Living Stones and Liberation from usurers:

Sign and Anticipation of a new cosmos, of a new humanity

(Jn 2:13-22)

Where to worship the Most High? Already the cosmos is like a great cathedral, weaving divine praise; then certainly both high places and temples made historical sense.

But now Christ is the place where woman and man meet God, the centre of irruption and unfolding of the Father's Love, in the cosmos.

The Lord comes willingly, to merge with the life of the believer and expand his capacities, qualitative resources, world of relationships.

The Eternal lives and acts in the friend who - albeit unconsciously - accepts his proposals. Thus, even if the heavens do not contain Him, He deigns and delights to be among us and in us.

The great ancient Sovereign was relegated to the Temple, and in the affairs of daily life we forgot Him. Now we are the shrines, true and living.

So, even if crowds of tourists wander around to admire the art, the basilicas are signs, not realities.

We are the churches outside the churches, where the Source of being dwells, which reveals itself and which we must make others encounter.

Effective sign and anticipation of a more human cosmos. In each one the Face of Christ.

Only in this sense "Lateran/ a le cose mortali andò di sopra" [Dante, Paradiso 31, 30-35].

«Easter was drawing near»: a time of liberation from slavery – from the merchants and usurers who had taken the God of the Exodus captive.

The people believed that they were emancipated through the acquisition of the 'promised land', and that they worshipped in a pleasing manner.

In reality, they were still enslaved to a pagan image of the Almighty, and to a religiosity repeatedly patched up for the use of the professionals of the sacred.

The Temple in Jerusalem was the pride of the spiritualising elite, yet Jesus behaves in a way that disconcerts the established cultural system.

He does not mediate, he does not seek support, he does not intend to make a career, he does not mind throwing away the market so dear to the priestly class.

Every implication was based on a false teaching, which appealed to the sense of unworthiness inculcated in simple people. Hence on the fear of heavenly curses - under conditions, favourable only to the protagonists of the religious trade.

The Temple complex was made up of a series of circuits that gradually screened out visitors.

Into the esplanade could enter all sane people, even pagans; then began the walls of separation.

The first, under threat of death, blocked the non-Israelites. The second the women, the third also the circumcised.

Only the ritualists had access to the inner sanctuary: no layman could tread on the sacred stones.

Only the high priest entered the holy of holies, once a year (Yom Kippur day).

The most striking feature of the complex [logic of its closed precincts] was Separation: the exclusion of people.

Precisely those most in need were not allowed in: the sick, paralytics, sinners, publicans, shepherds - not even Israelites.

Jesus wants to dismantle the barriers that prevent people from approaching God; all prejudices and dividing walls.

The great novelty is that in Him everyone has access to the Father, without hindrance or imprimatur to be implored.

He proposes communion as conviviality of differences, not synergy with any purpose.

He values the unicum of personal resources, not proposing the usual totem - hammering any of our faculties.

Anyone who wishes may enter the sanctuary of the new Temple-Person, without hindrance [nor having to first obtain permission (as sometimes happens) from dangerous, opaque, and insulting people].

Then, the fear inculcated by the old religiosity had turned the great houses of worship of the ancient East into banks - as well as places of obsession.

The mixture of prayer and money is really unbearable. When economic interests take over, the consequences on civilisation and weightless people are devastating.

But the theatre of 'sanctifying' and respectable power is back (at times, almost imperturbable) even under the aegis of the poor Crucified.

So Jesus in his prophets came - even - to emphasise the incompatibility between commerce and a life of communion with the Father.

Which connotes the enormous difference between material building and personal sacred place.

Christ in us does not set out to mend the ancient pious practice, nor to purify the Temple, but to replace it, to supplant it. And even eliminate it - because it tends to legitimise illusions of perfection, which dehumanise hearts and assemblies.

The Master throws us out of the false image of God presented in the spaces of what appears inviolable and heavenly... to recover him within each one of us and in the community that we really meet.

In short, we must put an end to the palisades - even 'ideal' ones - in which gratuitousness and prayer bear little resemblance to the Son's relationship with the Father.Informal and unbalanced in love like the Eternal Himself, we too do not know how to 'be in the world' in a fixed, tranquil, reassuring way.

By Faith we are no longer the product of shrines of cold, hard stones.

Not infrequently, temples are images of abstract religious knowledge, and of a standard way of life that incapacitates, that cannot give answers to new questions, that does not solve real problems.

We would indeed like to learn to translate our leaps forward with the "nostalgia for the infinite", with the desire to return to the Source, to Beauty, to the origins - but which accompany the "pilgrim".

They in Christ do not create any "constant and obsessive bond" [cf. Brothers All, no. 44].

Nor do we expect to end up in the surrendering and disembodied ideology of the elites: a way of thinking so sophisticated that it totally blocks any challenging bet for an educational risk and pastoral action.

We are not qualunquists.

On the contrary, we yearn to go all the way, to discover the Roots, and to astound the unexpressed characters; in the life of love that reaches the shadowy, hidden, deep sides. Those sides to which we have not yet given space.

Without precisely silencing anxieties, nor denying dark sides, or the contradictions, unpleasant moments, fractures, discomforts that coexist in the essence. And they complete us.

We will learn how to return to the House that belongs to the founding Eros, without suppressing the intimate protrusions - appeals of the soul, often constricted.

Then we will know and teach how to recover the bitter, unpleasant or "impure" dimensions that the wall temple imagines can be neglected, removed, sterilised.

Instead, they configure the most fertile terrain of our evolution.

All this may not reassure, but it activates the Exodus - pushing us to understand elsewhere, navigating towards impossible territories.

Finally, landing more and more in the density of the Mystery that wants to travel with us.

And devotions or not, we will make a different kind of acquisition - not that of business partners with God - or of 'separates'.

"Today the liturgy commemorates the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which is the cathedral of Rome and which tradition defines as "mother of all the churches of the Urbe and the Orbe". The term 'mother' refers not so much to the sacred building of the Basilica as to the work of the Holy Spirit that is manifested in this building" [Pope Francis, Angelus 9 November 2014].

We reiterate: only in this sense "Lateran/ a le cose mortali andò di sopra".

Sorry for the leaders of the "news" who want to tear us away from the infinite codes that inhabit us.

The eminent Friendly Self takes our step - he does not intend to relegate us to enlisted world-bearers.

Smuggling is now incompatible with our action as living stones.

