Solemnity of Corpus Christi [7 June 2026]

First reading from the Book of Deuteronomy (8:2–3, 14b–16)

The text calls on the people of Israel to remember their long journey through the desert following their exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The forty years in the desert were marked by hunger, thirst, poverty, snakes, scorpions and loneliness. But the central point is not the suffering itself: it is God’s faithful presence in the midst of trials. God fed the people with manna; he brought water forth from the rock; he protected Israel during their journey; he concluded the Covenant on Mount Sinai. The trials of the desert are presented as a divine ‘pedagogy’: God educates his people as a father educates his son. Through fragility, Israel learns two truths: its own poverty and dependence, and at the same time God’s constant care. The fundamental message is that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that comes from God: his Word, his Spirit, his presence. The text also emphasises the duty of remembrance: ‘Remember’, ‘do not forget’. To remember means to remain faithful to one’s roots and to the Covenant. Forgetting God leads to idolatry and enslavement to other powers. When Israel settles in the Promised Land of Canaan, the danger will no longer be the desert, but prosperity and forgetfulness. For this reason, obedience to the commandments becomes essential. The final section offers a significant image: memory is like the roots of a tree; a people without memory dies spiritually; the future depends on fidelity to one’s roots. Finally, the text links everything to Jesus Christ, who in the desert echoes the words of Deuteronomy: ‘Man does not live by bread alone’. On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the believer is invited to welcome God into their heart. The memory of a people (or a community, or a couple) is a bit like the roots of a tree: today we see the tree, we do not see the roots… yet it lives only thanks to them and owes everything to them, in a sense. Imagine a tree saying: ‘I am separating myself from my roots; they prevent me from moving, worse still, they prevent me from flying’. The rest of the story would be the death of the tree. In the truest sense of the word, the tree’s future lies in its roots. When Moses tells his people “Remember” or “do not forget”, it is as if he were saying to them “do not cut yourself off from your roots”, “your future lies in your faithfulness to your roots”. Moses does not look to the past out of sentiment; but it is precisely because he is entirely focused on the future that he is concerned with fidelity to one’s roots. He says something along the lines of: ‘If you want to still be standing tomorrow, do not forget today who you are and to whom you owe it.’ From century to century, Israel has built itself up by remaining faithful to its roots. Jesus, in turn, to resist the tempter, simply echoed the words of Deuteronomy: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Mt 4:4).

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 147/148 

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! We must note this parallel: Zion and Jerusalem are one and the same. And, moreover, when we speak of Zion or Jerusalem here, we are referring not so much to the city as to its inhabitants—that is, ultimately, the people of Israel. The expression: ‘Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!’ can be easily dated: we are at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile, that is, at the end of the 6th century, when it was necessary to rebuild the city and restore the Temple. Without God’s help, none of this would have been possible: He has strengthened the bars of Jerusalem’s gates! In the previous psalm, God is called the ‘builder of Jerusalem’ and the ‘gatherer of the scattered of Israel’ (Ps 146/147 A,2). But this is not merely a task of architecture that God has accomplished: this return to the homeland is a true restoration of the people; a new life is about to begin—a life of peace and security: ‘He grants peace within your borders and satisfies you with the finest wheat’. In exile, the people ate the bread of tears and bitterness; the return to the homeland is a time of abundance. The second very strong emphasis of this psalm is the keen awareness of the privilege represented by the election of Israel: the Lord has not done this for any other nation; he has not made his laws known to them. We read in the Book of Deuteronomy: ‘You are a people consecrated to the Lord your God: he has chosen you to be his people, his special possession among all the peoples of the earth (Dt 7:6; 10:15). This is a free and inexplicable choice of God, one that never ceases to amaze us and for which we never cease to give thanks. From a human perspective, this choice cannot be explained; the only explanation Moses found is that because he loved your forefathers, he chose their descendants and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and his great power (cf. Dt 4:37). It is therefore simply a love story with no other explanation. At first, Israel did not feel it was living in an exclusive Covenant with the God of Sinai and thought that other peoples had their own protective gods: Israel was not yet monotheistic, but ‘monolatrous’ (also known as ‘enotheistic’), that is, it worshipped a single God, the God of Sinai, who had delivered it from Egypt. It only truly became “monotheistic” during the Babylonian exile (in the 6th century BC). A new leap in faith then took place alongside the discovery of universalism: if the God of Sinai was the one and only God, then He was also the God of all peoples. However, this did not negate the election of Israel, as can be seen in certain texts of the prophet Isaiah: “You, Israel, my servant whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham my friend… Fear not, for I am with you… I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, and uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isa 41:8–10). Isaiah also helped his contemporaries understand that their election now took on a different form: that of a vocation to serve other peoples, to be witnesses of God among them. “I will make you a light to the nations, so that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Is 49:6).

Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (10:16–17)

In this text, Paul frames the whole matter with two warnings: ‘Beloved, flee from idolatry’ (v. 14) ‘Do we wish to provoke the Lord to jealousy?’ (v. 22) In the Bible, God’s “jealousy” is always a warning against idolatry.   In Corinth, some Christians, converts from paganism, were tempted to continue taking part in the sacred feasts in the temples of idols, offering animal sacrifices. For Paul, there are no half-measures: either one enters into communion with the living God in the Eucharist, or one seeks another communion. One cannot partake “of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons”. Another practical question was whether a Christian could eat the meat from idolatrous sacrifices sold in the market. Paul replies that one may eat it because idols do not exist and therefore there is no sacred meat; nevertheless, one must avoid causing offence to those who are  weak in faith.

