Between corpses and vultures: different ones in depth

(Lk 17:26-37)

There is a very simple essential discernment: where life is extinguished, not fostered, not cheered nor promoted, the earth becomes an early graveyard, and 'heaven' is populated with whole flocks of vultures.

Photograph of the ageing, stagnant, (accustomed) spiritual monopoly of the West, which no longer makes anything bloom.

It is the bitter result of a religious structure that is perhaps devout, certainly adept at satisfying the senses, but indolent; certainly capillary, expert, and pronouncing on everything, but disjointed in parochialisms of all kinds.

A spectacular institution, yet folded, inwardly estranged and sometimes hostile [which extinguishes the creative urge and does not mix with the hopes of today's woman and man]; from which, unfortunately, the clear presence of the One who clothed the world in Beauty does not transpire. 

The hierarchical pyramid on the ground remains exaggerated, perhaps for the very purpose of self-validation, tightening ranks to make a better body.

The resulting mentality appears totally inert: unable to make us - we voiceless ones - recognise ourselves as the real Reason and End of God's initiative. Even the only authentic Sanctuaries.

We should be living and speaking Relations, filling the heart with dreams. And centres of irradiation, icons of full fulfilment; places of passions that are not static, but respectful of the intimate nature of things.

Conversely, we catch around us flashes of life, yes, young and exuberant and trying to blossom, but obscurely suffocated by too many ties, past or disembodied ideas, established group interests, and overlords.

Here is the crisis of meaning, the truly human time that is failing; as in an anticipation of perdition - out of perspective with the Father, the lover of life.

Convictions and pastoral proposal seem incapable of constituting: they do not hold up, they pale, they do not affect, they do not seek uniqueness.

All this, in spite of the (distracted) army of institutional and capillary realities, which sucks vocations even from lands in the midst of Mission.

All the more reason to start building a profoundly different ecclesiality, one that does not expect to be merely fed by the programmes of professionals of the sacred.

Kingdom of God starting from real life bare and raw; yet, with magic within: befriending what is in each one's journey.

Here there is a more subtle discernment - a feature of today's Gospel passage: the Judgement comes as a surprise.

The smallest problems of everyday existence (the nostalgias of the traditionalists, like the same disembodied ideas of the sophisticates) can become so absorbing that we lose the very sense of imperfection - and in general, the dimension of depth.

The frontiers of the Kingdom are in the world, in people, in their grievances and joys, in happenings - if read as turning points.

Not in convocations where circles of initiates self-represent themselves with a plethora of signs unsupported by life.

The place of 'Judgement' is everywhere.

Especially outside the sacristies: "we want to be a Church that serves, that leaves home, that leaves its temples, its sacristies, to accompany life, sustain hope, be a sign of unity [...] to build bridges, break down walls, sow reconciliation" [from a September 2015 homily in Santiago de Cuba, cited in: Brothers All n.276].

Jesus' invitation is not to be distracted, not even by the minutiae of religiosity.

The manifestation of the end times - that is, the possibility of starting a new world - continually comes: it must be received and made aware.

Kept alive personally.

The decisive Encounter does not happen in prearranged spaces and times: it recurs in a thousand guises, moments and places, but - here is the other salient fact - there are some who become aware, others do not.

The 'division' between those who are associated with the divine life and those who cannot be, does not concern ethics on capital vices, but rather living discernment

It is about even minute reality (vv.31.34-35) and its message - what the person of Faith feels is indestructible consistency, and is total self-revelation.

Without the turning point Faith, the alienating cultic sense fills humanity with appearances, with garments that have become masks and dross - incapable by now of questioning us. Devastating attitude.

Devotion then, which only cares for details or grand visions of the world and shoots straight, fights the reversals of existence and does not grasp its appeals, its richness for us.

Even in the time of the emergency, the leaps forward, the malaise of habituation or petty error, are stopping even the most exuberant spiritual festivals where they were.

That is, in the graves in which we have willingly allowed ourselves to be buried, and we can see this dramatically.The union with Christ pulsating in the soul, and dreaming - everyone's intimate Brother and dazzling measure of much more - wants to open up the Vision to us.

A Vision of alternative heavens and earth. A vision today often enraptured by vain expectations of restoration to 'the way we were'.

We also read it in our hearts in revolt, which want to awaken us from the loculi and the dictatorship of pre-packaged thoughts.

