Undeviating Happiness

(Mt 5:17-19)

In the early congregations, some believers believed that First Testament regulations should no longer be considered, since we are saved by Faith and not by works of Law.

Others accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but resented the excess of freedom with which some church brothers experienced his Presence in Spirit.

Still tied to an ideal ethnic background, they felt that the ancient observance was obligatory.

Precisely under the guise of "life in the Spirit", there was no shortage of believers enraptured by an excess of fantasies (personal or group), believed to be "inspired".

Some with an easy-going mentality, prone to compromise with power, denied the Hebrew Scriptures and considered themselves disengaged from history: they no longer looked at the story of Jesus.

Mt sought a balance between compromising emancipation and closure in observances, believing that communal experience could achieve harmony between different sensibilities.

He writes his Gospel precisely to support converts to the Faith in Christ in the communities of Galilee and Syria, accused by their Judaizing brethren of being unfaithful to the Torah.

The evangelist makes it clear that Jesus himself had been accused of serious transgressions of the Law of Moses.

The Torah arrow was shot in the right direction, but only in the Spirit of the Beatitudes can a living assembly gain momentum to reach the ideal goal: Communion.

Matthew is at pains to emphasise that the ancient Scriptures, the historical story of Jesus, and life in the Spirit are to be valued as inseparable aspects of a single plan of salvation.

Lived in synergy, they lead to the fruitful coexistence and conviviality of differences.

The God of the patriarchs makes himself present in the loving relationship of the communities, through the Faith in Christ that expands his own life in their hearts.

The Living One transmits the Spirit that spurs all creativity, overcomes discouraging closures; he opens, and invites.

In short, in us Jesus of Nazareth becomes the living Body - and the taste for doing manifests Him (starting from the soul) in Person and full Faithfulness.

Reaching out to our brothers and sisters and going to God thus becomes agile, spontaneous, rich and very personal for everyone: the Strength comes from within, not from common ideas, legacies, seductions, mannerisms, or external urges.

To internalise and live the message:

Has the law in stone remained a rigid thing in you, or do you feel a new Covenant impulse?

Do you perceive within you an actualised and irresistible desire for good, which rediscovers everything of the Scriptures, and energises the Word in the various tastes of doing?

Demolish or completely Doing

Confronted with the precepts of the Law, different attitudes manifest themselves.

On the one hand, there are those who show attachment to the material sense of what is laid down; on the other, omission or disregard for the rules.

Jesus' teaching was so new and radical that it gave the impression of disregard and rejection of the Law. But in fact, rather than disagreeing with it, He was attentive to the spirit and deep meaning of the biblical-Judaic directives.

He did not intend to 'demolish' (v.17) the Torah, but he certainly avoided allowing himself to be minimised in the casuistry of morality.

Such an ethical obsession - still alive in the primitive fraternities - fragmented and crumbled the meaning of the basic choices, and made them all external, without focus.

This produced a de facto legalistic scleroticisation, which easily tended to equate the codes... with God.

But for the believer, his 'obligation' is at once affair, spirit of the Word, and Person: global following in those same incomparable appointments.

The believers in the communities of Galilee and Syria suffered criticism from the old-fashioned Jews.

These observant ones accused co-religionists converted to the new personal, creative Faith of being transgressors and contrary to the depth of the common Tradition.

Thus some emphasised salvation by faith alone in Christ and not by works of law. Others did not accept the Freedom that was growing in those who were beginning to believe in Jesus the Messiah.

New, more radical currents already wished to disregard His history and His Person, to get rid of them and take refuge in a generic "avant-garde" or "freedom of spirit" - without backbone, nor backbone or conjuncture.

Mt helps to understand the disagreement: the direction of the Arrow shot from the Judaic Scriptures is the right one, but it does not have a concordant and totally clear cue, nor the strength to reach the Target.

The evangelist harmonises the tensions, emphasising that authentic observance is not formal faithfulness [obedience of the "letter"].

The spirit of fundamental fulfilment does not allow one to put the total Christ and his travails in parentheses, perhaps then remaining neutral or indifferent dreamers.

Without reductions in the power of election, nor "putting down" (v. 17) the ways of being, ancient and identified or particular - He is present in the facets of the most diverse currents of thought.

New Words, ancient Words, and Spirit renewing the face of the earth, are part of one Design.

Only in the total fascination of the Risen One does our harvest come to complete life - the full objective of the Law - becoming forever.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you evaluate Pentateuch, Psalms and Prophets?

How do you deal with situations in harmony with the Voice of the Lord and in His Spirit?

“Stand firm in your faith!”  We have just heard the words of Jesus:  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:15-17a).  With these words Jesus reveals the profound link between faith and the profession of Divine Truth, between faith and dedication to Jesus Christ in love, between faith and the practice of a life inspired by the commandments.  All three dimensions of faith are the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit.  This action is manifested as an inner force that harmonizes the hearts of the disciples with the Heart of Christ and makes them capable of loving as he loved them.  Hence faith is a gift, but at the same time it is a task.

“He will give you another Counsellor – the Spirit of truth.”  Faith, as knowledge and profession of the truth about God and about man, “comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ”, as Saint Paul says (Rom 10:17).  Throughout the history of the Church, the Apostles preached the word of Christ, taking care to hand it on intact to their successors, who in their turn transmitted it to subsequent generations until our own day.  Many preachers of the Gospel gave their lives specifically because of their faithfulness to the truth of the word of Christ.  And so solicitude for the truth gave birth to the Church’s Tradition.  As in past centuries, so also today there are people or groups who obscure this centuries-old Tradition, seeking to falsify the Word of Christ and to remove from the Gospel those truths which in their view are too uncomfortable for modern man.  They try to give the impression that everything is relative:  even the truths of faith would depend on the historical situation and on human evaluation.  Yet the Church cannot silence the Spirit of Truth.  The successors of the Apostles, together with the Pope, are responsible for the truth of the Gospel, and all Christians are called to share in this responsibility, accepting its authoritative indications.  Every Christian is bound to confront his own convictions continually with the teachings of the Gospel and of the Church’s Tradition in the effort to remain faithful to the word of Christ, even when it is demanding and, humanly speaking, hard to understand.  We must not yield to the temptation of relativism or of a subjectivist and selective interpretation of Sacred Scripture.  Only the whole truth can open us to adherence to Christ, dead and risen for our salvation.

