Sep 30, 2025 Written by 

Teach us to pray: the ‘Cross-inside’

Gaze no longer positioned outside

Lk 11:1-13 (v.4c)

 

«When you pray, do not babble like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their wordiness» (Mt 6:7; cf. Lk 11:1).

The God of religions was named with an overabundance of high-sounding honorific epithets, as if he craved ever more numerous ranks of incensers.

The «Father» is not accompanied by prestigious titles. A child doesn’t address the parent as a very high, eternal and omnipotent, but the a reliable family Person who transmits life to him.

And the son doesn’t imagine that he has to offer external cries and acknowledgments: the Father looks at needs, not merits.

 

«Et ne nos inducas in tentationem»: ancient Prayer of the sons.

 

«Do not induce us [Lead us not into]» is (in the Latin and Greek sense: «until the end») an ancient Symbol of the ‘reborn in Christ’, in the experience of real life.

In religions there are clearly opposed demons and angels: disordered and dark powers, contrary to the bright and "right" ones.

But by dint of relegating the former, the worst continually resurface, until they win the game and spread.

In the lives of the saints we see these great women and men strangely always under temptation - because they disdain evil, therefore they do not know it.

Gradually, however, the little constant naggings becomes overwhelming crowds.

 

The persons of Faith do not act according to pre-established and superficial models, not even religious ones; they are aware that they are not heroes or paradigm phenomena.

That's why they rely on. They let intimate problems go by: understood its strength!

This is the meaning of the formula of the Our Father, in its original sense: «and lead us not into [the end of] temptation [trial] (because we know our weakness)».

If, on the other hand, our 'counterpart' becomes a protagonist, a one-sided pivot, a constant afterthought, and a block, we’re done for.

 

Pain, failures, sadness, frustrations, weaknesses, a thousand anxieties, too many falls, accustom us to experience transgressions as part of ourselves: Condition to be evaluated, not "guilt" to be cut horizontally.

In the process of true salvific transmutation, that signal speaks of us: within a deviation or the eccentricity there is a secret or a knowledge to be found, for a ‘new personal birth’.

Looking at the discomforts and oppositions, we realize that these critical sides of being become like a malleable magma, which approaches our healing more quickly. As if through a permanent, radical conversion… because it involves and belongs to us; not in peripheral mode, but basically, of Seed and Nature.

Absorbed patterns and beliefs don’t allow us to understand that the passionate life is composed of opposing states, of competitive energies - which must not be disguised in order to be considered decent people.

 

Perceiving and integrating such depths, we lay down the idea and atmosphere of impending danger, devoid of further opportunity; only for death.

We become mature, without dissociation or hysterical states resulting from contrived identifications, nor disesteem for an important part of us.

In short, straits and "crosses" have something to tell us.

They shake the soul to the root, sweep away the absorbed masks, ignite the person, and save the life.

In this way, inconveniences and anxieties help us. They hide capabilities and possibilities that we do not yet see.

In the virtue of the shaky yet unique exceptionality for each person, here is the true journey opening up.

Path of the Father and of the heart, Way that wants to guide us to alternative trajectories, new dimensions of existence.

 

The difference of the Faith, compared to ancient religiosity [in the sense of the ‘Cross-inside’]?

It’s in the consciousness that only the sick heal, only the incomplete grow.

Only the halting women and men regain expression, evolve. And falling, they snap forward.

 

 

[Wednesday 27th wk. in O.T.  October 8, 2025]

259 Last modified on Wednesday, 08 October 2025 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".

Are we disposed to let ourselves be ceaselessly purified by the Lord, letting Him expel from us and the Church all that is contrary to Him? (Pope Benedict)
Siamo disposti a lasciarci sempre di nuovo purificare dal Signore, permettendoGli di cacciare da noi e dalla Chiesa tutto ciò che Gli è contrario? (Papa Benedetto)
Jesus makes memory and remembers the whole history of the people, of his people. And he recalls the rejection of his people to the love of the Father (Pope Francis)
Gesù fa memoria e ricorda tutta la storia del popolo, del suo popolo. E ricorda il rifiuto del suo popolo all’amore del Padre (Papa Francesco)
Ecclesial life is made up of exclusive inclinations, and of tasks that may seem exceptional - or less relevant. What matters is not to be embittered by the titles of others, therefore not to play to the downside, nor to fear the more of the Love that risks (for afraid of making mistakes)
La vita ecclesiale è fatta di inclinazioni esclusive, e di incarichi che possono sembrare eccezionali - o meno rilevanti. Ciò che conta è non amareggiarsi dei titoli altrui, quindi non giocare al ribasso, né temere il di più dell’Amore che rischia (per paura di sbagliare).
Zacchaeus wishes to see Jesus, that is, understand if God is sensitive to his anxieties - but because of shame he hides (in the dense foliage). He wants to see, without being seen by those who judge him. Instead the Lord looks at him from below upwards; Not vice versa
Zaccheo desidera vedere Gesù, ossia capire se Dio è sensibile alle sue ansie - ma per vergogna si nasconde nel fitto fogliame. Vuole vedere, senza essere visto da chi lo giudica. Invece il Signore lo guarda dal basso in alto; non viceversa
The story of the healed blind man wants to help us look up, first planted on the ground due to a life of habit. Prodigy of the priesthood of Jesus
La vicenda del cieco risanato vuole aiutarci a sollevare lo sguardo, prima piantato a terra a causa di una vita abitudinaria. Prodigio del sacerdozio di Gesù.
Firstly, not to let oneself be fooled by false prophets nor to be paralyzed by fear. Secondly, to live this time of expectation as a time of witness and perseverance (Pope Francis)
Primo: non lasciarsi ingannare dai falsi messia e non lasciarsi paralizzare dalla paura. Secondo: vivere il tempo dell’attesa come tempo della testimonianza e della perseveranza (Papa Francesco)
O Signore, fa’ che la mia fede sia piena, senza riserve, e che essa penetri nel mio pensiero, nel mio modo di giudicare le cose divine e le cose umane (Papa Paolo VI)
O Lord, let my faith be full, without reservations, and let penetrate into my thought, in my way of judging divine things and human things (Pope Paul VI)
«Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it; but he who loses will keep it alive» (Lk 17:33)
«Chi cercherà di conservare la sua vita, la perderà; ma chi perderà, la manterrà vivente» (Lc 17,33)
«And therefore, it is rightly stated that he [st Francis of Assisi] is symbolized in the figure of the angel who rises from the east and bears within him the seal of the living God» (FS 1022)
«E perciò, si afferma, a buon diritto, che egli [s. Francesco d’Assisi] viene simboleggiato nella figura dell’angelo che sale dall’oriente e porta in sé il sigillo del Dio vivo» (FF 1022)
This is where the challenge for your life lies! It is here that you can manifest your faith, your hope and your love! [John Paul II at the Tala Leprosarium, Manila]
È qui la sfida per la vostra vita! È qui che potete manifestare la vostra fede, la vostra speranza e il vostro amore! [Giovanni Paolo II al Lebbrosario di Tala, Manilla]

Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 1 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 2 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 3 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 4 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 5 Dialogo e Solstizio I fiammiferi di Maria

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