The same is true in the relationship of Faith-Immediate Identity: no trading (cf. vv.23-25).

With those who approach Him as miracle-workers, material protectors, or banners for sacralising visions of the world all planted in the mire of the chronicle, Jesus has a detached attitude.

Credulity in the extraordinary of prodigies or thoughts is fragile, transient - subservient to the persistence of outward spectacles, flashy manners and fashions, or the useful.

It is not here that one accepts to become - like Him - critical witnesses of the new world. Fathers and mothers of a new humanity.

"If man pays attention to the objects of the senses, attachment to them eventually arises in him; from attachment arises desire, from desire arises anger; from anger arises bewilderment, from bewilderment confusion in memory, from loss of memory the ruin of the intellect: with the ruin of the intellect man is lost" (Bhagavad Gita, II, 62-63).

Liberation and Personalisation: Difference between Religiousness and Faith

Little House of God or place of business? No more haggling

(Lk 19:45-48)

Jesus notes that around the activity that took place within the perimeters of the Temple a whole ambiguous structure of sin had been articulated.

The Sanctuary's business eagerness was not even hidden - indeed, it even confronted it.

But the priestly perspectives of the holy tribute and the horizons of the people's full life conflicted.

Ditto for the aims of jurists and doctors, who willingly flocked especially under Solomon's porch [on the other side, towards the east] to 'grant' advice.

The exclusive function of fostering an encounter with the presence of God was totally mortified.

The sacred area had become a den of shrewd merchants, businessmen perpetually on the prowl, always intent on changing currency.

This was with the blessing of the sect of the ruling Sadducees, who could not resist the temptation to pull the strings of the lavish trade.In ousting the false friends of the succouring Father, the parasites of religiosity, the Lord does not so much aim to restore the purity of the Place, nor to restore the polish of the original sober worship - as the Prophets intended.

He renders a holy service not to the ancient God (as in the religions) but to the people - by that system [or tangle] rendered totally unaware of their own vocational dignity: only chained, milked, and sheared.

Indeed, the Zealots aimed to restore the purity of rituals. They imagined that they could somehow recover their coherence.

The Essenes, on the other hand, had abandoned the Temple altogether. They considered the shameful situation now compromised.

John the Baptist had made the same detachment.

Although of priestly lineage, he preached to the people the forgiveness of sins through a conversion of life, not through the sacrifices of the liturgy [only in Jerusalem].

Instead, the authentic Angel of the Covenant was definitely intransigent, far more radical than any of them!

In fact, according to the very first Christians, who frequented the Temple, the place of encounter with God, the land from which his Love radiated, was no longer linked to material aspects.

Nor was it in itself religious; much less imbued with doctrinal observances, moralistic codes, or one-sided worldviews.

Thus, for us too, the divine Presence and its Communion are not caught in mythical purity, ancient magnificence, perfectionist endeavours - or à la page adherence.

Service to God is honouring woman and man as and where they are: sacred respect starts from a Gift that already runs through our lives. Opinions are of no use.

The unknown Friend wants to dwell in us not to appropriate, but to merge and expand our relational and qualitative capacities. Our own, not others' or on the side.

In Christ, we move from obedience to more or less dated norms [even futuristic ones] to the style of personal likeness. That which builds living shrines.

Honour to the Father is realised not in the details or in the spirit of the body already dictated, but in the sons and daughters, however - if they live in fraternity.

This happens especially when they assimilate Jesus' Teaching [on Grace] (v.47).

Thus in time, they learn conviviality from Himself, and together they are encouraged to dialogue with their exceptional and unrepeatable Vocation, which captivates because it truly corresponds.

And intimate conviction is alone, incomparable and precious energy of transformative value - which leads one not to withdraw from oneself, one's own exceptionalism, nor to overlook the reality of one's brothers.

Rather, it induces one to make Exodus, to explore new conditions of being, to transfigure perception into blissful action.

Only from here does coexistence arise.

And Sin indeed remains deviation, but no longer transgression of the law - but inability to correspond to the Call that characterises, unleashes and empowers a surprising uniqueness of Relationship.

The first Tent of God is thus humanity itself, its beating heart - not a space of stones and bricks, fixed, delimited, or fanciful... to be adorned with overlays.

Having entered Jerusalem, the Master takes possession of the heavenly House - which is not the Temple, but the People.

That is why He casts out of the sacred imagery inculcated in the naive, precisely the most uneducational traits of the festival - and especially teaches the unhealthy, to feel already adequate!

Unbelievable: to each Christ changes the mental atmosphere.

The true Lord does not teach us to enter into habitual or abstract and formal armour, accepted in outline but distant from ourselves, from creatures.

Rather, he encourages us not to restrain our true nature with cloaks of habit [dated or not] according to which 'it is never enough'.

Behind our character essence lies a fruitful, unrepeatable, singular Calling; with visual and social implications that we do not know.

As we are - just so - we are fine.

There is no need to exorcise anything of our deepest being, which spontaneously manifests its compressed discomforts and joyful correspondences, even in outward eccentricities.

Rather, any conventional epidermal, adaptive, or cunning domestication stifles the core of the Calling by Name - authentic Guidance, impulse of Spirit.

Our inner world is not to be hysterically regarded as a dangerous outsider to be reconfigured.

Our innate roots and natural energy have the right to flourish and prevail over common ways or ideas: they are experimental traces of the Divine.

There is a Personal bond in them.

The Lord's claim is immediately countered by the hostility of the paludates, interested in the give-and-take of that mannerist theatre.

They make him out to be deranged, to be eliminated immediately: a very dangerous dreamer, because he activates and enhances souls, instead of the mediating structure.This is the condemnation handed down by the 'big boys' in society: the outcome of any truth operation.

This is how they try to tarnish any attempt at emancipation of the oppressed in spirit, in the core of the self - whether through fear of God or obsession with unworthiness.

But in today's reality, which heels us in, the Risen One continues to demythologise the excessive preoccupation with identified places, the "heights" of settled and material character.

With their implications that do not nourish in a full and stable way - on the contrary, they become a cankerworm.

In short, a change of approach is needed.

He himself is the essential point of worship of the Eternal.

In such a light of Person in His Person, each one can embrace proposals that are not others and intrusive; that will not prove to be ballast.

And the Church's authentic prestige will be to echo the proclamation that liberates and truly pleases.

Obviously provoking the same mercantile tensions; litmus test of our divine action.