Christ says:  “If you love me ... ”  Faith does not just mean accepting a certain number of abstract truths about the mysteries of God, of man, of life and death, of future realities.  Faith consists in an intimate relationship with Christ, a relationship based on love of him who loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:11), even to the total offering of himself.  “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).  What other response can we give to a love so great, if not that of a heart that is open and ready to love?  But what does it mean to love Christ?  It means trusting him even in times of trial, following him faithfully even on the Via Crucis, in the hope that soon the morning of the Resurrection will come.  Entrusting ourselves to Christ, we lose nothing, we gain everything.  In his hands our life acquires its true meaning.  Love for Christ expresses itself in the will to harmonize our own life with the thoughts and sentiments of his Heart.  This is achieved through interior union based on the grace of the Sacraments, strengthened by continuous prayer, praise, thanksgiving and penance.  We have to listen attentively to the inspirations that he evokes through his Word, through the people we meet, through the situations of daily life.  To love him is to remain in dialogue with him, in order to know his will and to put it into effect promptly.

Yet living one’s personal faith as a love-relationship with Christ also means being ready to renounce everything that constitutes a denial of his love.  That is why Jesus said to the Apostles:  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  But what are Christ’s commandments?  When the Lord Jesus was teaching the crowds, he did not fail to confirm the law which the Creator had inscribed on men’s hearts and had then formulated on the tablets of the Decalogue.  “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets;  I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.  For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Mt 5:17-18).  But Jesus showed us with a new clarity the unifying centre of the divine laws revealed on Sinai, namely love of God and love of neighbour:  “To love [God] with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mk 12:33).  Indeed, in his life and in his Paschal Mystery Jesus brought the entire law to completion.  Uniting himself with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, he carries with us and in us the “yoke” of the law, which thereby becomes a “light burden” (Mt 11:30).  In this spirit, Jesus formulated his list of the inner qualities of those who seek to live their faith deeply:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who weep, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake ... (cf. Mt 5:3-12).

[Pope Benedict, homily Warsaw 26 May 2006]

1. "Master what good must I do to obtain eternal life?". "Keep the commandments" (Mt 19:16-17).

This question and this answer come to mind when we listen carefully to the readings of today's liturgy.

The main theme of these readings is indeed that of God's commandments, the Law of the Lord.

2. The Church sings of it today in the Responsorial Psalm:

"Blessed is the man of integrity, / who walks in the law of the Lord. / Thou hast given thy precepts / that they may be faithfully observed. / Let my ways be straight, / in keeping thy decrees . . / Open my eyes that I may see / the wonders of thy law . . .".

And again:

"Show me, O Lord, the way of your precepts / and I will follow it to the end / Give me understanding, that I may keep your law / and guard it with all my heart" (Ps 119:1-34).

The idea contained in the verses of this psalm is so transparent, that it requires no comment.

3. Instead, it is worth adding a brief comment on the words from the book of Sirach, in the first reading:

"If thou wilt, thou shalt keep the commandments: being faithful shall depend on thy good pleasure. He has set fire and water before you; there where you will you shall stretch out your hand. Before men stand life and death; to each shall be given what he pleases" (Sir 15:16-17).

Sirach emphasises the close link that exists between commandment and man's free will: "If thou wilt . . .". And at the same time it shows that on man's choice and decision depends good or evil, life or death, in the spiritual sense.

The observance of the commandments is the way to goodness, the way to life.

Their transgression is the way of evil, the way of death.

4. Now let us turn to the Sermon on the Mount in today's Gospel, according to St Matthew.

Christ says first:

"Think not that I am come to abolish the Law (or the Prophets); I am not come to abolish, but to fulfil".(Matt 5:17).

Whoever transgresses a single one of these precepts, even a minimal one, and teaches men to do likewise, will be considered minimal in the kingdom of heaven. (Ibid. 5, 19)

Whoever, on the other hand, observes them and teaches them to men, will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. (Ibid.)

And Christ adds:

"Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:17-20).

So the Law, the Commandments, the Rules are important not only in themselves, but also the way of understanding them, of teaching them, of observing them. This must be before the eyes of all those who explain God's law and interpret the principles of Christian morality, in every age and even in contemporary times.

5. And Christ gives three examples of the commandment and its interpretation in the spirit of the New Covenant.

"Thou shalt not kill" (Mt 5:21).

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Mt 5:27).

"Thou shalt not perjure" (Mt 5:33).

"Thou shalt not kill" means not only not to take the life of others, but also not to live in hatred and anger towards others. "Do not commit adultery": it means not only not to take another's wife, but also not to covet her, not to commit adultery in the heart.

"Do not perjure yourself . . .", "but I say unto you, swear not at all" (Mt 5:34), but let your speech be true: "yea, yea; nay, nay" (Mt 5:37).

6. What is the Gospel? What is the Sermon on the Mount?

Is it merely a "code of morals?".