The hidden self thirsts to understand the appeal of the summary, of the 'defects', the call of the two-facedness of situations.

Duplicities that are unfortunately scarcely cultivated in the congealed or one-sided realities, those without prodigy, and which we do not want.

The 'symmetries' that seemed so reassuring do not grow virtues, within weaknesses.

Here then comes the sting of annoyances, even epochal ones: the idea of perfection would not do us as much to shift our gaze, to exodus, to grow, to flourish.

The active 'Judgement' in Christ, on the other hand, conveys the ability to grasp a scenario that we did not know, and to overturn a whole vintage, accustomed approach to existence.

Even reacting suddenly (v.31).

In short, Jesus is calling his own not to walk on air:

Many pious conquests will be at a loss. Many risks of love, both in ordinary and extraordinary events, will be calculated at "gain".

In this way we will be ready to receive the God-in-One.

This is true both in our relations with men, and in the signs of the times and personal events.

We will not be caught unawares by retrospective thinking alone - or the result of opposing attachments - which is satisfied with external practicalities, but does not watch.

The advent of the "Son of Man" (vv.26.30) calls into question. And his Judgement overpowers the distracted, the contracted by habit; with no more capacity for deep reading and intuition.

The Lord conversely grasps the core of existence.

His theology of Incarnation wants to create alliance between our varied primordial powers [all genuine in themselves].

We will thus be recognised as different [living or not]... not in the mannerisms or petty places of 'morality' (vv.31.34).

Not even in the laborious (epidermal) elaboration of the admitted virtues: 'He who seeks to keep his life will lose it; but he who loses it will keep it alive' (Lk 17.33).

All this, rather, in the depth of perception.

To internalise and live the message:

Are you being coached by others or are you edifying yourself and your understanding?

Do you feel secure for assuming the dreams, virtues, hopes, successes of others? That is, for having experienced and recognised them - as a true love story - yourself?

What profound difference do you bring with you in the time of attachments and upheavals?

Love embraces the whole of existence in each of its dimensions, including the dimension of time. It could hardly be otherwise, since its promise looks towards its definitive goal: love looks to the eternal. Love is indeed “ecstasy”, not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God: “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Lk 17:33), as Jesus says throughout the Gospels (cf. Mt 10:39; 16:25; Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24; Jn 12:25). In these words, Jesus portrays his own path, which leads through the Cross to the Resurrection: the path of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and in this way bears much fruit. Starting from the depths of his own sacrifice and of the love that reaches fulfilment therein, he also portrays in these words the essence of love and indeed of human life itself.

[Pope Benedict, Deus Caritas est, n.6]

Psalm 11[10]
A prayer of trust to the Lord
who is not indifferent to right and wrong

1. We continue our reflection on the Psalms, which comprise the essential element of the Liturgy of Vespers. We have just made ring out in our hearts Psalm 11[10], a brief prayer of trust that, in the original Hebrew, is studded with the holy name 'Adonaj, the Lord. This name echoes at the beginning (cf. v. 1), is found three times at the heart of the Psalm (cf. vv. 4-5), and returns at the end (cf. v. 7). 

The spiritual key of the entire psalm is well-expressed in the concluding verse:  "For the Lord is just, he loves just deeds". This is the root of all trust and the source of all hope on the day of darkness and trial. God is not indifferent to right and wrong:  he is a good God and not a dark, incomprehensible, mysterious destiny. 

2. The psalm unfolds substantially in two scenes: in the first (cf. vv. 1-3), the wicked man is described in his apparent victory. He is portrayed in the guise of a warrior or hunter:  the evildoer bends his long or hunter's bow to violently strike his victim, that is, the just one (cf. v. 2). The latter, therefore, is tempted by the thought of escape to free himself from such a merciless fate. He would rather flee "to the mountain like a bird" (v. 1), far from the vortex of evil, from the onslaught of the wicked, from the slanderous darts launched by treacherous sinners. 

There is a kind of discouragement in the faithful one who feels alone and powerless before the irruption of evil. The pillars of a just social order seem shaken, and the very foundations of human society undermined (cf. v. 3). 

3. Now, the turning point comes in sight, outlined in the second scene (cf. vv. 4-7). The Lord, seated on the heavenly throne, takes in the entire human horizon with his penetrating gaze. From that transcendent vantage point, sign of the divine omniscience and omnipotence, God is able to search out and examine every person, distinguishing the righteous from the wicked and forcefully condemning injustice (cf. vv. 4-5). 

