Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have listened together to a famous and beautiful passage from the Book of Exodus, in which the sacred author tells of God's presentation of the Decalogue to Israel. One detail makes an immediate impression:  the announcement of the Ten Commandments is introduced by a significant reference to the liberation of the People of Israel. The text says:  "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex 20: 2).

Thus, the Decalogue is intended as a confirmation of the freedom gained. Indeed, at a closer look, the Commandments are the means that the Lord gives us to protect our freedom, both from the internal conditioning of passions and from the external abuse of those with evil intentions. The "nos" of the Commandments are as many "yeses" to the growth of true freedom.

There is a second dimension of the Decalogue that should also be emphasized:  by the Law which he gave through Moses, the Lord revealed that he wanted to make a covenant with Israel. The Law, therefore, is a gift more than an imposition. Rather than commanding what the human being ought to do, its intention is to reveal to all the choice of God:  He takes the side of the Chosen People; he set them free from slavery and surrounds them with his merciful goodness. The Decalogue is a proof of his special love.

Today's liturgy offers us a second message:  The Mosaic Law was totally fulfilled in Jesus, who revealed God's wisdom and love through the mystery of the Cross, "a stumbling block to Jews and an absurdity to Gentiles; but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (I Cor 1: 23-24).

The Gospel just proclaimed refers precisely to this:  Jesus drove the merchants and money-changers out of the temple. Through the verse of a Psalm:  "Zeal for your house has consumed me" (cf. Ps 69[68]: 10), the Evangelist provides a key for the interpretation of this significant episode. And Jesus was "consumed" by this "zeal" for the "house of God", which was being used for purposes other than those for which it was intended.

To the amazement of everyone present, he responded to the request of the religious leaders who demand evidence of his authority by saying:  "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (Jn 2: 19). These are mysterious words that were incomprehensible at the time; John, however, paraphrased them for his Christian readers, saying:  "Actually, he was talking about the temple of his body" (Jn 2: 21).

His enemies were to destroy that "temple", but after three days he would rebuild it through the Resurrection. The distressful "stumbling block" of Christ's death was to be crowned by the triumph of his glorious Resurrection.

In this Lenten season, while we are preparing to relive this central event of our salvation in the Easter triduum, we are already looking at the Crucified One, seeing in him the brightness of the Risen One.

Dear brothers and sisters, today's Eucharistic Celebration, which combines the commemoration of St Joseph with meditation on the liturgical texts of the Third Sunday of Lent, gives us the opportunity to consider in the light of the Paschal Mystery another important aspect of human life. I am referring to the reality of work, which exists today in the midst of rapid and complex changes.

In many passages, the Bible shows that work is one of the original conditions of the human being. When the Creator shaped man in his image and likeness, he asked him to till the land (cf. Gn 2: 5-6). It was because of the sin of our first parents that work became a burden and an affliction (cf. Gn 3: 6-8), but in the divine plan it retains its value, unaltered.

The Son of God, by making himself like us in all things, dedicated himself for many years to manual activities, so that he was known as "the carpenter's son" (cf. Mt 13: 55). The Church has always, but especially in the last century, shown attention and concern for this social context, as the many social interventions of the Magisterium testify and the action of many associations of Christian inspiration show; some of them are gathered here today and represent the whole world of workers.

I am pleased to welcome you, dear friends, and I address my cordial greeting to each one of you. A special thought goes to Bishop Arrigo Miglio of Ivrea and President of the Italian Episcopal Commission for Social Problems and Work, Justice and Peace, who has interpreted your common sentiments and addressed courteous good wishes to me for my name day. I am deeply grateful to him.

Work is of fundamental importance to the fulfilment of the human being and to the development of society. Thus, it must always be organized and carried out with full respect for human dignity and must always serve the common good.

At the same time, it is indispensable that people not allow themselves to be enslaved by work or idolize it, claiming to find in it the ultimate and definitive meaning of life.

The invitation contained in the First Reading is appropriate in this regard:  "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God" (Ex 20:  8-9). The Sabbath is a holy day, that is, a day consecrated to God on which man understands better the meaning of his life and his work. It can therefore be said that the biblical teaching on work is crowned by the commandment of rest.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church speaks opportunely of this:  "For man, bound as he is to the necessity of work, this rest opens to the prospect of a fuller freedom, that of the eternal Sabbath (cf. Heb 4: 9-10). Rest gives men and women the possibility to remember and experience anew God's work from Creation to Redemption, in order to recognize themselves as his work (cf. Eph 2: 10), and to give thanks for their lives and for their subsistence to him who is their author" (n. 258).

Work must serve the true good of humanity, permitting "men as individuals and as members of society to pursue and fulfil their total vocation" (Gaudium et Spes, n. 35). For this to happen, technical and professional qualifications, although necessary, do not suffice; nor does the creation of a just social order, attentive to the common good.

It is necessary to live a spirituality that helps believers to sanctify themselves through their work, imitating St Joseph, who had to provide with his own hands for the daily needs of the Holy Family and whom, consequently, the Church holds up as Patron of workers. His witness shows that man is the subject and protagonist of work.

I would like to entrust to St Joseph those young people who are finding integration into the working world difficult, the unemployed and everyone who is suffering hardship due to the widespread employment crisis.