Through the work of apostles frightened by the bluntness of the authorities, and perhaps themselves prone to compromise - the magnificent sanctuary that Jesus had explicitly described as a den of scoundrels will once again become the centre of the ecclesial assembly [Lk 24:53; Acts 5:12].

It will provide more effectively... not the burning conscience, but the tragic history of the holy city, to make its excess of importance fade away.

Even today: the ancient phantasmagorical culmination is becoming periphery, decay. And to find ourselves, we make it difficult.

An opportunity not to be missed to move forward in a lively and singular way, in tune with an ever new teaching on Love, which takes our step.

It is the burning Call of "the Mount", which centres on passion: precisely on Desire.

No longer a stern call to the 'no' of great appearances - but finally Listening to the Voice in the soul, which amazes (v.48).

Authentic sacredness of the temple.

Jesus' teaching in the venerable place is presented by Lk 19:47 as enduring: "he was teaching every day" [Greek text].

Through the Word that does not remain on high but partakes of our humanity (finally opened wide) He also finds His Temple today. 

Dwelling place cleared of old and new hunters.

He only longs for his People - women and men freed from the cave of robbers [Jer 7:11; Lk 19:46] who still try to penetrate our quality of relationship.

Paraphrasing the encyclical Fratelli Tutti (No. 226) we gladly reiterate with Pope Francis: "there is no more room for empty diplomacies, for dissimulations, double talk, cover-ups, good manners that hide the reality" (irritating) of business partners with God.

The rubbish must be eliminated. The stakes are too high and personal.

With what does not correspond, even culturally, socially and spiritually, one no longer bargains.

To internalise and live the message:

Do you still need set times, carved-out places, gestures of atonement and propitiation, or do you feel a living relationship with God?

What is your House of Prayer?

Churches of service, not supermarkets.

The most important temple of God is our heart

"Churches of service, churches that are gratuitous, just as salvation was gratuitous, and not 'supermarket churches'": Pope Francis did not mince words in re-proposing the relevance of Jesus' gesture of driving the merchants out of the temple. And "vigilance, service and gratuitousness" are the three key words he relaunched in the mass celebrated on Friday 24 November at Santa Marta.

"Both readings of today's liturgy," the Pontiff explained, "speak to us of the temple, indeed of the purification of the temple. Taking his cue from the passage in the first book of Maccabees (4:36-37, 52-59), the Pope pointed out how "after the defeat of the people that Antiochus Epiphanes had sent to paganise the people, Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers wanted to purify the temple, that temple where there had been pagan sacrifices, and restore the spiritual beauty of the temple, the sacredness of the temple". For this "the people were joyful". Indeed, we read in the biblical text that "great was the joy of the people, because the shame of the pagans had been wiped away". Therefore, the Pope added, "the people rediscovered their own law, they rediscovered their own being; the temple became, once again, the place of the encounter with God".

"Jesus does the same when he expels those who were selling in the temple: he purifies the temple," said Francis, referring to the Gospel passage from Luke (19:45-48). In doing so, the Lord makes the temple "as it should be: pure, only for God and for the people who go to pray". But, on our part, "how do we purify the temple of God?". The answer, said the Pope, lies in "three words that can help us understand. First: vigilance; second: service; third: gratuitousness'.

"Vigilance", therefore, is the first word suggested by the Pontiff: "Not only the physical temple, the palaces, the temples are the temples of God: the most important temple of God is our heart, our soul". So much so that, the Pope pointed out, St Paul tells us: 'You are the temple of the Holy Spirit'. Therefore, Francis reiterated, 'within us dwells the Holy Spirit'.

And this is precisely 'why the first word' proposed by Francis is 'vigilance'. Hence some questions for an examination of conscience: "What is happening in my heart? What is happening within me? How do I deal with the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit one more of the many idols I have within me or do I care for the Holy Spirit? Have I learnt to be vigilant within myself, so that the temple in my heart is only for the Holy Spirit?"

Here, then, is the importance of "purifying the temple, the inner temple, and keeping watch," said the Pope. With an explicit invitation: "Be careful, be vigilant: what happens in your heart? Who is coming, who is going... What are your feelings, your ideas? Do you speak with the Holy Spirit? Do you listen to the Holy Spirit?" It is, therefore, a matter of "watchfulness: be attentive to what is happening in our temple, within us".

The "second word is service," continued the Pontiff. "Jesus," he recalled, "makes us understand that he is present in a special way in the temple of those in need". And "he says it clearly: he is present in the sick, those who suffer, the hungry, the imprisoned, he is present there". For the word "service" Francis also suggested some questions to ask oneself: "Do I care for that temple? Do I take care of the temple with my service? Do I approach it to help, to clothe, to console those in need?"

"St John Chrysostom," Francis noted, "rebuked those who made so many offerings to adorn, to beautify the physical temple and did not take care of those in need: he rebuked and said: 'No, this is not good, first the service then the ornaments'". In short, we are called to "purify the temple that is others". And to do this well, we must ask ourselves: "How do I help to purify that temple?". The answer is simple: "With service, with service to the needy. Jesus himself says that he is present there". And 'he is present there,' the Pope explained, 'and when we approach to give service, to help, we resemble Jesus who is there'.

In this regard, Francis confided that he had 'seen such a beautiful icon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the cross: looking closely at that icon, the Cyrene had the same face as Jesus'. Therefore, 'if you guard that temple which is the sick, the imprisoned, the needy and the hungry, your heart will also be more like that of Jesus'. Precisely "that is why guarding the temple means service".

"The first word, vigilance," the Pontiff summarised, expresses something that "happens within us". While "the second word" leads us towards "service to the needy: that is purifying the temple". And "the third word that comes to mind," he continued, "reading the Gospel is gratuitousness. In the Gospel passage, Jesus says: "My house shall be a house of prayer. You, on the other hand, have made it a den of thieves'. Precisely with these words of the Lord in mind, said the Pope, "how many times with sadness do we enter a temple - think of a parish, a bishopric - and we do not know whether we are in the house of God or in a supermarket: there are businesses there, even the price list for the sacraments" and "gratuitousness is missing".

But 'God saved us gratuitously, he did not make us pay for anything,' the Pontiff insisted, inviting us to be of help 'so that our churches, our parishes are not a supermarket: that they are a house of prayer, that they are not a den of thieves, but that they are free service'. Of course, the Pope added, someone could object that 'we must have money to maintain the structure and also we must have money to feed the priests, the catechists'. The Pontiff's answer is clear: "You give freely and God will do the rest, God will do what is lacking".