The image of the divine eye whose pupil is fixed and attentive to our actions is very evocative and consoling. The Lord is not a distant king, closed in his gilded world, but rather is a watchful Presence who sides with goodness and justice. He sees and provides, intervening by word and action. 

The righteous person foresees that, as happened in Sodom (cf. Gn 19: 24), the Lord makes "rain upon the wicked fiery coals and brimstone" (Ps 11[10]: 6), symbols of God's justice that purifies history, condemning evil. The wicked man, struck by this burning rain - a prefiguration of his final destiny - finally experiences that "there is a God who is judge on earth!" (Ps 58[57]: 12). 

4. The Psalm, however, does not end with this tragic image of punishment and condemnation. The final verse opens onto a horizon of light and peace intended for the righteous one who contemplates his Lord, a just Judge, but especially a merciful liberator:  "the upright shall see his face" (Ps 11[10]: 7). This is an experience of joyful communion and of serene trust in God who frees from evil. 

Down through history, countless righteous people have had a similar experience. Many stories tell of the trust of Christian martyrs during torment and their steadfastness that kept them firm in trial. 

In the Atti de Euplo, the deacon martyr from Sicily who died around 304 A.D. under the rule of Diocletian spontaneously exclaims in this sequence of prayers:  "Thank you, O Christ:  shield me as I suffer for you.... I adore the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I adore the Holy Trinity.... Thank you, O Christ. Come to my aid, O Christ! For you I suffer, Christ.... Great is your glory, O Lord, in the servants whom you count worthy to call to yourself!... I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, because your strength has comforted me; you have not permitted my soul to be lost with the evildoers and you have given me the grace of your name. Now confirm what you have done in me, so that the shameless enemy is put to confusion" (cf. A. Hamman, Preghiere dei Primi Cristiani, Milan, 1955, pp. 72-73).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 28 January 2004]

"Thinking about our death is not a bad fantasy"; indeed, living each day well as if it were "the last", and not as if this life were "a normality" that lasts forever, may help us to be truly ready when the Lord calls. It is an invitation to serenely recognise the essential truth of our existence that Pope Francis reiterated in the Mass celebrated on Friday morning, 17 November, at Santa Marta.

"In these last two weeks of the liturgical year," he immediately pointed out, "the Church in the readings, in the Mass, makes us reflect on the end". On the one hand, of course, "the end of the world, because the world will collapse, it will be transformed" and there will be "the coming of Jesus, at the end". But, on the other hand, the Church also speaks of 'the end of each of us, because each of us, will die: the Church, as mother, teacher, wants each of us to think about our own death'.

"To me," the Pontiff confided, referring to the Gospel passage from Luke (17:26-37), "what Jesus says in this passage we have read attracts our attention". In particular his answer "when they ask what the end of the world will be like". But in the meantime, the Pope relaunched, following the Lord's words, "let us think about how my end will be". In the Gospel Jesus uses the expressions "as it also happened in the days of Noah" and "as it also happened in the days of Lot". To say, he explained, that men "in those days ate, drank, took wives, took husbands, until the day that Noah entered the ark". And, again, 'as also happened in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built'.

Here, however, continued the Pope, comes "the day when the Lord rains down fire and brimstone from heaven". In short, 'there is normality, life is normal,' Francis pointed out, 'and we are used to this normality: I get up at six, I get up at seven, I do this, I do this job, I visit this tomorrow, Sunday is a holiday, I do this'. And 'so we are used to living a normality of life and we think that this will always be so'. But it will be, the Pontiff added, 'until the day that Noah went up on the ark, until the day that the Lord caused fire and brimstone to fall from heaven'.

For surely "a day will come when the Lord will say to each one of us: 'come'", the Pontiff recalled. And "the call for some will be sudden, for others it will be after an illness, in an accident: we do not know". But 'the call will be there and it will be a surprise: not God's last surprise, after this there will be another - the surprise of eternity - but it will be God's surprise for each of us'.

Regarding the end, he continued, "Jesus has a phrase, we read it yesterday in the Mass: it will be 'like the thunderbolt that shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will be the Son of Man on his day', the day that will knock at our door".

