"Depart, preach, saying [that] the kingdom of heaven has come near" (v.7)

(Mt 10:7-15)

 

To the friends who proclaim it, Jesus recommends that they do not carry saddlebags and money to distinguish themselves from customs and contexts (and inoculate the poison of fears). 

The eloquent gesture of 'Peace' of the faithful in Christ is not to fill empty glasses, but to make them discover God already Present in those they address, without preclusion.

An understanding of woman and man in themselves, in the "limit" - divine seed in them - that becomes a drive to open up.

For a consideration of the human condition that does not start from 'ideals' but from reality; that does not move from disembodied 'values' (and elsewhere) but from the concrete summary.

Compared to other currents that sought a new way of living and living together - Pharisees, Essenes, Baptists - the believer must not be prejudiced.

By trusting both hospitality and the food of others (all ritually pure) the friend of the Lord expands the expression of the First Covenant.

Accepted indigence comes before obligations. It lets them become human. It drops weights. He does not make 'guilt' the measure of life.

The Kingdom is "Near". It communicates a sense of adequacy, not reproach. It starts from conscience, not from error.

 

The small fraternities of Galilee and Syria to which Mt launches his message are tiny realities - within the reach of ordinary people.

The "conversion" they can propose does not have a definitive measure.

It gives everyone (even those who proclaim) permission to err and fall, no longer ashamed of their state of destitution.

Thus the actions of women and men of Faith arouse a renewed gaze, because they bear witness to proximity and freedom - not to obsessive, artificial, unnatural compliance.

 

In the small assemblies of the early days and in their free action, God himself was made present. Without pyramids or heaps of recriminations.

For a new earth, animated by a new Heaven: that of the Beatitudes that recover torn relationships, and reintegrate into coexistence precisely the imperfect, previously excluded in the name of God.

The Kingdom - a germ of reality barely in its infancy - thanks to the spirit of Gift would transform the world, in the recovery of opposites.

Proposing the alternative of an unexpected face of the Eternal Lover, but also of the successful man, and of society.

 

What then is the engine of inclusion? How can Peace be transmitted, when many admit afflicted and disappointed: "I have no peace"? Impossible by effort.

Under the eyes of the first protagonists of evangelisation, the solution germinated from a spontaneous development.

Even today, boundless loveliness arises simply by recognising the great absolute privilege of being approved by the Creator Father, because we ourselves; unrepeatable.

["The trial of crimes is instructed, but what does the jury think? Who are the jurors? Who is the deputy attorney general of humanity?" (Djibril Tamsir Niane)].

Only by grasping the profound correspondence between the dignity of the Call, the desire for fullness of life and identity-personal character, will we proclaim the "Gratis" received, showing trust in people.

 

A sign of integration will also be not going from house to house: from an initial makeshift accommodation to the flat, to the cottage and finally to the palace (which will absorb all the energy).

The missionary and the authentic Church are critical signs with respect to the culture of accumulation - a shame still unspoken and widespread in the petty gerontocracy - that certainly does not reveal a model of coexistence and appreciation of deep goods.

Passion for another Kingdom before any interest will only be an inner fruit: recognition of predilections "by Name", bearing unique, not external, riches.

Faithfulness to a Heaven not to be conquered, but which already dwells.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

In which delivery of Jesus do you recognise yourself? How do you rely on Providence?

What is your unselfish sign that reflects a great extra gear?

 

 

 

"When the weaver lifts one foot, the other lowers. When the movement ceases and one of the feet stops, the fabric is no longer made. His hands throw the spool that passes from one to the other; but no hand can hope to hold it. Like the weaver's gestures, it is the union of opposites that weaves our lives' (Peul African Oral Tradition).

 

"We are absolutely lost if we lack this particular individuality, the only thing we can truly call our own - and whose loss is also a loss for the whole world. It is also precious because it is not universal' (Rabindranath Tagore).

 

"Truth is not at all what I have. It is not what you have at all. It is what unites us in suffering, in joy. It is the child of our Union, in pain and pleasure born. Neither I nor You. And I and You. Our common work, permanent amazement. Its name is Wisdom' (Irénée Guilane Dioh).

 

"The loss of all certainty and shelter is both a kind of trial and a kind of healing" (Pema Chödrön).

 

"When we suffer a serious disappointment, we never know if it is the conclusion of the story we are living: it could also be the beginning of a great adventure" (Pema Chödrön).

 

"To grow means to go beyond what you are today. Do not imitate. Do not pretend to have achieved the goal and do not try to rush things. Seek only to grow' (Svami Prajnanapada).

