Oct 18, 2024 Written by 

First last. The recovery of opposites

Narrow door: not because oppressive

(Lk 13:22-30)

 

The meaning of the first question is: «Is Salvation exclusive?» (v.23). Of course not - and not even despotic. But it’s not enough to declare oneself "Friends".

Half a century after the crucifixion of Jesus, the first signs of relaxation began to appear in the communities.

The privileged were already away from “home” [vv.25ss].

Their story warns against the illusion of feeling "elected". And it questions believers. How can we get on ourselves on the right path?

Occasion to understand if we are on the steps that really belong to us is the constant revision of the relationship with the "inadequate" Person of Christ [the «narrow Door»: v.24].

According to the Master, one doesn’t become "better" by following ostentatious habitual clichés, poorly convinced and fulfilled in routine.

In short, who works many things for God (v.26) and not for the brothers - nor even realizes that they exist - in reality does not honor the Father.

Those who do not "deflate", not only lack humility to become servants, but also do not cross the interstices of the walls in which the Spirit wedges.

However, we still wonder surprised how the Father can neglect his own intimates who have so much believed in Him, and even prefer those distant, coming from it’s not well known where.

Maybe they loved like Him. They didn’t have a "correct" relationship with God, but a right relationship with others, yes.

It’s in their hearts that they have come to know the Lord. Personally. And by transmigrating, they have accomplished their Exodus.

Moving directly to the goal, they were interested in the fruit: listening, compassion, generous sharing of goods - instead of the many leaves.

With the eyes of the soul, in these people completely devoid of spiritual presumption, the perception of the inner orientations has overcome the thoughts and the idols of the custom at hand.

They are those who have never considered themselves too great.

It applies for us: not feeling excellent and not having pretensions is by Christ evaluated much more than the papers in order.

He defines these as «makeers of vain things, doers of dead things» [Lk 13,27; the Greek text has a Semitic background of the kind: Ps 6,9 Hebrew text].

He refers to the ‘lukewarm’ people that go on by inertia and still participate in external manifestations with extreme superficiality.

They make number, but personally they do not set anything in motion. They didn’t pass through the «tight Door» which is Jesus himself.

Forcing him to say: «I do not know ‘from’ where you are» (vv.25-27).

True disciples participate in the Banquet without pretense: they have not fled the world, they have struggled (v. 24) to make themselves able to love. They have compromised themselves.

In this way were able to meet the deep states of themselves and accompany the eccentricities of others, recovering the opposites (v.30).

 

«Narrow Door»: not because oppressive.

 

 

[Wednesday 30th wk. in O.T.  October 30, 2024]

323 Last modified on Wednesday, 30 October 2024 12:00
don Giuseppe Nespeca

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

The saints: they are our precursors, they are our brothers, they are our friends, they are our examples, they are our lawyers. Let us honour them, let us invoke them and try to imitate them a little (Pope Paul VI)
I santi: sono i precursori nostri, sono i fratelli, sono gli amici, sono gli esempi, sono gli avvocati nostri. Onoriamoli, invochiamoli e cerchiamo di imitarli un po’ (Papa Paolo VI)
We find ourselves, so to speak, roped to Jesus Christ together with him on the ascent towards God's heights (Pope Benedict)
Ci troviamo, per così dire, in una cordata con Gesù Cristo – insieme con Lui nella salita verso le altezze di Dio (Papa Benedetto)
The Church is a «sign». That is, those who looks at it with a clear eye, those who observes it, those who studies it realise that it represents a fact, a singular phenomenon; they see that it has a «meaning» (Pope Paul VI)
La Chiesa è un «segno». Cioè chi la guarda con occhio limpido, chi la osserva, chi la studia si accorge ch’essa rappresenta un fatto, un fenomeno singolare; vede ch’essa ha un «significato» (Papa Paolo VI)
There are also serious, dangerous omissions and we have to recognize with healthy realism that in this way things are not all right, it is not all right when errors are made. However, we must also be certain at the same time that if, here and there, the Church is dying because of the sins of men and women, because of their non-belief, at the same time she is reborn (Pope Benedict)
Ci sono anche cadute gravi, pericolose, e dobbiamo riconoscere con sano realismo che così non va, non va dove si fanno cose sbagliate. Ma anche essere sicuri, allo stesso tempo, che se qua e là la Chiesa muore a causa dei peccati degli uomini, a causa della loro non credenza, nello stesso tempo, nasce di nuovo (Papa Benedetto)
Let us look at them together, not only because they are always placed next to each other in the lists of the Twelve (cf. Mt 10: 3, 4; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13), but also because there is very little information about them, apart from the fact that the New Testament Canon preserves one Letter attributed to Jude Thaddaeus [Pope Benedict]
Li consideriamo insieme, non solo perché nelle liste dei Dodici sono sempre riportati l'uno accanto all'altro (cfr Mt 10,4; Mc 3,18; Lc 6,15; At 1,13), ma anche perché le notizie che li riguardano non sono molte, a parte il fatto che il Canone neotestamentario conserva una lettera attribuita a Giuda Taddeo [Papa Benedetto]
Faith, as we have seen with Bartimaeus, is a cry [Pope Francis]. Pacify my soul, make it your Heaven, your beloved Dwelling Place, your Resting Place [Elizabeth of the Trinity]
La fede, lo abbiamo visto in Bartimeo, è grido; la non-fede è soffocare quel grido [Papa Francesco]. Pacifica la mia anima, rendila tuo Cielo, tua Dimora prediletta, Luogo del tuo riposo [Elisabetta della Trinità]
A “year” of grace: the period of Christ’s ministry, the time of the Church before his glorious return, an interval of our life (Pope Francis)
Un “anno” di grazia: il tempo del ministero di Cristo, il tempo della Chiesa prima del suo ritorno glorioso, il tempo della nostra vita (Papa Francesco)
The Church, having before her eyes the picture of the generation to which we belong, shares the uneasiness of so many of the people of our time (Dives in Misericordia n.12)
Avendo davanti agli occhi l'immagine della generazione a cui apparteniamo, la Chiesa condivide l'inquietudine di tanti uomini contemporanei (Dives in Misericordia n.12)

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