"We are accustomed to this normality of life," Francis continued, "and we think it will always be like this". However, "the Lord, and the Church, says to us in these days: stop a little, stop, it will not always be like this, one day it will not be like this, one day you will be taken away and what is next to you will be left".

"Lord, when will be the day when I will be taken away?": precisely "this," the Pope suggested, "is the question that the Church invites us to ask today and tells us: stop a little and think about your death". This is the meaning of the phrase quoted by Francis, placed at the entrance "in a cemetery, in the north of Italy: 'Pilgrim, you who are passing, think about your steps, the last step'". Because "there will be a last" step.

"This living the normality of life as if it were an eternal thing, an eternity - the Pope explained - is also seen in funeral vigils, in ceremonies, in funeral honours: many times the people who are really involved with that dead person, for whom we pray, are few".

And so 'a wake has usually turned into a social event: "Where are you going today?" - "Today I have to go and do this, this, then to the cemetery because there is the ceremony"". It thus becomes 'one more fact and there we meet friends, we talk: the dead person is there but we talk: normal'. So 'even that transcendent moment, for the way of walking of habitual life, becomes a social fact'. And 'this,' Francis confided, 'I have seen in my homeland: in some funeral wakes there is a reception service, one eats, one drinks, the dead person is there: but here we do a little, I do not say "party", but we talk, mundanely; it is an extra gathering, not to think'.

"Today," the Pontiff affirmed, "the Church, the Lord, with that goodness that he has, says to each one of us: stop, stop, not every day will be like this; do not get used to it as if this were eternity; there will be a day that you will be taken away, the other will remain, you will be taken away. In short, so 'it is to go with the Lord, to think that our life will come to an end, and this is good because we can think it at the beginning of the work: today may be the last day, I don't know, but I will do the work well'. And I will also 'do' well 'in relationships at home, with my parents, with my family: doing well, maybe it will be the last day, I don't know'. We must think the same, Francis continued, "even when we go for a medical examination: will this be one more or will it be the beginning of the last visits?"

"Thinking about death is not an ugly fantasy, it is a reality," the Pontiff insisted, explaining, "Whether it is ugly or not is up to me, how I think about it, but it will be there and there will be the encounter with the Lord: this will be the beauty of death, it will be the encounter with the Lord, it will be he who will come to meet me, it will be he who will say 'come, come, blessed by my Father, come with me'". There is no use saying: "But, Lord, wait, I have to fix this, this". Because anyway "you can't fix anything: on that day whoever will be on the terrace and will have left his things in the house will not come down: where you are, they will take you, you will leave everything".

But 'we will have the Lord, this is the beauty of the encounter', the Pope reassured. "The other day," he added, "I found a priest, more or less 65 years old: he was not feeling well, he went to the doctor", who "after the visit" "told him: 'Look, you have this, this is a bad thing, but maybe we are in time to stop it, we will do this; if you do not stop we will do this other and if you do not stop we will start walking and I will accompany you to the end'". Therefore, Francis commented, 'bravo to that doctor! How sweetly he spoke the truth: let us also accompany each other on this road, let us go together, let us work, let us do good and everything, but always looking there'.

"Let us do this today," the Pope concluded, because "it will do us all good to stop a little and think about the day when the Lord will come to visit me, will come to take me to go to him."

[Pope Francis, s. Marta, in L'Osservatore Romano 18/11/2017]

The Coming of the Kingdom neither above nor in front

(Lk 17:20-25)

The theme of the Son of Man coming is pre-Christian, and all the data of the text already appear in the Jewish apocalyptic literature. But in it the Eternal «will come» and "will show up" at the end of time.

However, the Father doesn’t govern the sons by issuing provisions as a sovereign would, but by transmitting his own Life of indestructible quality.

Therefore He doesn’t ask for obedience - like a king. He desires ‘similarity’.

It’s the Gift, and the know-how to read inside things, then our quality and relational commitment, that realize or decelerate the establishment of a new world, continually strengthened.

Nothing to do with predictions (v.20): it’s in the field the unexpected wisdom of the Gift, and the opposite "power" of God. Not of strength, not aggressive.

He himself stands not in front or above, but «in the middle». Nothing peremptory, overflowing, gigantic. Family Style.

«In the midst»: to enlighten all circumstances. To cohabit, to prepare, to take root in the hearts in a lovable, intimate, convincing way.