 

"True morality consists not in following the beaten path, but in finding the true path for us and following it without fear" (Gandhi).

 

"Truth resides in every human heart, and here one must seek it; one must be guided by the truth as one sees it. But no one has the right to force others to act according to their own view of the truth' (Gandhi).

 

"You must stand up to the whole world even at the cost of being alone. You must look the world in the eye, even though it may happen that the world looks at you with bloodshot eyes. Fear not. Believe in that little thing within you that resides in your heart and says: abandon friends, wife, everything; but bear witness to that for which you have lived and for which you must die" (Gandhi).

 

"In Benin, if you see a jar of water lying under a tree in front of a house, know that it is for you, a stranger passing through; there is no need to knock on the door to ask for a drink, you just open the jar, take the gourd, drink the water and go on your way if no one is there" (Raymond Johnson).

 

"We must learn to abandon our defences and our need to control, and trust totally in the guidance of the spirit" (Sobonfu Somé).

 

"Observing and listening are a great art. From observation and listening we learn infinitely more than from books. Books are necessary, but observation and listening sharpen your senses' (Krishnamurti).

 

"Fire is related to Dreaming, to maintaining our connection to ourselves and ancestors, and to the art of keeping our visions alive" (Griot of Central Africa).

 

"As in life, contraries coexist everywhere: in social organisation and affective life, in exchanges between individuals. To live and realise the contradiction, that is the essential" (Alassane Ndaw).

 

"The trial of crimes is instructed, but what does the jury think? Who are the jurors? Who is mankind's deputy attorney general?" (Djibril Tamsir Niane).

 

"Man must take responsibility for the ties, both visible and invisible, which together give meaning to life" (Aminata Traoré).

"Introducing the spirit of other people into our lives gives us more eyes to see and allows us to overcome our limitations" (Sobonfu Somé).

 

"In the forest, when the branches quarrel, the roots embrace" (African proverb).

 

For even in a relationship of deep love and coexistence 'there is a need to free oneself from the obligation to be equal' (Amoris Laetitia, no. 139).

 

"The waves each rise to their own height, almost competing incessantly with each other, but they only reach a given point; thus they lead our minds to the great calm of the sea, of which they too are a part and to which they must return with a rhythm of marvellous beauty" (Rabindranath Tagore).

 

11. "Each to his own way", says the Council. So, there is no need to be discouraged when contemplating models of holiness that appear unattainable. There are testimonies that are useful to stimulate and motivate us, but not because we try to copy them, as this might even lead us away from the unique and specific way the Lord has in store for us. What is important is that each believer discerns his own path and brings out the best in himself, what is so personal God has placed in him (cf. 1 Cor 12:7), and not that he exhausts himself trying to imitate something that was not meant for him. We are all called to be witnesses, but there are many existential forms of witnessing. In fact, when the great mystic Saint John of the Cross wrote his spiritual Canticle, he preferred to avoid fixed rules for everyone and explained that his verses were written so that each person could benefit "in his own way". For the divine life is communicated to some in one way and to others in another.

[Gaudete et Exsultate].

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

Which gospel do you feel you have to write with your life?

 

 

 

Prayer-presentment, unitive. To not lose the magic of the Mystery

 

Gratitude: the Kingdom at hand

(Mt 9,35-10,1.6-8)

 

Jesus differs from the Rabbis of his time because he does not wait for the exhausted and prostrate people (v.36) to come to him: he seeks them out.

And the group of his own must participate, both in works of healing and deliverance - fraternity motivated by luminous selflessness.He enters prayer assemblies with pastoral anxiety: to teach, not to disquisition. He does not give lessons in logical analysis, but lets it be known who dwells in it.

He proclaims a Kingdom totally different from the way it was inculcated by the manipulators of consciences (full of detailed convictions) - who certainly did not exercise gratuitousness.

 

The ancient doctrines and their protagonists dampened any dissonance and produced the worst: intimate coercion, anonymity, loneliness, passivity.

They inculcated that it was decisive to acquire their flat certainties, not to be open to the personal Mystery, to innate character - fruitfulness out of context.

In fact, they sought to disturb the journeys of the soul, which sometimes wanders to find itself, and which prefers new glimpses to the usual way of seeing - swampy, stagnant.

They did not admit that in each believer could dwell a fundamental option that did not conform to their ideology and manner.

Everything about other people's lives had to work perfectly according to their goals. So they preached not upheaval, but stillness.

