nothing.

Precisely, a house valet, a shop steward; He who cannot afford not to recognise the needs of others.

A dimension of holiness without distinctive haloes; sharable, because it is linked to sympathy towards anyone - not to a doctrine and discipline that push back the danger of the Uncommon.

Yet the fixation on antecedence has characterised the life of the Church for centuries.

Working in the archives, I noticed what asperities lay behind the debates about the roles and prelations to be displayed in society [even in confraternity positions during processions... let us not talk about at the table; until after the war even in group photos of clerics].

Of course, the Lord does not exclude the right to make one's own life something great, indeed; but for the Happiness of his People he does not rely on the impulses of restraining, ascending and dominating.

Rather, he relies on the freedom to give, to go down and to serve - first and foremost of his own firsts. All to make the simple breathe and be born authentically; and it is possible, if the Mission enjoyed a horizon of non-opportunistic liberality.

In the perspective of Communion - coexistence, conviviality of differences - as a supreme good that is neither fleeting nor spoilt by transformations, God's proposal does not deny the ego's legitimate urges to be recognised.

We do not participate in life as destined to fail, but as promoted ones who do not suppress their own requirements. But not to win the race.

The Lord makes us reflect on authentic fulfilment.

Not an external conquest, but an intimate and made one's own; sculpting our profound identity in the time of a Path, not flattened on what already appears to be uncharacterised from an educational point of view.

Aristotle asserted that - beyond external, artificial petitions of principle - one only really loves oneself...

Granted and not granted, the promotion and blossoming of our qualities lies within a Path that expands the boundaries of the ego [lover of primacy, visibility and gain] by encompassing the You in the I.

Itinerary and Vector that then expands skills and life. Otherwise, in every circumstance and unfortunately in every age, we will remain in the puerile game of those who scamper up the steps.

As Pope Francis said, pointing to mafia phenomena: "There is a need for men and women of Love, not of honour!".

Deep inner distance between Jesus and the disciples

After Peter, on behalf of the disciples, has professed faith in Him, recognising Him as the Messiah (cf. Mk 8:29), Jesus begins to speak openly of what will happen to Him at the end. The Evangelist reports three successive predictions of death and resurrection, in chapters 8, 9 and 10: in them Jesus announces ever more clearly the destiny that awaits him and its intrinsic necessity. The passage [...] contains the second of these announcements. Jesus says: "The Son of Man - an expression by which he designates himself - is delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him; but when he is killed, he will rise again after three days" (Mk 9:31). The disciples "however did not understand these words and were afraid to question him" (v. 32).

In fact, reading this part of Mark's account, it is evident that between Jesus and the disciples there was a deep inner distance; they were, so to speak, on two different wavelengths, so that the Master's discourses were not understood, or were only superficially understood. The Apostle Peter, immediately after manifesting his faith in Jesus, allows himself to rebuke him for predicting that he will have to be rejected and killed. After the second announcement of the passion, the disciples begin to argue about who among them is the greatest (cf. Mk 9:34); and after the third, James and John ask Jesus to be allowed to sit at his right hand and at his left, when he will be in glory (cf. Mk 10:35-40). But there are several other signs of this distance: for example, the disciples fail to heal an epileptic boy, whom Jesus then heals by the power of prayer (cf. Mk 9:14-29); or when children are presented to Jesus, the disciples rebuke them, and Jesus instead, indignant, makes them stay, and affirms that only those who are like them can enter the Kingdom of God (cf. Mk 10:13-16).

