XVI Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) [21 July 2024]

1. Jesus Christ, breaking down the wall of separation that divided us, has made us one. This is the good news we find in the second reading of this Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time taken from St Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. The Apostle is in Rome under house arrest in a rented house and one of his first thoughts during his imprisonment is to write to his dear brothers in faith, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and to Philemon, presenting himself not as a prisoner of Caesar, but as a prisoner of Christ. He focuses the Letter to the Ephesians on the Church, a universal body composed of all those who are saved through faith in Christ Jesus. A new unity has been created by God through the reconciling work of the Cross (2:16) and thus Jews and Gentiles have become part of God's family, in which all racial, cultural and social barriers are broken down. There is only one Church of which Christ is the Head, and there are three images Paul uses to describe its nature: the Church is an edifice founded on the apostles and prophets of which the cornerstone is Christ; it is one body and one spirit; it is the Bride of Christ and a model of fellowship in every relationship, primarily in the family between husband, wife and children. Knowing well the situation of those communities, which he himself founded and which are still marked by discord and contrasts, St Paul hopes that his chains will help to encourage and support believers who suffer for the preservation of the faith. The difficulty of living together among both Jewish and pagan converts is the experience he had already had in the first communities he founded and which continued to be fuelled by misunderstandings and even violent clashes. It was in Antioch of Pisidia that he understood the realisation of the first great turning point in the history of revelation when, encountering the violent opposition of the Jews, he declared that after their refusal to convert to Christ, he would direct his preaching to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). In the letter to the Ephesians he develops the theme of reconciliation between Christians of Jewish origin and those of pagan origin who have become brothers and therefore all with the same possibility of access, in one Spirit, to the one heavenly Father. He writes in this regard that of Israel and the pagans, Christ made one people "breaking down the wall of separation". Such a union seemed unattainable to many, and the Apostle's concern continued to the end to safeguard the unity that he unfortunately saw in serious danger. It was not a matter of operational choices, but the heart of the problem touched the very content of the Christian faith. For Paul the only thing that matters is that Jews and Gentiles through baptism are equally immersed in the new life of the Risen Christ and therefore every barrier that separates them must be broken down. And speaking of barriers he had in mind something that everyone knew well: the barrier that on the Temple esplanade in Jerusalem separated the space reserved for members of the people of Israel (men, women, priests), from the rest of the square where everyone could pass, Jews and non-Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, members or not of the chosen people, people educated to the Mosaic Law and people who were not. A signpost formally forbade non-Jews to enter on pain of death, and St Paul had experienced the risk of being killed, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles because they thought he had brought in a certain Trophimus from Ephesus (Acts 21:27-31). That barrier is for St Paul an icon of the "wall of enmity", so marked between Jews and pagans because the Jews, circumcised out of loyalty to the Mosaic law, despised and called the pagans "the uncircumcised". In the Letter to the Ephesians, he then insists on God's new plan for the baptised people, a plan of love and reconciliation that concerns the whole of every community, the peoples of the whole world and even the whole of creation. 

2. The theme of communion, unity and forgiveness returns frequently in the Gospels and New Testament writings. It also constitutes a prevailing aspiration in the preaching of the Church Fathers showing us the face of the Churches of that time already dotted with examples of goodness but threatened by the virus of division and religious contrasts that sometimes intertwined with civil strife.  This indicates that the difficulty in achieving the communion desired by Christ is a constant challenge to the faith of every baptised person. Despite goodwill and efforts, we experience, in the world and in the Church, how difficult it is to get along. Unity and communion remain an aspiration that clashes with the fragility of life, and this has been the case, as history clearly shows, since the origin of humanity, ever since man was created to be in friendship with God and chose his autonomy, which soon proved to be a harbinger of misunderstandings and divisions, clashes and violence where the strongest think they can win by prevailing in so many ways over the weakest, the different, the enemy. Yet these words of the Apostle Paul continue to resonate in the consciousness of humanity: 'Jesus came to proclaim peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near'. How then can we internalise this proclamation of salvation when we hear simmering enmity and division between believers? There is talk of peace and unity, but the scandal of division persists, creating walls to bar life to different peoples, gates to well protect the spaces reserved for one's own group and one's own convictions, while in the general climate, beyond the declarations of understanding and peace, there is a growing dislike of the other that leads to gestures of rejection, often identifying him as an adversary and as an 'enemy'. Despite the scandal of disunity, however, there is no shortage of examples and gestures of courage, forgiveness, and reconciliation that show how much stronger than hatred is love, beyond appearances, and we believe that the last word will always be Love's capable of healing conflicts and divisions. This invincible hope sustains us and gives us strength.