"Guarding the temple," Francis affirmed, "means this: vigilance, service and gratuitousness". First of all "vigilance in the temple of our heart: what happens there, be careful because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit". Then "service to the needy" he repeated, also suggesting reading chapter 25 of Matthew's gospel. Service also "to the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, those in need because Christ is there", always with the certainty that "the needy is the temple of Christ".

Finally, the Pope concluded, the 'third' point is the 'gratuitousness in the service that is given in our churches: churches of service, churches that are gratuitous, just as salvation was gratuitous, and not 'supermarket churches'."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano 25/11/2017]

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

The liturgy today has us celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, called the "mother and head of all the Churches of the Urbe and Orbe". Actually, this Basilica was the first to be built after the Edict of the Emperor Constantine who, in 313, conceded to Christians the freedom to practice their religion. The same Emperor gave Pope Miltiades the ancient estate of the Laterani family and had the Basilica, the Baptistery and the Patriarchate built for him, the latter being the Bishop of Rome's residence, where Popes resided until the Avignon era. The dedication of the Basilica was celebrated by Pope Silvester in about 324 and the temple was dedicated to the Most Holy Saviour; only after the 6th century were the names of Sts John the Baptist and John the Evangelist added, from which came its common name. This occasion initially only involved the city of Rome; then, from 1565 onwards, it extended to the entire Church of the Roman rite. Hence, honouring the holy building is meant as an expression of love and veneration for the Roman Church "which", as St Ignatius of Antioch affirms, "presides in charity" over the entire Catholic communion (cf. Epistula ad Romanos, 1, 1). 

The Word of God during this Solemnity recalls an essential truth: the stone temple is the symbol of the living Church, the Christian community, that the Apostles Peter and Paul had, in their Letters, already understood as a "spiritual building", constructed by God with the "living stones" that are the Christians, upon the one foundation that is Jesus Christ, who is in turn compared to the "cornerstone" cf. 1 Cor 3: 9-11, 16-17; 1 Pt 2: 4-8; Eph 2: 20-22). "Brethren,... you are God's building", St Paul writes, and he adds, "God's temple is holy, and you are that temple" (1 Cor 3: 9c, 17). The beauty and the harmony of churches, destined to render praise to God, invites us human beings too, though limited and sinful, to convert ourselves to form a "cosmos", a well-ordered construction, in close communion with Jesus, who is the true Holy of Holies. This reaches its culmination in the Eucharistic liturgy, in which the "ecclesia" that is, the community of baptized finds itself again united to listen to the Word of God and nourish itself on the Body and Blood of Christ. Gathered around this twofold table, the Church of living stones builds herself up in truth and in love and is moulded interiorly by the Holy Spirit, transforming herself into what she receives, conforming herself ever more to her Lord Jesus Christ. She herself, if she lives in sincere and fraternal unity, thus becomes a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God. 

Dear friends, today's feast celebrates an ever current mystery: that God desires to build himself a spiritual temple in the world, a community that adores him in spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4: 23-24). But this occasion reminds us also of the importance of the concrete buildings in which the community gathers together to celebrate God's praises. Every community therefore has the duty to carefully guard their holy structures, which constitute a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we invoke the intercession of Mary Most Holy, so that she might help us to become, like her, a "house of God", living temple of his love. 

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 9 November 2008]

1. "The temple of God is holy, and you are that temple" (I Cor 3: 17). We listen once again to these words of the apostle Paul in today's solemn liturgy of the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Cathedral of Rome, Mother of all the churches. 

Every place set aside for divine worship is a sign of that spiritual temple, which is the Church, made up of living stones:  of the faithful united by the one faith, of the participation in the Sacraments and of the bond of charity. The Saints, in particular, are precious stones of that spiritual temple. 

Holiness, fruit of the unceasing work of God's Spirit, shines in the new Blesseds: Juan Nepomuceno Zegrí y Moreno, priest; Valentin Paquay, priest; Luigi Maria Monti, religious; Bonifacia Rodríguez Castro, virgin; Rosalie Rendu, virgin. 

2. The vision of the Sanctuary presented to us in today's liturgy by the prophet Ezechiel describes a stream that flows from the temple carrying life, vigour and hope: "Everything will live where the river goes" (Ez 47: 9). This image expresses God's infinite goodness and his design of salvation which scales the walls of the sacred enclosure and thus becomes the blessing of the entire earth. 

Juan Nepomuceno Zegrí y Moreno, an upright priest of deep Eucharistic piety, understood well how the proclamation of the Gospel needed to become a dynamic reality, able to transform the apostle's life. As a parish priest, he was committed to "visibly providing for all those who, suffering from abandonment, must drink from the bitter chalice and receive nourishment from the bread of tears" (19 June 1859). 

He developed his redemptive spirituality with this purpose, born from intimacy with Christ and directed towards charity for the neediest. He was inspired, through invocation to the Virgin of Mercy, Mother of the Redeemer, to found the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, with the aim of making God's love ever-present where there was "just one suffering to heal, one misfortune to console, one single hope to instil in hearts". Today this Institute, following in the footsteps of its Founder, continues its dedication to witness and promote redemptive charity. 

3. Fr Valentin Paquay is truly a disciple of Christ and a priest according to the heart of God. As an apostle of mercy, he spent long hours in the confessional, with a special gift to place sinners anew on the right path, reminding men and women of the greatness of divine forgiveness. Placing the celebration of the Eucharistic mystery at the centre of his priestly life, he invited the faithful to come frequently to communion with the Bread of Life. 

Like many saints, at a young age Fr Valentin was entrusted to the protection of Our Lady, who was invoked under the title of Cause of our Joy in the Church where he grew up, in Tongres. Following his example, may you be able to serve your brothers and sisters to give them the joy of meeting Christ in truth! 

4. "I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple... everything will live where the water goes" (Ez 47: 1, 9). The image of water, which brings everything back to life, illuminates well the life of Bl. Luigi Maria Monti, entirely dedicated to healing the physical and spiritual wounds of the sick and the orphaned. He loved to call them "Christ's poor ones", and he served them, enlivened by a living faith and sustained by intense and continual prayer. In his evangelical commitment, he was constantly inspired by the example of the Holy Virgin and placed the Congregation he founded under the sign of Mary Immaculate. 