He then emphasises the Christian meal of the Eucharist, which is, in contrast, true communion with Christ. Paul highlights the significance of the Christian meal and asks: ‘Is not the cup of blessing a communion with the blood of Christ? Is not the bread we break a communion with the body of Christ?’ The Greek word is koinonia: communion, intimate participation, mutual belonging.  Christ himself, at the Last Supper, spoke of the ‘New Covenant in my blood’. And in the biblical Covenant there is mutual belonging: ‘You shall be my people and I shall be your God’. The entire Eucharistic Liturgy is the place where the Covenant is fulfilled.  The Eucharist is a meal of communion as in ancient cults, but the value of the sacrifice has changed. God no longer asks for the killing of animals, but for the gift of life: ‘You do not desire sacrifice and offering, [...] so I said: “Here I am”’ (Ps 39/40).   Christ offered his whole life. And, by participating in the Eucharist, we unite our lives to his to offer them to the Father. Paul dares to say: ‘The bread we break is communion with the body of Christ’, that is, we form one body with him, and for this reason we can live as he did. St Augustine sums it up: ‘You become what you receive; you receive what you are.’ By receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, we in turn become lives offered for the birth of a new humanity; an exclusive choice, for one cannot serve both God and idols, and, in the logic of the gift, 

the Christian sacrifice is to offer one’s own life united with that of Christ. We become bread broken for others; thus, in a single sentence: we understand that the Eucharist is the place where the transcendent God draws intimately near to us and transforms us into a gift for the world. 

From the Gospel according to John (6:51–58)

Here is a discourse that is hard to accept, yet it is the word of Life. After the discourse on the Bread of Life, many disciples abandon Jesus. His words are, humanly speaking, incomprehensible. Jesus then addresses the Twelve directly: ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ And Peter replies: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ It is the paradox of faith: these words cannot be explained by strict logic, but only by living them, and the lesson is clear: it is not from books that one understands what the Eucharist is, but by participating in it and allowing oneself to be drawn into the mystery of Christ. The word ‘life’ recurs several times in this discourse: ‘The bread that I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world’ and, as we read in the Letter to the Hebrews: ‘Entering the world, Christ says: “Behold, I come to do your will.” And God’s will is that the world may have life.  It is a free gift, as Isaiah had already announced: ‘All you who are thirsty, come to the water… buy without money, without payment’ (Is 55:1-3), because what gives us life is the gift of Christ’s life, that is, his sacrifice. The biblical teaching on sacrifice reveals a progressive conversion: from the idea of bloody sacrifices, including human ones, to the absolute prohibition of human sacrifice, leading to the acceptance of sacrifice as an offering of bread and wine (Melchizedek, Gen 14:18). The Songs of the Servant also help us understand that the true sacrifice is to give one’s life for others. And Jesus says that his life is given entirely for humanity. The bread that I will give is my flesh, given so that the world may have life. In the Eucharistic sacrifice, by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, Christ remains in us and we in him; in Jesus, therefore, we receive the very life of God: ‘Just as the Father, who has life, sent me and I live for the Father, so whoever eats me will live for me’. The essential conversion is to move from ‘performing the sacred’—that is, offering things to God—to learning to receive the Life that God gives us in Christ, so that we too may become life given to others. In short: the Eucharist cannot be explained but must be lived, for it is the gift of Christ’s life that draws us into Him, transforms us and enables us to give life for the world. A final note: the word ‘flesh’ that Jesus uses here is equivalent to ‘life’, and we can therefore understand that the Eucharist is his life given so that the world may have life. How? Through his passion, death and resurrection. Immersed in the Paschal Mystery through the Eucharist, each of us is called to welcome the life that God gives us so that we, in turn, may be the Eucharist, a gift of life for all.

+Giovanni D’Ercole

(Mt 5:20-26)

«I tell you in fact that unless your righteousness will abound more [that] of the scribes and pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven»

In the churches of Galilee and Syria there were different and conflicting opinions about the Law of Moses: for some an absolute to be fulfilled even in detail, for others now a meaningless frill (v.22).

The disputants went so far as to insult, to ridicule the opposing party.

But as the Tao Tê Ching (xxx) says: «Where the militias are stationed, thorns and brambles are born». Master Wang Pi comments: «He who promotes himself causes unrest, because he strives to affirm his merits».

Mt helps all community sisters and brothers to understand the content of the ancient Scriptures and grasp the attitude of ‘continuity and cut’ given by the Lord: «You have heard that [...] Now I say to you» (vv.21-22).

‘Arrow’ of the ancient codes was shot in the right direction, but only understanding its range in the spirit of concordance sustains trajectory to the point of providing the energy needed to hit the “target”.

Ideal of ancient religiosity was to present oneself pure before God, and in this sense the Scribes official theologians of the Sanhedrin emphasised the value of the rules that they believed were nestled in the First Testament ‘prison of the letter’.

Sadducees - the priestly class - focused on the sacrificial observances of the Torah alone.

Pharisees, leaders of popular religiosity, emphasised the respect for all traditional customs.

Teaching of professionals of the sacred produced in the people a sense of legalistic oppression that obscured the spirit of the Word of God and of Tradition itself.

Jesus brings out the goal: the greater Justice of Love.

The splendor, beauty and richness of the Glory of the living God is not produced in observing, but in the ability to manifest Him Present.

The right position before Father becomes - in Jesus' proposal - the right position before one's own history and that of one’s neighbor.

First «debt» is therefore a ‘global understanding’: here the Eternal is revealed.

Justice is not the product of the accumulation of righteous deeds, in view of merit: this would manifest narrowness, detachment and arrogance (a type of man of unquestioning thought).

The new Justice chases complicity with evil up to the secret roots of the heart and ideas. But not to accentuate the sense of guilt, nor to make us pursues external dreams.

Observance that does not abide in friendship, in tolerance even of oneself, in Christ who orients, would arise from an ambiguous relationship with the norm and doctrines.

We can overlook the childish need for approval.

The Life of God transpires in a world not of sterilised or pure and phlegmatic one-sided people, but in a conviviality of differences that resembles Him.

To internalize and live the message:

Where do you find the emotional nourishment you need?