The coming of his Kingdom we won’t be able to admire it as a show.

The Presence of Fraternities in the world is woven with real life, not roles or vague narratives, sophisticated representations, or illusions.

Thus the Church will not be an anonymous and hostile society that astutely draws the maximum of "render".

The coming Community should not be part of the mundane situation, but should escape all predictability and limitation. 

The alternative Kingdom is of human condition, yet... ‘form’ that does not accept finitude as the only fate, nor is it adapted to our small measure of determinations and reassurances.

The Kingdom «in Persona Christi» shines a lucid and dreamy Energy, close and projective, which does not impose itself: animates the entire afflatus of creatures that put themselves in play.

Outside his ordinary circuits, the Lord does not ask for any glorious manifestation.

«The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way that it can be observed, nor will it be said: Here or there» [vv.20b-21a].

It’s not a question of the end of the world, but of the end of a certain model’s type of successful humanity - now intimate to the «Son of Man» (vv.22.24).

And the opportunity to overturn the concatenations [ancient or fashionable] presents itself at any moment; it flickers immediately (v.24).

All this brings the faithful into contact with the inner nature of the Kingdom. And in this way they know its wisdom, the hidden action that extracts fruitfulness from the chaotic sides.

Different veins, flowing of Spirit.

Otherwise it may even seem that God loses control of history.

And we, discouraged, put ourselves on one side of the road, watching intimidated, perhaps surrendered; hoping for the arrival of other things, external.

Instead, step by step his humanization project is realized - here - in all those who welcome the proposal to accentuate their lives, giving themselves.

No Domain.

To internalize and live the message:

How do you embody the prophecy of the ‘coming’ Messiah without ceasing? Do you personally respond or do you run after striking events?

[Thursday 32nd wk. in O.T.  November 14, 2024]

The Coming of the Kingdom not above nor in front

(Lk 17:20-25)

The theme of the coming of the Son of Man is pre-Christian, and all the data of the text already appear in the Jewish apocalyptic. But in it the Eternal One will come and will be seen at the end of time.

Then as now, according to the leaders of popular religiosity, the Kingdom would be established after all the people had come to perfect observance of the Law and traditions.

As a reward for our obedience, God would have granted the coming of the Messiah, and his people would have welcomed him [descended from the pinnacles or clouds] in a solemn manner, as one does a prince.

But in the Gospels the term Kingdom of God designates the sphere in which the Father 'reigns', i.e. the community of believers - where the future of the Lord on earth already breaks through in the logic and active power of Easter.

In it, a creative and regenerating Providence tirelessly intervenes, in the Persons and in the qualitative virtue of its People.

Through the authentic Church semper conformanda, life opens up to its Action - and our lives are radically transformed.

This is accomplished, both through Friendship in us and by casting Hope. Divinising lymph and Dream, which activates new configurations.

For the Father does not govern his children by issuing provisions as a sovereign would, but by transmitting his own Life of indestructible quality. 

Therefore, he does not ask for obedience - like a king - but for likeness.

It is the Gift, and knowing how to read into things, then our relational quality and commitment, that realise or decelerate the establishment of a new, continually replenished world.

Nothing to do with predictions (v.20): it is the unexpected wisdom of the Gift, and God's 'power' in reverse. Not forceful, not aggressive.

He himself places himself not in front of or above, but "in the midst". Nothing peremptory, overflowing, gigantic.

Thus his own who genuinely represent him.

The Father is not a leader; let alone one who can afford to legitimise exclusivist attitudes.

The latter can unfortunately be found in pyramid situations; in insulting choices made by some leaders, who, in order to feel like 'someone', always assign others to be behind or below [especially those who do not revere them].

On the contrary, God is equidistant from everyone, this is the criterion of evaluation - the only overriding attribute, the imperative of true leaders, the most forthright and transparent.

Family style.

In short, 'Heaven' does not dispose that some elected ones be allowed to place themselves near and above - others destined for the rear, discarded because they are less useful to the objectives.

There is no one who says he represents him and can make himself 'big', always in a dominant position. However high - and you small, always below.

On the contrary. "In the middle": to illuminate all circumstances.

To cohabit with women and men, like a bride; to prepare and take root in hearts in an amiable, intimate, convincing way.

The coming of his Kingdom we will not be able to admire as if it were a professional show - a spectacle of old or new elected officials in power, supported by office-bearers (and as many papier-mâché dummies, also scaling).

