While Jesus was at table in the house of Levi, the publican, the Pharisees and John the Baptist's disciples asked why Jesus' disciples were not fasting as they were. Jesus answered that wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them and that they will fast when the bridegroom is taken away from them (cf. Mk 2: 18, 20).

With these words, Christ reveals his identity of Messiah, Israel's bridegroom, who came for the betrothal with his people. Those who recognize and welcome him are celebrating. However, he will have to be rejected and killed precisely by his own; at that moment, during his Passion and death, the hour of mourning and fasting will come.

As I mentioned, the Gospel episode anticipates the meaning of Lent. As a whole, it constitutes a great memorial of the Lord's Passion in preparation for his Paschal Resurrection. During this season, we abstain from singing the "Alleluia" and we are asked to make appropriate penitential sacrifices.
The season of Lent should not be faced with an "old" spirit, as if it were a heavy and tedious obligation, but with the new spirit of those who have found the meaning of life in Jesus and in his Paschal Mystery and realize that henceforth everything must refer to him.

This was the attitude of the Apostle Paul who affirmed that he had left everything behind in order to know Christ and "the power of his resurrection, and [to] share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible [he might] attain the resurrection from the dead" (Phil 3: 10-11).

May our guide and teacher in our Lenten journey be Mary Most Holy, who followed Jesus with total faith when he set out with determination for Jerusalem, to suffer the Passion. She received like a "fresh skin" the "new wine" brought by the Son for the messianic betrothal (cf. Mk 2: 22). And so it was that the grace she requested with a motherly instinct for the spouses at Cana, she herself had first received beneath the Cross, poured out from the pierced Heart of the Son, an incarnation of God's love for humanity (cf. Deus Caritas Est, nn. 13-15).

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 26 February 2006]

1. "Sanctify a fast!" (Joel 1:14). They are the words that we listened to in the first reading on Ash Wednesday. They were written by the Prophet Joel, and the Church establishes the practice of Lent in conformity with them, ordering fasting. Today the practice of Lent, defined by Paul VI in the Constitution "Poenitemini ", is considerably reduced as compared with practices of the past. In this matter the Pope left a great deal to the decision of the Episcopal Conferences of the individual countries. They, therefore, have the task of adapting the requirements of fasting according to the circumstances that prevail in their respective societies. He also recalled that the essence of Lenten repentance consists not only of fasting, but also of prayer and almsdeeds (works of mercy). So it is necessary to decide according to circumstances, since fasting itself can be "replaced" by works of mercy and prayer. The aim of this particular period in the life of the Church is always and everywhere repentance, that is, conversion to God. Repentance, in fact, understood as conversion, that is "metanoia", forms a whole, which the tradition of the People of God already in the old Covenant and then Christ himself linked, in a certain way, with prayer, almsdeeds and fasting.

Why fasting?

At this moment there perhaps come into our minds the words with which Jesus answered the disciples of John the Baptist when they asked him: "Why do your disciples not fast?" Jesus answered: "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Mt 9:15). In fact the time of Lent reminds us that the bridegroom has been taken away from us. Taken away, arrested, imprisoned, slapped, scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified... Fasting in the time of Lent is the expression of our solidarity with Christ. Such was the meaning of Lent throughout the centuries and such it remains today.

"My love has been crucified and there is no longer in me the flame that desires material things", as the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius, writes in the letter to the Romans (Ign. Antioch,. Ad Romanos VII, 2).

2. Why fasting?

It is necessary to give this question a wider and deeper answer, in order to clarify the relationship between fasting and "metanoia", that is, that spiritual change which brings man closer to God. We will try therefore to concentrate not only on the practice of abstention from food or from drink

— that, in fact, is the meaning of "fasting" in the common sense — but on the deeper meaning of this practice which, moreover, can and must sometimes be "replaced" by another one. Food and drink are indispensable for man to live, he uses them and must use them, but he may not abuse them in any way. The traditional abstention from food and drink has as its purpose to introduce into man's existence not only the necessary balance, but also detachment from what might be defined a "consumer attitude". In our times this attitude has become one of the characteristics of civilization and in particular of Western civilization. The consumer attitude!

Man geared to material goods, multiple material goods, very often abuses them. It is not a question here lust of food and drink. When man is geared exclusively to possession and use of material goods

— that is, of things — then also the whole civilization is measured according to the quantity and the quality of the things with which it is in a position to supply man, and is not measured with the yardstick suitable for man. This civilization, in fact, supplies material goods not just in order that they may serve man to carry out creative and useful activities, but more and more... to satisfy the senses, the excitement he derives from them, momentary pleasure, an ever greater multiplicity of sensations.