Together with Mary, his Spouse, may St Joseph watch over all workers and obtain serenity and peace for families and for the whole of humanity.

May Christians, looking at this great Saint, learn to witness in every working environment to the love of Christ, the source of true solidarity and lasting peace. Amen!

[Pope Benedict, homily for workers, 19 March 2006]

Dear Faithful!

1. Today, first of May, the topic of our meeting cannot be other than Labour Day. Today I wish to honour all workers.

Since the last century, this first day of May has always had a profound meaning of unity and communion among all workers, to emphasise their role in the structure of society and to defend their rights. In 1955, Pius XII, of venerable memory, wished to give the first of May also a religious imprint, dedicating it to Saint Joseph the Worker, and since then the civil feast of labour has also become a Christian feast.

I am very happy to be able to express with you today the sentiments of the most lively and cordial participation in this feast, recalling the affection that the Church has always had for workers and the solicitude with which she has sought and seeks to promote their rights. It is well known that especially since the beginning of the industrial era, the Church, following the unfolding of the situation and the development of new discoveries and demands, has presented a 'corpus' of teachings in the social field, which have certainly had and still have their enlightening influence, starting with the encyclical Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII (1891).

Those who honestly seek to know and follow the teaching of the Church, see how in reality she has always loved workers, and has indicated and upheld the dignity of the human person as the foundation and ideal of every solution to problems concerning work, its remuneration, its protection, its improvement and its humanisation. Through the various documents of the Magisterium of the Church, the fundamental aspects of work emerge, understood as a means to earn a living, as dominion over nature with scientific and technical activities, as a creative expression of man, as service for the common good and as a commitment to building the future of history.

As I said in the encyclical Laborem Exercens (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Laborem Exercens, no. 9), 'work is a good of man, because through work man not only transforms nature by adapting it to his needs, but also realises himself as a man and indeed, in a certain sense, becomes more of a man'.

The May Day holiday is very opportune to reaffirm the value of work and of the 'civilisation' founded on work, against the ideologies that advocate instead the 'civilisation of pleasure' or of indifference and escape. All work is worthy of esteem, even manual labour, even work that is unknown and hidden, humble and strenuous, because all work, if interpreted in the right way, is an act of covenant with God for the perfecting of the world; it is a commitment to liberation from slavery to the forces of nature; it is a gesture of communion and fraternity with mankind; it is a form of elevation, in which intellectual and volitional capacities are applied. Jesus himself, the divine Word incarnate for our salvation, wanted first and foremost and for many years to be a humble and diligent worker!

2. Despite the fundamental truth of the perennial value of work, we know that there are many problems in today's society. This had already been noted by the Second Vatican Council, when it expressed it as follows: "Humanity today is living a new period in its history, characterised by profound and rapid changes, which are progressively extending to the entire universe. Provoked by man's intelligence and creative activity, it affects him, his individual and collective judgements and desires, his way of thinking and acting in relation to both things and men. We can speak of a true social and cultural transformation that also has its reflections in religious life (Gaudium et Spes, 4).

The first and most serious problem is certainly that of unemployment, which is caused by many factors, such as the large-scale introduction of information technology, which by means of robots and computers eliminates much labour; the saturation of certain products; inflation, which halts consumption and thus production; the need for the reconversion of machines and techniques; competition.

Another problem is the danger of man becoming a slave to the machines he invents and builds. It is indeed necessary to dominate and guide technology, otherwise it will turn against man.

Lastly, we can also mention the serious issue of professional alienation, whereby the authentic meaning of work is lost, it is understood only as a commodity, in a cold logic of gaining wealth, consuming and thus still producing, giving in to the temptation of disaffection, absenteeism, individualist selfishness, disheartenment, frustration and making the characteristics of the so-called 'one-dimensional man' prevail, the victim of technology, advertising and production.These are very complex issues on which there is no time to dwell. But today, 1st May, we want to mention the need for human and Christian 'solidarity', on a national and universal level, to resolve these difficulties in a comprehensive and convincing manner. Paul VI said in Populorum Progressio, No. 17: 'Every man is a member of society: he belongs to the whole of humanity. Not only this or that man, but all men are called to such a plenary development... Universal solidarity, which is a fact and for us a benefit, is also a duty'. Speaking in Geneva at the International Labour Conference, I myself said that "the positive solution to the problem of employment presupposes great solidarity in the whole of the population and the whole of the peoples: that everyone be willing to accept the necessary sacrifices, that everyone collaborate in the implementation of programmes and agreements aimed at making economic and social policy a tangible expression of solidarity" (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Allocutio ad eos qui LXVIII conventui Conferentiae ab omnibus de humano labore interfuere habita, 10, die 15 iunii 1982: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, V/2 [1982] 2261).

3. Today, the Feast of Work,

liturgical memorial of St Joseph the Worker,

I heartily invoke his heavenly protection

on all those who spend their lives working

and on those who unfortunately

find themselves without work,

and I exhort everyone

to pray every day

to the putative father of Jesus,

humble and simple worker,

so that by his example and with his help

every Christian

may bring to life

his contribution of diligent commitment

and joyful communion.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 1 May 1984]

Today, 1 May, we celebrate St Joseph the Worker and begin the month traditionally dedicated to Our Lady. In our encounter this morning, I want to focus on these two figures, so important in the life of Jesus, the Church and in our lives, with two brief thoughts: the first on work, the second on the contemplation of Jesus.