Certainly yes. It is a code of Christian morality. It indicates the main ethical demands. But it is more: it also indicates the way to perfection. This way corresponds to the nature of human freedom: to free will. In fact, man, with his free will, can choose not only between good and evil, but also between 'the good' 'the best' and 'the most' in the sphere of morality, also so as not to descend towards 'the least good' or even towards 'evil'.

Indeed, as the book of Sirach continues:

"Great indeed is the wisdom of the Lord; he is all-powerful and sees all things. His eyes are on those who fear him, he knows every deed of men. He has not commanded anyone to be ungodly, nor given anyone permission to sin" (Sir 15:18-20).

And St Paul goes further, when in his first letter to the Corinthians he writes:

"Among the perfect we speak, yes, of wisdom . . .; we speak of a divine, mysterious wisdom, which has remained hidden, and which God foreordained before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this world have been able to know it" (1 Cor 2:6-8).

Those things which God has prepared for those who love him "to us God has revealed them by the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Cor 2:10).

7. Dear parishioners of the Roman community dedicated to St Hippolytus! Secure information on the life and work of your patron, as you know, is unfortunately scarce, yet we know with certainty that fact which alone suffices to prove the greatness of his life and holiness: his martyrdom together with Pope Pontian.

Whatever Hippolytus' previous life may have been, he was able to reach the summit of exemplary holiness with that supreme gesture of love for Christ and his vicar on earth. His example is therefore a source of encouragement and hope for you too.

For now, I would like to greet all those present: the Cardinal Vicar, the Bishop of the sector, Monsignor Alessandro Plotti, the parish priest, Father Maurilio Beltramo, the community of Capuchin friars, the Sacramentine nuns, the other priests and religious, who collaborate in the parish activities, all the groups, and the people of God of this portion of the Church, indeed of this small Church that is the parish, image and sign of the universal Church spread throughout the world.

The parish is the normal and concrete medium through which people can get to know the great and mysterious reality of the universal Church. Hence the perennial need for the parish to present, by its very existence, to the world, an image as faithful as possible to the universal Church, contributing actively and responsibly to its construction and development.

I know that your parish population is very numerous and composite in terms of social classes and professions. The harvest is therefore abundant for the workers of the Gospel.

I also know that initiatives, groups, activities are not lacking among you. I recommend that this lively and flourishing pluralism of yours should always know how to express itself on the basis of an unquestioning fidelity to the authentic principles of unity in faith and charity, in communion with your pastors. Such principles in fact underpin the true effectiveness of the many and varied activities.

8. 'Blessed is the man of integrity, who walks in the law of the Lord'.

May these words, taken from today's liturgy, remain with you, dear brothers and sisters, as an expression of the fervent good wishes of the Bishop of Rome on the occasion of today's visit.

Seek God, follow the paths of truth and love: follow them according to the principles of Christian morality, according to the light of God's eternal wisdom.

And may your hearts never cease to be open to the action of the Holy Spirit who "scrutinises everything, even the depths of God".

Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, homily 12 February 1984]

Today’s Gospel reading (cf. Mt 5:17-37) is on the “Sermon on the Mount” and deals with the subject of the fulfilment of the Law: how should  I fulfil the Law, how can I do it? Jesus wants to help his listeners take the right approach to the prescriptions of the Commandments given to Moses, urging them to be open to God who teaches  us true freedom and responsibility through the Law. It is a matter of living it as an instrument of freedom. Let us not forget this: to live the Law as an instrument of freedom, which helps me to be freer, which helps me not to be a slave to passion and sin. Let us think about war, let us think about the consequences of war, let us think of that little girl who died due to the cold [temperatures], in Syria the day before yesterday. So many calamities, so many. This is the result of passion, and people who wage war do not know how to master their passions. They do not comply with the law. When one  gives in to temptation and passion, one is not the master and agent of one’s own life, but rather one becomes  incapable of managing it with willingness and responsibility.

Jesus’ discourse is divided into four antitheses, each one expressed by the formula: “You have heard that it was said... But I say to you”. These antitheses refer to as many situations in daily life: murder, adultery, divorce and swearing. Jesus does not abolish the prescriptions concerning these issues, but he explains their full meaning and indicates the spirit in which they must be observed. He encourages us to move away from the formal observance of the Law to substantive observance, accepting the Law in our hearts, which is the centre of the intentions, decisions, words and gestures of each of us. From the heart come good and bad deeds.

By accepting the Law of God in our heart, one understands that, when one does not love one’s neighbour, to some extent one kills oneself and others, because hatred, rivalry and division kill the fraternal charity that is the basis of interpersonal relationships. And this applies to what I have said about war and also about gossip, because words kill. By accepting the Law of God in our heart one understands that desires must be guided, because one cannot obtain everything one desires, and it is not good to give in to selfish and possessive feelings. When one accepts the Law of God in one’s heart, one understands that one must give up a lifestyle of broken promises, as well as move from the prohibition of perjury to the decision not to swear at all, behaving sincerely to  everyone.

And Jesus is aware that it is not easy to live the Commandments in such an all-encompassing way. That is why he offers us the help of his love: he came into the world not only to fulfil the Law, but also to give us his grace, so that we can do God’s will, loving him and our brothers and sisters. We can do everything, everything, with the grace of God! Indeed,  holiness is none other than guarding God’s freely given  grace. It is a matter of trusting and entrusting ourselves to him, to his Grace, to that freedom that he has given us, and welcoming the hand he constantly extends to us, so that our efforts and our necessary commitment can be sustained by his help, overflowing with goodness and mercy.

Today Jesus asks us to continue on the path of love that he has indicated to us and which begins from the heart. This is the path  to follow in order to live as Christians. May the Virgin Mary help us to follow the path traced by her Son, to reach true joy and to spread justice and peace everywhere.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 16 February 2020]

(Mt 18:21-35)

Throughout the ancient Middle East, non-disproportionate retaliation one to one [not cruel] was a sacred law.