3. "Come away, you alone, into a deserted place, and rest a while". The Gospel page offers us a space of quiet to understand how not to give in to life's anxieties, divisions and conflicts that destroy peace in hearts. For the first time, St Mark calls these disciples "apostles", and this indicates that Jesus is now calling them to share his own mission, which includes, alongside immersion in pastoral action, the need for adequate spaces of silence and solitude. To the Twelve who enthusiastically return from the first apostolic expedition and would like to immediately recount how it went, Jesus says first of all: Rest! Silence and prayer are needed for every apostle so that he does not forget that he is not the saviour of the world: we are only fragile instruments in the hands of God, and to the extent that we do not separate ourselves from him, we can become agents of his peacemaking. A holy priest, an apostle of charity, Don Oreste Benzi loved to repeat: 'To stand before the world, one must remain on one's knees before God'.  If Jesus shares with the disciples his anguish at seeing the "great crowd" of whom he has compassion because they seem like sheep without a shepherd, he first of all asks his own to spend some time alone with him.  The crowd that presses, notes the evangelist Mark, can wait even if they come from Galilee and from all parts of Judea, Idumea, Transjordan, the region of Tyre and Sidon, and there are also the religious authorities who make war on him and sow hatred to the point of crucifying him.  To go into action, the Lord is in no hurry: he wants each apostle to understand and marry with his life his own passion for souls with the inevitable difficulties and opposition that it entails. He does not ask the apostle for a strong social commitment, but communicates to him his divine compassion expressed by the evangelist with the Greek term "SPLANGKNA", which defines the movement of interiority, that is, the depth of being, and in Hebrew "RAHAMIN", translated as mercy. God's name is Mercy, love that leads to Christ's sacrifice to break down and destroy every wall of division, diversity and hatred. Unlike the evangelist John, St Mark does not develop the theme of the good shepherd, but presents it in filigree in these very words: Jesus "saw a great crowd, had compassion on them because they were like sheep that have no shepherd". Only Christ can give us the gift of his compassion so that we are not seized by the prophet Jeremiah's rebuke, which is very clear in the first reading: 'woe to the shepherds who cause my pasture to perish and scatter'.  

+Giovanni D'Ercole. Happy Sunday

P.S. I attach a reflection on the Temple, taken from a lecture by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. "The world is like the eye: the sea is the white, the earth is the iris, Jerusalem is the pupil and the image reflected in it is the temple". This ancient rabbinic aphorism sharply and symbolically illustrates the function in the temple according to an intuition that is both primordial and universal. Two ideas underlie the image. The first is that of the cosmic 'centre' that the sacred place must represent... the outer horizon, with its fragmentation and its tensions, converges and subsides in an area that by its purity must embody the meaning, the heart, the order of the whole being. In the temple, therefore, the multiplicity of the real is "con-centred", finding in it peace and harmony... From the temple, then, a breath of life, of sanctity, of illumination is "de-centred", transfiguring the everyday and the ordinary texture of space. And it is at this point that the second theme underlying the Jewish saying evoked above enters the scene. The temple is the image that the pupil reflects and reveals. It is, therefore, a sign of light and beauty. Put another way, we could say that sacred space is an epiphany of cosmic harmony and a theophany of divine splendour... It is curious that symbolically, the three monotheistic religions anchor themselves in Jerusalem around three sacred stones, the Western Wall (popularly known as the 'Wailing Wall'), a sign of the Solomonic temple for the Jews, the rock of Muhammad's ascension to heaven in the mosque of Omar for Islam, and, indeed, the upturned stone of the Holy Sepulchre for Christianity. On the last page of the New Testament, when John the Seer looks out over the plan of the new Jerusalem of perfection and fullness, he is confronted with a fact that is disconcerting at first sight: "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple" (Revelation, 21, 22). Between God and man there is no longer any need for spatial mediation; the encounter is now between persons, the divine life intersects with human life in a direct way...God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4: 21-24). There will be a further turning point that will settle the divine presence in the very 'flesh' of humanity through the person of Christ, as the famous prologue of John's Gospel declares: 'The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us' (1:14), ... Paul will go further and, writing to the Christians of Corinth, will affirm: 'Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you... Glorify therefore God in your body!" (i, 6, 19-20). "A temple of living stones", therefore, as St Peter will write, "employed for the construction of a spiritual building" (i, 2, 5) a sanctuary not extrinsic, material and spatial, but existential, a temple in time. The architectural temple will, therefore, always be necessary, but it must have in itself a symbolic function: it will no longer be an intangible and magical sacred element, but only the necessary sign of a divine presence in history and in the life of humanity. The temple, therefore, does not exclude or exorcise the square of civil life, but fertilises, transfigures and purifies its existence, giving it a further and transcendent meaning. We end our reflection with three testimonies. The first is a medieval Hebrew cabbalistic chant that recalls the various steps to find the place where one truly encounters God. The refrain in Hebrew...with a play on words and a dazzling insight says: 'He, God, is the Place of every place, / and yet this Place has no place'. The second testimony is linked to the figure of St Francis. A friar says to Francis: "We have no more money for the poor". Francis replies: "Strip the altar of the Virgin and sell its furnishings, if you cannot otherwise meet the needs of those in need". And immediately afterwards he adds: "Believe me, it will be dearer to the Virgin that the gospel of her Son be observed and her altar bare, than to see the altar adorned and the Son in the son of man despised". The third and final consideration is offered to us by Orthodox spirituality. A well-known twentieth-century Russian lay theologian who lived in Paris, Pavel Evdokimov, declared that between the square and the temple there should not be a barred door, but an open threshold so that the swirls of incense, the chants, the prayers of the faithful and the flickering of the lamps are also reflected in the square where laughter and tears, and even blasphemy and the cry of despair of the unhappy person resound. Indeed, the wind of God's Spirit must run between the sacred hall and the square where human activity takes place. In this way, one finds the authentic and profound soul of the Incarnation that weaves together space and infinity, history and eternity, the contingent and the absolute.