What do you think of exclusive groups and their idea of ​​the ultimate court?

[St Barnabas the Apostle, 11 June 2026]

(Mt 5:20-26)

«I tell you in fact that unless your righteousness will abound more [that] of the scribes and pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven»

In the churches of Galilee and Syria there were different and conflicting opinions about the Law of Moses: for some an absolute to be fulfilled even in detail, for others now a meaningless frill (v.22).

The disputants went so far as to insult, to ridicule the opposing party.

But as the Tao Tê Ching (xxx) says: «Where the militias are stationed, thorns and brambles are born». Master Wang Pi comments: «He who promotes himself causes unrest, because he strives to affirm his merits».

Mt helps all community sisters and brothers to understand the content of the ancient Scriptures and grasp the attitude of ‘continuity and cut’ given by the Lord: «You have heard that [...] Now I say to you» (vv.21-22).

‘Arrow’ of the ancient codes was shot in the right direction, but only understanding its range in the spirit of concordance sustains trajectory to the point of providing the energy needed to hit the “target”.

Ideal of ancient religiosity was to present oneself pure before God, and in this sense the Scribes official theologians of the Sanhedrin emphasised the value of the rules that they believed were nestled in the First Testament ‘prison of the letter’.

Sadducees - the priestly class - focused on the sacrificial observances of the Torah alone.

Pharisees, leaders of popular religiosity, emphasised the respect for all traditional customs.

Teaching of professionals of the sacred produced in the people a sense of legalistic oppression that obscured the spirit of the Word of God and of Tradition itself.

Jesus brings out the goal: the greater Justice of Love.

The splendor, beauty and richness of the Glory of the living God is not produced in observing, but in the ability to manifest Him Present.

The right position before Father becomes - in Jesus' proposal - the right position before one's own history and that of one’s neighbor.

First «debt» is therefore a ‘global understanding’: here the Eternal is revealed.

Justice is not the product of the accumulation of righteous deeds, in view of merit: this would manifest narrowness, detachment and arrogance (a type of man of unquestioning thought).

The new Justice chases complicity with evil up to the secret roots of the heart and ideas. But not to accentuate the sense of guilt, nor to make us pursues external dreams.

Observance that does not abide in friendship, in tolerance even of oneself, in Christ who orients, would arise from an ambiguous relationship with the norm and doctrines.

We can overlook the childish need for approval.

The Life of God transpires in a world not of sterilised or pure and phlegmatic one-sided people, but in a conviviality of differences that resembles Him.

To internalize and live the message:

Where do you find the emotional nourishment you need?

What do you think of exclusive groups and their idea of ​​the ultimate court?

Discord even with creation

If man is not reconciled with God, he is also in discord with creation. He is not reconciled with himself, he would like to be something other than what he is and is therefore not reconciled with his neighbour either. Also part of reconciliation is the ability to acknowledge guilt and ask for forgiveness - from God and from each other. And finally, part of the process of reconciliation is the readiness to do penance, the readiness to suffer to the end for a fault and allow oneself to be transformed. And part of it is that gratuitousness of which the Encyclical 'Caritas in veritate' speaks repeatedly: the readiness to go beyond what is necessary, to go beyond reckoning, but to go beyond what mere legal conditions require. This includes that generosity of which God himself has given us an example. Let us think of Jesus' words: 'If you present your offering at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift' (Mt 5:23f.). God, who knew that we are not reconciled, who saw that we have something against Him, rose up and came to meet us, even though He alone was on the side of reason. He came to meet us up to the cross, to reconcile us. This is gratuitousness: the readiness to take the first step. To first go out to meet the other, to offer him reconciliation, to take on the suffering that entails giving up one's own right. Do not give in to the desire for reconciliation: God has given us an example of this, and this is the way to become like Him, an attitude we need again and again in the world. We must today relearn the ability to recognise guilt, we must shake off the illusion that we are innocent. We must learn the capacity to do penance, to let ourselves be transformed; to go out to meet the other and to let God give us the courage and the strength for such a renewal.

[Pope Benedict, Address to the Roman Curia 21 December 2009].

Jesus' attitude with respect to the Jewish Law: deep motivation, hidden wisdom. Precept - demand of love

The Gospel [...] is still part of the so-called 'Sermon on the Mount', the first great preaching of Jesus. Today the theme is Jesus' attitude towards the Jewish Law. He states: 'Do not believe that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfil' (Mt 5:17). Jesus therefore does not want to cancel the commandments that the Lord gave through Moses, but wants to bring them to their fullness. And immediately afterwards he adds that this "fulfilment" of the Law requires a higher justice, a more authentic observance. For he says to his disciples: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:20).

But what does this "full fulfilment" of the Law mean? And in what does this superior justice consist? Jesus himself answers us with some examples. Jesus was practical, he always spoke with examples to make himself understood. He starts from the fifth commandment of the Decalogue: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not kill'; ... But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment" (vv. 21-22). With this, Jesus reminds us that even words can kill! When you say of a person that he has a serpent's tongue, what do you mean? That his words kill! Therefore, not only must one not attempt the life of one's neighbour, but neither should one pour the poison of wrath upon him and strike him with slander. Not even gossip about him. We come to chatter: chatter, too, can kill, because it kills people's reputation! It is so bad to talk! At first it may seem like a pleasant, even amusing thing, like sucking a candy. But in the end, it fills our hearts with bitterness, and it also poisons us. I tell you the truth, I am convinced that if everyone made the resolution to avoid gossip, he would eventually become a saint! That's a good way! Do we want to become saints? Yes or no? [Piazza: Yes!] Do we want to live attached to chatter as a habit? Yes or no? [Piazza: No!] Then we agree: no chatter! Jesus proposes to those who follow him the perfection of love: a love whose only measure is to have no measure, to go beyond all calculation. Love of neighbour is such a fundamental attitude that Jesus goes so far as to say that our relationship with God cannot be sincere if we do not want to make peace with our neighbour. And he says: "If therefore you present your offering at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother" (vv. 23-24). Therefore we are called to be reconciled with our brothers before we manifest our devotion to the Lord in prayer.