Forgiveness was a humiliating and absurd attitude, an incomprehensible principle to anyone experiencing any injustice.

Conversely, in the dynamic of Faith, forgiveness becomes a power, which not only makes the air breathable, but activates our personal destiny.

Peter instead wants to know the limits of forgiveness (v.21).

Historically, at the end of the first century the picky, severe, style of the synagogue and of the Empire [«divide et impera»] reappear in believers. 

A question arises: will we have to stop welcoming?

In addition, in the same churches one begins to think that someone has sinned in lese majesty towards those who - now hard and heartless - are used to being revered.

Veterans who make trouble more than others and then dot on the minutiae of others (the weak brothers, considered subjected and destined to the fiscal rigour of moralisms, as well as penances).

While religious discipline exacerbates minute defects, the very experience of the disproportion between the forgiveness received from the Father and what we are able to offer to the brothers, makes us understand the need for tolerance.

Church should be this space of the experience of God who return life, an alternative place of fraternity.

Imperial society was harsh and uncompassionate, with no room for the small and shaky, who unassumingly sought any refuge for their hearts - but no religion gave them an answer.

Synagogues, too, identified material and spiritual blessings. Cloaked with requirements, purity rules and fulfilments, they did not offer the warmth of a welcoming place for the weak.

The issue was that in the early Christian communities themselves, some people insisted on the rigour of norms, customs and hierarchies, demanding coexistence based on the Judaizing model.

Furthermore, as the Letter of James testifies, towards the end of the first century the identical divisions of society, between miserables and wealthy, were already beginning to manifest themselves in the churches of Christ!

Welcoming space of the communities that in the Spirit had been given the task by the Lord to enlighten the world with their seed of life as a ‘shelter for all’ (and of alternative relationships) ran the risk of becoming again a place of conflict, judgement, punishment, condemnation.

«So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not condone each one to his own brother from your heart» (v.35).

Divine forgiveness becomes effective and evident only in the testimony of the Church (v.35) where sisters and brothers - instead of showing themselves to be meticulous, let themselves be guided by a Vision of new heavens and new earth.

For this reason - without any effort, indeed blessing the needs of others as territories of preparatory energies - they live the communion of resources and remit even material debts, a misery.

Otherwise, we would always have to live in the incumbency of an indulgent God perhaps, but at times, and according to the cases retracting the doing of mercy.

It would be a life without surprising developments, all weighted down in a swamp of little pennies.

Instead, it’s the active energy of the Faith that doesn’t condemn us to trudge.

The magnanimity that comes out of the automatisms shifts our gaze and brings us an ineffable and growing wave, far ahead of what we can imagine.

Our surrenders are preparing new developments - the ones that count, without limitations.

The "win-or-lose" alternative is false: you have to get out of it.

[Tuesday 3rd wk. in Lent, March 10, 2026]

(Mt 18:21-35)

Throughout the ancient Middle East, non-proportionate (one-to-one, not cruel) retaliation was sacred law.

Forgiveness was a humiliating and absurd attitude, an incomprehensible principle for anyone experiencing any injustice or drama.

Conversely, in the dynamic of Faith, forgiving becomes a power, which not only makes the air breathable, but activates our personal destiny.

The Gospel according to Matthew devotes the greatest attention to the theme of forgiveness and the need to recompose internal frictions within the church, where each seems to want to crush the other - if only out of spiritual envy.

One wonders: is there a different counterpart to the pagan principle of retributive justice [uncuique jus suum], which by going to extremes ends up accentuating divisions?

What is the most reasonable behaviour for those who have been accepted by God, and even exorbitantly condoned?

It is not enough to oppose a good-natured value, albeit noble, indeed lofty - but for this reason, out of scale - if it excludes the time of a journey, the horizon of development that finally supplants [and does not simply gloss over: so-called 'being positive'].

The only solution free of dormant vindictiveness is to have a sense of the immeasurable, of the gratuitous prevenient - received without merit or conditions; in view of new paths.

We must first realise that the decisive element in overcoming obstacles is not our own strength or an induced voluntarism, which tears both ourselves and our brothers and sisters apart.

Only a dizzying emotion can integrate the drives and all affections, and bring to the surface the germs of the passions that give vertigo.

Personal or external ecstasies; unknown and neglected or unexpressed, to which we have not yet given space.

In fact, in the everyday summary, it seems normal to us to oppose immediate reactions and violate situations with shamelessness, then to set the stage for minor non-compliances by others - with the pretence even of suffocating those responsible for the nonsense.

Of course, even immediately after we have pleaded and promised in the ritual.

Mt proposes even paradoxical nuances on forgiveness - always placing his catecheses on a level of pricelessness, in the perspective of spousal and creative Faith.

And he insists on it in several passages, because the communities he addresses are very poor; still rooted in the narrowness of ancient religiosity.

As is the case not only in groups tied to the baggage of the tradition of the 'fathers' - not of the Father - the members of the communities of Galilee and Syria experienced as an affront the normality of quarrels, differing opinions, and all conflicts.

It seems unbelievable, but those who feel themselves in possession of a licence of immunity [linked to futuristic myths or sacred inhibitions, old-fashioned brakes and observances or cosmic projects of abstract subversion] find it more difficult to enter into the minute logic of coexistence, of confrontation - of disproportion, of the without-boundary, of the Gift that favours coexistence itself.

Peter wants to know the limits of forgiveness (v.21).

Historically, at the end of the first century, the squeamish, severe style of the synagogue and the empire [‘divide et impera’] had reappeared among believers.

The question arose and reappeared: should one stop in welcoming?