We sometimes hear it said that the excessive increase of audiovisual media in the rich countries is not always useful for the development of intelligence, particularly in children; on the contrary, it sometimes contributes to checking its development. The child lives only on sensations, he looks for ever-new sensations... And thus he becomes, without realizing it, a slave of this modern passion. Satiating himself with sensations, he often remains passive intellectually; the intellect does not open to search of truth; the will remains bound by habit which it is unable to oppose.

It is seen from this that modern man must fast, that is, abstain not only from food or drink, but from many other means of consumption, stimulation, satisfaction of the senses. To fast means to abstain, to renounce something.

3. Why renounce something? Why deprive oneself of it? We have already partly answered this question. However the answer will not be complete, if we do not realize that man is himself also because he succeeds in depriving himself of something, because he is capable of saying "no" to himself. Man is a being composed of body and soul. Some modern writers present this composite structure of man in the form of layers, and they speak, for example, of exterior layers on the surface of our personality, contrasting them with the layers in depth. Our life seems to be divided into such layers and takes place through them. While the superficial layers are bound up with our sensuality, the deep layers are an expression, on the contrary, of man's spirituality, that is, of conscious will, reflection, conscience, the capacity of living superior values.

This image of the structure of the human personality can serve to understand the meaning of fasting for man. It is not a question here only of the religious meaning, but of a meaning that is expressed through the so-called "organization" of man as a subject-person. Man develops regularly when the deeper layers of his personality find sufficient expression, when the sphere of his interests and aspirations is not limited just to the exterior and superficial layers, connected with human sensuality. To facilitate such a development, we must sometimes deliberately detach ourselves from what serves to satisfy sensuality, that is, from those exterior, superficial layers. Therefore we must renounce every thing that "nourishes" them.

This, in short, is the interpretation of fasting nowadays.

Renunciation of sensations, stimuli, pleasures and even food or drink, is not an end in itself. It must only, so to speak, prepare the way for deeper contents by which the interior man "is nourished". This renunciation, this mortification must serve to create in man the conditions to be able to live the superior values, for which he, in his own way, hungers.

This is the "full" meaning of fasting in the language of today. However, when we read the Christian authors of antiquity or the Fathers of the Church, we find in them the same truth, often expressed in a surprisingly "modern" language. St Peter Chrysologus, for example, says.. "Fasting is peace of the body, strength of minds, vigour of souls" (Sermo VII: de jejunio 3); and again: "Fasting is the helm of human life and governs the whole ship of our body." (Sermo VII: de jejunio 1.)

And St Ambrose replies as follows to possible objections to fasting: "The flesh, because of its mortal condition, has some specific lusts: With regard to them you are granted the right to curb them. Your flesh is under you...: do not follow the promptings of the flesh to unlawful things, but curb them somewhat even as regards lawful ones. In fact he who does not abstain from any of the lawful things, is also very close to unlawful things." (Sermo de utilitate jejunii III.V.VII). Also writers not belonging to Christianity declare the same truth. This truth is of universal significance. It is part of the universal wisdom of life.

4. It is now certainly easier for us to understand why Christ the Lord and the Church unite the call to fasting with repentance, that is, with conversion. To be converted to God, it is necessary to discover in ourselves that which makes us sensitive to what belongs to God; therefore, the spiritual contents, the superior values which speak to our intellect, to our conscience, to our "heart" (according to biblical language). To open up to these spiritual contents, to these values, it is necessary to detach oneself from what serves only the consumer spirit, satisfaction of the senses. In the opening of our human personality to God, fasting

— understood both in the "traditional" way and in the "modern" way — must go hand in hand with prayer because it is addressed directly to him.

Furthermore, fasting, that is, the mortification of the senses, mastery of the  body, confer on prayer a greater efficacy, which man discovers in himself. He discovers, in fact, that he is "different", that he is more "master of himself", that he has become interiorly free. And he realizes this in as much as conversion and the meeting with God, through prayer, bear fruit in him.

It is clear from these our reflections today that fasting is not only a "vestige" of a religious practice of past centuries, but that it is also indispensable for the man of today, for Christians of our time.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 21 March 1979]

The "ghost of hypocrisy" makes us forget how to caress a sick person, a child or an elderly person. And it does not make us look into the eyes of the person to whom we hastily give alms, immediately withdrawing our hand so as not to soil ourselves. It is a warning to "never be ashamed" of "our brother's flesh" that Pope Francis addressed during the mass celebrated on the morning of 7 March in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.