It is clear from all this that Jesus does not simply attach importance to disciplinary observance and outward conduct. He goes to the root of the Law, focusing above all on the intention and therefore on the human heart, from where our good or evil actions originate. Good and honest behaviour requires not just legal rules, but deep motivations, the expression of a hidden wisdom, the Wisdom of God, which can be received through the Holy Spirit. And we, through faith in Christ, can open ourselves to the action of the Spirit, who enables us to experience divine love.

In the light of this teaching, each precept reveals its full meaning as a requirement of love, and all are reunited in the greatest commandment: love God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 16 February 2014]

In this [...] Liturgy we continue to read Jesus’ so-called “Sermon on the Mount”. It is contained in chapters 5, 6 and 7 of Matthew’s Gospel. After the Beatitudes, which are the programme of his life, Jesus proclaims the new Law, his Torah, as our Jewish brothers and sisters call it. In fact, on his coming, the Messiah was also to bring the definitive revelation of the Law and this is precisely what Jesus declares: “Think not that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them”.

And addressing his disciples, he adds: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5:17,20). But what do this “fullness” of Christ’s Law and this “superior” justice that he demands consist in?

Jesus explains it with a series of antitheses between the old commandments and his new way of propounding them. He begins each time: “You have heard that it was said to the men of old…”, and then he asserts: “but I say to you”…. For example, “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘you shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgement’. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgement” (Mt 5:21-22).

And he does this six times. This manner of speaking made a great impression on the people, who were shocked, because those words: “I say to you” were equivalent to claiming the actual authority of God, the source of the Law. The newness of Jesus consists essentially in the fact that he himself “fulfils” the commandments with the love of God, with the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within him. And we, through faith in Christ, can open ourselves to the action of the Holy Spirit who makes us capable of living divine love.

So it is that every precept becomes true as a requirement of love, and all join in a single commandment: love God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself. “Love is the fulfilling of the Law”, St Paul writes (Rom 13:10).

With regard to this requirement, for example, the pitiful case of the four Rom children, who died last week when their shack caught fire on the outskirts of this city, forces us to ask ourselves whether a more supportive and fraternal society, more consistent in love, in other words more Christian, might not have been able to prevent this tragic event. And this question applies in the case of so many other grievous events, more or less known, which occur daily in our cities and our towns.

Dear friends, perhaps it is not by chance that Jesus’ first great preaching is called the “Sermon on the Mount”! Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Law of God and bring it to the Chosen People. Jesus is the Son of God himself who came down from Heaven to lead us to Heaven, to God’s height, on the way of love. Indeed, he himself is this way; all we have to do in order to put into practice God’s will and to enter his Kingdom, eternal life, is to follow him.

Only one creature has already scaled the mountain peak: the Virgin Mary. Through her union with Jesus, her righteousness was perfect: for this reason we invoke her as Speculum iustitiae. Let us entrust ourselves to her so that she may guide our steps in fidelity to Christ’s Law.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 13 February 2011]

7. In his activity as a teacher, which began in Nazareth and extended to Galilee and Judea up to the capital, Jerusalem, Jesus knows how to grasp and make the most of the abundant fruits present in the religious tradition of Israel. He penetrates it with a new intelligence, brings out its vital values, highlights its prophetic perspectives. He does not hesitate to denounce men's deviations from the designs of the God of the covenant.

In this way he works, within the one and the same divine revelation, the passage from the "old" to the "new", without abolishing the Law, but instead bringing it to its full fulfilment (cf. Mt 5:17). This is the thought with which the Letter to the Hebrews opens: "God, who had already spoken in ancient times many times and in various ways to the fathers through the prophets, has lately, in these days, spoken to us through his Son . . ." (Heb 1:1).

8. This transition from the 'old' to the 'new' characterises the entire teaching of the 'Prophet' of Nazareth. A particularly clear example is the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus says: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Do not kill . . . But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be brought into judgment" (Matthew 5: 21-22). "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt 5:27-28). "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy; but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors . . ." (Mt 5:43-44).

Teaching in this way, Jesus at the same time declares: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfil" (cf. Mt 5:17).

9. This "fulfil" is a key-word that refers not only to the teaching of the truth revealed by God, but also to the whole history of Israel, that is, of the people whose son Jesus is. This extraordinary history, guided from the beginning by the powerful hand of the God of the covenant, finds its fulfilment in Jesus. The plan that the God of the covenant had inscribed in this history from the beginning, making it the history of salvation, tended towards the "fullness of time" (Gal 4:4), which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The Prophet of Nazareth does not hesitate to speak about this from his very first speech in the synagogue of his city.

10. Particularly eloquent are the words of Jesus reported in John's Gospel when he says to his opponents: "Abraham, your father, rejoiced in the hope of seeing my day . . .", and faced with their unbelief: "Are you not yet fifty years old and have you seen Abraham?", Jesus confirms even more explicitly: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8: 56-58). It is evident that Jesus affirms, not only that he is the fulfilment of God's salvific designs, inscribed in the history of Israel since the time of Abraham, but that his existence precedes the time of Abraham, to the point of identifying himself as "he who is" (Ex 3:14). But for this very reason he, Jesus Christ, is the fulfilment of the history of Israel, because he "surpasses" this history with his mystery.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 4 February 1987]

It is necessary to live "the petty holiness of negotiation", that is, that "healthy realism" that "the Church teaches us": that is, it is a matter of rejecting the logic of "either this or nothing" and embarking on the path of the "possible" in order to be reconciled with others. Here is the proposal launched by Francis in the Mass celebrated on Thursday morning, 9 June, in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta. With a small note of tenderness: during the homily a child started to cry but Francis immediately reassured his parents: 'No, let's stay calm, because the sermon of a child in church is more beautiful than that of the priest, than that of the bishop and than that of the Pope. Let it be: let it be, which is the voice of innocence that is good for us all".