1. In the Gospel of St Matthew, in one of the moments when Jesus returns to his town, to Nazareth, and speaks in the Synagogue, the amazement of his fellow townspeople at his wisdom is emphasized. They asked themselves the question: “Is not this the carpenter's son?” (13:55). Jesus comes into our history, he comes among us by being born of Mary by the power of God, but with the presence of St Joseph, the legal father who cares for him and also teaches him his trade. Jesus is born and lives in a family, in the Holy Family, learning the carpenter’s craft from St Joseph in his workshop in Nazareth, sharing with him the commitment, effort, satisfaction and also the difficulties of every day.

This reminds us of the dignity and importance of work. The Book of Genesis tells us that God created man and woman entrusting them with the task of filling the earth and subduing it, which does not mean exploiting it but nurturing and protecting it, caring for it through their work (cf. Gen 1:28; 2:15). Work is part of God’s loving plan, we are called to cultivate and care for all the goods of creation and in this way share in the work of creation! Work is fundamental to the dignity of a person. Work, to use a metaphor, “anoints” us with dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God, who has worked and still works, who always acts (cf. Jn 5:17); it gives one the ability to maintain oneself, one’s family, to contribute to the growth of one’s own nation. And here I think of the difficulties which, in various countries, today afflict the world of work and business today; I am thinking of how many, and not only young people, are unemployed, often due to a purely economic conception of society, which seeks profit selfishly, beyond the parametres of social justice.

I wish to extend an invitation to solidarity to everyone, and I would like to encourage those in public office to make every effort to give new impetus to employment, this means caring for the dignity of the person, but above all I would say do not lose hope. St Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the certainty that God never abandons us. And then I would like to speak especially to you young people: be committed to your daily duties, your studies, your work, to relationships of friendship, to helping others; your future also depends on how you live these precious years of your life. Do not be afraid of commitment, of sacrifice and do not view the future with fear. Keep your hope alive: there is always a light on the horizon.

I would like to add a word about another particular work situation that concerns me: I am referring to what we could define as “slave labour”, work that enslaves. How many people worldwide are victims of this type of slavery, when the person is at the service of his or her work, while work should offer a service to people so they may have dignity. I ask my brothers and sisters in the faith and all men and women of good will for a decisive choice to combat the trafficking in persons, in which “slave labour” exists.

2. With reference to the second thought: in the silence of the daily routine, St Joseph, together with Mary, share a single common centre of attention: Jesus. They accompany and nurture the growth of the Son of God made man for us with commitment and tenderness, reflecting on everything that happened. In the Gospels, St Luke twice emphasizes the attitude of Mary, which is also that of St Joseph: she “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (2:19,51). To listen to the Lord, we must learn to contemplate, feel his constant presence in our lives and we must stop and converse with him, give him space in prayer. Each of us, even you boys and girls, young people, so many of you here this morning, should ask yourselves: “how much space do I give to the Lord? Do I stop to talk with him?” Ever since we were children, our parents have taught us to start and end the day with a prayer, to teach us to feel that the friendship and the love of God accompanies us. Let us remember the Lord more in our daily life!

And in this month of May, I would like to recall the importance and beauty of the prayer of the Holy Rosary. Reciting the Hail Mary, we are led to contemplate the mysteries of Jesus, that is, to reflect on the key moments of his life, so that, as with Mary and St Joseph, he is the centre of our thoughts, of our attention and our actions. It would be nice if, especially in this month of May, we could pray the Holy Rosary together in the family, with friends, in the parish, or some prayer to Jesus and the Virgin Mary! Praying together is a precious moment that further strengthens family life, friendship! Let us learn to pray more in the family and as a family!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask St Joseph and the Virgin Mary to teach us to be faithful to our daily tasks, to live our faith in the actions of everyday life and to give more space to the Lord in our lives, to pause to contemplate his face. Thank you.

[Pope Francis, General Audience 1 May 2013]

Genesis Rebirth Judgment

(Jn 3:16-21)

Every man confronted with the Mystery does not fully comprehend what he feels until he accepts the bet and is introduced into a new existence.

The old life presents only bills to be paid, which always resurface; conversely, the new Calling supplants judgment’s categories and the normalized choices.

We pass as if through an emptying of the heart, which in its cosmic and personal virtue acquires a generative sense.

Life in the Spirit proceeds by new Births, blowing where it will. Not according to a progress marked by mechanisms, but in a disconcerting manner.

Reality present and operative, albeit inexplicable - but enriching, letting us to penetrate [or that plunge us to force] into another configuration.

‘Another’ kingdom, which in the «Son of man» unites the two worlds.

Eternity’s Level that immerses those who welcome it into the unique relationship with the Father and his exuberant Life.

«’From there’ He will come to judge» is an article of the Apostles’ Creed, in some Latin traditions:

Success or failure in life will be evaluated "from the Cross", i.e. with the criterion of the new ‘perception’, Gift of self, and Renewal to the core.

Reversal of perspectives; visual overthrow.