On the Friday after Ash Wednesday, the Church, the Pontiff explained, proposes a meditation on the true meaning of fasting. And it does so through two incisive readings, taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah (58:1-9a) and the Gospel of Matthew (9:14-15). "Behind today's readings," said the Pontiff, "there is the ghost of hypocrisy, of formality in fulfilling the commandments, in this case fasting". So "Jesus returns to the theme of hypocrisy many times when he sees that the doctors of the law think they are perfect: they fulfil everything in the commandments as if it were a formality".

And here, the Pope warned, there is "a problem of memory", which concerns "this double face in going on the road of life". The hypocrites in fact 'have forgotten that they were elected by God in a people, not by themselves. They have forgotten the history of their people, that history of salvation, of election, of covenant, of promise' that comes directly from the Lord.

And in so doing, he continued, 'they have reduced this history to an ethic. Religious life for them was an ethic'. Thus "it is explained that at the time of Jesus, theologians say, there were three hundred commandments more or less" to be observed. But 'receiving from the Lord the love of a father, receiving from the Lord the identity of a people and then turning it into an ethic' means 'rejecting that gift of love'. After all, he pointed out, hypocrites 'are good people, they do whatever has to be done, they look good'. But "they are ethicists, ethicists without goodness, because they have lost their sense of belonging to a people".

"Salvation," the Pontiff explained, "the Lord gives it within a people, in belonging to a people". And "this is how one understands how the prophet Isaiah speaks to us today about fasting, about penance: what is the fast that the Lord wants? The fast that has a relationship with the people, the people to which we belong: our people, in which we are called, in which we are inserted".

Pope Francis reread, in particular, this passage from the book of Isaiah: "Is not this rather the fasting that I want: to loosen iniquitous chains, to remove the bonds of the yoke, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to break every yoke? Is it not to divide bread with the hungry, to bring in the wretched, the homeless, to clothe one whom you see naked, and not to neglect your kinsmen?"

Here, then, is the meaning of true "fasting that," reiterated the Bishop of Rome, "is concerned with the life of one's brother, that is not ashamed of the flesh of one's brother, as Isaiah himself says". In fact, 'our perfection, our holiness goes on with our people, in whom we are elected and inserted'. And 'our greatest act of holiness is precisely in the flesh of our brother and in the flesh of Jesus Christ'.

Thus, he emphasised, even 'today's act of holiness - we here at the altar - is not hypocritical fasting. It is not being ashamed of the flesh of Christ that comes here today: it is the mystery of the body and blood of Christ. It is going to share bread with the hungry, to care for the sick, the elderly, those who cannot give us anything in return: that is not being ashamed of the flesh".

"God's salvation," the Pontiff reiterated, "is in a people. A people that goes forward, a people of brothers who are not ashamed of one another'. But this, he warned, 'is the most difficult fast: the fast of goodness. Goodness leads us to this'. And 'perhaps,' he explained, quoting the Gospel, 'the priest who passed by that wounded man thought' referring to the commandments of the time: 'But if I touch that blood, that wounded flesh, I remain unclean and cannot keep the Sabbath! And he was ashamed of that man's flesh. This is hypocrisy!" Instead, the Holy Father noted, 'that sinner passed by and saw him: he saw the flesh of his brother, the flesh of a man of his people, a son of God like himself. And he was not ashamed'.

"The proposal of the Church today" therefore suggests a real examination of conscience through a series of questions that the Pope posed to those present: "Am I ashamed of the flesh of my brother, of my sister? When I give alms, do I drop the coin without touching the hand? And if by chance I touch it, do I do so immediately?" he asked, mimicking the gesture of someone wiping his hand. And again: 'When I give alms, do I look into the eyes of my brother, my sister? When I know that someone is ill, do I go to see them? Do I greet them with tenderness?"

To complete this examination of conscience, the Pope pointed out, "there is a sign that will perhaps help us". It is "a question: do I know how to caress the sick, the elderly, the children? Or have I lost the sense of caressing?" The hypocrites, he continued, no longer know how to caress, they have forgotten how. Here then is the recommendation to 'not be ashamed of our brother's flesh: it is our flesh'. And "we will be judged", the Pontiff concluded, precisely on our behaviour towards "this brother, this sister" and certainly not "on hypocritical fasting".