(Mk 6:30-34)

«Come yourselves aside, to a deserted place»: the explicit reference to the «desert» is that of Exodus - which recalls the time of first Love.

Experience of great Ideals that the path of Freedom could still infuse in a new People.

An offspring generated in silence, far from the hustle and bustle of idols: in guise of reflection and attention, sobriety of life, hospitality, real sharing.

Jesus is increasingly moving away from his environment, and does not want around him a horizon of elected, attracted by the suddenly exploded visibility - ending up considering themselves indispensable.

In fact, here they chase the many things to be done, but remain careless. They raise a great fuss, but stay in habit.

Then the Lord does not call «aside» for a "spiritual retreat". The apostles - who give themselves the air of ‘teachers’ (v.30) - receive the only task of «announcing», not of supervising, presiding over, coordinating others.

Even after failure in Nazareth (vv.1-6) - his heralds willingly confused the Servant who was educating them, for the victorious, hoped, respected, glorious Messiah.

That is why, faced with masses in need of everything, the Lord first «began to teach» (v.34).

In short, the young Rabbi must start all over again, in order to correct the illusory frivolities conveyed by the followers… maybe just to leave a trace, get recognized and succeed - with lost people!

Jesus’ closest collaborators had not yet understood that there is another World, evolutionary and upside down - but ignored.

For this reason they have a fortune of their own, but they produce a lousy evangelization; without creative energy.

The crowds thronging around the Lord still remained exactly such and as before: «like sheep that have no shepherd» (v.34). People steeped in dismay.

Despite the circle’s affirmation of the disciples who had focused on the model of subservience and prestige, humanity still cried out. 

Their ‘stability’ made others even more insecure.

It lacked all the friendship that nourishes more than food, a perception of adequacy that satisfies more than health; the adherence that conveys life.

And the sense of one’s own being born and seeking. The Encounter that makes one’s gaze shift; the intimately recognized union with the Truth.

Apostles or not apostles, without the very Person of Christ, those women and men who sought their roots would not have flourished - least of all starting from their own grey, fragile, lacklustre shades.

The deep demands of the troubled were absolutely intact, despite the leaders’ busy schedule - an intense occupation around... unfortunately artificial and inattentive, still ambiguous and immature, dirigiste and superficial.

This, on the other hand, is the real holiday, the authentic decisive Appointment: to remain with the right Person; the one that does not enervate with its external rhythms, nor does add confusion to confusion.

In short, in the [established or fashionable] reference, no person is cradled in his or her novelty, or balanced and regenerated.

Enough, then, of the many 'models' without soul or prophecy that reproach us - and the commonplaces that anaesthetise.

In fact, in each of us, every expedient or artifice triggers the opposite: a loss of capacity.

«Like sheep that have no shepherd» (v.34).

In preparing us for the metamorphosis that belongs to us, the Friend of the Journey does not always intend to analyse and control.

Thus he does not extinguish the small energies, the character, the unique projections, the silent actions, and the Enchantment.

Letting us breathe, only the authentic Shepherd collects our 'core' from dispersion, our Seed from fragmentation; our Flower, from life without intimate purpose.

[16th Sunday in O.T.  (B)   July 21, 2024 (Mk 6:30-34)]

Alone, and the true holiday that preserves the life force

(Mk 6:30-34)

Spy and interpretive key of the Gospel passage is the expression "in aloof" (v.31), which in the Gospels is everywhere used to indicate critical moments of misunderstanding or even open opposition between the Lord and the Apostles.

"Come ye apart, into a deserted place": the explicit reference to the "desert" is that of the Exodus - recalling the time of the first Love.

Experience the great Ideals that the path of Freedom could still instil in the New People.

Brought forth in silence, far from the hustle and bustle of idols: in the guise of reflection and attention, sobriety of life, acceptance, real sharing.

Jesus distances himself more and more decisively from his environment, and does not want around him a horizon of conceited chosen ones, attracted by the suddenly exploded visibility - they would end up considering themselves indispensable.

They would be overloaded with triumphalist and monopolistic platitudes - little attentive to the contents, their connection with the forms of implementation... and the social implications, such as bridging the gaps.

In fact, here they chase the many things to be done - also to make them positively more agile, of course - but they go haphazardly and regardless. Despite all the fuss and hosannas, they do not make sensible paths.

They are always there, even though they should go elsewhere; or vice versa.

All this perhaps precisely to consolidate ascents and positions from the earliest days, in the manner of certain life offices [still never questioned] or stages of careers that cannot be changed.

Conditions that make one artificial, and do not create intimate fulfilment, nor that of others. They raise a lot of fuss, but stay in the habit.

The problem they have in mind is wrong, and in spite of any sweats and little free time (or for themselves) they do not demonstrate a genuinely creative energy.

We see this.

So the Lord does not call 'aside' for a 'spiritual retreat' - to safeguard the stability of exhausted hierarchies, or for a moment of escapism that avoids the crush and its stress. But because something profoundly substantial does not add up.

One has to be self-critical.

In all four Gospels, only Jesus is the one who "teaches" [passim, Greek text].

The apostles - who give themselves the air of teachers (v.30) - are only given the task of "announcing", not of supervising, presiding over, coordinating others.

They have no title whatsoever to approach people thinking they have to convey a life tailored to their agenda, and a mind set on results [or banner membership].

