Sep 10, 2025 Written by 

Intruding Love, in the respectable House of Simon

And the Feet of Jesus, kissed by the unexpected and censured guest

 

(Lk 7:36-50)

 

It is Love that path of perfection desired by God to make us grow, and to our benefit - not the sterilised formalism and coercive power set up in Simon's House (in the Church, by Peter and other strict censors).

What unites seriously in conviction comes from within, from our Core; it does not depend on the outside.

Love does not programme itself at a desk or on the basis of sacred models, nor does it endure cerebral and moralistic binaries. It expresses the heart with sincerity.

It is not a reality that is subject to social distances, class - or circle more or less disciplined by the profession (dependent on the 'behind the scenes') that resists the obligation to unite with the different, deemed inadequate impure meddlers.

So empathy and loving-kindness do not appear or disappear on command, by design and according to code, discipline, season.

They belong to the deep side of being women and men of all times.

It is not façade respectability, nor ritual landscape, that can lead one's existence in the Spirit in a worthy manner, but passion.

Here is the link between tears and forgiveness.

Hetero-directed formalisms - with their unfestive formulas that do not belong to us - annihilate our essence and our most powerful emotions.

The social pact demanded by the gerontocracy is a reference always outside of us: and it will be the usual good of tradition, of opinion, of surroundings, of calculation in situation, of manners and of 'spin'; in any case, of others.

Are we really empty losers, or destined only to have to support the veterans, with no room for critical witness and active language? 

And underneath imitating 'fathers', models, codes already designed (even down to the tiniest detail) for the use of the traditional sentiments of increasingly aged assemblies?

Love with all our hearts is triggered when we need to make the decisive encounter: that opportunity we feel will open the door to resources, capacities, talents, energies, otherwise unexpressed or stifled.

By letting her hair down in public, the 'sinner' almost seems to be a figure of the lesser 'boat', which offers itself and offers no resistance but only support to the protagonist (Lk 5.2.7.11).

It is a spurious and second community, compared to the official church of the apostles who are always 'close' - and of mixed cultural extraction, unlike the first community that was still Judaizing.

It proposes itself to the You-for-you with a gesture of independence: it needs a more spontaneous and personal relationship with the Lord, the only one who looks at it in a non-superficial way.

A relationship prevented precisely by those who crowd around Him, but to gag Him, and to lie down.

The regulars - all predictable - do not appreciate the favour they receive, although they have been partaking of the (Eucharistic) banquet for a long time, but now only as practitioners of the most reiterated litanies.

The 'security' of mechanisms and ideas laced with prejudice prevents them from experiencing the Gratis.

 

Instead of welcoming, the old guides pushed away; they lived only with their followers - servants and courtiers - in the world of archaic incantations.

They did not bring forth any new inner strength. They feared any jolt that might crack their pedestal.

They blocked any emancipation or discovery. They were not worshippers of people who needed to free themselves from the straits of life.

They were not worshippers of the Master's great Path (cf. the constant reference to his 'feet') but slavish merchants of abstract signs - already established or smuggled in - and of a Jesus reduced to a motionless sphinx (or devout, ritual and 'cultural' icon).

 

Total intimate adherence comes before anything we can fulfil or think. It does not combine with positional opportunism for Christ.

The all-human transport without curtains is what would not make us overwhelmed with arrogance and unable to recognise his Gifts.

He who is convinced that he gives God something, certainly does not love him. He cares only for himself: the predatory, deceitful appearance.

Even today, the choice that concerns us is between negligible details or entering into the heart of authentic Relationship.

On this level, the Master of the House suffered dizziness right from the start.

Simon is frightened by the mere idea of the Master attempting to make him enter into a new logic: "I suppose..." (v.43).

He fears the looming of any alternative jolt that might crack his habitual, congealed world.

 

While the real world follows its cycles, the entrenched ones demand stability - but in doing so they stunt growth.

Instead, by accepting the unforeseen, we discover unexplored sides, juxtaposing inherent potentials that we had not allowed space for.

Continuous change is simply the spice of life. And the very end of a religious-cultural paradigm is inevitable.