Hope’ Source and a new leap forward: where humiliation is transformed into authentic Birth and triumph of the indestructible Life.

This the Bliss that discovers hidden treasures and precious pearls behind our dark sides.

Here even the persecutions of enemies and mockers become vectors that introduce different energies; they force us to improve track.

And it was imagined that divine life only belonged to the celestial sphere - instead it paradoxically comes within our reach.

Nicodemus knew: in the desert many had fallen victim to snares. But Jesus makes it clear that the Israelites hadn’t been gratuitously healed by a bronze effigy, but by ‘lifting up their eyes’.

The Secret is «from on High» (v.7), off the scale.

The Lord refers to this episode and interprets it as the setting for his own teaching; a symbol of his extreme event.

It is for a new Genesis of one's own being and of the criteria for which one's life is at stake, that the Crucified One becomes the reference point for each of our choices.

Those who contemplate Him already have within themselves the full, acute and total meaning of the Scriptures, and the very Life of the Eternal.

In rabbinic style, Mt 25 uses the image of the Last Judgment to recall the importance and consequences of the choices we make.

Jn speaks of a Judgment that takes place in the Present, which is ‘only redemption’ on our exclusive favor: for a life as saved persons.

According to a Wisdom that gives rise to and makes us hear quite a few unexpected opinions.

Thus, while employing different backgrounds and language, both Mt and Jn find themselves in the same «truth» (v.21). Judgment is pronounced from the Cross.

Discrepancies are as of now commensurate on the Person of the Son. The Judgment has already begun.

[Wednesday 2nd wk. in Easter, April 30, 2025]

Genesis Rebirth Judgment

Jn 3:16-21(7-21)

Every man confronted with the Mystery does not fully comprehend what he feels, until he accepts the wager and enters into a new existence.

The old life presents only bills to be paid, which always resurface; conversely, the new Calling supplants normalised categories of judgement and choices.

One passes as through an emptying of the heart.

For the Tao [Way] Tê Ching (xxi) says:

"The contentment of those who have the virtue of emptiness, only to the Tao does it conform. For creatures, the Tao is indistinct and indeterminate [...] in its bosom it holds images [...] in its bosom it holds archetypes [...] in its bosom it holds the essence of being! This essence is very genuine [...] and so it consents to all beginnings.

Outside the cosmic and personal Way, man's existence has no generative meaning.

Even the spiritual affair of the experienced and well-adjusted person stagnates until he can no longer silence the great questions of meaning, his fiction, or sloth.

Life in the Spirit proceeds by new Births and breathes forth where it will.

Not according to a progress marked by mechanisms, manners, respectability, skills, or instruction booklets: in a disconcerting way - but it brings different refreshment, and even sudden peace.

It is a reality present and operative, albeit inexplicable - yet enriching, allowing us to penetrate or plunge into another configuration of reality.

Another realm, which in the 'Son of Man' unites the two worlds.

Nicodemus was master of the Old Testament alone. He would check any stagnation or progress by comparing them to the wisdom of the things of God on a more than familiar basis.

But not infrequently our growth proceeds in leaps and bounds - not even according to natural 'intelligence'. Let alone the spiritual life.

It is not enough to practise and go along with the ideas of the fathers or the fashionable ones, nor to remain in agreement with normal intentions.

Assimilating other people's knowledge and acquiring already expected expertise is not infrequently junk that blocks true developments - those that belong to us.

Unfortunately, in religious life one often proceeds mechanically, and there seems to be no need to allow oneself to be saved or surprised by events.

At most we are exposed to a few breezes, enslaved to earthly languages, limited to the dimension of "phenomena" that are all on the surface - that exclude and dismiss Christ.

In the bewildering adventure of Faith, the divine Project and the radical Work of the Son do not unfold in a reasonable manner, but by Love without measure.

It is the level of Eternity that puts those who receive it into the unique tu-per-tu with the Father and his exuberant Life.

The Spirit's unit of measure is different from that of the agreed customs. Its impetus is elusive Wind, "visible" only in its ecclesial and personal effects.

The Secret is "from above" (v.7), out of scale. It lurks in the unpredictability of crossroads, surpluses, and new creations.

Bliss does not proceed by arguments to boredom: it protrudes or pales.

In this way, one can often hold the Eucharist or the Scriptures in one's hand and not realise that the road already taken can only give illusions of spiritual doctoring.

"Thence shall he come to judge" is an article of the Apostles' Creed.

Success or failure in life will be evaluated "from the Cross", i.e. with the criterion of the new perception, Gift of self and Renewal to the core.

Reversal of perspectives; reversal of views.

It is a source of Hope and a new leap forward: where humiliation is transformed into authentic Birth and triumph of indestructible Life.

This is the Beatitude that uncovers blooms, hidden treasures and precious pearls, behind our dark sides.

Here even the persecutions of enemies and mockers become vectors that introduce different energies, compelling us to improve.

And one imagined that divine life only belonged to the celestial sphere; instead it paradoxically comes within our reach.

Nicodemus knew: in the wilderness many had fallen victim to snares, but Jesus makes it clear that the Israelites had not been gratuitously healed by a bronze effigy, but by having 'raised their eyes'.