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 08/03/2014]

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

(Mt 9:9-13)

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

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

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

Prohibition must be replaced by friendship.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In his Church there is a strong sign of discontinuity.

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

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

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

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

To internalize and live the message:

What is your spiritual strength? How did it generate?

[Friday 13th wk. in O.T.  July 4, 2025]

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

(Mt 9:9-13)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Father is Friendly Presence.

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

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

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

For this reason, the figure of the new Rabbi touched the hearts of the people, without boundaries.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thus allowing the soul forced into anguish to breathe.

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

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

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

How marvellous, such a monstrance!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To internalise and live the message:

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

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

At the centre of the liturgy of the Word for this Sunday there is a saying of the Prophet Hosea to which Jesus refers in the Gospel: "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings" (Hos 6: 6). It is a key word, one of those that bring us into the heart of Sacred Scripture. The context in which Jesus makes it his own is the calling of Matthew, a "publican" by profession, in other words a tax collector for the Roman imperial authority: for this reason the Jews considered him a public sinner. Having called Matthew precisely when he was sitting at his tax counter - this scene is vividly depicted in a very famous painting by Caravaggio -, Jesus took his disciples to Matthew's home and sat at the table together with other publicans. To the scandalized Pharisees he answered: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.... For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mt 9: 12-13). Here, the Evangelist Matthew, ever attentive to the link between the Old and New Testaments, puts Hosea's prophecy on Jesus' lips: "Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice'".

These words of the Prophet are so important that the Lord cited them again in another context, with regard to the observance of the Sabbath (cf. Mt 12: 1-8). In this case too he assumed responsibility for the interpretation of the precept, showing himself to be "Lord" of even the legal institutions. Addressing the Pharisees he added: "If you had known what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice', you would not have condemned the guiltless" (Mt 12: 7). Thus in Hosea's oracle Jesus, the Word made man, fully "found himself", as it were; he wholeheartedly made these words his own and put them into practice with his behaviour, even at the cost of upsetting his People's leaders. God's words have come down to us, through the Gospels, as a synthesis of the entire Christian message: true religion consists in love of God and neighbour. This is what gives value to worship and to the practice of the precepts.

Addressing the Virgin Mary, let us now ask for her intercession in order to live in the joy of the Christian experience always. Mother of Mercy, Our Lady, awaken within us sentiments of filial abandonment to God who is infinite mercy; help us to make our own the prayer that St Augustine expresses in a well known passage of his Confessions: "Lord, have pity on me.... I hide not my wounds; you are the physician, I the sick; you merciful, I miserable.... and all my hope is no where but in your exceeding great mercy" (X, 28, 39; 29, 40).

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 8 June 2008]

Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ's power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows "what is in man". He alone knows it.

So often today man does not know what is within him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt which turns into despair. We ask you therefore, we beg you with humility and trust, let Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, yes, of eternal life.

[Pope John Paul II, homily at the beginning of his pontificate 22 October 1978].

Prayer for vocations

Jesus, Son of God, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity,

Thou callest all the baptised "to put out into the deep", treading the path of holiness.

Stir in the hearts of young people the desire to be in today's world

witnesses of the power of your love.

Fill them with your Spirit of fortitude and prudence to lead them into the depths of the human mystery so that they may be able to discover the full truth of themselves and their vocation.

Our Saviour, sent by the Father to reveal his merciful love, give your Church the gift of young people who are ready

to be among their brothers and sisters the manifestation of your presence that renews and saves.

[John Paul II]

With his mercy Jesus also chooses apostles 'from the worst', from among sinners and the corrupt. But it is up to them to preserve "the memory of this mercy", remembering "from where one has been chosen", without getting head over heels or thinking of making a career as officials, pastoral planners and businessmen. It is the concrete testimony of Matthew's conversion that Pope Francis re-proposed while celebrating Mass at Santa Marta on Friday 21 September, on the feast day of the apostle and evangelist.

"In the Collect Prayer we prayed to the Lord and said that in his plan of mercy he chose Matthew, the publican, to constitute him an apostle," the Pontiff immediately recalled, who indicated as the key to reading "three words: plan of mercy, choose-choose, constitute".

"As he was leaving," Francis explained, referring precisely to the Gospel passage from Matthew (9:9-13), "Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me. And he got up and followed him. He was a publican, that is, a corrupt man, because for money he betrayed his country. A traitor to his people: the worst".