The Fraternities' presence in the world is woven of real life, not of roles or vague narratives, sophisticated representations or illusions.

Thus the Church will not be an anonymous and hostile society [more or less invoked] of sacred self-celebrations. Nor of meritorious works, or of strength - perhaps for some, of profit.

Nor, turbo-efficient agency, cunningly drawing the greatest 'return'.

The Community that Comes should not belong to the mundane, but escape all predictability and limitation. 

The alternative Kingdom is of the human condition, yet... a form that does not accept finitude as its sole destiny, nor does it adapt to our petty measure of determinacy and reassurance.

The Kingdom in Persona Christi shimmers a lucid and dreamy Energy, close and projective, which does not impose itself: it animates the entire afflatus of creatures who put themselves at stake.

Outside of its ordinary circuits, the Lord does not ask for any glorious manifestation of rich screens, archaic horizons or conversely disembodied; nor intolerance, disparity, detachment.

"The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way that it can be observed, nor will it be said, 'Here or there'" [vv.20b-21a, Greek text].

It is not about the end of the world, but the end of a certain type of successful model of humanity.

And the opportunity to overthrow the [ancient or fashionable] concatenations presents itself at any moment; it flickers immediately (v.24).

"For as the thunderbolt, shining from one end of the sky shines to the other end of the sky, so shall the Son of man be [in his day]".

Jesus is the authentic, sudden Dream of Jacob, which foreshadowed a vast descent; further unfolded (Gen 28:10-22) and become reality.

But no one would have expected the Messiah to be identified with the "Son of Man" (vv.22.24), the One who creates abundance where there is none - and previously it did not seem permissible to expand.

The new bond between God and human beings is in the Brother who becomes the "next of kin", who creates an atmosphere of humanisation with broad contours - not at all discriminating.

"Son of Man" is the one who, having reached the highest human fullness, comes to reflect the divine condition and radiates it widely - not selectively as expected.

"Succeeded Son": the Person with the definitive step, who in us aspires to the most dilated fullness in events and relationships, to an indestructible carat within each one who approaches [and encounters divine marks].

It is growth and humanisation of the people: the quiet, true and full development of the divine plan on humanity.

"Son of man" is therefore not a religious, guarded, controlled and reserved title, but an opportunity for all those who adhere to the Lord's proposal, and reinterpret life in a personal creative way.

They overcome the firm and proper summary boundaries, making room for the Gift; welcoming from Grace fullness of being and character, in its new unrepeatable tracks.

And we particularly precarious ones, feeling totally and undeservedly loved, discover other facets... we change the way we are with ourselves, and the way we read history.

Therefore, we can grow, realise ourselves, flourish, radiate the wholeness we have received - with no more closures.

With no more one-sided supremacy.

Here we are in Christ: from Son of David [the absolutely victorious military leader, who would impose the Law and subjugate the other nations] to 'Son of Man'.

As Card. Bassetti in commenting on the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, the Magisterium's most recent appeal is also a call to "shorten distances and not erect walls".

This brings the faithful into contact with the inner nature of the Kingdom. And in this way they come to know its wisdom, its hidden action - which extracts fruitfulness from the chaotic sides.

From other veins, even dissident ones, yet flowing with Spirit.

Otherwise, it can also appear that God loses control of history.

And we, discouraged, stand on one side of the road, watching intimidated, perhaps surrendered; hoping for the arrival of other, external things.

Instead, step by step his project of humanisation is realised - here - in all those who accept the proposal to accentuate their lives, giving of themselves.

No Dominion.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you incarnate the prophecy of the Messiah who comes without ceasing? Do you personally respond or do you run after striking events?

What do you consider to be the wrong paths or end-of-the-world fantasies that deaden the life of the Kingdom?

Speaking of God, we are touching precisely on the subject which, in Jesus' earthly preaching, was his main focus. The fundamental subject of this preaching is God's realm, the "Kingdom of God". This does not mean something that will come to pass at one time or another in an indeterminate future. Nor does it mean that better world which we seek to create, step by step, with our own strength. In the term "Kingdom of God", the word "God" is a subjective genitive. This means: God is not something added to the "Kingdom" which one might even perhaps drop. 