In addition, in the churches themselves, people were beginning to think that someone had sinned of lese majesty towards those who - by then hard and heartless - were used to being revered.

Veterans who were up to more than others and then doted on the minutiae of others (the weak brethren, considered subordinates, and destined for the fiscal rigour of moralising as well as penances).

Does the insolvent debtor of the Gospel take it out on those who owe him a few pennies?

The excessive Forgiveness of the living and true God can only be manifested to the world through a community that raises grudges and relationships to a new plane - simply more normal.

Says the Tao Tê Ching (x): "Let creatures live and feed them, let them live and not keep them as your own; work and expect nothing, let them grow and not rule them. This is the mysterious virtue'.

As a commentary, Master Wang Pi writes: "The Dao in eternity does not act, creatures transform themselves. Do not obstruct their source, do not hinder their nature. Creatures from themselves grow and satisfy themselves'.

Master Ho-shang Kung adds: "The Tao makes the ten thousand creatures grow and nourish, but it does not harm them by governing them as if they were instruments. The Tao's implementation of virtue is mysterious and obscure, nor can it be scrutinised. He wants to induce men to be like the Tao'.

Even today, legalistic practice exasperates minute faults, but the very experience of the disproportion between the forgiveness we receive from the Father and what we are able to offer our brothers and sisters makes us realise the need for indulgence.

Lived tolerance, in situation; not just in principle. 

Even more so in times of global crisis, the Church should be this space of God's life-giving experience. An alternative place of less cheap, less sophisticated fraternity.

The imperial society was harsh and without compassion, lacking space for the small and shaky, who unassumingly sought any refuge for the heart - but no religion provided an answer to their need for understanding.

Even synagogues identified material and spiritual blessings. Cloaked with prior demands, rules of purity and fulfilments, they did not offer the warmth of a welcoming place for the weak.

The trouble was that in the earliest Christian communities themselves, some put their foot down on the rigour of the rules.

Consuetudines and hierarchies they were accustomed to, demanding coexistence based on the Judaizing model - or according to the harshness of schematic, disembodied principles, lacking grip.

Moreover, as the letter of James testifies, towards the end of the first century the identical divisions of society around them, between the indigent and the well-to-do, were already beginning to manifest themselves in the churches of Christ!

The welcoming space of the communities that in the Spirit had been given the task by the Lord to enlighten the world with their seed of life as Homes for all, of alternative relations, ran the risk of once again becoming a place of conflict, judgement, punishment, condemnation.

As usual: no Good News for the least, everywhere exhausted.

And this unspeakable climate also sowed death for others, even more fortunate - but trapped in harsh reality.

What to do?

The fundamental educational function of the Church is still to include; to make it understood that the initiative can only be the creditor's (vv.21-22.27.33): he too is a "lost one" (v.25).

Only by the intimate work of awareness in Faith is the ruthlessness of competition, of retributive justice, overcome.

There is no wisdom in being pretentious in order to be someone (vv.28-30).

Our failures are preparing new developments - those that count, without limitation.

"So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not forgive each one his brother from your heart" (v.35).

Divine forgiveness becomes effective and evident in the testimony of the Church where sisters and brothers, instead of being punctilious, are caught up in it.

They allow themselves to be guided by a vision of new heavens and a new earth.

That is why - without any effort whatsoever, indeed blessing the needs of others as territories of preparatory energies - they live the communion of resources and forgive even material debts, which are then a misery.

If not, we would always have to live in the impendence of a God of reciprocation.

And in this way we would reveal him: forgiving perhaps, but in time; retracting 'mercy' - Pope Francis would say.

So: for life under the lash of tormentors, proponents also of a mannered but contrived existence. Made of unimaginative exchanges.

A hell of anticipated pettiness, undercutting and ridiculing the Measure of the Gospel. Glad tidings that go together with differences.

Even the balancing of remissions would not save us from the offence (this one enormous) of stasis that levels the essences - hence from ruin.

It is beautiful and fruitful to live in the imbalance of gratuitousness, rather than in give and take. It also happens with God.

Through forgiveness, not only do we improve the obsessive atmosphere and attest to belief - e.g. in the Cross - but we build a malleable and malleable experience, with fullness of recovery and being.

From astonishment; openness, flexibility, disproportion.

The rest remains only commentary.

Echo of a subject that banally proposes to ratify the 'contract'.

Trace of an environment that remains where it is - until it allows new forces to take over.

It would be a life without marvellous developments, all weighed down in the 'quid pro quo' and the swamp of the few.

Instead, it is the active energy of Faith, the one that overcomes defined pacts. And does not condemn us to trudge on.

The ever-increasing magnanimity that comes out of automatisms shifts the gaze of small cuts.

It carries an ineffable and growing Wave. Much further than we can imagine.

The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: we must get out of it.

To internalise and live the message:

Can you live in the imbalance of gratuitousness?

Do you accelerate and judge, or do you perceive and wait?

Is your life of Faith constitutive of the give and take typical of mundane religion, or the awareness that you are obliged to pour out the echo of what the Father has already given you?

What is the reconciliation space of your reality?

What do you concretely mean by the Gospel? 

Forgiveness and Faith: Living Encounter

Gratis eccentric, forward: Sacrament of humanity as such

(Lk 17:1-6)

The knowledge of God is not a confiscated commodity or an acquired and already foreclosed science: it moves from one action and another, unceasingly; it is realised in an ever-living Encounter, which does not block or dissolve us.

Typical, the experience of the "little ones" [mikròi v.2]. From the earliest communities of faith, they have been those who lacked security and energy; unstable and without support.

Since time immemorial, "Little Ones" have been the incipients; the new ones, who have heard of Christian brotherhood, but are sometimes forced to stand in line, aside, or give up the journey.