How relevant is the message of this new Blessed! For his spiritual sons and for all believers, he is an example of faithfulness to God's call and to the proclamation of the Gospel of charity. He is a model of solidarity towards the needy and of affectionate entrustment to the Immaculate Virgin. 

5. The words of Jesus proclaimed in today's Gospel: "Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace" (Jn 2: 16), question today's society, often tempted to turn everything into commodity and profit, putting aside values and dignity which do not have a price. Since the human person is the likeness and dwelling place of God, a purification is necessary, so as to protect the person beginning with his or her social condition or work. 

Bl. Bonifacia Rodríguez Castro was dedicated entirely to this activity; she herself was a worker who understood the risks of the social condition of her age. In the simple and protected life of the Holy Family of Nazareth, she discovered a model of the spirituality of work that gives the human person dignity and makes every activity, however little it may seem, an offering to God and a means of sanctification. 

This is the spirit that she wished to instil in working women, starting with the Josephine Association and then with the foundation of the Servants of St Joseph, who continue their work in the world with simplicity, joy and renunciation. 

6. In an era troubled by social conflicts, Rosalie Rendu joyfully became a servant to the poorest, restoring dignity to each one by means of material help, education and the teaching of the Christian mystery, inducing Frédéric Ozanam to place himself at the service of the poor. 

Her charity was inventive. Where did she draw the strength to carry out so many things? From her intense prayer life and the continuous praying of the Rosary, which she never abandoned. Her secret was simple: to see the face of Christ in every man and woman, as a true daughter of St Vincent de Paul and like another Sister of her epoch, St Catherine Labouré. Let us give thanks for the witness of charity that the Vincentian family gives unceasingly to the world! 

7. "He spoke of the temple of his body" (Jn 2: 21). These works evoke the mystery of the death and Resurrection of Christ. All of the Church's members must be conformed to Jesus crucified and risen. 

Mary, Mother of Christ and our Mother, is our strength and guide in this commitment. May the new Blesseds, whom we contemplate today in the glory of Heaven, intercede for us. May it also be granted to us all that we one day find ourselves in Paradise, to experience together the joy of everlasting life. Amen!

[Pope John Paul II, homily 9 November 2003]

Today the liturgy commemorates the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which is the Cathedral of Rome and which tradition defines as “mother of all Churches of the city and of the world”. The term “mother”, refers not as much to the sacred building of the Basilica, as to the work of the Holy Spirit who is made manifest in this building, bearing fruit through the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, and in all communities which abide in unity with the Church over which he presides.

Each time we celebrate the dedication of a church, an essential truth is recalled: the physical temple made of brick and mortar is a sign of the living Church serving in history, that is to say, of that “spiritual temple”, as the Apostle Peter says, in which Christ himself is the “living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious” (1 Pt 2:4). In the Gospel from today’s liturgy, Jesus, speaking about the temple, reveals a shocking truth: that the Temple of God is not only a building made of brick and mortar, but is his Body, made of living stone. Through the power of Baptism, every Christian takes part in “God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9), indeed they become the Church of God. The spiritual structure, the Church community of mankind sanctified by the Blood of Christ and by Spirit of the Risen Lord, asks each one of us to be consistent with the gift of the faith and to undertake a journey of Christian witness. And we all know that in life it is not easy to maintain consistency between faith and testimony; but we must carry on and be coherent in our daily life. “This is a Christian!”, not so much in what he says, but in what he does, and the way in which he behaves. This coherence, which gives us life, is a grace of the Holy Spirit which we must ask for. The Church, at the beginning of her life and of her mission in the world, was but a community constituted to confess faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God and Redeemer of Man, a faith which operates through love. They go together! In today’s world too, the Church is called to be the community in the world which, rooted in Christ through Baptism, humbly and courageously professes faith in Him, witnessing to it in love.

The institutional elements, the structures and the pastoral entities must also be directed toward this goal, this essential goal of bearing witness to the faith in love. Love is the very expression of faith and also, faith is the explanation and the foundation of love. Today’s celebration invites us to meditate on the communion of all Churches, that is, of this Christian community. By analogy she spurs us to commit ourselves in order that humanity may overcome the confines of enmity and indifference, to build bridges of understanding and dialogue, to make of the entire world one family of people reconciled among themselves, in fraternal solidarity. The Church herself is a sign and preview of this new humanity, as she lives and, through her witness, spreads the Gospel, the message of hope and reconciliation for all mankind.

Let us invoke the intercession of the Most Holy Mary, that she may help us to become like her, the “House of God”, the living temple of his love.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 9 November 2014]

Wise souls, or mad ones

(Mt 25:1-13)

The theme is not that of moral vigilance, but punctual: sooner or later all the baptized in Christ fall asleep (v.5).

And the environment does not seem the best: the groom is late, the girls are sleepy, some without oil and others... sour.

But sometimes we are like madmen who go to build houses on the sand: at the first trickle is landslide, and everything collapses.

The enthusiasm was there, the harmony with the Lord and his desire to embrace and transmit fullness of being... maybe not.

It lacks a dimension of depth, or of living hope that animates motivations and lubricates energy, in the impulse to the mission.

It is the outcome of those who seem to have welcomed the Beatitudes at all points, but do not make them their own...

Not for the fact that they do not fulfill well the role - a task - but because they do not relate the listening to the practice (not distracted, exquisitely evangelical).

Powering the torch is promoting life!

And the Appeal, the opportune moment, comes suddenly; it does not set itself up through a general or formal choice that evolves without correlations, personal tracks, attention to events and wisdom to correspond.

Here the relationship of Faith is not oil that can be lent.

There are anxious or perfectionist souls who rush to intervene, but lack perception. There are fearful and paralyzed hearts: they must acquire flexibility.

Some stare at the "bad" moments and do not know how to turn them into occasions of awakening, or they heal too late. Others depend on the season or live on adrenaline and lack awareness.

Someone has to slow down and recollect himself, rediscover himself and the instinctive vocational lightness, his own infinite part - but avoiding childish strategies.

Others who have already accepted the divine, would need to wake up from numbness, to set in motion the wise and innate light they possess in deep inclinations.

Some need to throw ballasts, become more subtle in hearing and in offering themselves, or less dirigist; others need to prepare for the Encounter in a more relational and visible dimension.

There are people who must complicate their stories and then simplify [without dispersing] eventually becoming sharper; others and perhaps more, learning to donate. And so on.