What does this tell us? It reminds us that God's logic is always "other" than ours, as God himself revealed through the prophet Isaiah: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, / your ways are not my ways" (Is 55:8). This is why following the Lord always requires from man a profound con-version - from us all -, a change in the way of thinking and living, it requires opening one's heart to listening in order to allow oneself to be enlightened and transformed inwardly. A key point in which God and man differ is pride: in God there is no pride, because He is all fullness and is all out to love and give life; in us men, on the other hand, pride is intimately rooted and requires constant vigilance and purification. We, who are small, aspire to appear great, to be the first, while God, who is truly great, is not afraid to lower Himself and make Himself last. And the Virgin Mary is perfectly "in tune" with God: let us invoke her with confidence, that she may teach us to faithfully follow Jesus on the path of love and humility.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 23 September 2012]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In this Sunday's Gospel, for the second time Jesus proclaims his passion, death and Resurrection to the disciples (cf. Mk 9: 30-31). The Evangelist Mark highlights the strong contrast between his mindset and that of the Twelve Apostles, who not only do not understand the Teacher's words and clearly reject the idea that he is doomed to encounter death (cf. Mk 8: 32), but also discuss which of them is to be considered "the greatest" (Mk 9: 34).

Jesus patiently explains his logic to them, the logic of love that makes itself service to the point of the gift of self: "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all" (Mk 9: 35).

This is the logic of Christianity, which responds to the truth about man created in the image of God, but at the same time contrasts with human selfishness, a consequence of original sin. Every human person is attracted by love - which ultimately is God himself - but often errs in the concrete ways of loving; thus, an originally positive tendency but one polluted by sin can give rise to evil intentions and actions.

In today's Liturgy, this is also recalled in the Letter of St James: "Wherever jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity". And the Apostle concludes: "The harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" (Jas 3: 16-18).

These words call to mind the witness of so many Christians who humbly and silently spend their lives serving others for the sake of the Lord Jesus, behaving in practice as servants of love, and hence, "artisans" of peace.

Sometimes, certain people are asked for the supreme testimony of blood, which also happened a few days ago to the Italian Religious, Sr Leonella Sgorbati, who died a victim of violence. This Sister, who served the poor and the lowly in Somalia for many years, died with the words "I forgive" on her lips: this is the most genuine Christian witness, a peaceful sign of contradiction that demonstrates the victory of love over hatred and evil.

There is no doubt that following Christ is difficult, but, as he says, only those who lose their life for his sake and the Gospel's will save it (cf. Mk 8: 35), giving full meaning to their existence. There is no other way of being his disciples, there is no other way of witnessing to his love and striving for Gospel perfection. May Mary, whom we call upon today as Our Lady of Mercy, open our hearts ever wider to the love of God, a mystery of joy and holiness.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 24 September 2006]

5. “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mk 9:35).

This is how Jesus spoke to the Twelve, when he caught them discussing among themselves “who was the greatest” (Mk 9:34). This is a constant temptation, which does not spare even the one called to preside at the Eucharist, the sacrament of the supreme love of the “Suffering Servant”. Whoever carries out this service is actually called to be a servant in a yet more radical way. He is called, in fact, to act “in persona Christi”, and so to re-live the same condition of Jesus at the Last Supper, being willing, like Jesus, to love until the end, even to the giving of his life. To preside at the Lord’s Supper is, therefore, an urgent invitation to offer oneself in gift, so that the attitude of the Suffering Servant and Lord may continue and grow in the Church.

Dear young men, nurture your attraction to those values and radical choices which will transform your lives into service of others, in the footsteps of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Do not let yourselves be seduced by the call of power and personal ambition. The priestly ideal must be constantly purified from these and other dangerous ambiguities.

The call of the Lord Jesus still resounds today: “If any one serves me, he must follow me” (Jn 12:26). Do not be afraid to accept this call. You will surely encounter difficulties and sacrifices, but you will be happy to serve, you will be witnesses of that joy that the world cannot give. You will be living flames of an infinite and eternal love. You will know the spiritual riches of the priesthood, divine gift and mystery.