God is the subject. Kingdom of God actually means: God reigns. He himself is present and crucial to human beings in the world. He is the subject, and wherever this subject is absent, nothing remains of Jesus' message. 

Therefore, Jesus tells us: the Kingdom of God does not come in such a way that one may, so to speak, line the wayside to watch its arrival. "The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you!" (cf. Lk 17: 20ff.). 

It develops wherever God's will is done. It is present wherever there are people who are open to his arrival and so let God enter the world. Thus, Jesus is the Kingdom of God in person: the man in whom God is among us and through whom we can touch God, draw close to God. Wherever this happens, the world is saved.

[Pope Benedict, to the Roman Curia 22 December 2006]

Be the heart of Christ to love and pray, be the hands of Christ to work and serve

4. “EurHope”: Europe and Hope. You wanted to give this title to today's evocative vigil. In the term "EurHope" the words Europe and Hope are inseparably intertwined. It is a beautiful intuition, but also a singularly demanding one. It demands that you be men and women of hope: people who believe in the God of life and love, and proclaim with firm confidence that there is a future for mankind.

You are the young face of Europe. The future of the Continent, as of the whole world, belongs to you, if you know how to follow the path that Christ shows you. The secret is the same as always: it is Christ who died and rose again for the salvation of the world; it is the Cross of Christ. The Pope this evening entrusts you with this ancient and ever new secret: dear young people, follow him who "came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45). Be his hands and his heart, for your brothers and sisters: the heart to love and pray, the hands to work, build and serve. 

[Pope John Paul II, Meeting with young people at Loreto 9 September 1995]

There is a recurring question in Pope Francis' meditations during the masses he celebrated at Santa Marta, and it is the invitation to an examination of conscience: "How is my relationship with the Holy Spirit?". Also in his homily on Thursday 16 November, the Pontiff posed the question again with a particular declension: "Do I really believe that the Spirit makes the kingdom of God grow in me?".

In fact, the kingdom of God was the theme of the reflection that started from the passage in Luke's Gospel (17:20-25) in which the doctors of the law ask Jesus: "You preach the kingdom of God, but when will the kingdom of God come?". It is a question, the Pontiff explained, that also came from the "curiosity of many people", a "simple question that comes from a good heart, a disciple's heart". It is not by chance that it is a recurring request in the Gospel: for example, the Pope suggested, at that "very ugly, dark" moment when John the Baptist - who was in the dark in prison and "did not understand anything, distressed" - sends his disciples to say to the Lord: "But say: is it you or must we wait for someone else? Has the kingdom of God arrived or is it another?".

Doubt about 'when' often returns, as in the thief's 'impudent, haughty, wicked question': 'If it is you, come down from the cross', which expresses the 'curiosity' of 'when the kingdom of God comes'.

Jesus' answer is: "But the kingdom of God is in your midst". Thus for example, Francis recalled, "the kingdom of God was announced in the synagogue in Nazareth, that joyful announcement when Jesus reads that passage from Isaiah and ends by saying: 'Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your midst'". A happy and, above all, "simple" announcement. In fact, "the kingdom of God grows from within", so much so that Jesus himself explains it with the parable of the seed: "no one knows how", but God makes it grow. It is a kingdom that "grows from within, in secret or hidden like the gem or the treasure, but always in humility".

Here the Pontiff inserted the key passage of his meditation: "Who gives growth to that seed, who makes it sprout? God, the Holy Spirit who is in us'. A consideration that explains the coming of the kingdom with the Paraclete's way of working, which "is a spirit of meekness, of humility, of obedience, of simplicity". And it is the Spirit, the Pope added, "that makes the kingdom of God grow within, not pastoral plans, great things...".

It is, Francis said, a hidden action. The Spirit 'makes it grow and the time comes and the fruit appears'. An action that eludes full comprehension: 'Who was it, or was it,' the Pope asked himself, 'that sowed the seed of the kingdom of God in the heart of the good thief? Perhaps his mother when she taught him to pray? Perhaps a rabbi when he explained the law to him...'. What is certain is that although in life he forgot it, that seed, hidden, was made to grow at some point. All this happens because 'the kingdom of God is always a surprise, a surprise that comes' in that 'it is a gift given by the Lord'.

In his conversation with the doctors of the law, Jesus dwells on the characteristics of this silent action: "The kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to attract attention and no one will say: 'Here it is or there it is'". In fact, the Pontiff added, "the kingdom of God is not a show" or even "a carnival". It does not show itself 'with pride, with pride, it does not like publicity', but 'is humble, hidden and thus grows'.