Nothing new was to happen that would challenge the social equilibrium, their authoritarian influence... and their income.

Nothing different was to be explored and found.

Yet, yesterday as today, within each woman and man resides a volcano of potential energies - which according to the dominant ideology had only to be stifled and aligned.

 

For all this (which still drags on) we conversely seek a God to be experienced, who is lovable, not 'artfully' constructed... nor invisible or distant from our condition.

We want the One who gives breath, and understands us.

We can see it clearly: what we are hatching is not a miserable illusion, to be extinguished in favour of external balances.

In fact, the Gospel (v.35) proclaims Grace: the face of the Father - who wants nothing for himself, but gives everything to transmit his own Life to us (not to deaden our inner energy).

The Glad Tidings proclaims a Friend Who Comes, not forcing one to "ascend" (in the abstract) or imprisoning in guilt, exhausting the already subdued creatures - making them even more desolate than before.

Here is revealed a Heaven that makes one feel adequate, does not chastise or even impress, but promotes and puts everyone at ease; a Merciful One who is not only good: exclusively good.

The prodigal Father welcomes people as the Son does in the Gospels - as they are; not by enquiring. Rather dilating.

His Word-event also not only reactivates: it reintegrates the imbalances and enhances them in the perspective of paths as a real person - without judging or dispersing or breaking anything.

 

For such a work of wise recomposition of being, the Master invites to Prayer (v.38) - the disciples' first form of commitment.

Access to different attunements in the Spirit teaches us to stimulate the soul's gaze, to value and understand everything and everyone.

So - after making them less ignorant - Jesus invites his own to involve themselves in missionary work; not to be scholars or moral lecturers.

That would be careless posturing, which makes the unbalanced feel even more lost.

The Mission grows from a small but boundless dimension - that of intimate perception, which becomes aware of the needs and mystery of a favourable Presence.

New configurations in spirit: fully discovered only in deep prayer (v.38).  Incarnate.

It is not meant to distract us from inner fulfilment; on the contrary, it acts as a guide, and returns the soul (scattered in the many common practices to be performed) to its own centre.

It makes us feel the yearning and understanding of the perfect condition: the Father does not intend to absorb our aptitudes, but to strengthen them. For everyone has an intimate project, a Calling by Name, their own place in the world.

It seems paradoxical, but the outgoing Church - the one that does not speculate or engage in mass proselytising to impress the mainstream - is first and foremost a matter of formation and internal consciousness.

 

In short, one recognises oneself and becomes not unaware of things through Prayer-presentment, unitive.

In Christ, it is not performance or devout expression, but rather understanding and first and foremost listening to the God who reveals and calls in a thousand subtle forms.

The commitment to heal the world is not won without vocation awareness, nor by letting ourselves be plagiarised and going haphazardly.

Rather, sharpening our gaze, and reinvesting the virtue and character even of our own still-shadowed sides.

Nor does it remain essential to always cross every boundary (Mt 10:5-6) with a logic of escape.

Because not infrequently - unfortunately - only those who love strength start from the too remote and out of reach.

The 'sheep' who are lost and tired of trying and trying again - the excluded, the considered lost, the marginalised - are not lacking (they are close at hand) and there is no urgency to immediately turn away. Almost as if to exempt oneself from the nearest.

The horizon expands itself, if one is convinced and does not like masks or subterfuge.

The sense of closeness to oneself, to others, and to reality is an authentic bearer of the Kingdom that is revealed: the Near.

Understanding the nature of creatures and increasingly conforming to it, all are inspired to change and complete themselves, enriching (even cultural sclerosis) without alienating forcing.

Exercising a practice of goodness even with oneself.

 

Some of the most quoted aphorisms from the Tao culture read: "the way of doing is being"; "he who knows others is wise, he who knows himself is enlightened"; "a long journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"; "the master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision"; "if you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place"; "when you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you".

 

Thus in the battle against infirmity (Mt 9:35-10:1): we win by sharpening our gaze and reinvesting the energy and character even of our own sides still in shadow.

All the gratuitousness (Mt 10:8) that will be able to spring forth from it to build up life in favour of our brothers and sisters, will spring forth not as puerile hysterical reciprocation, or engagement.

It will be spontaneous, solid and cheering Love Dialogue, because it is devoid of those imbalances that smoulder under the ashes of facade conditioning.

 

The sense of closeness (v.7) to oneself, to others and to reality will be an authentic - not programmatic, nor alienated - port of the Kingdom that is revealed: Beside.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

Does Prayer in Christ shake your conscience?