After having called them to himself - because they are still far away - and sent them to proclaim their experience of freedom and the Good News on our behalf (vv.7-13), the Master does not seem very happy with what the apostles have preached.

So he imposes on them a test (so to speak) of basic catechism, just for his intimates.

Even after his failure even in Nazareth (vv.1-6) - his bannermen willingly mistook the Servant who was educating them for the victorious, hoped-for, respected, glorious Messiah.

For this reason, faced with the needy masses, the Lord first "began to teach" (v.34).

In short, the young Rabbi has to start again, in order to correct the illusory easiness conveyed by the followers. Maybe just to leave a trace, get recognised and succeed - with lost people!

The Tao Tê Ching writes (xxvii):

"He who travels well leaves neither furrows nor footprints [...] he who closes well uses neither bars nor stakes".

Master Ho-shang Kung comments:

'He who travels well in the Way seeks within himself, without going down the hall or out the door. Therefore he leaves no furrows or footprints'.

He adds:

"He who well closes his cravings through the Dao, preserves the life force".

Master Wang-Pi points out:

"He proceeds in accordance with spontaneity, without being cause or principle: therefore creatures reach their highest degree, without him leaving chariot furrows or footprints [...] he conforms to the spontaneity of creatures and neither institutes nor confers.

Jesus' closest collaborators had not yet realised that there is another World, evolutionary and inverted - but ignored.

That is why they have a fortune of their own, but produce very bad evangelisation.

The crowds thronging around the Lord were still exactly as they were before: "like sheep that have no shepherd" (v.34). Steeped in dismay.

In spite of the affirmation of the circle of disciples who had set their sights on the model of subservience and prestige, humanity was still crying out. 

Their stability made others even more insecure.

[We, too, want to discover personal wealth, not only that of the known 'pupils', the ever-neighbours, or the founders, the princes, the leaders].What was missing was the friendship that nourishes more than food, a perception of adequacy that satisfies more than health; the adherence that conveys life.

And the sense of being born and seeking. The encounter that shifts the gaze; the intimately recognised union with the Truth.

Apostles or no apostles, without the Person of Christ Himself, that people searching for their roots would not have flourished - least of all from their own grey, fragile, lacklustre hues.

The profound needs of the shaky ones were absolutely intact, despite the leaders' busy-ness around... unfortunately artificial and careless, still ambiguous and immature, dirigiste and superficial.

Extremities that even nowadays do not allow disoriented people to reach the highest degree of their being, because every pastoral expedient triggers the reverse: a loss of capacity.

The cunningly opiate and artefactual festivals advocated by guides or approximate agencies are an expression of the normal religious side of the civilisation of the outside world.

Being with the Lord again... puts the mind right.

He alone opens wide the doorways of understanding and creates other options that correspond to us, in quintessence and hope - generating new answers to new questions, overcoming forced compactness.

This is the real holiday, the real decisive appointment: to stay with the right Person; the one who does not enervate with his wrong rhythms or add confusion to confusion.

Christ gathers our kernel from dispersion, our seed from fragmentariness [which hides behind the masks of pretended expertise]; our flower, from life without intimate purpose.

To seek oneself one must gather oneself together with Him - and verify oneself in the creative power of His Word, interpreted far from the commonplaces that anaesthetise.

The throng and the noise of the crowd, however naive, confuse ideas; they inculcate the vulgar plots of the earthly realm: not the style of the divine life, which entrusts us to our own unexpressed resources.

No more models. We need a real Witness, who corresponds, and becomes a companion on the journey.

We feel an incessant desire to be balanced in the identity of the concrete good. It lies beyond the fatuous, variant but immediately succulent traits of recognition.

Here, no person regenerates.

Only around our inner Friend do we become Body in serious, amiable and profound conversation; even in the noisy and confusing everyday.

After a day of worries, instead of TV anaesthetics and before epidermal things, let us be refreshed by this Contact that introduces us into the Banquet of Life (vv.35-44).

We will be recovered rather than condemned to pious futility - and never alone. Inside we have a Friend.

In short, in the reference [established or fashionable] no person is cradled in his novelty, or balanced and regenerated.

Enough, then, of the many 'models' without soul or prophecy that reproach us - and the commonplaces that anaesthetise.

In fact, in each of us, every expedient or artifice triggers the opposite: a loss of capacity.

"Like sheep that have no shepherd" (v.34).

In preparing us for the metamorphosis that belongs to us, the Friend of the Journey does not always intend to analyse and control.

Thus he does not extinguish the small energies, the character, the unique projections, the silent actions, and the Enchantment.

Letting us breathe, only the authentic Shepherd gathers our 'core' from dispersion, our Seed from fragmentation; our Flower, from life without intimate purpose.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you evangelise? Does Jesus speak in you or do you speak alone?

Authentic Contact

Come and see

[cf. Jn 1:35-42].

"Tithing hour" (v.39): in the Semitic mentality, sunset of the old and beginning of the new Day. It is approached dialogically, heart to heart; not according to the prescribed ancient order.

The Vocation is the discovery of the reason why we were born, of what we were made for, and it corresponds immediately - in an unprecedented, not cloying way - to the reality of a road travelled as if on foot.

On it, the call of the hearth of the Word gradually helps to understand our person and to define our exceptional mission.