In reality, the Pope pointed out, some might object that 'Jesus has no common sense in choosing people': 'why did he choose out of so many others' this person 'from the worst, from nothing, from the most despised place'? Moreover, the Pontiff explained, in the same way the Lord "chose the Samaritan woman to go and announce that he was the messiah: a woman rejected by the people because she was not really a saint; and he chose many other sinners and made them apostles". And then, he added, 'in the life of the Church, so many Christians, so many saints who were chosen from the lowest'.

Francis recalled that 'this consciousness that we Christians should have - from where I was chosen, from where I was chosen to be a Christian - must remain throughout life, remain there and have the memory of our sins, the memory that the Lord had mercy on my sins and chose me to be a Christian, to be an apostle'.

So 'the Lord chooses'. The Collect prayer is clear: 'Lord, you chose the publican Matthew and made him an apostle': that is, he insisted, 'from the worst to the highest place'. In response to this call, the Pope noted, 'what did Matthew do? Did he dress up? Did he start saying 'I am the prince of the apostles, with you', with the apostles? Am I in charge here? No! He worked all his life for the Gospel, how patiently he wrote the Gospel in Aramaic'. Matthew, the Pontiff explained, 'always had in mind where he was chosen from: from the lowest'.

The fact is, the Pope reiterated, that "when the apostle forgets his origins and begins to make a career, he distances himself from the Lord and becomes an official; who does a lot of good, perhaps, but is not an apostle". And so "he will be incapable of transmitting Jesus; he will be a fixer of pastoral plans, of many things; but in the end, a businessman, a businessman of the kingdom of God, because he has forgotten from where he was chosen".

For this reason, Francis said, it is important to have 'the memory, always, of our origins, of the place where the Lord has looked at me; that fascination of the Lord's gaze that called me to be a Christian, to be an apostle. This memory must accompany the life of the apostle and of every Christian".

"In fact, we are always used to looking at the sins of others: look at this, look at that, look at that other," the Pope continued. Instead, "Jesus told us: 'please do not look at the mote in other people's eyes; look at what you have in your heart'". But, the Pontiff insisted, "it is more fun to speak ill of others: it is a beautiful thing, it seems". So much so that "to speak ill of others" seems a bit "like honey candy, which is very good: you take one, it's good; you take two, it's good; three... you take half a kilo and your stomach hurts and you're sick".

Instead, Francis suggested, 'speak ill of yourself, accuse yourself, remembering your sins, remembering where the Lord has chosen you from. You were chosen, you were chosen. He took you by the hand and brought you here. When the Lord chose you, he did not do things by halves: he chose you for something great, always'.

'Being a Christian,' he said, 'is a great, beautiful thing. We are the ones who stray and want to stay in the middle, because that is very difficult; and to negotiate with the Lord' saying: 'Lord, no, only up to here'. But "the Lord is patient, the Lord can tolerate things: he is patient, he waits for us. But we lack generosity: he does not. He always takes you from the lowest to the highest. So he did with Matthew and he did with all of us and will continue to do".Referring to the apostle, the Pontiff explained how he had "felt something strong, so strong, to the point of leaving the love of his life on the table: money". Matthew "left the corruption of his heart to follow Jesus. Jesus' gaze, strong: "Follow me!". And he left", despite being "so attached" to money. "And surely - there was no telephone at that time - he must have sent someone to say to his friends, to those of the clique, of the group of publicans: 'come and have lunch with me, for I will make feast for the master'".

So, as the Gospel passage tells us, 'they were all at table, these: the worst of the worst in the society of that time. And Jesus with them. Jesus did not go to lunch with the righteous, with those who felt righteous, with the doctors of the law, at that time. Once, twice he also went with the latter, but at that moment he went with them, with that syndicate of publicans'.

And, Francis continued, 'the doctors of the law were scandalised. They called the disciples and said, 'how is it that your master does this, with these people? He becomes impure!": eating with an impure person infects you, you are no longer pure". Hearing this, it is Jesus himself who "says this third word: 'Go and learn what it means: 'mercy I want and not sacrifices'". For "God's mercy seeks all, forgives all. Only, he asks you to say: 'Yes, help me'. Only that".

"When the apostles went among sinners, think of Paul, in the community of Corinth, some were scandalised," the Pope explained. They said, "But why do you go to those people who are pagan people, they are sinful people, why do you go there?" Jesus' answer is clear: "Because it is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick: 'Mercy I want and not sacrifices'".

"Matthew chose! He always chooses Jesus," the Pontiff relaunched. The Lord chooses "through people, through situations or directly". Matthew is "constituted apostle: he who constitutes in the Church and gives the mission is Jesus. The Apostle Matthew and many others recalled their origins: sinners, corrupt. Why? Because of mercy. For the design of mercy".