What consolation do you expect from the God Who Comes?

Perhaps a compensation?

Or a gratuitousness that triggers - here and now - true Love-understanding, attentive to the calls of every subtle Voice?

 

 

 

Even among the saints there are contrasts

 

Barnabas, Silvanus and Apollos

Dear brothers and sisters, as we continue our journey among the protagonists of the Christian origins, let us turn our attention today to some of St Paul's other collaborators. We must recognise that the Apostle is an eloquent example of a man open to collaboration: in the Church, he does not want to do everything alone, but makes use of numerous and diverse colleagues. We cannot dwell on all these precious helpers, for they are many. Suffice it to recall, among others, Epaphras (cf. Col 1:7; 4:12; Phm 23), Epaphroditus (cf. Phil 2:25; 4:18), Tychicus (cf. Acts 20:4; Eph 6:21; Col 4:7; 2 Tim 4:12; Tit 3:12), Urbanus (cf. Rom 16:9), Gaius and Aristarchus (cf. Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2; Col 4:10). And women such as Phoebe (cf. Rom 16:1), Triphena and Trifòsa (cf. Rom 16:12), Pèrside, the mother of Rufus - of whom St Paul says: "She is also my mother" (cf. Rom 16:12-13) - not to forget spouses such as Prisca and Aquila (cf. Rom 16:3; 1Cor 16:19; 2Tm 4:19). Today, among this great host of St Paul's co-workers, we turn our attention to three of them, who played a particularly significant role in the evangelisation of the origins: Barnabas, Silvanus and Apollos.

Barnabas means "son of exhortation" (Acts 4:36) or "son of consolation" and is the nickname of a Jewish-Levite native of Cyprus. Settled in Jerusalem, he was one of the first to embrace Christianity after the Lord's resurrection. With great generosity he sold a field he owned, handing over the proceeds to the Apostles for the needs of the Church (cf. Acts 4:37). It was he who guaranteed Saul's conversion to the Christian community in Jerusalem, which still distrusted the former persecutor (cf. Acts 9:27). Sent to Antioch of Syria, he went to take Paul back to Tarsus, where the latter had retired, and spent a whole year with him, devoting himself to the evangelisation of that important city, in whose Church Barnabas was known as a prophet and doctor (cf. Acts 13:1). So Barnabas, at the time of the first conversions of the pagans, realised that this was the time of Saul, who had withdrawn to Tarsus, his city. There he went to look for him. Thus, at that important moment, he almost gave Paul back to the Church; he gave her, in this sense, once again the Apostle of the Gentiles. From the Antiochian Church Barnabas was sent on mission together with Paul, making what is known as the Apostle's first missionary journey. In reality, it was a missionary journey of Barnabas, since he was the one in charge, with whom Paul joined as a co-worker, touching the regions of Cyprus and central-southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, with the cities of Attalya, Perge, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (cf. Acts 13-14). Together with Paul, he then went to the so-called Council of Jerusalem where, after a thorough examination of the matter, the Apostles with the Elders decided to separate the practice of circumcision from Christian identity (cf. Acts 15:1-35). Only thus, in the end, did they officially make the Church of the Gentiles possible, a Church without circumcision: we are children of Abraham simply through faith in Christ.

The two, Paul and Barnabas, then came into conflict, at the beginning of the second missionary journey, because Barnabas was of the opinion to take John Mark as his companion, while Paul did not want to, as the young man had separated from them during the previous journey (cf. Acts 13:13; 15:36-40). So even among saints there are contrasts, discords, controversies. And this seems very consoling to me, because we see that the saints did not 'fall from heaven'. They are men like us, with even complicated problems. Holiness does not consist in never having done wrong, sinned. Holiness grows in the capacity for conversion, repentance, readiness to begin again, and above all in the capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness. And so Paul, who had been rather bitter and bitter towards Mark, eventually finds himself with him. In the last Epistles of St Paul, to Philemon and in the second to Timothy, Mark himself appears as "my co-worker". It is therefore not never having done wrong, but the capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness that makes us holy. And we can all learn this path to holiness. In any case Barnabas, with John Mark, left for Cyprus (cf. Acts 15:39) around the year 49. From then on, his trail is lost. Tertullian attributes the Letter to the Hebrews to him, which is not without verisimilitude because, being from the tribe of Levi, Barnabas could have had an interest in the subject of the priesthood. And the Letter to the Hebrews interprets the priesthood of Jesus to us in an extraordinary way.