God is the One who calls, so that without too much commentary we see into it, sense the impulses, develop a new outlook on things, grasp them as an Encounter, and let ourselves go.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (LVII): "From what do I know that this is so? From the present' - and Master Ho-shang Kung comments: 'Lao-tzu says: How do I know that Heaven's intention is this? I know it from what I see today'.

Such a scenario triggers in the soul a passion that sinks into the mystery, an energy that develops on this meaningful encounter and encounter with reality and new yet extravagant relationships, without exaggeration.The way of scrutinising the world anchored to small certainties of custom or thought will always make us be and do ordinary things, dictated by habit, prejudice, conditioned hopes (which do not belong to us).

If so, we will never move our inner eye to unknown processes and territories. If undertaken, they will introduce the heart to a kind of hermeneutic island, face to face with the invisible Friend who makes us feel at home.

Such paths together will not give us a priori the certainty that we are 'in the right', but that we are involved in the same spirit of the Nazarene - rebelling against the constraints we may already be putting ourselves in.

They entangle with entanglements his superior Voice, or the innate icon to be admired intimately, the figure of our Vocation.

The restlessness of the Waiting, its fantastic frenzies, those murmurs that seem to be in the air, are perhaps the expression of an unseen fairy tale that we do not know what it is - but our fascinating brother does.

On the contrary, we will be on the path marked out by always or by others, until his alternative vision launches us onto a path that is still dark instead of well illustrated (where everything is under control).

With excessive mental feedback we would get no further than vicious circles, or already adopted characters and defined roles - armour humiliating the Spirit, who does not like sphinxes impermeable to the dew of the coming tide.

Over-filtering and over-managing will not lead us to appreciate the value of the inner world and its presences, nor will it help us to perceive the meaning of encounters, the openness of the horizon of the proposals that life brings us to dismantle the imprinting we drag along.

The only therapy for jumping beyond the usual way of seeing things will be to shift the perspective, so that it makes us dissymmetrical and allows us to enter the field richer and more varied, outside the perimeter traced by conventions.

With Jesus we will embark on a path full of pitfalls, yet magical, because it is not taken for granted. With Him we will realise ourselves, our vocation and our own codes - but in the fullness of the polyhedron that is personal essence.

No one is without modulations to be discovered and activated; calibrated, anonymous and poor before the Lord and others. Hence, no one is destined to be a labourer or a functionary of archaic bandwagons - devoid of living figures and fantastic, magical, awe-inspiring inventiveness.

Even the dreamy tone of this narrative says so.

In a relationship of assiduity with Christ, it is his and our ideals outside the guidelines that characterise existence, which becomes red-hot starting from the soul... without first normalising it according to others' rules.

Beware, therefore, of constructing a conformist destiny of the penultimate hand, one that shatters one's whole life because it is chosen from what is common, external, accustomed and quiet, or vice versa delusional: criteria destined to collapse.

Nor does the Calling become a projection of ambition, suggested by vanity. Nor a reward for previous loyalties or behind performance.

First of all, a reading of oneself, a living listening to events (more intimate than conformist and outlined) as well as a participatory interpretation of reality, of the Word - and elastic reworking of moments, advice and relationships.

"Come and see" (v.39 Semitic undertone): perception, the glance that notices, is essential to understand who we are.

Nothing intimate, but nothing external - not even for the happenings outside us: we are those who develop innate images and Dreams.

God did not create us to stay on the ground, but to take flight. In fact, the Baptist had stopped (v.35 Greek text): "again he stood (there)".

Jesus, on the other hand, proceeds, is always moving; He Himself begins a new journey.

The comparison is stark. The old expectations come to a standstill - they have no strength left in them. That is why the first disciples of Jesus came from the school of John - where they had met.

After being a pupil of the greatest leader of his time, the new, young Rabbi sets out on his own.

He does so not to stand out from the others, but to proclaim the authentic heart of the Father, in his own figure: Word-formed Son, but who has only gradually assimilated the secrets of the human and spiritual journey.

It is an astonishing identity, that of the Lamb of God: his Person, event and Blood depict the Action of the Creator Spirit, who takes away the capacity of the forces of evil to do harm - not through immediate and prodigious shortcuts.

Purposes that are too close do not unite man and the world to God. They do not confirm the rightness and conformity of the great End and Source: the continuous Presence that accompanies our particular activity.

Every soul has an original physiognomy: it is in a special way, it has its own place and meaning.

The personal Calling is constitutive of this unrepeatable essence - which opens up the task of uniqueness - grammar of our language (even with ourselves) and interaction in the world; in the soul, of listening to God.

The unrepeatable Vocation is the only path to follow to read and encounter the genius of time before problems, and a kind of impulse; will and factor of recognition that accompanies and orients in them.

There may be an unforgettable day and hour in life, but the relationship of custom is essential.

A furtive encounter with the unstoppably moving Christ is not enough to 'look inside' and understand every decisive weight. And to become - like Simon - building stone that composes and is composed.

Here, even in seemingly unimportant situations, we are ourselves: we are cosmic and divine intention; we are immeasurably important.

Commenting on the same passage from the Tao (LVII) quoted above, Master Wang Pi points out: 'He who rules the world with the Way, exalts the root to make the branches grow.

Like an artistic vein.