The Lord refers to this episode and interprets it as the setting for his own teaching; the symbol of his extreme event.

Those who contemplate it already have within themselves the full, acute and total sense of the Scriptures, and the very Life of the Eternal.

In this sense, it is necessary to be "born from above", to shift contemplative perception, to recognise ourselves, and to keep our eyes on true love.

It is because of a new Genesis of our own being and of the criteria by which we stake our lives, that the Crucified One becomes the reference point for all our choices.

Not out of sorrowful masochism and feigned consolation. Not to use it as a jewel.

Not an amulet; not an emblem placed by force upon the heights, which would indicate the conquest of territories.

Not even the sacralisation of an environment, or a 'cultural' figure.In rabbinic style, Mt 25 uses the image of the Last Judgement to recall the importance and consequences of the choices we make.

In Jn, the theme of the Judgement seems reversed: it is as if we were the ones "judging" God - in the sense that in his presence we are and will be disarmed, recognising that his Heart is far greater than our own.

So too in the experience of the life of Faith, which attracts and opens up the impossible future.

Indeed, the Fourth Gospel excludes the Father judging the sons. Jn speaks of a Judgment that takes place in the Present, which is only redemption - for our sake alone: for a life of the saved.

"When" God acts he creates. He justifies: he does something new, global, unparalleled.

It does not repeat. It gives birth to other excesses, in varied grooves, in the fabric of history, "imposing" just positions - first of all where there is no justice.

According to a Wisdom that gives rise to quite a few unexpected opinions.

While employing different backgrounds and language, both Mt and Jn find themselves in the same "truth" (v.21).

The Judgement is pronounced from the Cross - according to criteria that differ from worldly criteria, which are always hasty or mannered (and trivial).

The Lord makes his opinions heard and seen, in the face of all events and choices - warning against the options of authentic death.

The work of those who mismanage and waste life "shall burn, and he shall be punished; yet he shall be saved, but as by fire" (1 Cor 3:15).

The dissimilarities are already commensurate with the Person of the Son. The Judgment has already begun.

To internalise and live the message:

What do you consider to have been your births? What about your genuine choices?

Are you still in the direction of the wind of the ancient fathers or the fashions around you?

Do you unfurl your sails according to the direction of the Wind of the Spirit, which throws up your securities, even group or denominational ones?

What do you admire, and what have you placed 'high' in your life? Is this straw already finished and burnt?

What has so far exalted you, and did you think could elevate you instead?

He so loved, and gave

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16). Here is the heart of the Gospel, here is the foundation of our joy. For the content of the Gospel is not an idea or a doctrine, but is Jesus, the Son whom the Father gave us that we might have life. Jesus is the foundation of our joy: it is not a beautiful theory on how to be happy, but it is experiencing being accompanied and loved on life's journey. "He so loved the world that he gave his Son". Let us dwell, brothers and sisters, for a moment on these two aspects: "he so loved" and "he gave".

First of all, God so loved. These words, which Jesus addresses to Nicodemus - an old Jew who wanted to know the Master - help us to see the true face of God. He has always looked upon us with love, and out of love He came among us in the flesh of His Son. In Him He came to seek us in the places where we went astray; in Him He came to lift us up from our falls; in Him He wept our tears and healed our wounds; in Him He blessed our lives forever. Whoever believes in Him, says the Gospel, is not lost (ibid.). In Jesus, God has spoken the final word over our lives: you are not lost, you are loved. Always loved.

If listening to the Gospel and practising our faith does not enlarge our hearts to make us grasp the greatness of this love, and perhaps we slip into a serious, sad, closed religiosity, then it is a sign that we need to stop for a while and listen again to the proclamation of the good news: God loves you so much that he gives you his whole life. He is not a God who looks down on us indifferently from on high, but He is a Father, a loving Father who involves Himself in our history; He is not a God who rejoices in the death of the sinner, but a Father concerned that no one is lost; He is not a God who condemns, but a Father who saves us with the blessing embrace of His love.

And we come to the second word: God 'gave' his Son. Precisely because he loves us so much, God gives himself and offers us his life. He who loves always comes out of himself - do not forget this: he who loves always comes out of himself. Love always offers itself, gives itself, spends itself. The power of love is precisely this: it shatters the shell of selfishness, it breaks the banks of over-calculated human securities, it breaks down walls and overcomes fears, to make itself a gift. This is the dynamic of love: it is making a gift of oneself, giving oneself. He who loves is like that: he prefers to risk giving himself rather than atrophy by keeping to himself. That is why God comes out of himself, because 'he has loved so much'. His love is so great that it cannot help but give itself to us. When the people walking in the desert were attacked by poisonous snakes, God made Moses the bronze serpent; In Jesus, however, lifted up on the cross, He Himself came to heal us of the poison that gives death, He became sin to save us from sin. God does not love us in words: he gives us his Son so that whoever looks at him and believes in him may be saved (cf. Jn 3:14-15).

The more one loves, the more one becomes capable of giving. This is also the key to understanding our life. It is good to meet people who love each other, who love each other and share life; you can say of them as you do of God: they love each other so much that they give their lives. It is not only what we can produce or gain that counts, what counts above all is the love we know how to give.