But the criterion of welcome, tolerance, communion even of material goods, has been the first and main catalyst for the growth of the assemblies.

Even the origin and meaning of all the formulas and signs of the liturgy.

The existential and ideal centre to which to converge. For a proactive and in itself transformative Faith.

In the Spirit of the Master, even for us the conciliation of friction is not simply a work of magnanimity.

It is the beginning of the future world. The beginning of an unpredictable and unspeakable adventure. And we with it suddenly reborn: coming into frank contact in Christ. He who does not extinguish us at all.

Hence the Christian forgiveness of children, which is not... 'looking positive', and 'turning a blind eye': rather, Newness of God that creates an environment of Grace, propulsive, with enormous possibilities.

Force that breaks through and paradoxically lets the dark poles meet, instead of shaking them off. Genuinely eliminating useless comparisons, words and ballasts, which block the transparent Exodus.

Dynamics that guide one to the indispensable and unavoidable: waves to shift one's gaze. Teaching one to notice one's own hysterics, to know oneself, to face anxiety, its reason; to manage situations and moments of crisis.

Mouldable virtue that places one in intimate listening to the personal essence.

Hence, solid, broad empathy that introduces new energies; it brings one's own deep states, even standard life, together... arousing other knowledge, different perspectives, unexpected relationships.

Thus without too much struggle it renews us, and curbs the loss of veracity [typical, that in favour of circumstantial manners]. It accentuates capacities and horizons of Peace - crumbling primates, swampy balances.

The discovery of new sides of the being that we are, conveys a sense of better wholeness, then spontaneously curbs external influences, dissolves prejudices, does not make one act on an emotional, impulsive basis.

Rather, it puts us in a position to reveal the hidden and astounding meaning of being. It unfolds the crucial horizon.

Activating 'Forgiveness' is gratuitously a surrender of one's character range, of all lost dignity, and far beyond.

By laying down sentences, the art of tolerance expands the [also intimate] gaze. It enhances and strengthens the dull sides; those we ourselves had detested.

In this eccentric way it transforms those considered distant or mediocre [mikroi] into outriders and brilliant inventors. For what was unthought of yesterday will be clarifying and driving tomorrow.

Confusions will make sense - precisely because of the thinking of the minds in crisis, and because of the action of the despised, intruders, outside of all spin and predictability.

Life of pure Faith in the Spirit: i.e., the imagination of the 'weak'... in power.

Because it is the paradoxical mechanism that makes the crossroads of history assess, activates passions, creates sharing, solves real problems.

And so it supplants difficult moments forwards (bringing us back to the true path) by orienting reality to the concrete good.

Making it fly towards itself.

The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: we must get out of it. It is in such 'emptiness' and Silence that God makes His way.

Mystery of Presence, overflowing. New Covenant.

The Lord's greeting of peace is followed by two gestures that are decisive for Pentecost: the Lord wants the disciples to continue his mission: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20: 21).

After this, he breathes on them and says: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound" (Jn 20: 23). The Lord breathes on the disciples, giving them the Holy Spirit, his own Spirit. The breath of Jesus is the Holy Spirit.

We recognize here, in the first place, an allusion made to the story of creation in the Book of Genesis, where it is written: "The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life" (Gn 2: 7). Man is this mysterious creature who comes entirely from the earth, but in whom has been placed the breath of God. Jesus breathes on the Apostles and gives them the breath of God in a new and greater way.

In people, notwithstanding all of their limitations, there is now something absolutely new: the breath of God. The life of God lives in us. The breath of his love, of his truth and of his goodness. In this way we can see here too an allusion to Baptism and Confirmation, this new belonging to God that the Lord gives to us. The Gospel Reading invites us to this: to live always within the breath of Jesus Christ, receiving life from him, so that he may inspire in us authentic life, the life that no death may ever take away.

To his breath, to the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord joins the power of forgiveness. We heard earlier that the Holy Spirit unites, breaks down barriers, leads us one to the other. The strength that opens up and overcomes Babel is the strength of forgiveness.

Jesus can grant forgiveness and the power to forgive because he himself suffered the consequences of sin and dispelled them in the flame of his love. Forgiveness comes from the Cross; he transforms the world with the love that is offered. His heart opened on the Cross is the door through which the grace of forgiveness enters into the world. And this grace alone is able to transform the world and build peace.

If we compare the two events of Pentecost - the strong wind of the 50th day and the gentle breath of Jesus on the evening of Easter - we might think about this contrast between the two episodes that took place on Mt Sinai, spoken of in the Old Testament.

On the one hand, there is the narration of fire, thunder and wind, preceding the promulgation of the Ten Commandments and the conclusion of the Covenant (cf. Ex 19 ff.); on the other, there is the mysterious narration of Elijah on Mt Horeb. Following the dramatic events on Mt Carmel, Elijah fled from the wrath of Ahab and Jezebel. Following God's orders, he journeyed to Mt Horeb. The gift of the holy Covenant, of faith in the one God, seemed to have disappeared from Israel.

In a certain way, Elijah must rekindle the flame of faith on God's mountain and bring it back to Israel. He experiences, in that place, wind, earthquake and fire. But God is not present in all of this. He then perceives a sweet soft murmur; and God speaks to him in this soft breath (cf. I Kings 19: 11-18).

Is this not precisely what takes place the evening of Easter, when Jesus appeared to his Apostles to teach them what it means here? Might we perhaps see here a prefiguration of the servant of Yahweh, of whom Isaiah says: "He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street" (42: 2)? Does not the humble figure of Jesus appear this way, as the true revelation in whom God manifests himself and speaks to us? Are not the humility and goodness of Jesus the true epiphany of God?