[Pope John Paul II, Message for the XL World Day of Prayer for Vocations, 11 May 2003]

Today’s first reading, from the Book of Wisdom speaks of the persecution of the righteous, those whose “mere presence” annoys the ungodly. The ungodly are described as those who oppress the poor, who have no compassion for the widow and show no respect to the elderly (cf. 2:17-20). The ungodly claim to believe that “power is the norm of justice”. They dominate the weak, use their power to impose a way of thinking, an ideology, a prevailing mindset. They use violence or repression to subject those who simply by their honest, straightforward, hardworking and companionable everyday life show that a different kind of world, a different kind of society, is possible. The ungodly are not content with doing anything they like, giving into their every whim; they do not want others, by doing good, to show them up for who they are. In the ungodly, evil is always trying to destroy good.

Seventy-five years ago, this nation witnessed the final destruction of the Vilnius Ghetto; this was the climax of the killing of thousands of Jews that had started two years earlier. As we read in the Book of Wisdom, the Jewish people suffered insults and cruel punishments. Let us think back on those times, and ask the Lord to give us the gift of discernment to detect in time any recrudescence of that pernicious attitude, any whiff of it that can taint the heart of generations that did not experience those times and can sometimes be taken in by such siren songs.

Jesus in the Gospel tells us of a temptation of which we have to be very careful: the desire for primacy and domination over others, which can dwell in every human heart. How often has it happened that one people considers itself superior, with greater acquired rights, with more privileges needing to be preserved or gained. What is the antidote that Jesus proposes when this impulse appears in our heart or in the heart of any society or country? To be the last of all and the servant of all; to go to the place where no one else wants to go, where no one travels, the furthest peripheries; to serve and come to know the lowly and the rejected.

If power had to do with this, if we could allow the Gospel of Jesus Christ to reach the depths of our lives, then the “globalization of solidarity” would be a reality. “In our world, especially in some countries, different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we Christians remain steadfast in our intention to respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2)” (Evangelii Gaudium, 67).

Here in Lithuania, you have a hill of crosses, where thousands of people, over the centuries, have planted the sign of the cross. I ask you, as we now pray the Angelus, to beg Mary to help us all to plant our own cross, the cross of our service and commitment to the needs of others, on that hill where the poor dwell, where care and concern are needed for the outcast and for minorities. In this way, we can keep far from our lives and our cultures the possibility of destroying one another, of marginalizing, of continuing to discard whatever we find troublesome or uncomfortable.

Jesus puts a little child in our midst, at the same distance from each of us, so that all of us can feel challenged to respond. As we remember the “yes” spoken by Mary, let us ask her to make our “yes” as generous and fruitful as hers.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 23 September 2018]

But can he participate in the ritual? Sitting and with his eye on the registers, only then rich - nay, 'sir'

(Mt 9:9-13)

Friction arose in some assemblies of believers, because some church members still considered profane to have contact or accept foreigners, not yet adapted to the mentality of customs.

Even the Judeo-Christians of Galilee and Syria to whom Mt addresses needed to learn to break the isolation of the norms of ancient purity. They didn’t have to stand aside.

The friction of opinions was particularly acute in the [typical third-generation] debate on the kind of eligible participation in meetings and at Breaking the Bread.

Prohibition must be replaced by friendship.

The Father is a friendly Presence. His life-saving initiative is for everyone, even for those who don't know how to do anything but look after their own gain.

The faithful in Christ share the holy Banquet with pagans and sinners, without first demanding a discipline of the arcane, nor practices that celebrate distances (such as ablutions that at the time were preceding the meal).

Matathiah means "man of God", "given by God"; precisely «Gift of God» [Matath-Yah].

In short, according to Jesus’ teaching, the only impurity is that of not giving space to those who ask because they have none.

The observant sects of Judaism treated tax collectors as unclean beings, to be kept at a distance.

The germ of alternative society of believers in Christ accepts them and seizes their resources, the good for the community.

The anxiety of contamination arose from a false, preconceived and exclusivist idea of what not only in Palestine but even in the Diaspora was identified (by total squint) with «the Will of Yahweh» - factor of separation among other peoples.

An illusion that had not stimulated an attitude of sympathy towards diverse reality, nor of friendliness towards others outside the circle consortia.

Lord wants to share with transgressors, not because of an ideological banality: it’s the invitation to recognize oneself in another.