Francis recognised that 'understanding the Lord's mercy is a mystery; but the greatest, most beautiful mystery is the heart of God. If you want to get right to the heart of God, take the path of mercy and allow yourself to be treated with mercy'. This is exactly the story of "Matthew, chosen from the money-changer's desk where taxes were paid. Chosen from below. Established in the highest place. Why? For mercy'. In this perspective, the Pope concluded, "we learn what 'mercy I want, and not sacrifice' means".

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 22/09/2018]

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles [29 June 2025]

May God bless us and the Virgin protect us. A special remembrance on this Sunday for Pope Leo XIV and his difficult ministry in this time of grave human and spiritual crisis in the world.

*First reading from the Acts of the Apostles (12:1–11)

Jesus was probably executed in April 30. At first, his disciples were very few and did not cause any trouble, but the situation became complicated when they began to perform healings and miracles. Peter was imprisoned twice by the religious authorities: the first time with John, which ended with an appearance before the court and threats; the second time with other apostles whom Luke does not name, who were miraculously freed by an angel (Acts 5:17-20). The religious authorities then had Stephen killed and unleashed a real persecution that drove the most threatened Christians, called 'Hellenists', to leave Jerusalem for Samaria and the Mediterranean coast. James, Peter, John and the rest of the Twelve remained in Jerusalem. In today's episode, the political powers imprison Peter under Herod Agrippa, who reigned from 41 to 44 AD. The nephew of Herod the Great, who reigned at the time of Jesus' birth, Herod Agrippa was careful not to displease either the Roman authorities or the Jews, so much so that it was said that he was Roman in Caesarea and Jewish in Jerusalem. However, in trying to please both sides, he could only be an enemy of the Christians, and it was in this context that, in order to ingratiate himself with the Jews, he had James (son of Zebedee) executed and Peter imprisoned. Peter miraculously escaped again, but what interests Luke much more than Peter's personal fate is the mission of evangelisation: if angels come to free the apostles, it is because the world needs them and God will not allow any power to hinder the proclamation of the Gospel. A historical note: The Jews, reduced to slavery and threatened with outright genocide, were miraculously freed several times and over the centuries proclaimed to the world that this liberation was always the work of God. Unfortunately, in a mysterious reversal, it can happen that those who are charged with proclaiming and accomplishing God's work of liberation end up becoming accomplices to a new form of domination, as happened to Jesus, victim of the perversion of the religious power of his time.  Luke, in his account of Jesus' death and resurrection, highlighted this paradox: it was in the context of the Jewish Passover, the memorial of the liberating God, that the Son of God was put to death by the defenders of God. However, the love and forgiveness of the 'meek and humble' God had the last word: Jesus rose from the dead. And now, in turn, the young Church finds itself facing persecution by religious and political powers, just like Jesus, and once again, this takes place in the context of the Jewish Passover, in Jerusalem. Peter was arrested during the week of Easter, which begins with the Passover meal and continues with the week of Unleavened Bread. The words the angel says to Peter resemble the orders given to the people on the night of the exodus from Egypt (Ex 12:11): "Get up quickly! Put on your belt and your sandals." Luke makes it clear that God is continuing his work of liberation, and the entire account of this miracle is written in the style and with the vocabulary of Christ's passion and resurrection. The scenarios are similar: it is night, there is a prison, there are soldiers, Peter is asleep unlike Jesus, but for both of them the light of God acting rises in the night. In the darkness of trial, Christ's promise to Peter does not fail, because the forces of death and evil will not prevail. The Church, in the throes of history, often repeats Peter's profession of faith: "Now I know that the Lord has sent an angel and rescued me from Herod's hand" (v. 11).

*Responsorial Psalm (33/34, 2-9)