On Mt Carmel, Elijah sought to overcome the distancing from God with fire and the sword, killing the prophets of Baal. In this way, though, he was unable to restore the faith.

On Mt Horeb, he was made to understand that God is not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire; Elijah has to learn and perceive the soft voice of God, and in this way to recognize in advance the One who overcame sin not with power but by his Passion; the One who, by his suffering, has given us the ability to forgive. This is how God wins.

Dear Ordinandi, in this way the message of Pentecost is now aimed directly at you. The Pentecostal scene of the Gospel of John speaks to you and of you. To each one of you, in a very personal way, the Lord says: Peace to [all of] you - peace to you! When the Lord says this, he does not give something, but he gives himself. Indeed, he himself is peace (cf. Eph 2: 14).

In this greeting of the Lord, we can also foresee a reference to the great mystery of faith, to the Holy Eucharist, in which he continually gives himself to us, and, in this way, true peace.
Sacrament of the Eucharist

This greeting is placed at the centre of your priestly mission: the Lord entrusts to you the mystery of this Sacrament. In his Name you can say: "This is my Body.... This is my Blood". Allow yourselves to be drawn ever anew by the Holy Eucharist, by communion of life with Christ. Consider the centre of each day the possibility to celebrate the Eucharist worthily. Lead people ever anew to this mystery. Help them, starting from this, to bring the peace of Christ into the world.

In the Gospel Reading we have just heard, a second phrase of the Risen One resounds: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20: 21). Christ says this in a very personal way to each one of you.

With priestly ordination you are inserted into the Apostolic mission. The Holy Spirit is wind, but it is not amorphous; it is an orderly Spirit. It becomes manifest precisely when it orders the mission, in the Sacrament of the Priesthood, in which the ministry of the Apostles is continued.

Through this ministry, you are inserted in the multitude of those who, beginning with Pentecost, have received the apostolic mission. You are inserted into the communion of priests, into communion with the Bishop and with the Successor of St Peter, who here in Rome is also your Bishop. All of us are inserted in the network of obedience to the Word of Christ, to the word of the One who gives us true freedom because he leads us in the free spaces and open horizons of the truth.

It is precisely in this common bond with the Lord that we can and must live the dynamism of the Spirit. As the Lord came from the Father and has given us light, life and love, so too the mission must continually set us in motion, make us restless, to bring the joy of Christ to those who suffer, those who are in doubt, as well as to the reluctant.

Lastly, there is the power of forgiveness. The Sacrament of Penance is one of the Church's precious treasures, since authentic world renewal is accomplished only through forgiveness. Nothing can improve the world if evil is not overcome.

Evil can be overcome only by forgiveness. Certainly, it must be an effective forgiveness; but only the Lord can give us this forgiveness, a forgiveness that drives away evil not only with words but truly destroys it. Only suffering can bring this about and it has truly taken place with the suffering love of Christ, from whom we draw the power to forgive.

[Pope Benedict, Pentecost homily with priestly ordinations 15 May 2005]

2. Forgiveness! Christ taught us to forgive. Many times and in various ways He spoke of forgiveness. When Peter asked him how many times he should forgive his neighbour, "up to seven times?", Jesus replied that he should forgive "up to seventy times seven" (Mt 18:21f). This means, in practice, always: in fact, the number "seventy" times "seven" is symbolic, and means, rather than a determined quantity, an incalculable, infinite quantity. Responding to the question of how one should pray, Christ uttered those magnificent words addressed to the Father: "Our Father who art in heaven"; and among the requests that make up this prayer, the last one speaks of forgiveness: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them" to those who are guilty towards us (= "to our debtors"). Finally, Christ himself confirmed the truth of these words on the Cross, when, turning to the Father, he pleaded: "Forgive them!", "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34).

"Forgiveness" is a word uttered from the lips of a man to whom evil has been done. Indeed, it is the word of the human heart. In this word of the heart, each of us strives to overcome the frontier of enmity, which can separate him from the other, seeks to rebuild the inner space of understanding, of contact, of bonding. Christ taught us by the word of the Gospel, and above all by his own example, that this space opens not only before the other man, but at the same time before God himself. The Father, who is God of forgiveness and mercy, desires to act precisely in this space of human forgiveness, desires to forgive those who are reciprocally capable of forgiveness, those who seek to put into practice those words: 'forgive us... as we forgive'.

Forgiveness is a grace, to be thought of with deep humility and gratitude. It is a mystery of the human heart, about which it is difficult to diffuse.

5. Christ taught us to forgive. Forgiveness is also indispensable so that God can pose questions to the human conscience, to which he awaits answers in all inner truth.

At this time, when so many innocent men perish at the hands of other men, it seems to impose a special need to approach each of those who kill, to approach them with forgiveness in our hearts and with the same question that God, the Creator and Lord of human life, put to the first man who had made an attempt on his brother's life and had taken it away from him - had taken away what is the property only of the Creator and Lord of life.

Christ taught us to forgive. He taught Peter to forgive "unto seventy times seven" ( Mt 18:22). God himself forgives when man answers the question addressed to his conscience and heart with all the inner truth of conversion.

Leaving judgement and judgment in its definitive dimension to God himself, we do not cease to ask: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 21 October 1981]

In the parable in today’s Gospel reading, that of the merciful King (cf. Mt 18:21-35), we find this plea twice: “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything” (vv. 26, 29). The first time it is pronounced by the servant who owes his master ten thousand talents, an enormous sum. Today it would be millions and millions of euros. The second time it is repeated by another servant of the same master. He too is in debt, not towards his master, but towards the same servant who has that enormous debt. And his debt is very small, maybe like a week’s wages.