Not to submit ourselves to some form of humiliating paternalism, but because knowing oneself incomplete is a resource.

«And it happened that while He was lying at lunch in the House, behold, many tax collectors and sinners who had come to the feast with Jesus and his disciples» [v.10].

«Lying on the triclinia»: according to the way of celebrating solemn banquets, by free men - now all free ‘sirs’. How wonderful, such a monstrance!

A living Body of Christ that smells of Sharing: authentic Worship!

This is, all empathic and regal, the beautiful awareness that opens wide and makes credible the content of the Announcement [vv.12-13].

Christ calls, welcomes and redeems also “the Matthew in us”, that is, the most worn-out side of our personality. He will even make it flourish: and it will become an indispensable and winning aspect of the future testimony.

Tao Tê Ching [XLV] says: «Great straightness is like sinuosity, great ability is like ineptitude, great eloquence is like stuttering».

Among the disciples, it is likely that there were quite a few members of the Palestinian resistance: guerrillas fighting against the Roman occupiers.

On the other hand, here Jesus calls a collaborator of the Romans who let himself be guided by the advantage.

As if to say: the new community of sons and brothers doesn’t cultivate privileges, separations, oppressions, hatreds.

The Master always stood above the political clashes, ideological distinctions and external disputes of time.

In his Church there is a strong sign of discontinuity.

He does not invite the best or the worst to follow, but opposites - even of our own personality. He wants to dispose us «to conversion» (Lk 5:32): to make us change our point of view, mentality, principles, way of being.

In this adventure we are not called to forms of dissociation. We start from ourselves.

Thus Jesus inaugurates a new kind of relationships, even within us. A New Covenant, of fruitful differences.

It's not ‘perfection’ or narcissism that makes us love the Exodus.

To internalize and live the message:

What is your spiritual strength? How did it generate?

[St Matthew Ap. Ev.  September 21, 2024]

But can he participate in the ritual? Sitting and with his eye on the ledgers, only then rich - indeed, 'lord'

(Mt 9:9-13)

"Jesus does not exclude anyone from his friendship. The good proclamation of the Gospel consists precisely in this: in the offer of God's grace to the sinner! In the figure of Matthew, therefore, the Gospels propose to us a real paradox: the one who is apparently furthest from holiness can even become a model of welcoming God's mercy and allowing us to glimpse its wonderful effects in his own existence" [Pope Benedict, General Audience 30 August 2006].

Friction arose in some assemblies of believers, because some church members still considered it profane to have contact with or accept foreigners, who had not yet adapted to the identity mentality of customs.

Even the Judeo-Christians from Galilee and Syria whom Matthew addressed needed to learn to break the isolation of ancient purity norms. They did not have to keep themselves apart.

The friction of opinions became particularly acute in the [typical third-generation] debate over the kind of permissible participation in meetings and the Breaking of Bread.

Conflict pitted against each other the group of converts from paganism (increasingly conspicuous) and the Judaizing group.

The latter did not like habitual contact with those far from their mentality, but rather distinction.

Both in the assemblies and in the quality of everyday fraternal life, unpleasant situations and doubts of conscience arose [about whether or not to welcome pagans who had converted to Jesus the Messiah, let alone share the table with the (supposedly) defiled].

Several church brethren were accustomed to still sacredly consider it profane to have any contiguity with anyone, or even to accept the judged defiled.

The devout conception of moral subdivisions led to the belief that it was necessary to keep the new at a distance, for not having adapted to the not-yet-demythologised mentality of Semitic traditions.

Thus the evangelist wants to describe how Jesus himself faced the same conflict: without any ritual or sacred attention, except to man.

Why? According to the Master's teachings, the relationship with the distant and different, and our own hardships or hidden abysses have something to tell us.

Mt intended to help the Judeo-Christian faithful to understand a discriminating opening: the leap from common religiosity - made up of absurd beliefs, separations and squeamish attitudes - to the Faith in progress.