For his reflection, the Pope started from the passage in Matthew's Gospel (5:20-26), proposed by the liturgy: "Jesus is in the midst of his people and teaches the disciples, teaches the law of God's people". In fact, "Jesus is that legislator whom Moses promised: 'One shall come after me...'". He is therefore "the true lawgiver, the one who teaches us how the law must be in order to be just". But "the people were a bit bewildered, a bit at a loss, because they did not know what to do and those who taught the law were not consistent". And it is Jesus himself who tells them: "Do what they say, but not what they do". After all, "they were not consistent in their life, they were not a testimony of life". Thus "Jesus, in this Gospel passage, speaks of overcoming: 'Your righteousness must overcome that of the scribes and Pharisees'". Therefore, "to this people somewhat imprisoned in this cage without exit, Jesus shows the way out: it is always to go out, to overcome, to go up".

And in this direction, Francis explained, Jesus 'takes as a first example - he takes many, doesn't he? - the first commandment: love God and love your neighbour: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall not kill', one of the commandments of love of neighbour, 'but I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment. And whoever then says to his brother foolish shall be subjected to the sanhedrin, and whoever says to him insane shall be destined for the fire of Gehenna'".

In essence, Jesus states that "it is a sin not only to kill", but also to "insult and scold" one's brother. And "this is good to hear", the Pope added, precisely "in this time where we are so used to qualifiers and have such a creative vocabulary for insulting others". To offend, therefore, 'is also a sin, it is killing'. Because 'it is giving a slap in the face to the soul of the brother, to the dignity of the brother', to say phrases like: 'pay no attention, this one is a fool, this one is a fool', and 'many other swear words that we say, with much charity, to others'. This, the Pontiff reiterated, "is sin".

Francis noted that "Jesus resolves" the doubts "of this bewildered and imprisoned people by looking up: the law up. And he goes on to connect the conduct of the people with worship to God and says: 'If you go to the altar to give an offering and you have a problem with your brother, or your brother has a problem with you, go to your brother first, be reconciled'". And "this is going beyond the law and what it says is a justice superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees".

"How many times do we in the Church hear these things, how many times!" the Pope noted, recalling that it is not uncommon to hear phrases such as: "But that priest, that man, that woman from Catholic Action, that bishop, that Pope tell us "you must do this!", and he does the opposite". This is precisely "the scandal that wounds the people and does not let God's people grow, that goes forward. It does not free". Also "these people," he continued, "had seen the rigidity of these scribes and Pharisees", so much so that "when a prophet came who gave them some joy they persecuted him and even killed him: there was no place for prophets there".

That is why "Jesus says to the Pharisees: 'You have killed the prophets, you have persecuted the prophets: those who brought the new air'". Jesus, "as he said in the synagogue of Nazareth, came to bring us the year of grace, to bring us liberation, true liberation: that of Jesus". For Francis, 'generosity, holiness is going out but always, always up: going out up'. This 'is liberation from the rigidity of the law and also from idealisms that do us no good'.

"Jesus knows us so well," the Pope explained, "and he knows how we were made because he is the creator, he knows our nature. And here he suggests to us: "If you have a problem with a brother - he says the word 'adversary' - get your act together quickly". Thus the Lord "also teaches us a healthy realism: many times you cannot arrive at perfection, but at least do what you can, agree not to come to judgement". This is the 'healthy realism of the Catholic Church: the Catholic Church never teaches 'either this, or this'". Rather "the Church says: 'this and this'". In short, "be perfect: reconcile with your brother, do not insult him, love him, but if there is any problem at least come to an agreement, so that war does not break out". Here is the 'healthy realism of Catholicism'. Instead "it is not Catholic but it is heretical" to say "it is this or nothing".

"Jesus," Francis assured, "always knows how to walk with us, he gives us the ideal, he accompanies us towards the ideal, he frees us from this caging of the rigidity of the law and tells us: 'Do as much as you can do'. And he understands us well'. This is "this our Lord, this is what he teaches us", telling us: "Please, do not insult yourselves and do not be hypocrites: go and praise God with the same language with which you insult your brother, no, this is not done, but do what you can, at least avoid war among yourselves, come to an agreement". And, the Pope added, "I allow myself to tell you this word that seems a little strange, it is the small holiness of negotiation: I cannot do everything, but I want to do everything, but I agree with you, at least we do not insult each other, we do not make war and we all live in peace".

"Jesus is great," the Pontiff said in conclusion, "and he frees us from all our miseries, even from that idealism that is not Catholic. This is why "we ask the Lord to teach us, first of all, to come out of all rigidity, but to come up, so that we can worship and praise God; that he teach us to reconcile with one another; and also, that he teach us to agree with one another to the point that we can do."

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 10/06/2016]

(Mt 5:17-19)

In the face of the Law’s precepts, distant attitudes appear.

There are those who demonstrate attachment to the material sense of what has been established. Others, omission or contempt for the rules.

Jesus offered such a new and radical teaching as to give the impression of carelessness and rejection of the Law. But in fact, more than his differences with it, He was attentive to the profound meaning of the biblical-Jewish directives.

He did not intend to «demolish» (v.17) the Torah, but he certainly avoided allowing himself to be minimized in the cases of morality that parceled out the basic choices - and made them all exterior, without fulcrum.

The legalistic sclerotization easily tended to equate the codes... with God. But for the believer, his "obligation" is at the same time Event, Word, and Person: global following.

In the first communities some faithful believed that the norms of the First Testament should no longer be considered, as we are saved by Faith, not by works of Law.

Others accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but could not bear the excess of freedom with which some brothers of the church lived his Presence.