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." We sing this psalm after hearing the story of Peter's liberation, knowing that the whole young Church was praying for him. "This poor man cries, and the Lord hears him": faith is crying out to God and knowing that he hears us, as he heard the cry of the community, and Peter was freed. However, Jesus did not escape death on the cross, and Peter, once again a prisoner in Rome, would also be killed. It is often said that everything will be resolved through prayer, but this is not the case, because even those who pray and make novenas and pilgrimages do not always obtain the grace they ask for. So does God sometimes not listen, or when we are not answered as we would like, is it because we have prayed badly or not enough? The answer lies in three points: 1. Yes, God always hears our cry; 2. He responds by giving us his Spirit; 3. He raises up brothers and sisters beside us. 1. God always hears our cry. In the episode of the burning bush (Ex 3), we read: 'God said to Moses, "Yes, I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry under the blows of their overseers. Yes, I know their sufferings." The true believer knows that the Lord is close to us in suffering because he is "on our side," as we read here in Psalm 33/34: I sought the Lord, and he answered me... he delivered me... he hears... he saves... his angel encamps around those who fear him, and he is a refuge. 2. God answers us by giving us his Spirit, as we understand when we listen to what Jesus says in Luke's Gospel: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. God does not magically make all our worries disappear, but he fills us with his Spirit, and prayer opens us to the action of the Spirit who gives us the strength to change the situation and overcome the trial. We are no longer alone: we read in the responsorial psalm that 'This poor man cries, and the Lord hears him; he saves him from all his troubles... I sought the Lord, he answered me and delivered me from all my fears' (vv. 6-7). Believing that the Lord hears us dispels fear and makes anguish vanish. 3. God raises up brothers and sisters beside us. When, in the episode of the burning bush, God says that he has seen the misery of the people in Egypt and heard their cry, he inspires Moses to free the people: "Now, since the cry of the Israelites has come to me... go, I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring my people out of Egypt" (Ex 3:9-10). How many times in the experience of suffering has God raised up the prophets and leaders that the people needed to take their destiny into their own hands. Ultimately, the responsorial psalm expresses the historical experience of Israel, where faith appears as a twofold cry: man cries out his anguish like Job, and God always listens and frees him. Man then prays in thanksgiving like Israel, who, despite a thousand vicissitudes, never lost hope, singing: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be in my mouth. My glory and my praise is the Lord; let the poor hear and be glad" (vv. 2-3).

*Second reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (4:6-8, 17-18)

It is thought that the two letters to Timothy were perhaps written a few years later by a disciple of Paul, but everyone agrees that the text we read today is his; indeed, it represents his testament and his last farewell to Timothy. Imprisoned in Rome, Paul is aware that he will be executed and that the moment of his great departure has come, certain that he must appear before God. He therefore looks back on his past, from when Christ seized him like a sword on the road to Damascus, and takes stock of his life using four flashbacks that clearly outline the itinerary of his mission. 1. The first image is linked to worship: "I am already being poured out as a drink offering" (v. 6), alluding to an ancient cult practice called libation, which consisted of pouring a liquid (wine, oil, water, milk or honey) as a sacred offering, symbolising the total gift of life to the deity. Paul uses this image to say that his existence is a total sacrifice to Christ. 2. The second image is linked to navigation: "the time has come for me to leave this life" (v. 6). Paul knows that his journey is almost over after storms and problems of all kinds. He chose the Greek word 'analusis' (dissolution, liberation), used in nautical and military contexts to indicate the loosening of the ropes that hold a ship anchored so that it can set sail for the open sea, and in military contexts to indicate the dismantling of tents in a camp when soldiers leave for a new mission. Paul means that his life is about to be freed from earthly ties to set sail for his homeland, the house of the Father. 3. The third image is linked to the struggle, not violent but internal and spiritual, to evangelise: 'I have fought the good fight' (v. 7). His life is marked by struggles, persecutions, bitter confrontations and betrayals, yet, as he writes later, he has always been delivered "from the lion's mouth" (v. 17). 4. The fourth image is connected to sport: "I have finished the race" (v. 7). The race run in ancient stadiums is a symbol of the Christian who never abandons the missionary path and, at the end, if he keeps the faith, receives the "crown" that the Lord reserves for the true disciples of Christ. This race is not a competition between athletes because each one advances at his own pace towards Christ and "his manifestation". And so, like Jesus and Stephen, at the moment of his execution, Paul forgives those who abandoned him, certain of the Lord's power to deliver him from all evil. And the real danger from which God preserved him is that of renouncing his mission until death. However, this is not a reason for boasting, because he knows that God saved him, and for this reason he sings the song of glory as he is born into true life: 'To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.'