To internalise and live the message:

What do you wait for from Jesus? Or do you give in and let him lead you? What do you think he would call you?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Word of God this Sunday presents us once again with a fundamental, ever fascinating theme of the Bible; it reminds us that God is the Shepherd of humanity. This means that God wants life for us, he wants to guide us to good pastures where we can be nourished and rest. He does not want us to be lost and to perish, but to reach the destination of our journey which is the fullness of life itself. This is what every father and mother desires for their children: their good, their happiness and their fulfilment.

In today’s Gospel Jesus presents himself as the Shepherd of the lost sheep of the House of Israel. He beholds the people, so to speak, with a “pastoral” gaze. For example, this Sunday’s Gospel says: As he disembarked, “he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things” (Mk 6:34). Jesus embodies God the Shepherd with his manner of preaching and his works, caring for the sick and sinners, for those who are “lost” (cf. Lk 19:10), in order to bring them back to safety through the Father’s mercy.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 22 July 2012]

Dear sisters,

1. During my apostolic journeys, I experience a profound and ever new happiness when I meet women religious, whose consecrated existence through the three evangelical vows "belongs inseparably to the life and holiness of the Church" (Lumen Gentium, 44). Let us together bless the Lord who has made this meeting possible! Let us bless him for the fruits that will follow in your personal lives, in your congregations, in the People of God! Thank you for coming in such great numbers from all parts of Paris and the Paris region, and even from the provinces! I am happy to express to you who are here, as to all the religious of France, my esteem, my affection, my encouragement.

This gathering, almost rural, makes me think of those moments of pause and respite that Jesus Christ reserved for his first disciples on their return from certain apostolic journeys. You too, my dear sisters, come from your places and tasks of evangelisation: dispensaries or hospitals, schools or colleges, catechetical or youth care centres, parish services or insertion in poor environments. I am happy to repeat to you the words of the Lord: "Come away ... and rest a while" (cf. Mk 6:31). Together we shall meditate on the mystery and the Gospel treasure of your vocation.

2. Religious life is not your property, just as it is not the property of an institute. It is the "divine gift that the Church has received from her Lord and by his grace always faithfully preserves" (Lumen Gentium, 43). In short, religious life is an inheritance, a reality lived in the Church for centuries, by a multitude of men and women. And the profound experience that they have had of it transcends the socio-cultural differences that may exist from one country to another, transcends even the descriptions that they have left behind, and is beyond the diversity of the achievements and research of our time. It is important to respect and love this rich spiritual heritage. It is important to listen to and imitate those who have best embodied the ideal of evangelical perfection and who so numerous have sanctified and ennobled the land of France.

Until the end of your lives, remain in awe and gratitude for the mysterious call that resounded one day in the depths of your hearts: "Follow me" (cf. Mt 9:9; Jn 1:43), "Sell what you possess, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me" (Mt 19:21). You first brought this appeal as a secret, then submitted it to the discernment of the Church. It is indeed a great risk to leave everything to follow Christ. But you already felt - and then you experienced - that he was able to fill your heart. Religious life is a friendship, an intimacy of a mystical order with Christ. Your personal journey must be almost a re-enactment of the famous poem of the Song of Songs. Dear sisters, in the "heart to heart" of prayer, absolutely vital for each of you, as well as on the occasion of your various apostolic appointments, listen to the Lord murmuring the same invitation to you: "Follow me". The ardour of your response will keep you in the freshness of your first oblation. You will thus walk from faithfulness to faithfulness!

3. To follow Christ is more than the mere admiration of a model, even if you have a good knowledge of holy scripture and theology. Following Christ is something existential. It is wanting to imitate him to the point of allowing oneself to be configured to him, assimilated into him, to the point of being - in the words of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity - 'an additional humanity'. And this in their own mystery of chastity, poverty and obedience. Such an ideal surpasses understanding, surpasses human strength!

It can only be realised through strong times of silent and ardent contemplation of the Lord Jesus. So-called 'active' religious must at certain times be 'contemplatives', following the example of the nuns I will address in Lisieux.

Religious chastity, my sisters, is truly a desire to be like Christ; all other reasons that can be advanced vanish before this essential reason: Jesus was chaste. This state of Christ was not only the overcoming of human sexuality, such as to prefigure the future world, but also a manifestation, an "epiphany" of the universality of his redemptive oblation. The Gospel never ceases to show how Jesus lived chastity. In his human relationships, singularly broad in relation to the traditions of his environment and age, he perfectly reaches the profound personality of the other. His simplicity, his respect, his goodness, his art of arousing the best in the hearts of the people he met, shocked the Samaritan woman, the adulterous woman and so many others. May your vow of consecrated virginity - deepened and lived out in the mystery of Christ's chastity - and which already transfigures your persons, impel you to truly reach out to your brothers and sisters in their humanity, in the concrete situations proper to each one! So many people in our world are as if led astray, crushed, in despair! In fidelity to the rules of prudence, make them feel that you love them in the manner of Christ, drawing from his heart the human and divine tenderness that he reserves for them.

You have also promised Christ to be poor with him and like him. Certainly the productive and consumerist society poses complex problems for the practice of evangelical poverty. This is not the place or the time to talk about it. It seems to me that every congregation must see in this economic phenomenon a providential invitation to give a response, at once traditional and entirely new, to the poor Christ. By contemplating him often and at length in his radically poor life, by assiduously frequenting the humble and the poor who are also his face, you will be able to give all that you are and all that you have. The Church needs to be as affected by your witness. Measure your responsibility.