Still linked to an ideal ethnic background, they believed that ancient observance was mandatory.

There was no lack of brothers enraptured by an excess of fantasies in the Spirit. In fact, some denied the Hebrew Scriptures and considered themselves free from history: they no longer looked at the life of Jesus.

Mt seeks a balance between emancipation and closure.

He writes his Gospel to support converts to the Faith in Christ in the communities of Galilee and Syria, accused by the Judaizers of being unfaithful to the Torah.

The evangelist clarifies that Jesus himself had been accused of serious transgressions to the Law of Moses.

The trajectory of the Jewish Scriptures is the right one, but it does not have an unanimous and totally clear starting point, nor the strength in itself to reach Target.

The arrow of the Torah has been shot in the right direction, but only in the Spirit of the Beatitudes can a living assembly gain momentum to reach Communion.

The Gospel passage is concerned to emphasise: the ancient Scriptures, the historical story of Jesus, and life in the Spirit must be evaluated inseparable aspects of a single plan of salvation.

Lived in synergy, they lead to the conviviality of differences.

The God of the patriarchs makes himself present in the loving relationship of the communities, through faith in Christ, who expands his own life in their hearts.

The Living One conveys the Spirit that spurs all creativity, He overcomes unfriendly closures; He opens, and invites.

[In us, Jesus of Nazareth becomes a living Body - and the pleasure of doing manifests Him (from the soul) in Person and full Fidelity].

Handing oneself out to brothers and going to God thus becomes agile, spontaneous, rich and very personal for everyone: the Strength comes from within.

New or ancient Words, and Spirit renewing the face of the earth, are part of one Plan.

Only in the total fascination of the Risen One does our harvest come to complete life - the full objective of the Law - becoming ‘forever’.

[Wednesday 10th wk. in O.T.  June 10, 2026]

Not flawed Happiness

(Mt 5:17-19)

In the early communities, some believers felt that the rules of the First Testament should no longer be considered, since we are saved by faith and not by works of the Law.

Others accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but could not tolerate the excessive freedom with which some of their brothers in the Church lived his Presence in the Spirit. 

Still tied to an ideal ethnic background, they believed that ancient observances were binding.

Under the pretext of 'life in the Spirit', there were believers who were carried away by excessive fantasies (personal or group), which they considered 'inspired'.

Some, with an easy-going mentality, inclined to compromise with power, rejected the Hebrew Scriptures and considered themselves detached from history: they no longer looked at the story of Jesus.

Matthew seeks a balance between compromising emancipation and closure in observances, believing that the community experience could achieve harmony between different sensibilities.

He wrote his Gospel precisely to support converts to the Faith in Christ in the communities of Galilee and Syria, accused by their Judaizing brothers of being unfaithful to the Torah.

The evangelist makes it clear that Jesus himself had been accused of serious transgressions against the Law of Moses.

The arrow of the Torah was shot in the right direction, but only in the Spirit of the Beatitudes can a living assembly gain momentum to reach the ideal goal: Communion.

Matthew is concerned to emphasise that the ancient Scriptures, the historical events of Jesus, and life in the Spirit must be seen as inseparable aspects of a single plan of salvation.

Lived in synergy, they lead to fruitful coexistence and conviviality of differences.

The God of the patriarchs makes himself present in the loving relationship of the community, through faith in Christ, who expands his own life in our hearts.

The Living One transmits the Spirit that spurs all creativity, overcomes closed-mindedness, opens, and invites.

In short, in us, Jesus of Nazareth becomes a living Body, and the joy of doing so manifests itself (starting from the soul) in Person and in full Fidelity.

Reaching out to our brothers and sisters and going to God thus becomes easy, spontaneous, rich and very personal for everyone: strength comes from within, not from common ideas, legacies, seductions, mannerisms or external pressures.

To internalise and live the message:

Has the law written in stone remained rigid within you, or do you feel an impulse towards a new Covenant?

Do you sense within yourself an actualised and irresistible desire for good, which rediscovers everything in the Scriptures and energises the Word in the various tastes of doing?

Demolish or Accomplish

Faced with the precepts of the Law, different attitudes emerge.

On the one hand, there are those who show attachment to the material meaning of what has been established; on the other, there are those who omit or despise the norms.

Jesus offered a teaching so new and radical that it gave the impression of disregard and rejection of the Law. But in fact, rather than diverging from it, He was attentive to the spirit and profound meaning of the biblical-Jewish directives.

He did not intend to 'destroy' (v. 17) the Torah, but he certainly avoided even more being reduced to moral casuistry.

This obsession with ethics—still alive in the early communities—fragmented and eroded the meaning of fundamental choices, rendering them all superficial and without substance.

In this way, a legalistic sclerosis was produced, which easily tended to equate the codes... with God.

But for the believer, his 'obligation' is at once event, spirit of the Word, and Person: global following in those same incomparable appointments.

The faithful of the communities of Galilee and Syria were criticised by the old-fashioned Jews.

These observant Jews accused their fellow believers who had converted to the new personal, creative Faith of being transgressors and contrary to the depth of the common Tradition.

Thus, some emphasised salvation through faith alone in Christ and not through works of the law. Others did not accept the freedom that was growing precisely in those who were beginning to believe in Jesus the Messiah.

New, more radical currents already wanted to disregard his history and his Person, to get rid of him and take refuge in a generic 'avant-garde' or 'freedom of spirit' - without backbone, vicissitudes or connections.

Matthew helps us understand the conflict: the direction of the arrow shot from the Jewish Scriptures is the right one, but it does not have a clear starting point, nor the strength to reach its target.

The evangelist harmonises the tensions, emphasising that authentic observance is not formal fidelity [obedience to the 'letter'].

The fundamental spirit of fulfilment does not allow us to put the whole Christ and his trials and tribulations in brackets, perhaps remaining neutral or indifferent dreamers.