And this is the source of joy! God so loved the world that he gave his Son. Hence the Church's invitation on this Sunday: 'Rejoice [...]. Rejoice and be glad, you who were in sorrow: be filled with the abundance of your consolation" (Entrance Antiphon; cf. Is 66:10-11). I think back to what we experienced a week ago in Iraq: a tormented people rejoiced with joy; thanks to God, to his mercy.

Sometimes we look for joy where there is none, we look for it in illusions that vanish, in dreams of our ego's greatness, in the apparent security of material things, in the worship of our image, and so many things... But the experience of life teaches us that true joy is to feel loved gratuitously, to feel accompanied, to have someone who shares our dreams and who, when we are shipwrecked, comes to rescue us and lead us to a safe harbour.

[Pope Francis, homily on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the evangelisation of the Philippines, 14 March 2021].

"God is love" (I Jn 4: 16): in this simple affirmation the Evangelist John has enclosed the revelation of the entire mystery of the Triune God. And in meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus, foretelling his passion and death on the Cross, affirms: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).

We all need to draw from the inexhaustible fountain of divine love, which is totally manifested to us in the mystery of the Cross, in order to find authentic peace with God, with ourselves and with our neighbour. Only from this spiritual source is it possible to draw the indispensable interior energy to overcome the evil and sin in the ceaseless battle that marks our earthly pilgrimage toward the heavenly homeland.

[Pope Benedict, Penitentiary Course Audience 16 March 2007]

Our meeting today puts us into direct contact with the depths of the mystery of God’s love. We are in fact taking part in Vespers in honour of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which enable us to live and experience the reality of God’s love for man. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God loves the world and will love it to the end. The Heart of the Son of God pierced on the Cross and opened is a profound and definitive witness to God’s love. Saint Bonaventure writes: “It was a divine decree that permitted one of the soldiers to open his sacred wide with a lance . . . The blood and water which poured out at that moment was the price of our salvation” (The Liturgy of the Hours, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, Office of Readings, Second Reading).

With trembling hearts and in humility we stand before the great mystery of God, who is love. Here today, in Gliwice, we wish to express to him our praise and immense gratitude.

It is with great joy that I come to you today, because you are dear to me. All the people of Silesia are dear to my heart. When I was Archbishop of Kraków I would go each year on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Piekary and we would gather there for prayer in common. I greatly appreciated every invitation. For me it was always a profound experience. However, this is the first time that I have come to the Diocese of Gliwice, because it is a young diocese which was established just a few years ago. Therefore, receive my cordial greeting, which I send first of all to your Bishop Jan and to his Auxiliary Bishop Gerard. I also greet the clergy, the families of Religious men and women, all consecrated persons and the faithful people of this Diocese. I am pleased that my travels on this pilgrimage in our homeland include Gliwice, a city which I have visited many times and of which I have special memories. With great joy I visit this land of men and women who are accustomed to hard work: it is the land of the Polish miner, the land of steel mills, mines and industrial furnaces; but it is also a land with a rich religious tradition. My thoughts and my heart open today to all of you here present, to all the people of Upper Silesia and of the entire land of Silesia. I greet all of you in the name of the one Triune God.

2. “God is love” (1 Jn 4:16). These words of Saint John the Evangelist constitute the theme of the Pope’s pilgrimage in Poland. On the eve of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 this joyous and impressive news of a God who loves needs to be spread anew throughout the world. God is a reality which is beyond our human capacity to understand fully. Since he is God, our reasoning is unable to grasp his infiniteness, nor can his limitlessness be confined within narrow human dimensions. It is he who measures us, who rules over us, guides us and understands us, even though we may be unaware of it. This God, however unattainable in his essence, has made himself close to men and women by his paternal love. The truth of God who is love constitutes a kind of summing up and at the same time the high point of everything that God has revealed about himself, of what he has told us through the Prophets and through Jesus Christ about what he is.

God has revealed this love in various ways. First, in the mystery of creation. Creation is the work of God’s omnipotence guided by wisdom and love. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you”, God says to Israel through the lips of the Prophet Jeremiah (31:3). God has loved the world which he has created, and above all things in the world he has loved man. Even when man turned away from this original love, God did not stop loving him and raised him up from his fall, because he is Father, because he is Love. In the most perfect and definitive way, God has revealed his love in Christ — in his Cross and in his Resurrection. Saint Paul will say: “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive with Christ” (Eph 2:4-5). In this year’s message for youth I wrote: “The Father loves you”. This magnificent news has been placed in the heart of believing men and women who, like the disciple whom Jesus loved, rest their heads on the Master’s breast and listen to what he confides to them: “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (Jn 14:21).

“The Father loves you” — these words of the Lord Jesus are at the very heart of the Gospel. At the same time, no one shows more clearly than Jesus how demanding this love is: “he became obedient unto death” (Phil 2:8) and thus taught in the most perfect way that love waits for a response from men and women. It demands fidelity to the commandments and to the vocation which each person has received from God.

3. “We know and believe the love God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16).