A striking example comes from Mary. When people looked at her following Jesus, they hardly recognised her ('Ah, that's Mummy...'). She was 'the holiest woman', but because she was 'in secret', no one understood 'the mystery of the kingdom of God, the holiness of the kingdom of God'. And so, "when she was near her son's cross, people said, 'But poor woman with this criminal as a son, poor woman...'". No one understood, "no one knew".

The characteristic of hiddenness, the Pope explained, comes precisely from the Holy Spirit who is 'within us': it is he 'who makes the seed grow, makes it germinate until it bears fruit'. And we are all called to walk this path: 'it is a vocation, it is a grace, it is a gift, it is free, it cannot be bought, it is a grace that God gives us'.

This is why, the Pontiff concluded, it is good that "all of us baptised" who "have the Holy Spirit within us", ask ourselves: "How is my relationship with the Holy Spirit, the one who makes the kingdom of God grow in me?" We need to understand: "Do I really believe that the kingdom of God is in our midst, is it hidden, or do I like the show better?" It is necessary, he added, to pray to "the Spirit within us" to ask for the grace "to make the seed of the kingdom of God sprout in us and in the Church, with strength, so that it may become great, give shelter to so many people and bear fruits of holiness."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 17/11/2017]

Foreign glory, or religiosity giving birth to models and slaves

(LK 17:11-19)

According to the encyclical Brothers All, the custody of differences is the criterion of true fraternity, which does not annihilate the extrovert peaks.

In fact, even in a relationship of deep love and coexistence «we need to free ourselves from feeling that we all have to be alike» [Amoris Laetitia, n.139].

It will be surprising, but the meaning of the Gospel does not concern the thanks to do!

Jesus is not saddened by a lack of gratitude and good manners, but by the fact that only a stranger gives «glory to God» (v.15).

That is: he recognizes Him as his personal Lord - in a relationship, in fact, without mediation.

That personal «make-Eucharist» [...] «and fell on his face at his feet» (v.16 Greek text) has a strong, spousal meaning, of perfect reciprocity in the Way.

All within the horizon of a crucial - decisive - choice between exclusive quality life, or death.

Although marginalized by the "sacred precincts" of the Temple in the Holy City - the distant and rejected (considered bastards and enemies) immediately understand what does not disfigure the face of their humanity.

On closer inspection, in the third Gospel the models of the Faith are all "foreign": centurion, prostitute, hemorrhoid, blind; and so on.

They immediately perceive the signs of Life, signs of God!

Others more settled or attracted by normalities are content to be reintegrated into ancient and common religious practice, returning to the usual impersonal things, and to mass worship.

But those who allow themselves to be enslaved, lose track of themselves and of Christ (v.17). They become again a slave of the aligned, conventionalist mentality, not examined - and subject to ‘permanence’.

Instead, if recognized [as in the case of the Samaritan] a Presence in our favor makes us find, discover, and understand.

It proceeds unparalleled through all our moods - without remorse for duties that do not belong to us.

This Friendship makes us recover the fixed points of truly intimate human codes, strengthening - out of the line - both the system of self-recognition and the authentic and unrepeatable way of honoring God in our brothers and sisters.

In short, as we walk our very own Way with optimism and hope, we come to meet the living Christ; not to the hubbub of the [ancient or fashionable] Temple.

It no longer sends precious messages; it only notes down. It beats in the head, but does not touch us inside.

It will trap each one in a web of predictable thoughts, of enemy surveillance, induced customs; so on.

Regarding the essential divine readiness to grasp differences as wealth, we recall the teaching of the Sufi master Ibn Ata Allah, who upheld the unparalleled immediacy of the personal Colloquium - where wisdom of analysis and experience of mystical vertigo unite:

«He makes the enlightenment come upon you so that through it you may come to Him; He makes it come upon you to remove you from the hand of others; He makes it come upon you to free you from the slavery of creatures; He makes it come on you to bring you out of the prison of your existence towards the Heaven of the contemplation of Him».

New, full, and definitive Life.

People of Faith detach themselves from external religious identity: they dream, love and invent roads; they deviate and do not follow an already traced path.

[Wednesday 32nd wk. in O.T.  November 13, 2024]