May 2, 2025 Written by 

What Person does not force us to be one-sided?

«Who shall we go to?». Faith, a critical sign (not attenuated)

(Jn 6:60-69)

 

A God on our level? «This Logos is sclerotic» (v.60) - as in: to imagine that the Most High identifies himself to the ‘least’ in everything is an incomprehensible and offensive position.

Can the Eternal recognize himself in a mere son of man?

Like his ministry in Judea, Jesus' last activity in Galilee ends in failure (v.66).

Even the disciples who taste the new Word are disappointed.

Many of the people sought him as a doer of miracles - continuing to be content with the dominant reference points, with the same material bread as ever.

Christ is not for continuing to adapt, but for consistent Nourishment. Here’s the crisis: it’s not lacking when we are faced with serious choices.

The Master had a different interpretation. And the “wedding” drama could not be resolved in comfortable parentheses.

Proposals such as the communion of goods, the choice of last place, the welcome given not only to the neighbors of the clan and so on, overturn the idea of ​​greatness and failure.

 

The question becomes intimate: «But do you also want to go away?» (v.67).

Peter responds in the plural, expressing the Faith of the small group that takes risks, without too many keys of circumstance - and that can be ours.

The Galilee crisis is not a pale historical memory, but a watershed at the center of which we all are - every day. A persistent event, which divides us from easy enthusiasm, but leads the authentic journey.

Accepting this conclusive challenge, it changes the boundaries of the narrow world that entangles the soul, thus the course of existence... even the ambitious one of the disciples who perhaps did not want the inconveniences of another 'kingdom'.

The ranks are thinning, the choices no longer obvious, the voices are many [and so the half measures]. The once safe place is undermined.

Is it worth being consistent? Isn't it better to adapt to power relations or fashions?

 

Faith unites us with the Lord, Listening gives the right position, and the intertwining of natures, human and divine, is produced in the Eucharist.

Deep aspirations lead beyond calculations and the natural order. In us, the incarnation and action of the only Guide who can be trusted continues.

The purity of truth doesn’t break, rather it pours out.

 

Faced with hardship in the desert, the people had doubted the divine presence [«in the midst of us»].

The same were happening in the Johannine communities of the end of the first century, which questioned themselves about the presence of the Risen One in the ‘breaking of bread’.

Some had left the church to return to the «onions of Egypt».

In the area of ​​Ephesus there was no lack of well-being and attractions - guaranteed and sanctified by pagan religiosity.

The same devout life polarized around the economic inducement of the Artemis’ Temple - transformed into one of the major banks of the ancient East - guaranteed a carefree existence and a much more "solid" and showy quality of life than the humble Eucharistic sign.

What could those crumbs were worth compared to one of the seven Wonders of the ancient world?

 

With Jesus there remains only a small group, which however is more intimate - and the right question is asked:

Is it also dignified not to be first in the class, and "winners"?

Who... knows how to value history, and every path, even defections?

What Person does not force us to be one-sided?

 

 

[Saturday 3rd wk. in Easter, May 10, 2025]

623 Last modified on Saturday, 10 May 2025 11:59
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".

May we obtain this gift [the full unity of all believers in Christ] through the Apostles Peter and Paul, who are remembered by the Church of Rome on this day that commemorates their martyrdom and therefore their birth to life in God. For the sake of the Gospel they accepted suffering and death, and became sharers in the Lord's Resurrection […] Today the Church again proclaims their faith. It is our faith (Pope John Paul II)
Ci ottengano questo dono [la piena unità di tutti i credenti in Cristo] gli Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, che la Chiesa di Roma ricorda in questo giorno, nel quale si fa memoria del loro martirio, e perciò della loro nascita alla vita in Dio. Per il Vangelo essi hanno accettato di soffrire e di morire e sono diventati partecipi della risurrezione del Signore […] Oggi la Chiesa proclama nuovamente la loro fede. E' la nostra fede (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Family is the heart of the Church. May an act of particular entrustment to the heart of the Mother of God be lifted up from this heart today (John Paul II)
La famiglia è il cuore della Chiesa. Si innalzi oggi da questo cuore un atto di particolare affidamento al cuore della Genitrice di Dio (Giovanni Paolo II)
The liturgy interprets for us the language of Jesus’ heart, which tells us above all that God is the shepherd (Pope Benedict)
La liturgia interpreta per noi il linguaggio del cuore di Gesù, che parla soprattutto di Dio quale pastore (Papa Benedetto)
In the heart of every man there is the desire for a house [...] My friends, this brings about a question: “How do we build this house?” (Pope Benedict)
Nel cuore di ogni uomo c'è il desiderio di una casa [...] Amici miei, una domanda si impone: "Come costruire questa casa?" (Papa Benedetto)
Try to understand the guise such false prophets can assume. They can appear as “snake charmers”, who manipulate human emotions in order to enslave others and lead them where they would have them go (Pope Francis)
Chiediamoci: quali forme assumono i falsi profeti? Essi sono come “incantatori di serpenti”, ossia approfittano delle emozioni umane per rendere schiave le persone e portarle dove vogliono loro (Papa Francesco)
Every time we open ourselves to God's call, we prepare, like John, the way of the Lord among men (John Paul II)
Tutte le volte che ci apriamo alla chiamata di Dio, prepariamo, come Giovanni, la via del Signore tra gli uomini (Giovanni Paolo II)
Paolo VI stated that the world today is suffering above all from a lack of brotherhood: “Human society is sorely ill. The cause is not so much the depletion of natural resources, nor their monopolistic control by a privileged few; it is rather the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations” (Pope Benedict)
Paolo VI affermava che il mondo soffre oggi soprattutto di una mancanza di fraternità: «Il mondo è malato. Il suo male risiede meno nella dilapidazione delle risorse o nel loro accaparramento da parte di alcuni, che nella mancanza di fraternità tra gli uomini e tra i popoli» (Papa Benedetto)
Dear friends, this is the perpetual and living heritage that Jesus has bequeathed to us in the Sacrament of his Body and his Blood. It is an inheritance that demands to be constantly rethought and relived so that, as venerable Pope Paul VI said, its "inexhaustible effectiveness may be impressed upon all the days of our mortal life" (Pope Benedict)

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