By grace, men and women are called to the Covenant with their Creator, to give a response of faith and love which no one else can give for them. This response has not been lacking here in Silesia. For whole centuries you have responded to God with your Christian lives. Your history shows you always united with the Church and her Pastors, strongly attached to the religious traditions of your forebears. In a particular way, the long post-War period — up to the changes which took place in our country in 1989 — was also for you a time of great trial of faith. You faithfully stood by God, withstanding atheism and the secularization of the nation and the battle against religion. I remember how thousands of workers in Silesia, at the Shrine of Piekary, repeated with firm resolve the motto: “Sunday belongs to God and to us”. You have always been aware of the need for prayer and for places where prayer could be better raised to God. Therefore you were never without the willingness of spirit or the generosity to work for the construction of new churches and places of worship, which sprang up in large numbers during that period in the cities and towns of Upper Silesia. You also had at heart the well- being of the family. For this reason you spoke up for the rights of families, especially the right for your children and for young people to be freely educated in the faith. You would often gather at shrines and in many other places dear to your hearts to give expression to your attachment to God and to bear witness to him. You would also invite me to those community celebrations in Silesia. I was always eager to proclaim the word of God, for you needed comfort during the difficult period of struggle when you fought to preserve your Christian identity, and you needed strength to obey “God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Looking at the past, we give thanks to Providence today for that test of faithfulness to God and to the Gospel, to the Church and to her Pastors. It was also a test of the responsibility of the nation, of our Christian homeland and of its thousand-year heritage, which despite the many great trials did not suffer destruction or sink into oblivion. It happened this way because you “know and believe the love God has for us”, and you responded always with love to God.

4. “Blessed are they who walk not in the counsel of the wicked . . . but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, who meditate on his law day and night” (Ps 1:1- 2).

We have listened to these words of the Psalmist in the short reading at today’s Vespers service. Remain faithful to the experience of the past generations who lived in this land with God in their hearts and prayer on their lips. In Silesia may there ever prevail faith and sound morality, a true Christian spirit and respect for divine law. Preserve as your greatest treasure that which for your ancestors’ was a source of spiritual strength. Your forebears included God in their lives; in him they overcame every manifestation of evil. An eloquent expression of this is the miners’ greeting “God be good to you!”. Keep your hearts always open to the values proclaimed by the Gospel, cherish them; for they define your identity.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I also wanted to let you know that I am aware of the difficulties, fears and hardships which you are now experiencing, the fears and hardships afflicting the work sector in this Diocese and in all of Silesia. I am aware of the dangers which this state of affairs poses especially for many families and for the life of society as a whole. A careful consideration is needed both of the causes and of possible solutions. I have already spoken of this during my pilgrimage to Sosnowiec. Today I address once more all my fellow countrymen in our homeland: build the nation’s future on love of God and love of man, on respect for God’s commandments and on the life of grace! Indeed, happy are they, and happy is the nation, who take delight in the law of the Lord.

The knowledge that God loves us should make us love all men and women, without exception and without separating them into friends and enemies. Love of man consists in desiring what is truly good for each person. It consists also in concern to guarantee this good and to reject every form of evil and injustice. We must strive always and with perseverance to seek the paths of just development for all people, “to make life more human”, as the Council says (Gaudium et Spes, 38). May love and justice flourish in our country, producing daily results in the life of society. Thanks only to love and justice can this land become a happy home. Without great and authentic love there is no home for man. Even should great successes be achieved in the area of material development, without love and justice he would be condemned to a life without any real meaning.

“Man is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself” (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 24). He has been called to share in God’s life, he has been called to the fulness of grace and truth. His own greatness, the value and dignity of his humanity, he finds precisely in this vocation.

May God who is love be the light of our lives today and in the times to come. May he be the light of our homeland. Build a future worthy of man and his vocation!

I place you, your families and your problems at the feet of our Most Blessed Mother, who is venerated in many shrines in this Diocese and in all of Silesia. May she teach love of God and love of man, as she practised it in her own life.

To all, “God be good to you”!

[Pope John Paul II, homily in Gliwice 15 June 1999]

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” (Jn 3:16). This is the heart of the Gospel; this is the source of our joy. The Gospel message is not an idea or a doctrine. It is Jesus himself: the Son whom the Father has given us so that we might have life. Jesus is the source of our joy: not some lovely theory about how to find happiness, but the actual experience of being accompanied and loved throughout the journey of life. “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son”. Brothers and sisters, let us dwell on these two thoughts for a moment: “God so loved” and “God gave”.

First of all, God so loved. Jesus’ words to Nicodemus — a Jewish elder who wanted to know the Master — help us to see the true face of God. He has always looked at us with love, and for the sake of love, he came among us in the flesh of his Son. In Jesus, he went in search of us when we were lost. In Jesus, he came to raise us up when we fell. In Jesus, he wept with us and healed our wounds. In Jesus, he blessed our life forever. The Gospel tells us that whoever believes in him will not perish (ibid.). In Jesus, God spoke the definitive word about our life: you are not lost, you are loved. Loved forever.

If hearing the Gospel and practicing our faith don’t enlarge our hearts and make us grasp the immensity of God’s love — maybe because we prefer a glum, sorrowful and self-absorbed religiosity — then this is a sign that we need to stop and listen once more to the preaching of the Good News. God loves you so much that he gave you his entire life. He is not a god who looks down upon us from on high, indifferent, but a loving Father who becomes part of our history. He is not a god who takes pleasure in the death of sinners, but a Father concerned that that no one be lost. He is not a god who condemns, but a Father who saves us with the comforting embrace of his love.