Without reductions by virtue of election, nor 'breaking down' (see17) the ancient and identified or particular ways of being - He is present in the most diverse currents of thought.

New words, ancient words, and the Spirit that renews the face of the earth are part of a single Plan.

Only in the total charm of the Risen One does our harvest come to full life - the full goal of the Law - becoming forever.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you evaluate the Pentateuch, the Psalms and the Prophets?

How do you deal with situations in harmony with the Voice of the Lord and in his Spirit?

Pure and impure: God's Law or Tradition

(Mt 15:1-2, 10-14)

The encyclical Fratelli Tutti invites us to take a forward-looking view that inspires decision and action: a new eye, filled with hope.

It "speaks to us of a reality that is rooted in the depths of the human being, regardless of the concrete circumstances and historical conditioning in which he lives. It speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for fulfilment, for a life lived to the full, for a measure of greatness, for that which fills the heart and lifts the spirit to great things, such as truth, goodness and beauty, justice and love. [...] Hope is bold, it knows how to look beyond personal comfort, the small securities and compensations that narrow the horizon, to open up to great ideals that make life more beautiful and dignified' (No. 55; from a Greeting to young people in Havana, September 2015).

The invisible Friend within us is the only Guide we should follow with prudence and determination.

He is the only Spiritual Master who understands what is different and does not harass it, because he does not use it (to promote himself or his own category).

The paradox of Law or Tradition belongs to v. 3 - initially understood, then excluded from the Liturgy: "Why do you also transgress the Commandment of God in the name of your Tradition?"

Habits normalise manners.

Over time, customs that are mechanically fulfilled cause us to lose the meaning of the Commandments from which they sprang.

And empty moral customs then ruin lives (vv. 4-9), annoy and exacerbate people's spirits.

The laws of purity discriminated against people and filled them with resentment.

Instead, exclusivity must not be introduced into the Eucharistic Banquet. Nor does one become part of the Community of the Lord on the basis of ambiguous selections.

The washing of hands up to the elbows was a customary practice, proclaiming the separation of the Judaizers from the pagan world: a sort of rite celebrating the separation between the (supposedly) pure and the impure.

The Eucharist, on the other hand, is accessed without arcane procedures or disciplines, or preventive X-rays.

Everyone is welcome, because it is the encounter with God that makes humanity of any cultural background alive and healthy.

For Jesus, access to the Father cannot be regulated: it depends on the person and their circumstances.

Therefore, communion with God is immediate and free, completely devoid of any prior conditions of perfection.

According to him, children can appear before the Father in any situation, at any time and in any manner: in a relationship of immediacy and freedom. 

Only the poor quality of our relationships with our neighbours can contaminate women and men, nothing else.

There are no other obligations or fears that can obsess us with imperfection, inadequacy or unworthiness.

On the contrary, people lived in a climate of obsession, overwhelmed by fears about details that did not interest God.

And in the effervescence of Semitic culture, there was no lack of a current more sensitive to the social and real needs of life [linked to the theology of the prophets and psalms] that gave rise to Jesus of Nazareth.

A growing number of believers no longer agreed with the legalistic teaching of the official leaders.

In addition, the expectation of the Messiah helped them to hope for a path of 'purity' linked to quality of life and concrete relationships.

Christ opens up a completely new way to bring ordinary people closer to greater balance, to an understanding and communion with the Father, animated by creative, spousal trust.

In the realm of faith, it is life that conquers death.

According to conventional religiosity, it is the seed of death that contaminates purity.

In this prison of misguided ideas, people lived with the fear of sin and transgressions (even involuntary ones) always clinging to them.

To free the oppressed masses from the moralistic and devout ideology that subjected them to daily torment in all aspects of life, Jesus was forced to overturn the 'inside-outside' hierarchy (v. 11).

Spiritual leaders instilled the idea that impurity came from outside and was so pervasive that it contaminated even holy people [even through a simple brush against them - let alone the masses destined to an ordinary existence of deprivation].

Jesus, on the other hand, makes us feel good.

He reverses the virtues at play, well aware of the power of Life, and takes the debate about pure and impure to another level: that of depth, behaviour and relationship.Even today, Faith gives us balance and complete trust in the providential tide of real Grace, which even in times of rebirth from crisis comes to reactivate us with its unexpected impulses - far from being merely religious or sterile.

It tirelessly opens new paths to help us realise ourselves and reach God. 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit emancipate us from corporate attitudes and from always being on the defensive; they restore our self-esteem and joy of living, and make us feel at home.

In short, Christ's teaching is Good News precisely because it is the exact opposite of established conventions.

His goal is to let us live intensely, with the perception that He is within us guiding the helm. And to do so more wisely, instead of ending up badly - as in the same old mass grave [v.14; where only a few artificial positions of leadership and plagiarism are saved - meaningless to us].

For transparent coexistence

Jesus and the mania for governing: the blind man and those who are blinded

[ref. Lk 6:39-45)]

'Leave them alone! They are blind guides. But if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit' (Mt 15:14).

'How much our human family needs to learn to live together in harmony and peace, without everyone having to be the same!' (Pope Francis FT n.100).

To live in a fraternal and wise way, it is not enough to be together in twos, threes, tens or more: we could be like so many blind people who do not know how to live with themselves.

In that case, our relationships become superficial and can become empty, filled only with judgement: critical, stubborn and pedantic.

Then resentment arises within us, because we are forced into a maniacal space that does not correspond to us.

The inevitable malaise begins to decline if and when those who coordinate the group or company live their closeness with extreme modesty, with a sense of their own boundaries.

The Way of the Spirit is in fact a vocational initiative-response to the need for authentic guidance.

Authentic shepherds help only when they question themselves before others, when they do not get caught up in an exercise of empty indoctrination and moralism that exacerbates and irritates people.