The heart of the parable is the indulgence the master shows towards his servant with the bigger debt. The evangelist underlines that, “moved with compassion the master” — we should never forget this word of Jesus: “with compassion”, Jesus always had compassion — “moved with compassion the master let him go and forgave him the loan” (v. 27). An enormous debt, therefore a huge remission! But that servant, immediately afterwards, shows himself to be pitiless towards his companion, who owed him a modest amount. He does not listen to him, he is extremely hostile against him and has him thrown in prison until his debt is paid back (cf. v. 30), that small debt. The master hears about this and, indignant, calls the wicked servant back and has him condemned (cf. vv. 32-34): “I forgave you a great deal and you are not capable of forgiving so little?”.

In the parable we find two different attitudes: God’s — represented by the king who forgives a lot, because God always forgives — and that of the man. In the divine attitude justice is pervaded with mercy, whereas the human attitude is limited to justice. Jesus exhorts us to open ourselves with courage to the strength of forgiveness, because in life not everything can be resolved with justice. We know this. There is a need for that merciful love, which is also at the basis of the Lord’s answer to Peter’s question, which precedes the parable. Peter’s question goes like this: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” (v. 21). And Jesus replies, “I do not say to you, seven times but seventy times seven” (v. 22). In the symbolic language of the Bible this means that we are called to forgive always.

How much suffering, how many wounds, how many wars could be avoided if forgiveness and mercy were the style of our life! Even in families, even in families. How many disunited families, who do not know how to forgive each other. How many brothers and sisters bear this resentment within. It is necessary to apply merciful love to all human relationships: between spouses, between parents and children, within our communities, in the Church and also in society and politics.

Today, in the morning, as I was celebrating Mass, I paused, touched by a phrase in the first Reading from the book of Sirach. The phrase says, “Remember the end of your life, and cease from enmity”. A beautiful phrase! Think of the end! Think that you will be in a coffin… and will you take hatred there? Think of the end, stop hating! Stop the resentment. Let’s think of this phrase that is very touching. Remember the end of your life, and cease from enmity”.

It is not easy to forgive because in moments of calm we say: “Yes, this person has done so many things to me but I have done many too. Better to forgive so as to be forgiven”. But then resentment returns like a bothersome fly in the summer that keeps coming back. Forgiveness isn’t something we do in a moment, it is something continuous, against that resentment, this hatred that keeps coming back. Let’s think of our end and stop hating.

Today’s parable helps us to grasp fully the meaning of that phrase we recite in the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (cf. Mt 6:12). These words contain a decisive truth. We cannot demand God’s forgiveness for ourselves if we in turn do not grant forgiveness to our neighbour. It is a condition: think of your end, of God’s forgiveness, and stop hating. Reject resentment, that bothersome fly that keeps coming back. If we do not strive to forgive and to love, we will not be forgiven and loved either.

Let us entrust ourselves to the maternal intercession of the Mother of God: May she help us to realise how much we are in debt to God, and to remember that always, so that our hearts may be open to mercy and goodness.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 13 September 2020]

Two Names of God

(Lk 4:24-30)

Jesus is annoying and generates suspicion in those who love external schemes, because he proclaims only Jubilee, rather than harsh confrontation and revenge.

In the synagogue, his ‘village’ is perplexed by this overly understanding love - just what we need.

The place of worship is where less aware believers have been educated in reverse!

Their grumpy character is the sour fruit of a pounding religiosity, which denies the right to express ideas and feelings.

The "synagogal" code has produced fake faithfuls, conditioned by a disharmonious and split personality.

Even today and from an early age, that intimate laceration manifests itself in the excess of control over openness to others.

Consequence: an accentuation of youth uncertainty - under which who knows what hatches - and a rigid adult character.

In short, the hammering that does not make the leap of Faith blocks us, prevents from understanding, and pollutes all of life.

Even in the time of Jesus, archaic teaching sharpened nationalisms, the very perception of trauma or violations, and paradoxically precisely the caged situations from which one wanted to escape.

Exclusive spirituality: it’s empty - whether crude or sophisticated.

Selective thinking is the worst disease of worldviews, which are then always telling us ‘how we should be’.

Faced with edgy convictions and conventicular illusions, the Prophet marks distance; he works to spread awareness, not reassuring images - nor disembodied ideas.

But the critical heralds violently irritate the crowd of regulars, who suddenly pass from a sort of curiosity to vengeful indignation.

As in the village, so - we read in watermark - in the Holy City [Mount Sion], from which they immediately want to throw you down (Lk 4:29). Wherever you talk about a real person and eternal dreams.

In the hostility that surrounds them, the intimates of the Lord openly challenge the normalized beliefs - acquired from the environment and not reworked.

For them it’s not only the analogy calculated to a petty side dish that counts. They see other goals and don't just want to “get there”.

If they are overwhelmed, they leave behind that trail of intuitions that sooner or later will make everyone reflect.

Therefore in his Friends it is the Risen who escapes from death and resumes the journey, crossing those who want to kill him (v.30).

At all times, the witnesses make us think: they do not seek compliments and pleasant results, but recover ‘opposite sides’ and accept the happiness of others.

They know that Uniqueness must run its course: it will be wealth for everyone, and on this point they do not allow themselves to be inhibited.

Based on the Father's personal experience, the inspired faithfuls value different approaches.

They create an unknown esteem, advocating new attitudes - different ways of relating to God.

Not, to add proselytes and consider themselves indispensable.

Even if «at home» (v.24: own townspeople, own country) they are uncomfortable characters for the ratified mentality, the nobody-Prophets make Jesus' Personalism survive, snatching it from those who want it to be dormant and kidnapped.

Like him, at the risk of unpopularity and without begging for approval.

With the scars of what has gone away, for a new Journey.

[Monday 3rd wk. in Lent, March 9, 2026]