Another of Paul's companions was Silas, a Greekised form of a Hebrew name (perhaps sheal, "to ask, to invoke", which is the same root as the name "Saul"), of which the Latinised form Silvanus also appears. The name Silas is attested only in the Book of Acts, while the name Silvanus appears only in the Pauline Epistles. He was a Jew from Jerusalem, one of the first to become a Christian, and was held in high esteem in that Church (cf. Acts 15:22), being considered a prophet (cf. Acts 15:32). He was commissioned to convey "to the brethren of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia" (Acts 15:23) the decisions taken at the Council of Jerusalem and to explain them. Evidently he was considered capable of mediating between Jerusalem and Antioch, between Jewish-Christians and Christians of pagan origin, and thus serving the unity of the Church in the diversity of rites and origins. When Paul separated from Barnabas, he took Silas as his new travelling companion (cf. Acts 15:40). With Paul he reached Macedonia (with the cities of Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea), where he stopped, while Paul continued on to Athens and then Corinth. Silas joined him in Corinth, where he co-operated in the preaching of the Gospel; indeed, in Paul's second Letter to that Church, he speaks of "Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you, I, Silvanus and Timothy" (2 Cor 1:19). This explains why he appears as co-moderator, together with Paul and Timothy, of the two Letters to the Thessalonians. This also seems important to me. Paul does not act as a "soloist", as a pure individual, but together with these co-workers in the "we" of the Church. This 'I' of Paul is not an isolated 'I', but an 'I' in the 'we' of the Church, in the 'we' of the apostolic faith. And Silvanus is also mentioned at the end in the First Epistle of Peter, where we read: "I have written to you through Silvanus, my faithful brother" (5:12). Thus we also see the communion of the Apostles. Silvanus serves Paul, serves Peter, because the Church is one and the missionary proclamation is unique.

Paul's third companion, whom we wish to commemorate, is called Apollonius, probably short for Apollonius or Apollodorus. Although it is a pagan name, he was a fervent Jew from Alexandria in Egypt. Luke in the Book of Acts describes him as "a learned man, versed in the Scriptures... full of fervour" (18:24-25). Apollodorus' entry onto the scene of the first evangelisation took place in the city of Ephesus: there he had gone to preach and there he had the good fortune to meet the Christian spouses Priscilla and Aquila (cf. Acts 18:26), who introduced him to a more complete knowledge of the 'way of God' (cf.) From Ephesus he went on to Achaia and reached the city of Corinth: here he arrived with the support of a letter from the Christians of Ephesus, who recommended that the Corinthians welcome him (cf. Acts 18:27). In Corinth, as Luke writes, "he was very helpful to those who by grace had become believers; for he vigorously refuted the Jews, publicly demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 18:27-28), the Messiah. His success in that city had a problematic side, however, as there were some members of that Church who, fascinated by his way of speaking, opposed the others in his name (cf. 1 Cor 1:12; 3:4-6; 4:6). Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians expresses appreciation for the work of Apollos, but reproaches the Corinthians for tearing the Body of Christ apart by dividing it into opposing factions. He draws an important lesson from the whole affair: 'Both I and Apollos,' he says, 'are but diakonoi, that is, mere ministers, through whom you have come to faith (cf. 1 Cor 3:5). Everyone has a differentiated task in the Lord's field: "I planted, Apollo watered, but it is God who made it grow... For we are God's co-workers, and you are God's camp, God's building" (1 Cor 3:6-9). Returning to Ephesus, Apollos resisted Paul's invitation to return to Corinth immediately, postponing the journey to a later date that we ignore (cf. 1 Cor 16:12). We have no other news of him, although some scholars think of him as the possible author of the Letter to the Hebrews, of which, according to Tertullian, Barnabas would be the author.

All three of these men shine in the firmament of the witnesses of the Gospel by a common note as well as by characteristics peculiar to each. What they have in common, apart from their Jewish origin, is their dedication to Jesus Christ and the Gospel, together with the fact that they were all three co-workers of the Apostle Paul. In this original evangelising mission they have found the meaning of their lives, and as such stand before us as shining models of selflessness and generosity. And let us think again, in the end, of this sentence of St Paul: both Apollos and I are all ministers of Jesus, each in his own way, because it is God who makes us grow. This word also applies to everyone today, to the Pope, to Cardinals, Bishops, priests and lay people. We are all humble ministers of Jesus. Let us serve the Gospel as much as we can, according to our gifts, and let us pray to God that he will make his Gospel, his Church, grow today.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 31 January 2007].