Thus, the inner Friend who infallibly leads souls wants to be reflected in 'teachers' - but only to the extent that they introduce us to ourselves and to the wisdom of Scripture (rather than indulging in their own megalomania).

Commenting on Tao xxix, Master Ho-shang Kung points out (of those who want to be lord of the world):

"He wants to rule creatures through action. In my opinion, he will not succeed, because the Way of Heaven and the hearts of men are clear.

The Way of Heaven [Perfection of Harmony] detests confusion [regarding one's own nature, spontaneously expressed] and impurity [artifice], the human heart detests too many desires'.

The ancient chosen people found themselves hard-hearted, lost and without a horizon, because they were misled by religious leaders who were fiscal and down-to-earth.

Their blinding and artificial blindness was the concrete ruin of the destiny and quality of life of the entire nation.

Jesus addresses the apostles so that his assemblies of naive, humble and disoriented people do not suffer the same fate - because of a lack of righteousness on the part of those responsible for the community.

The latter, intoxicated by self-satisfaction, sometimes, instead of humanising, promoting and brightening the lives of ordinary people, willingly suffocate them with minutiae and lead them astray with trivialities.

The Lord absolutely does not want the leaders of his fraternities to allow themselves the luxury of becoming superior to others and masters of the truth. The truth of the Gospel is not something one has, but something one does.

The Master is not one who gives lessons: he accompanies his disciples and lives with them; he does not limit himself to manners.

He does not teach various subjects, etiquette, mannerisms, good manners: rather, he transmits the living and global Person of Christ - even without etiquette - without depersonalising the disciple.

In short, the Risen One is not just an example to imitate, a model that requires commitments and minutiae, a founder of an institution, of a specific ideology, or of a religion (grammar, doctrine, style and discipline).

In Jesus, we are called to identify with him - not 'by ear' or by copying. Faith itself is a multifaceted relationship.

It pushes us to reinterpret Christ in a new way; each of us in relation to our life story, new situations, events, cultural emergencies, sensibilities, and the spirit of the times.

It is the direct and personal experience of the Father as advocated by the Son. It is a conquest that overturns childish, worldly or customary measures.

It is a source and appropriation that allows us to boldly see ourselves as already redeemed, to pass from darkness to light without conditions or hammering trials.

The Lord's light is the fruit of unprecedented action and the strength of the Spirit.It is intuition of signs and Virtue that overcomes the disorientation of all those who are led astray, whether they are prisoners of opinions, pettiness, solitary selfishness or otherwise.

Unexpected energy that nevertheless comes into play thanks to the difficult situations to which it feels compelled to react; and it becomes regenerating power, unexpected life (for those already saved here and now).

Christ asks for an inventive attitude even in reaching out to one's brother - without preconceived, suffocating, morbid or cerebral patterns and codicils; without perhaps, only to welcome. 

This openness is almost impossible if community ministers remain distracted or are already biased, and therefore unnecessarily rigid towards others.

In this way, they would remain pedantic, more impatient than the pagan God they still have in their bodies and minds.

All of us, freely healed, have been called by name in a special way to guide our brothers and sisters towards fundamental choices. As expert guides of the soul and of the intensity of relationships.

Not commanders and rulers with no possibility of replacement: but bread, support, nourishment, a shining sign of the Lord, a spur in favour of the lives of others.

Church leaders must be very special points of reference and cornerstones of creative, regenerating communion, from which the persistence and tolerance of a higher force of reciprocity shines through.

The eyes of the faithful in Christ remain clear and bright because they find brilliant friends who introduce them to confront and reflect not on external models (induced by opinions or intentions), but on the Word.

Conditioned by the bombardment of the 'external society' or by trivial partisan interests, spiritual leaders themselves can lose their creative discernment.

Thus, he clings to the old man, bound to vain hopes; many little and insignificant nothings - and finally becomes "blind" again.

Unfortunately, the kingdom of darkness includes not only the short-sighted, the long-sighted and the astigmatic, but above all those who see 'far' (as they say) but not the people before their eyes.

Faster and more organised than others, they take control of the situation.

For a long time, things seem pleasant in their company, but having no deep roots, it is precisely these people who ultimately ruin the fate of the weak.

They organise events or festivals instead of revitalising from within and singing the authentic song of a full life, joyful for all.

Beyond short-sightedness, attention should also be paid to 'moderation': we are not called to become good-natured, impeccable gentlemen, nor slightly more prudent and 'practical' defeatists.

All these are old failures that do not face the present and do not open up the future.

We have received the gift of the mission to build the world in the Risen One, who radiates strength and divine spark: radically new heavens and earth, even in our search.

Let us not dwell on the "specks".

In short, through grace, guidance, propulsive orientation and action, the genuine Action of vital Providence distances us from the domination of ancient superstructures ["beams" in the eye].

With such personal baggage, we can also become companions of a humanity that is no longer alienated, but enabled to breathe beyond the usual fervour... which incites trivialities.

Despite our faults, guided and blessed by the great Master and his Word in the Spirit, it will be our desire for a full and complete life that will not allow us to lose sight of our sacred Uniqueness in the world.

When the Lord Jesus was teaching the crowds, he did not fail to confirm the law which the Creator had inscribed on men’s hearts and had then formulated on the tablets of the Decalogue.  “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets;  I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.  For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Mt 5:17-18).  But Jesus showed us with a new clarity the unifying centre of the divine laws revealed on Sinai, namely love of God and love of neighbour:  “To love [God] with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mk 12:33).  Indeed, in his life and in his Paschal Mystery Jesus brought the entire law to completion.  Uniting himself with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, he carries with us and in us the “yoke” of the law, which thereby becomes a “light burden” (Mt 11:30).  In this spirit, Jesus formulated his list of the inner qualities of those who seek to live their faith deeply:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who weep, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake ... (cf. Mt 5:3-12).

[Pope Benedict, homily Warsaw 26 May 2006]