So... better some with light than all in the dark. The actions and risk for wisdom, love and completeness of being build the Person and his dialogue.

One often imagines having provided for own practice with God by enrolling in parish registers, without elaborating his commitment.

But anyone who neither builds up nor shares life has no part in the Lord (v. 12).

In this way, even the crisis can have an evolutionary sense; in not feeling absolute, in the logic of options, in personalisation, in the unexpected and different encounter.

Threshold of every Exodus, to Freedom and the Feast.

The paradigm of this high and strong Call of the Gospel is the therapy that can regenerate the world subjugated by external homologations, so that it goes Elsewhere - and does not renounce the dimension of Mystery that arouses it.

To internalize and live the message:

Have you lost the meaning of the Wedding Invitation? Or do you simply prefer to cross the Banquet threshold unscathed?

Is there an Encounter that you feel can awaken your life, or has the habit of waiting turned into a habit of waiting nothing any longer?

[32nd Sunday in O.T. (year A), November 8, 2026]

Distraction in the waiting room, or a crisis with an evolutionary sense

(Mt 25:1-13)

The theme is not one of moral vigilance, but timely: sooner or later all those baptised into Christ fall asleep (v.5).

And the environment doesn't look the best: the groom is delayed, the girls are sleepy, some without oil and the others... sour.

But sometimes we are like madmen who go out to build houses on the sand: at the first flood everything collapses.

Enthusiasm is there, attunement with the Lord and his desire to embrace and transmit fullness of being... perhaps not.

What is missing is a dimension of depth, or of living hope that animates motivation and lubricates energy, in the impulse to mission.

This is the outcome of those who seem to have accepted the Beatitudes in full, but do not make them their own....

Not because they do not fulfil the role well - a task - but because they do not relate listening to the non-distracted, exquisitely evangelical practice.

To feed the torch is to promote life!

But how can we focus on it and not obfuscate it, or rather unblock it, and not allow ourselves to be influenced by the trappings, pull it out of the drawer; orient it well - in local and universal favour, one's own, and that of all?

The Appeal, the opportune moment, comes suddenly. It is not set up through a general or formal choice that evolves without correlation, without personal tracks, without attention to events and the ability to correspond.

In short: the relationship of Faith is not oil that can be lent.

As in a Love relationship, each one needs moment by moment a new personal balance - enhanced in fusion.

There are anxious or perfectionist souls who rush to act, but lack perception. There are fearful and paralysed hearts: they must acquire flexibility.

Some stare at "no" moments and do not know how to transform them into opportunities for awakening; or they heal too late. Others depend on the season or live on adrenaline, and lack awareness.

Some must slow down and collect themselves, rediscover themselves and their instinctive vocational lightness, their infinite part - but avoiding puerile strategies.

Others, who have already embraced the divine, would need to awaken from their torpor, to set in motion the wise, innate light they possess in their deepest inclinations.

Some need to shed ballast, to become more subtle in their hearing and presentation, or less dirigiste; others, to prepare for the Encounter in a more relational and visible dimension.

There are some who cannot but complicate their lives, and then simplify [without dispersing], eventually becoming sharper; others, and perhaps more, learn to give. And so on.

So. to harmonise and invigorate the natural, passionate and vocational organism, better some with light than all in the dark - stuck in the waiting room, lost forever.

Jesus does not favour those slumbering in an empty spirituality without uniqueness - that is, those gripped by the instinct of self-protection. He does not seek first his own resources, what he already finds within himself; but what he obtains outside, or is given on demand, begged by others.

The unusual - perhaps undue - and personal listening, as well as the enterprising actions, the risk for wisdom, love, the stimulus to the completeness of being, build the Persona and its true dialogue.

Conformities do not produce breakthroughs; they persist in the torpid outline. 

The indistinct crowd without conviviality of differences - if mediocre, lacking in exploratory peaks, exceptions - pushes every unrepeatable Call to the bench.

Often one imagines one has made one's own practice with God by enrolling in parish registers, without fully elaborating the commitment. Perhaps for fear of risk or unforeseen hardship.

Then some zealous mannerists also assume prone attitudes of [formerly called] 'papist' appearance and [fake] orthodoxy - or vice versa, sophisticated, à la page.

Disembodied abstractions, which the Bridegroom is not interested in.

He who does not even work on himself, obviously according to the character of his own vocational inclinations, neither edifies nor communicates life.

He neither enriches nor cheers up even a cursory existence, of the weary times of waiting. Finally, it has nothing to do with God (v.12).

The paradigm of this high and strong call of the Gospel is the therapy that can regenerate the world subjugated by external homologations, so that it goes Elsewhere - and does not renounce the dimension of the Mystery that arouses it.

It is an appeal out of time for the Church itself, so that it does not settle for schemes, models, standard recipes, or to put things in place in a habitual way.

Nor does it get stuck in sick relationships, in nomenclatures of qualunquist support; resounding or museum-like. And thus find themselves outside the Feast, disoriented, overwhelmed; without even having activated themselves, humanising.

As the encyclical Fratelli Tutti recalls in no.33 [quoting a homily by Pope Francis in Skopje]:

"We fed ourselves with dreams of splendour and greatness and ended up eating distraction [losing] the taste and flavour of reality".

But even the crisis can have an evolutionary meaning: in accepting to be wrong, in becoming aware of imperfections.

In not feeling absolute; in the logic of options, in personalisation, in the unexpected and different encounter.

Threshold of every Exodus towards Freedom and Celebration.

To internalise and live the message:

Have you lost the meaning of the Wedding invitation? Or do you simply prefer to cross the Banquet threshold unscathed?

Is there an Encounter that you feel can awaken your life, or has the habit of waiting turned into a habit of not waiting any longer?

In order not to relapse

"The biblical readings of today's liturgy [...] invite us to prolong our reflection on eternal life [...]. On this point there is a clear difference between those who believe and those who do not believe, or, one might equally say, between those who hope and those who do not hope. In fact, St Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "We do not want to leave you in ignorance about those who have died, so that you may not be sad like the others who have no hope" ( 1 Thess 4:13). Faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ also marks a decisive watershed in this area. St Paul again reminds the Christians of Ephesus that, before accepting the Good News, they were "without hope and without God in the world" ( Eph 2:12). In fact, the religion of the Greeks, the pagan cults and myths, were unable to shed light on the mystery of death, so much so that an ancient inscription read: 'In nihil ab nihilo quam cito recidimus', which means: 'Into nothingness from nothingness how soon we fall back'. If we remove God, if we remove Christ, the world falls back into emptiness and darkness. And this is also reflected in the expressions of contemporary nihilism, an often unconscious nihilism that unfortunately infects so many young people.