A discriminating opening is the hope in life itself that comes, and calls for the surrender of artificial positions; hence the possibility of social and ritual insertion.

Such is the teaching, the story, the Person of Christ.

He guides us to existential entrustment, to global trust; to believing the story of the public sinner, who is each one, to be our own.

To proceed along such a Way, one starts precisely from the unexpressed energies of one's own primordial states, recognised, assumed, made personally fruitful; dilated in one's brothers, without distinction.

In fact, the Gospel passage emphasises that in its time the apostles (v.10) had by no means been called by the Lord to the same and rigorous practice of segregation, typical of ethno-purist beliefs, which was nevertheless in force around them.

Therefore, the believers of the 70s and 80s did not have to keep themselves apart: rather, they needed to learn how to break the isolation of the norms of social and cultic conformity.

The Father is Friendly Presence.

The glad tidings of Matthew are this: the life of Communion is not gratification, nor is it recognition.

The Eucharist is not a reward for merit, nor is it a discriminator in favour of sacred marginalisation - or adult casuistry.

God does not complicate our existence by burdening it with too many obligations and duties that weigh down our days and our whole lives; rather, He sweeps them away.

For this reason, the figure of the new Rabbi touched people's hearts, without borders.

Prohibition must be replaced by friendship. Intransigence supplanted by indulgence; harshness by condescension.

In such an adventure we are not called to forms of disassociation: we start with ourselves.

Thus one arrives without hysteria at micro-relationships and [without ideological charges] at the current - even devout - mentality.

No more false goals, superficial objectives, obsessions and useless reasoning, nor mechanical habits, ancient or modern; others' [never reworked in themselves].

With such an experience of inner excavation and identification, women and men of Faith must share life with anyone - even notorious transgressors like the son of Alphaeus; seeing themselves in them.

And by laying down the artifices: without first claiming any licence.

The faithful in Christ are called to share the breaking of bread with pagans and sinners.In this way, without first demanding a discipline of the arcane, and practices that celebrate distances, such as the ablutions that preceded the meal. 

Matathiah in fact means 'man of God', 'given by God'; precisely 'Gift of God' (Matath-Yah) ['Gift' despite the anger of official authorities].

The observant sects of Judaism treated publicans as unclean beings, to be kept at a distance.

The seed of alternative society of believers in Christ accepted them and grasped their resources, the good for the community.

The anxiety of contamination stemmed from a false, preconceived and exclusivist idea of what not only in Palestine but even in the Diaspora was identified by total squinting with 'Yahweh's Will' - a factor of separation in the midst of other peoples.

Illusion that had not stimulated an attitude of sympathy towards the diverse reality, nor of friendliness towards the neighbour outside the 'circle'.

According to the direct warning of Jesus himself - even to one of the apostles - the only impurity that God does not tolerate is that of not giving space to those who ask for it because they have none.

Sometimes we are in fact like 'comari'; souls imprisoned in a world closed within fences that transfix our gaze [even on grand accounts and club records: tiny certainties]. And a devout life of small-mindedness.

The Lord wants full communion with the transgressors, not because of an ideological banality: it is the invitation to recognise, confess, agree, live together.

Thus allowing the soul forced into anguish to breathe.

Not to subject his intimates to some form of humiliating paternalism: knowing oneself to be incomplete and allowing oneself to be transformed from poor - or rich - into a lord, is a resource.

"And it came to pass that while He was reclining at table in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners who had come were reclining at table with Jesus and His disciples" (v.10 Greek text).

"They were reclining": according to the manner of celebrating solemn banquets, by free men - now all free.

How marvellous, such a monstrance!

A living Body of Christ that smells of Sharing: authentic Worship!

It is this all empathic and royal awareness that smoothes out, makes credible, the content of the Announcement (vv.12-13). Although it shocks the susceptibility of the official teachers.

From now on, the division between believers and non-believers will be far more humanising than between 'born again' and not, or pure and impure.

It is a different karat - the principle of a life of the saved, which unfolds and overflows beyond the club ropes.