As for the obedience of Jesus, it occupies a central place in his redemptive work. You have often meditated on the pages in which St Paul speaks of the initial disobedience, which was like the gateway to sin and death in the world, and speaks of the mystery of Christ's obedience that triggers humanity's ascent to God. Self-denial, humility, are more difficult for our generation tickled by autonomy and even fantasy. However, one cannot imagine a religious life without obedience to superiors who are guardians of fidelity to the ideal of the institute. St Paul emphasises the link of cause and effect between Christ's obedience to the death of the cross (cf. Phil 2:6-11) and his glory as risen Lord of the universe. In the same way, the obedience of every religious - which is always a sacrifice of the will made out of love - bears abundant fruits of salvation for the whole world.

4. You have therefore accepted to follow Christ and to imitate him closely, to manifest his true face to those who already know him as well as to those who do not. And this through all the apostolic activities to which I alluded at the beginning of this meeting. On the level of commitments to be undertaken, without prejudice to the particular spirituality of your institute, I strongly urge you to integrate yourselves into the immense network of pastoral tasks of the universal Church and dioceses (cf. Perfectae Caritatis, 20). I know that some congregations, for lack of subjects, cannot respond to all the appeals that come to them from Bishops and priests. However, do what you can to ensure the vital services of parishes and dioceses. How many duly trained women religious collaborate in the pastoral care of the new realities that are numerous! In a word, invest your natural and supernatural talents to the utmost in contemporary evangelisation. Be always and everywhere present to the world without being of the world (cf. Jn 17:15-16). Never be afraid to let your identity as women consecrated to the Lord be clearly recognised. Christians and those who are not have a right to know who you are. Christ, the master of us all, made his life a courageous manifestation of his identity (cf. Lk 9:26).

Courage and confidence my dear sisters! I know that for years you have been reflecting a great deal on religious life, on your constitutions. The time has come to live in fidelity to the Lord and to your apostolic tasks. I pray wholeheartedly that the witness of your consecrated life and the face of your religious congregations will awaken in the hearts of many young people the plan to follow Christ as you do. I bless you and all the women religious of France who work on the soil of your homeland or on other continents. And I also bless all those you carry in your hearts and in your prayers.

[Pope John Paul II, to the Religious, Rue de Bac 31 May 1980]

Today’s Gospel also speaks to us about another, very different misunderstanding with regard to Jesus: that of his brethren. They were worried, because his new itinerant life seemed folly to them […] In fact, he exhibited such openness toward the people, especially toward the sick and toward sinners, to the extent that he did not even have time to eat. Jesus was like that: people first; serving people; helping people; teaching people; healing people. He was for the people. He did not even have time to eat.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 10 June 2018]

For a lightness without masks

(Mt 12:14-21)

The authorities condemn Jesus to death. The insignificant people await him, as their only hope.

They feel that there is still much to find, and that only He can inspire their action, thus opening them to Rebirth.

Persons sense harmony with the young Master who has chosen their social class, that of the shaky, considered wrong and disconcerting.

The hard and stifled existence of the little ones has taught them to be always ready for surprises, for new actions; even for destabilizing crises:

Best way to stay hooked to life and to the very possibility of achieving it, by activating it from the Hiding.

In the clamor and social approval, which denies the problems, their Mission would remain distorted.

While the externality of the leaders does not give in to dedication, to breaking themselves - even from their innermost.

So it doesn’t become new consciousness.

Sick of grandeur and longing for tranquillity, the ancient political and religious leaders project into the idea of the Messiah their being double, corrupt and artificial, only showy.

Unable to measure up to the table of contents - and make themselves available.

They do not understand the discreet Power of the Lord, his wise energy [and modest style] with lasting advantages.

They are willing to stun the despondent people, and they gladly do so with models, comparisons, evaluations, empty formulas, and incitements overflowing with reserves.

But they remain at a safe distance as far as living together, sharing, and cheering up others’ lives.

They continue to pronounce but without giving anything, much less offering themselves - converting to the poor, without manipulating them.

Their aversion to Christ - who came for the redemption of the «multitudes» [vv.15.18.21] - clashed precisely with the incessant need of the persons.

People know their own (all real) mud fabric, and they want emancipation.

Without subterfuge, they present themselves unmasks.

Today, as then, the Silence of the true Anointed One of the Lord [which recurs in his authentic witnesses] annihilates the temptation of the spectacular.

Quiet that overcomes the mania of the extraordinary; of what is propaganda and advertising for proselytising purposes.

God knows that Shadow side is prophecy and the future germ: best part of His People, and of us.

To internalize and live the message:

Are there ambiguous individuals inclined to value normalised interventions, who consider your Mission distorted by Silence?

Do you think your realization is stifled by the Hiding? Or vice versa activated?

[Saturday 15th wk. in O.T.  July 20, 2024]

For lightness without masks

(Mt 12:14-21)

"He will not quarrel or scold, nor will anyone hear his voice in the squares. A cracked reed he will not break and a smoking lamp he will not extinguish, until he has brought judgment to victory. And in his name shall the nations hope" (Mt 12:19-20).

The authorities condemn Jesus to death because He dared to expose the malignity of their mercenary expedients (an art in which they are masters).

Instead of becoming educators, the leaders of official religiosity remain the protagonists of a pyramidal, oppressive structure.