Today's Gospel is a famous parable about ten girls invited to a wedding feast, a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven, of eternal life (Mt 25:1-13). It is a happy image, with which, however, Jesus teaches a truth that challenges us; in fact, of those ten girls: five enter the feast, because, when the bridegroom arrives, they have the oil to light their lamps; while the other five remain outside, because, foolish, they did not bring the oil. What does this 'oil', indispensable to be admitted to the wedding feast, represent? St Augustine (cf. Sermons 93:4) and other ancient authors read in it a symbol of love, which cannot be bought, but is received as a gift, kept in one's heart and practised in one's works. True wisdom is to take advantage of mortal life to perform works of mercy, because, after death, this will no longer be possible. When we are awakened for the last judgement, this will be on the basis of the love practised in earthly life (cf. Mt 25:31-46). And this love is Christ's gift, poured into us by the Holy Spirit. Whoever believes in God-Love carries within him an invincible hope, like a lamp with which to cross the night beyond death, and reach the great feast of life".

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 6 November 2011]

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

The Biblical Readings of this Sunday’s Liturgy invite us to extend the reflection on eternal life that we began on the occasion of the commemoration of the faithful departed. On this point there is a clear difference between those who believe and those who do not believe or, one might likewise say, between those who hope and those who do not hope. 

Indeed St Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “but we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13). Faith in the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in this sphere too is a crucial divide. St Paul always reminded the Christians of Ephesus that before accepting the Good News they had been “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). Indeed the religion of the Greeks, the pagan cults and myths, were unable to shed light on the mystery of death; thus an ancient inscription said: “In nihil ab nihilo quam cito recidmus” which means: “how quickly we fall back from nothing to nothing”. If we remove God, we remove Christ and the world falls back into emptiness and darkness. Moreover, this is also confirmed in the expressions of contemporary nihilism that is often unconscious and, unfortunately, infects a great many young people.

Today’s Gospel is a famous parable that speaks of ten maidens invited to a wedding feast, a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven and of eternal life (Mt 25:1-13). It is a happy image with which, however, Jesus teaches a truth that calls us into question. In fact five of those 10 maidens were admitted to the feast because when the bridegroom arrived they had brought the oil to light their lamps, whereas the other five were left outside because they had been foolish enough not to bring any. What is represented by this “oil”, the indispensable prerequisite for being admitted to the nuptial banquet? 

St Augustine (cf. Discourses 93, 4), and other ancient authors interpreted it as a symbol of love that one cannot purchase but receives as a gift, preserves within one and uses in works. True wisdom is making the most of mortal life in order to do works of mercy, for after death this will no longer be possible. When we are reawoken for the Last Judgement, it will be made on the basis of the love we have shown in our earthly life (cf. Mt 25:31-46). And this love is a gift of Christ, poured out in us by the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in God-Love bear within them invincible hope, like a lamp to light them on their way through the night beyond death to arrive at the great feast of life.

Let us ask Mary, Sedes Sapientiae, to teach us true wisdom, the wisdom that became flesh in Jesus. He is the Way that leads from this life to God, to the Eternal One. He enabled us to know the Father’s face, and thus gave us hope full of love. This is why the Church addresses the Mother of the Lord with these words: “Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra” [our life, our sweetness and our hope]. Let us learn from her to live and die in the hope that never disappoints.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus, November 6, 2011]

1. Christ taught in parables, which were understandable to his listeners. Their content could be easily grasped by the imagination. At the same time, their message opened the hearts of those who heard them to another reality: the Kingdom of Heaven. The divine, supernatural reality. Mankind is called to this reality. It is called to the Kingdom of God, which begins here on earth, but which will find its definitive fulfilment in the eternal City of God, in heaven. The Kingdom of God also constitutes mankind’s eschatological future. Christ is its eyewitness: he sits on the Father’s throne, as the consubstantial and eternal Son.
In the parable of the ten virgins, which we have just heard, Jesus focuses his attention above all on the person invited to the heavenly banquet, called to share in the divine future.
2. The parable of the ten virgins remains as relevant as ever. Certainly, today the traditions associated with the celebration of marriage have taken on different outward forms. Nevertheless, the parable is always relevant. It can be said that what is recounted in it also happens in our own day. It happens here in Naples; it happens in the city and in each of its neighbourhoods; it happens in every parish, in every family, in every person.
What wedding are we talking about? Who is the bridegroom whom we are called to go and meet? The parable allows us to draw closer to the mystery of God, expressed through the image of a wedding. It is the wedding of Christ: He is the Bridegroom. He is the Bridegroom first and foremost as the Incarnate Word: the Son of God married humanity, our human nature, by becoming man in the womb of the Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit.
By virtue of this first wedding, Christ, the God-Man, marries all people: for he became Man for everyone, to redeem and save all. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His Bride is the Church, which he established so that she might cooperate with him in the work of salvation. It is within her that the children of divine adoption are born and mature, called to share in the life of God in the likeness of the eternal and only-begotten Son.
6. Dearest brothers and sisters, today’s liturgy reminds us that our whole life is a watchful preparation for the encounter with the Bridegroom. ‘Watch and be ready’!
Here we must delve into the innermost being of every person. The Saviour shows us the way. What does this Gospel call to ‘watch’ consist of? What does the readiness of the wise virgins, of whom the parable speaks, consist of, if not precisely in what the Psalm proclaims? ‘O God, you are my God; at dawn I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you, like a parched and dry land without water’ (Ps 62:2).
Sensitivity to God; the awareness that he is present in the world, in this city, in each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28). We came forth from him when we were born. And our life is a path that can lead nowhere else but to him.
Are we aware that this is the path of our lives? Have we perhaps strayed onto rugged terrain? Or are we perhaps now beginning to stray from this main road? Are we, perhaps, like those virgins in the parable who dozed off and fell asleep? They continue to sleep and do not sense the coming of the bridegroom. Is there not a risk that not even the powerful shock of his death and resurrection will be able to rouse them?
Yes. Let us certainly admire the works of human genius, but let our eyes be wide open to recognise the works of divine Wisdom. Let our ears be wide open to hear the voice of the Bridegroom. Let us not allow our lamps to be extinguished, dimmed by a deluge of information leading to nothingness. Such information does not open up divine perspectives for us; on the contrary, it prevents us from perceiving the voice of the Bridegroom and stops us from hearing the Church crying out: ‘Go out to meet him!’
7. We cannot remain in ignorance. Nor can we remain in ignorance regarding those who die (cf. 1 Thess 4:13) . . . regarding those who have died in your families, in your parishes, in your town. November is the month in which we remember the dead! We cannot remain in ignorance. Hopeless grief is not enough.
Humanity today seems to underestimate the significance of death. When the meaning of death is devalued, when the meaning of human life is also devalued from the very first moment of conception, man falls into a dangerous slumber. He tries to doze off so as not to face the responsibilities arising from the greatness of his vocation and the dignity bestowed upon him by God. He tries not to hear the voice of the Bridegroom! November is the month of the dead who live in God.
‘For we believe that Jesus died and rose again; so too, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died’ (1 Thess 4:14). Be watchful! Remember that we live immersed in the Communion of Saints. Let us therefore remain ready – like the wise virgins of the parable – to enter with Christ into the wedding feast of the Kingdom of God.
The voice of the Church repeats: ‘Behold, the Bridegroom! Go out to meet him!’ Watch, therefore, and be ready. Amen!
[Pope John Paul II, homily, Naples, 11 November 1990]