Among the disciples, it is likely that there were quite a few members of the Palestinian resistance, who opposed the Roman occupiers.

By contrast, here Jesus calls a collaborator, and one who allowed himself to be led by advantage.

As if to say: the New Community of sons and brothers does not cultivate privileges, separation, oppression, hatred.

The Master always kept himself above the political shocks, ideological distinctions and corrupt disputes of his time.

In his Church there is a strong sign of discontinuity with religions: prohibition must be replaced by friendship.

The apostles themselves were not called to the same strict practice of segregation and division typical of ethno-purist beliefs, which prevailed around them [and was believed to reflect God's established order on earth].

Even today, the Lord does not invite the best or the worst to follow, but the opposites. A principle that also applies to the intimate life.

The recovery of opposing sides also of our personality, disposes us "to conversion" (Lk 5:32): not to rearrange the world of the Temple, but to make us change our point of view, mentality, principles, way of being.

Christ also calls, welcomes and redeems the publican in us, that is, the more rubricistic - or worn-out - side of our personality.

Even our unbearable or rightly hated character: the rigid one and the - equally our - rubricist one.

By reintegrating precisely the opposites, it will even make them flourish: they will become inclusive, indispensable, allied and intimately winning aspects of the future testimony, empowered with genuine love.

Being considered strong, capable of leading, observant, excellent, pristine, magnificent, performing, extraordinary, glorious... damages people.

It puts a mask on us, makes us one-sided; it takes away understanding. It floats the character we are sitting in, above reality.

For one's growth and blossoming, more important than always winning is to learn to accept, to yield to the point of capitulation; to make oneself considered wanting, inadequate.

Says the Tao Tê Ching [XLV]: 'Great uprightness is like sinuosity, great skill is like ineptitude, great eloquence is like stammering'.

The contrived norm (unfortunately, sometimes even unwise leadership) makes us live according to success and external glory, obtained through compartmentalisation.Jesus inaugurates a new kind of relationships, and 'covenants' of fruitful divergence - even within ourselves.

And He makes everything the Word alone 'Follow Me' (v.9) [not others].

The Master's Wisdom and the multifaceted art of Nature [exemplified in the crystalline wisdom of the Tao] lead all to be human.

It is not 'perfection' or narcissism that make us love Exodus.

To internalise and live the message:

What is your spiritual and human strength? How did you generate it?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing the series of portraits of the Twelve Apostles that we began a few weeks ago, let us reflect today on Matthew. To tell the truth, it is almost impossible to paint a complete picture of him because the information we have of him is scarce and fragmentary. What we can do, however, is to outline not so much his biography as, rather, the profile of him that the Gospel conveys.

In the meantime, he always appears in the lists of the Twelve chosen by Jesus (cf. Mt 10: 3; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13).

His name in Hebrew means "gift of God". The first canonical Gospel, which goes under his name, presents him to us in the list of the Twelve, labelled very precisely: "the tax collector" (Mt 10: 3).

Thus, Matthew is identified with the man sitting at the tax office whom Jesus calls to follow him: "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me'. And he rose and followed him" (Mt 9: 9). Mark (cf. 2: 13-17) and Luke (cf. 5: 27-30), also tell of the calling of the man sitting at the tax office, but they call him "Levi".

To imagine the scene described in Mt 9: 9, it suffices to recall Caravaggio's magnificent canvas, kept here in Rome at the Church of St Louis of the French.

A further biographical detail emerges from the Gospels: in the passage that immediately precedes the account of the call, a miracle that Jesus worked at Capernaum is mentioned (cf. Mt 9: 1-8; Mk 2: 1-12) and the proximity to the Sea of Galilee, that is, the Lake of Tiberias (cf. Mk 2: 13-14).

It is possible to deduce from this that Matthew exercised the function of tax collector at Capernaum, which was exactly located "by the sea" (Mt 4: 13), where Jesus was a permanent guest at Peter's house.

On the basis of these simple observations that result from the Gospel, we can advance a pair of thoughts.