*From the Gospel according to Matthew (16:13-19)

This episode marks a turning point in the life of Jesus and Peter because as soon as Simon proclaims who Jesus is, he receives from him the mission for the Church. Christ builds his Church on a man whose only virtue is that of having proclaimed what the Father revealed to him: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v. 16). This means that the only true pillar of the Church is his faith in Christ, who immediately responds: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church" (v. 18). This famous "Petrine" text is built on three symbols: The first is the "rock" that is linked to the Aramaic name Kefa: "You are Peter". In Greek: "Σὺ εἶ Πέτρος (Petros)" means "you are Peter" or "Rock". Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter, giving him a new mission and identity. In the Semitic context, changing a name indicates a change in a person's destiny and reality. Simon thus becomes the rock on which Christ lays the foundation of the Church, which remains his and of which he is forever the irreplaceable "cornerstone." In ancient times, stone was a symbol of stability and security, so building on stone means building on a firm and immovable foundation, and on Peter the Lord begins to give visible form to his community. He promises that his Church, founded on this rock—faith and Peter's mission (see v. 6)—will resist the forces of evil, and Peter thus becomes the first visible shepherd of the community, even though the true foundation and eternal Shepherd is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). The second symbol is the keys: 'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven'. The keys, a sign of authority and responsibility over a house, are an effective image of the power that Christ transmits to Peter. Entrusting the keys is equivalent to conferring the power to open and close, to allow or deny access. Peter is not the founder and ruler of a kingdom, but the immediate leader who exercises delegated power by guiding the community of believers, teaching and making binding decisions in matters of faith and morals. The third symbol is expressed in the twofold action of binding and loosing: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (v. 19). The expressions "to bind" and "to loose" were common in rabbinic language and indicated the power to declare something lawful or unlawful, to permit or prohibit certain actions. Applied to Peter, they emphasise his authority to make doctrinal and disciplinary decisions in full fidelity to the word of God (Jn 20:23), an authority he shares in the Church with the other apostles (Mt 18:18), even though Peter retains a unique and pre-eminent role. Finally, Jesus says, 'I will build my Church': it is therefore he who builds and guides the Church that remains forever his, so that we can walk safely because 'the powers of hell will not prevail against it' (v. 18).

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

Victory of the Risen Lord, without hysteria

(Jn 20:24-29)

The Gospel passage has a liturgical flavour, but the question we glimpse in the watermark is crude. We too want «to see Him».

How to believe without having seen?

It is the most common question starting from the third generation of believers, who not only hadn’t known the Apostles, but many of them not even subsequent pupils.

In particular: how do we go from «seeing»… to «believing» in a defeated, even subjected to torture?

There is an authentic Church, but held together by fear (v.19).

Not only because the arrest warrant always hangs over the real witnesses.

Also out of fear of confrontation with the world, or inability to dialogue.

Thomas is not afraid to stand outside the barred doors.

He does not withdraw into himself; he does not dread the encounter, the confrontation with life that pulsates and comes.

In this sense he is «said to be the twin» [δίδυμο] of each one - and of Jesus.

Our context resembles that of the Johannine realities of Asia Minor, lost in the immensity of the Roman Empire; small churches sometimes seduced by its attractions.

Ephesus in particular had hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.  Commercial emporium, banking center and major cosmopolitan city [whose centerpiece was of course the great Temple of Artemis - wonder of the ancient world] was the fourth city of the empire.

Distractions were many.

And already from the first generations of faithful the routine began to take over: the fervor of the beginnings was dying out; participation became sporadic.

Under Domitian, believers suffered social marginalization, discrimination.

Even today, one of the decisive elements of the ability to manifest the Risen One Present remains the direct encounter with sisters and brothers, within a living fraternity.

People who welcome surprises and encourage the ability to think and debate; who are themselves and make others breathe.

Women and men who spend their material resources and wisdom, according to particular history and sensitivity.

Where each one as he is and where is - real in the round, not dissociated from himself - becomes food for others with the crumbs he has.

Here then is the «recognize»: it’s a question not of obedience to an abstract world, but of personal Likeness.

It’s a matter of attuning the “physiognomy” and our small «actions» with the Source of Love consumed to the end [our «finger» and its «Hands»;  our «hand» and his «pierced Side»].

Even with our limitation, 'by entering into the wounds'. And by attraction, Faith will spring forth spontaneously (v.28).

Thus (vv.29-31 and 21:25) Jn invites each one to write his own personal Gospel.

When our works are at least a little the same as Christ's, everyone will ‘see’ Him.

So is there any evidence that Jesus lives?

Of course. He concretely manifests Himself in an assembly of non-conformist people, who are themselves; endowed with the capacity for autonomous thinking skills.

«Twins» of Him and of Thomas.

People Free to live in the world; outside locked doors - to listening, descending, serving.

And doing it with conviction: personally, without forcing or hysteria.

We too want to «see» Him.

[St. Thomas the Apostle, July 3rd]