In Jesus’ time it was customary for weddings to be celebrated at night; so the procession of guests took place with lit lamps. Some of the bridesmaids are foolish: they take their lamps but do not take the oil with them; the wise ones instead take the oil with them together with their lamps. The bridegroom is late, late in coming, and they all fall asleep. When a voice alerts them that the bridegroom is about to arrive, in that moment, the foolish ones realize that they do not have oil for their lamps; they ask the wise ones for some, but the latter reply that they cannot give away any oil, because there would not be enough for them all. While the foolish maidens go to buy oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise maidens enter the banquet hall with him, and the door is closed. The others arrive too late and are turned away.

It is clear that with this parable, Jesus wants to tell us that we must be prepared for the encounter with him. Not only for the final encounter, but also for the everyday great and small encounters, with a view to that encounter for which the lamp of faith is not enough; we also need the oil of charity and good works. As the Apostle Paul says, the faith that truly unites us to Jesus is, “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). It is what is represented by the behaviour of the wise maidens. Being wise and prudent means not waiting until the last moment to correspond to God’s grace, but to do so actively and immediately, starting right now. “I… yes, I will convert soon…”. “Convert today! Change your life today!”. “Yes, yes, tomorrow”. And the same thing is said tomorrow, and so it never arrives. Today! If we want to be ready for the final encounter with the Lord, we must cooperate with him now and perform good deeds inspired by his love.

We know that unfortunately it happens that we forget the purpose of our life, that is, the definitive appointment with God, thus losing the sense of expectation and making the present absolute. When one makes the present absolute, one looks only to the present, losing the sense of expectation, which is so beautiful and so necessary, and also pulls us away from the contradictions of the moment. This attitude — when one loses the sense of expectation — precludes any view of the hereafter: we do everything as if we will never depart for the other life. 

And so we care only about possessing, about emerging, about establishing ourselves… And always more. If we allow ourselves to be led by what seems most attractive to us, by what we like, by seeking our interests, our life becomes sterile; we do not accumulate any reserve of oil for our lamp, and it will be extinguished before the encounter with the Lord. We must live today, but a today that goes towards tomorrow, towards that encounter, a present full of hope. If, on the other hand, we are vigilant and correspond to God’s grace by doing good, we can serenely await the bridegroom’s coming. The Lord will be able to come even while we are sleeping: this will not worry us, because we have the reserve of oil accumulated through our daily good works, accumulated with that expectation of the Lord, that he may come as soon as possible and that he may come to take us with him.

Let us invoke the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she may help us to live an active faith, as she did: [faith] is the shining lamp with which we can pass through the night beyond death and reach the great feast of life.

[Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 November 2020]

Honest administrators - at various levels - and Common Home

(Lk 16:9-15)

The opportunist who was taking advantage of the goods of the community (vv.1-8) knew how to make great speeches - perhaps instrumental - on the necessary solidarity, but he did not live concrete fraternity.

Here, then, is a catechesis of Lk on fidelity in the small and in the great: very topical teaching.

«He who faithful in a minimal thing, is faithful even in a great thing, and he who unjust in a minimal thing, is unjust even in a great thing» (Lk 16:10).

To give concrete support and to risk one’s life - putting one hand on conscience and one in wallet - is unfortunately still tiring and rare.

Well, the fairest world is laborious, «craftsmanship» work (FT n.217).

In the evangelist’s intention, the particular story alluded to in the previous vv. was to serve to concretely form his small communities on the use of material goods.

Originally all the communities arose among the destitute. Little by little they began to appear even wealthy.

The entry of the rich - initially well seen - brought many problems over time, including internal management of collective resources.

The commons sometimes became the exclusive preserve of leaders who no longer seemed to have clear ideas about the social role of money.

Obviously, to introduce this model of sharing, the choice had to start from closely: one could not oppress sisters and brothers of faith, and preach justice to the world.

Emancipation begins in the small of one’s family, acquaintances and friends; in the change of internal and daily relationships.

The fact is that God and Mammon give opposite orders. One distorts the other.

Basically, sooner or later even those motivated by excellent intentions can come to despise the Father, Communion, the ideals lived even in day-to-day events - and get attached to trivial shortcuts.

The official religious leaders, all congregated in the defense of the lavish gains secured by the ancient world (world supported with drawn sword) were indeed honouring the Eternal in the signs, but... they yielded to temptation.

Now devoid of both basic and detailed choices, the directors laughed behind Jesus' back, scheming secretly and in concert. Still today, unfortunately, treating Him as a naive dreamer  (vv.14-15).

Yet the Master continues to educate us, so that we too may enter into his new «proactive» economy [as the bishops of South Africa, and the recent social encyclical, would perhaps define it].

Economy of gratuitousness that does not impoverish - rather, it is for a greatest «wealth as possible» that extinguishes the «desire to dominate», but makes stand «together as human beings» (FT n.229).

Here the small one becomes relevant. This challenge is open.

To internalize and live the message:

Are you generically supportive or? fraternal in conquibus?

Have you experienced the gift that does not impoverish but enriches?

[Saturday 31st wk. in O.T.  November 7, 2026]