We now come to the second aspect: God “gave” his Son. Precisely because he loves us so much, God gives himself; he offers us his life. Those who love always go out of themselves. Don’t forget this: those who love go out of themselves. Love always offers itself, gives itself, expends itself. That is the power of love: it shatters the shell of our selfishness, breaks out of our carefully constructed security zones, tears down walls and overcomes fears, so as to give freely of itself. That is what love does: it gives itself. And that is how lovers are: they prefer to risk self-giving over self-preservation. That is why God comes to us: because he “so loved” us. His love is so great that he cannot fail to give himself to us. When the people were attacked by poisonous serpents in the desert, God told Moses to make the bronze serpent. In Jesus, however, exalted on the cross, he himself came to heal us of the venom of death; he became sin to save us from sin. God does not love us in words: he gives us his Son, so that whoever looks at him and believes in him will be saved (cf. Jn 3:14-15).

The more we love, the more we become capable of giving. That is also the key to understanding our life. It is wonderful to meet people who love one another and share their lives in love. We can say about them what we say about God: they so love each other that they give their lives. It is not only what we can make or earn that matters; in the end, it is the love we are able to give.

This is the source of joy! God so loved the world that he gave his Son. Here we see the meaning of the Church’s invitation this Sunday: “Rejoice... Rejoice and be glad, you who mourn: find contentment and consolation” (Entrance Antiphon; cf. Is 66:10-11). I think of what we saw a week ago in Iraq: a people who had suffered so much rejoiced and were glad, thanks to God and his merciful love.

Sometimes we look for joy where it is not to be found: in illusions that vanish, in dreams of glory, in the apparent security of material possessions, in the cult of our image, and in so many other things. But life teaches us that true joy comes from realizing that we are loved gratuitously, knowing that we are not alone, having someone who shares our dreams and who, when we experience shipwreck, is there to help us and lead us to a safe harbor.

[Pope Francis, homily on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the evangelisation of the Philippines, 14 March 2021]

Scientists and Lowlies: abstract world and incarnation

(Mt 11:25-30)

The leaders looked at religiosity with a view to interest. Professors of theology were accustomed to evaluate every comma on the basis of their own knowledge, ridiculous but supponent - unrelated to real events.

That which remains tied to customs and the usual protagonists does not make one dream, it’s not an apparition and astonishing testimony of Elsewhere; it detracts expressive richness of the announcement and life.

The Lord rejoices in his own experience, which brings a non-epidermal joy and a teaching from the Spirit - about those who are well disposed, and able to understand the depths of the Kingdom, in ordinary things.

In short, after an initial moment of enthusiastic crowds, the Christ delves deeper into the themes and finds himself all against, except God and the least ones: the weightlesses, but eager to start from scratch.

Glimpse of the Mystery that leavens history - without making it a possession.

At first even Jesus is stunned by the rejection of those who considered themselves already satisfied and no longer expected anything that could overcome habits.

Then He understands, praises and blesses the Father's plan: the authentic Person is born from the gutter, and possesses «the sense of neighborhood» (FT n.152).

The Creator is simple Relationship: He demystifies the idol of greatness.

The Eternal One is not the master of creation: He is Refreshment that reassures, because makes us feel complete and lovable. He seeks us out, He pays attention to the language of the heart.

He is Custodian of the world, even of the unlearned ones - of the «infants»  (v.25) spontaneously empty of boastful spirit, that is, of those who do not remain closed in their sufficient belonging.

Thus the Father-Son bond is communicated to God’s poor: those who are endowed with the attitude of family members (v.27).

Insignificant and invisible without great external capacities, but who abandon themselves to the proposals of the provident life that comes, like babies in the arms of parents.

In this way, with a pietas’ Spirit that favours those who allow themselves to be filled with innate wisdom.

The only reality that corresponds to us and does not present the "bill": it doesn’t proceed along the paths of functional thinking, of calculating initiative.

Sapience that transmits freshness in the readiness to personally receive, welcome, re-temper the Truth as a Gift, and the spontaneous enthusiasm itself, capable of realizing it.

A simple blessing prayer, for the simple ones - this of Jesus (v.25) - which makes us grow in esteem, fits perfectly with our experience, and gets along well with ourselves.

The new ones, the nullities, the voiceless and invisible do not think in terms of doctrine and laws [vv.29-30: unbearable "yoke" that crushes people, and concrete, particular vocations] but in terms of life and humanity.

Thus they enrich the fundamental and spontaneous experience of Faith-Love, satisfying, fulfilling it without mannerisms or intimate forcing.

While the exteriority of the pyramidal world, the distrust of those who want “to count", the anxiety of a competitive society, impoverish the gaze and contaminate the vital wave.

We, too, do not appreciate too much the energy of the 'models', nor the aggressive power of the “big guys”.

Rather than only with the “big” and external, we wish to live by Communion - even with the 'small' self, or there will be no loveliness, no authentic life.

To internalize and live the message:

What do you feel when you are told: «You don't count»? 

Does it remain a humiliating contempt or do you consider it a great Light received, as Jesus did

[St Catherine of Siena, April 29]