The ostracised and rejected, on the other hand, alienated and outcast from society and from the circle of the 'greats', present themselves to the Lord without masks, with many insecurities and ailments.

They realise that the humanising and divine being remains exactly opposite to that of those who represent them. According to what the people hoped for in their hearts, without subterfuge; at their disposal.

Not an all-powerful master, who would make the path of the elect more comfortable and prestigious.

On the contrary, because there are many daily and inner problems that deserve greater Presence.

The 'best' of the world (even the pious) mock the Father's Face. The little people wait for Him, await Him as their only hope.

They sense that there is still much to be found, and that only He can inspire their actions, thus opening them to Rebirth.

They feel in tune with the young Master who has chosen their social class, that of the unfortunate, considered wrong and disconcerting, but who every day brings up the same problem of God in a forthright manner.

Feeling like a person and letting oneself be set free is the motif of the whole sacred story: the fruit of Exodus that breaks bounded bonds.

It shatters them, because it even favours the itinerant coming and going of the inexperienced person who seeks and allows himself to be questioned - the opposite of the false 'staying put'.

That which is not made of affective tonality and deep emotional weight, yet constantly asks to be taken in charge and in consciousness.

The hard and stifled life of the Little Ones has taught them to always be ready for surprises, for new actions; even for destabilising crises.

This is the best way to stay hooked on life and the very possibility of realising it, activating it from the hiding place.

In the clamour and social approval, which denies the problems, their Mission would remain distorted.

While the outwardness of the leaders does not yield to dedication, to breaking - even from within.

Thus it does not become a new consciousness.

Sick of grandeur and craving for tranquillity, the ancient political and religious leaders project into the idea of the Messiah their own double, corrupt and contrived being, only conspicuous.

Unable to measure themselves against the summary.

They do not understand the discreet power of the Lord, his wise energy (and dim style), with lasting benefits.

They are willing to stun disheartened people, and they do so gladly with models, comparisons, budgets, empty formulas, and overflowing incitements.

But they remain at a safe distance when it comes to living together, sharing, and cheering up.

They continue to judge, but without giving anything, let alone giving themselves - and converting to the poor, without manipulating them.

Their aversion to Christ - who came for the redemption of the 'multitudes' (vv.15.18.21) - clashes precisely with the people's incessant need.

The people know their own fabric of all-too-real mud, and they long for emancipation.

Today, as then, the Silence of the Lord's true Anointed [who re-proposes himself in his authentic witnesses] overcomes the temptation of the spectacular.

It overcomes the mania of the extraordinary; of that which is propaganda and publicity for the sake of proselytism and currency.

We too preserve the characteristics of the Master's Work, whose universally beneficial Action we continue.

We wish to correspond, in the discretion and small simplicity of an unknown, but forward-looking life.

God knows that the Shadow side is sometimes the best part of His people, and of us.

To internalise and live the message:

Are there ambiguous people inclined to value normalised - i.e. prodigious - interventions who consider your Mission distorted by Silence?

Do you yourself feel that your realisation is stifled by the Silence? Or vice versa activated?

At this point, I would also like to thank most heartily all those people throughout the world who in these recent weeks have sent me moving expressions of concern, friendship and prayer. Yes, the Pope is never alone; now I once again experience this so overwhelmingly that my heart is touched. The Pope belongs to everyone and so many persons feel very close to him. It is true that I receive letters from world leaders – from heads of state, from religious leaders, from representatives of the world of culture, and so on. But I also receive many many letters from ordinary people who write to me simply and from the heart, and who show me their affection, an affection born of our being together with Christ Jesus, in the Church. These people do not write to me in the way one writes, for example, to a prince or some important person whom they do not know. They write to me as brothers and sisters, as sons and daughters, with a sense of a very affectionate family bond. Here one can sense palpably what the Church is – not an organization, an association for religious or humanitarian ends, but a living body, a communion of brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, which makes us all one. To experience the Church in this way and to be able as it were to put one’s finger on the strength of her truth and her love, is a cause for joy at a time when so many people are speaking of her decline. But we see how the Church is alive today! […]

I also thank each and every one of you for the respect and understanding with which you have accepted this important decision. I will continue to accompany the Church’s journey with prayer and reflection, with that devotion to the Lord and his Bride which I have hitherto sought to practise daily and which I would like to practise always.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 27 February 2013]

He is Son, and he has made himself 'servant'!

Today's liturgy speaks explicitly of this in the words of the book of Isaiah: "Behold my servant whom I uphold, / my chosen one in whom I am well pleased, / I have set my spirit upon him; / he shall bring forth the right to the nations" (Is 42:1).

Jesus Christ: Son who became a servant. The Baptism in the Jordan fully reconfirms this: Jesus presents himself to John to be baptised; but the latter tries to prevent him by saying: "I need to be baptised by you and you come to me?" (Mt 3:14).

As if he wanted to say: "You who are the bearer of saving Grace and Lord of our salvation". Jesus, however, replies: "Let it be for now, for thus we fulfil all righteousness" (Mt 3:15).

Jesus receives Baptism from John: the Baptism of Penance. In this way he manifests himself as the servant of our redemption. He comes as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29, 36). He bears within himself the will of obedience to the Father even unto death.

He comes as the one who "will not break a cracked reed, / will not quench a wick with a dull flame" (Is 42:3).

[Pope John Paul II, Angelus 13 January 1985]