Sep 9, 2025 Written by 

One 'character', or the Son of Man

Stubbornness

(Lk 7:31-35)

 

The Gospels break through, advance and liberate, making us realize the enormous difference between common religious belief, and Faith.

They emancipate us by overturning positions: those who used to feel defended and secure - or on the crest of the wave [fashionable] - now seem to understand nothing of God's action in us.

As the ‘providence of the new’ makes its way in, those who are tied to stagnant or fanciful forms stubbornly try to cling to them in order to curb the authenticities - which are nonetheless rampant.

The new leaders of the people and the veterans feel lost, as they begin to measure the hollowness of their arrogance, the futility of their prestige, the childish incoherence of their pathetic pretexts.

Capricious children always complain when they don't get a prominent place in the games, or when others don't do what they themselves say.

 

The Baptist was an eminent herald, called to the realization of God's plan [known because of his peculiar figure, perhaps more prone to renunciation].

But the preconception of mortification did not fit: therefore, a nuisance to be rejected.

The ‘Son of man’ was more sympathetic, expressive and welcoming; he did not make an issue of purity [so he too was an exaggerator]: to be insulted and condemned.

The austere and penitent was judged the equal of a demoniac; the young Rabbi who invited joy, a laxer.

For the gravediggers of the holy city, John was too demanding, Jesus too broad in ideas and behaviour.

Spoilt kids do not even agree in the game, and stubbornly stand their ground.

The incontentatible children reject every proposal: they always have to retort.

The austere way of the desert seemed unreasonable.

The Lord, on the other hand, lived among people, accepted invitations and did not try to appear different from others - but his affable and simple style was considered too ordinary and accessible [for one sent by God].

 

«Yet Wisdom has been justified by all sons» (v.35 Greek text); i.e. the little ones read the sign of the times.

The 'sons' recognise divine Wisdom, they see his plan.

They grasp the plan of Salvation in the preaching of the Baptist and the Christ.

They do not have too much ‘control’ over things; they are spontaneous friends with them.

They are aware of limitations and strengths; they even learn from subordinate positions, and from dark sides; they learn from fears.

They overcome the spiritual immobility of the great experts, critical of every breeze of change, or too abstract and sophisticated.

Both of which settle themselves and rule - generating a radically impoverished humanity.

They are like puerile and uncontactable figures, who neither get up nor move: «sitting» (v.32).

They trample, violate, jam everything.

 

Everywhere, the ‘chosen ones’ remain indifferent or annoyed, because they are, grasp and understand “one thing only”.

They never close their ‘character’ to open another, or to explore different sides of themselves and the world. Their souls are starched.

Instead, he who does not have a closed heart is anticipating the Coming of a new Kingdom, is grasping his own eternal face.

 

 

[Wednesday 24th wk. in O.T.  September 17, 2025]

252 Last modified on Wednesday, 17 September 2025 12:02
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)
Man rightly fears falling victim to an oppression that will deprive him of his interior freedom, of the possibility of expressing the truth of which he is convinced, of the faith that he professes, of the ability to obey the voice of conscience that tells him the right path to follow [Dives in Misericordia, n.11]
L'uomo ha giustamente paura di restar vittima di una oppressione che lo privi della libertà interiore, della possibilità di esternare la verità di cui è convinto, della fede che professa, della facoltà di obbedire alla voce della coscienza che gli indica la retta via da seguire [Dives in Misericordia, n.11]
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)
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)
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]
Bernard of Clairvaux coined the marvellous expression: Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis - God cannot suffer, but he can suffer with (Spe Salvi, n.39)
Bernardo di Chiaravalle ha coniato la meravigliosa espressione: Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis – Dio non può patire, ma può compatire (Spe Salvi, n.39)
Pride compromises every good deed, empties prayer, creates distance from God and from others. If God prefers humility it is not to dishearten us: rather, humility is the necessary condition to be raised (Pope Francis)
La superbia compromette ogni azione buona, svuota la preghiera, allontana da Dio e dagli altri. Se Dio predilige l’umiltà non è per avvilirci: l’umiltà è piuttosto condizione necessaria per essere rialzati (Papa Francesco)
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)

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