The first is that Jesus welcomes into the group of his close friends a man who, according to the concepts in vogue in Israel at that time, was regarded as a public sinner.

Matthew, in fact, not only handled money deemed impure because of its provenance from people foreign to the People of God, but he also collaborated with an alien and despicably greedy authority whose tributes moreover, could be arbitrarily determined.

This is why the Gospels several times link "tax collectors and sinners" (Mt 9: 10; Lk 15: 1), as well as "tax collectors and prostitutes" (Mt 21: 31).

Furthermore, they see publicans as an example of miserliness (cf. Mt 5: 46: they only like those who like them), and mention one of them, Zacchaeus, as "a chief tax collector, and rich" (Lk 19: 2), whereas popular opinion associated them with "extortioners, the unjust, adulterers" (Lk 18: 11).

A first fact strikes one based on these references: Jesus does not exclude anyone from his friendship. Indeed, precisely while he is at table in the home of Matthew-Levi, in response to those who expressed shock at the fact that he associated with people who had so little to recommend them, he made the important statement: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mk 2: 17).

The good news of the Gospel consists precisely in this: offering God's grace to the sinner!

Elsewhere, with the famous words of the Pharisee and the publican who went up to the Temple to pray, Jesus actually indicates an anonymous tax collector as an appreciated example of humble trust in divine mercy: while the Pharisee is boasting of his own moral perfection, the "tax collector... would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!'".

And Jesus comments: "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk 18: 13-14).

Thus, in the figure of Matthew, the Gospels present to us a true and proper paradox: those who seem to be the farthest from holiness can even become a model of the acceptance of God's mercy and offer a glimpse of its marvellous effects in their own lives.

St John Chrysostom makes an important point in this regard: he notes that only in the account of certain calls is the work of those concerned mentioned. Peter, Andrew, James and John are called while they are fishing, while Matthew, while he is collecting tithes.

These are unimportant jobs, Chrysostom comments, "because there is nothing more despicable than the tax collector, and nothing more common than fishing" (In Matth. Hom.: PL 57, 363). Jesus' call, therefore, also reaches people of a low social class while they go about their ordinary work.

Another reflection prompted by the Gospel narrative is that Matthew responds instantly to Jesus' call: "he rose and followed him". The brevity of the sentence clearly highlights Matthew's readiness in responding to the call. For him it meant leaving everything, especially what guaranteed him a reliable source of income, even if it was often unfair and dishonourable. Evidently, Matthew understood that familiarity with Jesus did not permit him to pursue activities of which God disapproved.

The application to the present day is easy to see: it is not permissible today either to be attached to things that are incompatible with the following of Jesus, as is the case with riches dishonestly achieved.

Jesus once said, mincing no words: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Mt 19: 21).

This is exactly what Matthew did: he rose and followed him! In this "he rose", it is legitimate to read detachment from a sinful situation and at the same time, a conscious attachment to a new, upright life in communion with Jesus.

Lastly, let us remember that the tradition of the ancient Church agrees in attributing to Matthew the paternity of the First Gospel. This had already begun with Bishop Papias of Hierapolis in Frisia, in about the year 130.

He writes: "Matthew set down the words (of the Lord) in the Hebrew tongue and everyone interpreted them as best he could" (in Eusebius of Cesarea, Hist. Eccl. III, 39, 16).

Eusebius, the historian, adds this piece of information: "When Matthew, who had first preached among the Jews, decided also to reach out to other peoples, he wrote down the Gospel he preached in his mother tongue; thus, he sought to put in writing, for those whom he was leaving, what they would be losing with his departure" (ibid., III, 24, 6).

The Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew or Aramaic is no longer extant, but in the Greek Gospel that we possess we still continue to hear, in a certain way, the persuasive voice of the publican Matthew, who, having become an Apostle, continues to proclaim God's saving mercy to us. And let us listen to St Matthew's message, meditating upon it ever anew also to learn to stand up and follow Jesus with determination.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 30 August 2006]