Therefore, it becomes essential to take a genuine attitude, and get involved.Salvation is the fruit of moved personal immediacy, and even already obtained without works of law: not labour relations and hypocrisy [overtime against compensation] in aseptic environments, with aged, addicted and mouldy hearts.

In short, the Gospel passage is meant to make us reflect on who is more willing to love: those who can set up screens behind which they can allow themselves even that which they blatantly deny... or the little souls who spontaneously approach their 'source' - devoid of social masks?

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

Looking at our behaviour, would the outcasts from the respectable circle be certain to be spontaneously and freely welcomed by us today?

110 Last modified on Wednesday, 10 September 2025 03:58
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

The saints: they are our precursors, they are our brothers, they are our friends, they are our examples, they are our lawyers. Let us honour them, let us invoke them and try to imitate them a little (Pope Paul VI)
I santi: sono i precursori nostri, sono i fratelli, sono gli amici, sono gli esempi, sono gli avvocati nostri. Onoriamoli, invochiamoli e cerchiamo di imitarli un po’ (Papa Paolo VI)
Man rightly fears falling victim to an oppression that will deprive him of his interior freedom, of the possibility of expressing the truth of which he is convinced, of the faith that he professes, of the ability to obey the voice of conscience that tells him the right path to follow [Dives in Misericordia, n.11]
L'uomo ha giustamente paura di restar vittima di una oppressione che lo privi della libertà interiore, della possibilità di esternare la verità di cui è convinto, della fede che professa, della facoltà di obbedire alla voce della coscienza che gli indica la retta via da seguire [Dives in Misericordia, n.11]
We find ourselves, so to speak, roped to Jesus Christ together with him on the ascent towards God's heights (Pope Benedict)
Ci troviamo, per così dire, in una cordata con Gesù Cristo – insieme con Lui nella salita verso le altezze di Dio (Papa Benedetto)
Church is a «sign». That is, those who looks at it with a clear eye, those who observes it, those who studies it realise that it represents a fact, a singular phenomenon; they see that it has a «meaning» (Pope Paul VI)
La Chiesa è un «segno». Cioè chi la guarda con occhio limpido, chi la osserva, chi la studia si accorge ch’essa rappresenta un fatto, un fenomeno singolare; vede ch’essa ha un «significato» (Papa Paolo VI)
Let us look at them together, not only because they are always placed next to each other in the lists of the Twelve (cf. Mt 10: 3, 4; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13), but also because there is very little information about them, apart from the fact that the New Testament Canon preserves one Letter attributed to Jude Thaddaeus [Pope Benedict]
Li consideriamo insieme, non solo perché nelle liste dei Dodici sono sempre riportati l'uno accanto all'altro (cfr Mt 10,4; Mc 3,18; Lc 6,15; At 1,13), ma anche perché le notizie che li riguardano non sono molte, a parte il fatto che il Canone neotestamentario conserva una lettera attribuita a Giuda Taddeo [Papa Benedetto]
Bernard of Clairvaux coined the marvellous expression: Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis - God cannot suffer, but he can suffer with (Spe Salvi, n.39)
Bernardo di Chiaravalle ha coniato la meravigliosa espressione: Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis – Dio non può patire, ma può compatire (Spe Salvi, n.39)
Pride compromises every good deed, empties prayer, creates distance from God and from others. If God prefers humility it is not to dishearten us: rather, humility is the necessary condition to be raised (Pope Francis)
La superbia compromette ogni azione buona, svuota la preghiera, allontana da Dio e dagli altri. Se Dio predilige l’umiltà non è per avvilirci: l’umiltà è piuttosto condizione necessaria per essere rialzati (Papa Francesco)
A “year” of grace: the period of Christ’s ministry, the time of the Church before his glorious return, an interval of our life (Pope Francis)
Un “anno” di grazia: il tempo del ministero di Cristo, il tempo della Chiesa prima del suo ritorno glorioso, il tempo della nostra vita (Papa Francesco)
The Church, having before her eyes the picture of the generation to which we belong, shares the uneasiness of so many of the people of our time (Dives in Misericordia n.12)

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