Jun 6, 2025 Written by 

Recovery of simplicity

[...] Talking about God means first of all expressing clearly what God we must bring to the men and women of our time: not an abstract God, a hypothesis, but a real God, a God who exists, who has entered history and is present in history; the God of Jesus Christ as an answer to the fundamental question of the meaning of life and of how we should live. Consequently speaking of God demands familiarity with Jesus and his Gospel, it implies that we have a real, personal knowledge of God and a strong passion for his plan of salvation without succumbing to the temptation of success, but following God’s own method. God’s method is that of humility — God makes himself one of us — his method is brought about through the Incarnation in the simple house of Nazareth; through the Grotto of Bethlehem; through the Parable of the Mustard Seed.

We must not fear the humility of taking little steps, but trust in the leaven that penetrates the dough and slowly causes it to rise (cf. Mt 13:33). In talking about God, in the work of evangelization, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must recover simplicity, we must return to the essence of the proclamation: the Good News of a God who is real and effective, a God who is concerned about us, a God-Love who makes himself close to us in Jesus Christ, until the Cross, and who in the Resurrection gives us hope and opens us to a life that has no end, eternal life, true life [...]

So it is that talking about God means making people realize through our speech and example, that God is no rival in our existence but rather is its true guarantor, who guarantees the greatness of the human person. Thus we return to the beginning: speaking of God is communicating what is essential, forcefully and simply, through our words and through our life: the God of Jesus Christ, that God who showed us a love so great that he took flesh, died and rose again for us: that God who asks us to follow him and to let ourselves be transformed by his immense love in order to renew our life and our relationships; that God who has given us the Church, so that we may walk together and, through the word and the sacraments, renew the entire city of men and women, so that it may become a City of God.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 28 November 2012]

18 Last modified on Friday, 06 June 2025 05:52
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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Jesus contrasts the ancient prohibition of perjury with that of not swearing at all (Matthew 5: 33-38), and the reason that emerges quite clearly is still founded in love: one must not be incredulous or distrustful of one's neighbour when he is habitually frank and loyal, and rather one must on the one hand and on the other follow this fundamental law of speech and action: "Let your language be yes if it is yes; no if it is no. The more is from the evil one" (Mt 5:37) [John Paul II]
Gesù contrappone all’antico divieto di spergiurare, quello di non giurare affatto (Mt 5, 33-38), e la ragione che emerge abbastanza chiaramente è ancora fondata nell’amore: non si deve essere increduli o diffidenti col prossimo, quando è abitualmente schietto e leale, e piuttosto occorre da una parte e dall’altra seguire questa legge fondamentale del parlare e dell’agire: “Il vostro linguaggio sia sì, se è sì; no, se è no. Il di più viene dal maligno” (Mt 5, 37) [Giovanni Paolo II]
And one thing is the woman before Jesus, another thing is the woman after Jesus. Jesus dignifies the woman and puts her on the same level as the man because he takes that first word of the Creator, both are “God’s image and likeness”, both; not first the man and then a little lower the woman, no, both. And the man without the woman next to him - both as mother, as sister, as bride, as work partner, as friend - that man alone is not the image of God (Pope Francis)
E una cosa è la donna prima di Gesù, un’altra cosa è la donna dopo Gesù. Gesù dignifica la donna e la mette allo stesso livello dell’uomo perché prende quella prima parola del Creatore, tutti e due sono “immagine e somiglianza di Dio”, tutti e due; non prima l’uomo e poi un pochino più in basso la donna, no, tutti e due. E l’uomo senza la donna accanto – sia come mamma, come sorella, come sposa, come compagna di lavoro, come amica – quell’uomo solo non è immagine di Dio (Papa Francesco)
Only one creature has already scaled the mountain peak: the Virgin Mary. Through her union with Jesus, her righteousness was perfect: for this reason we invoke her as Speculum iustitiae. Let us entrust ourselves to her so that she may guide our steps in fidelity to Christ’s Law (Pope Benedict)
Una sola creatura è già arrivata alla cima della montagna: la Vergine Maria. Grazie all’unione con Gesù, la sua giustizia è stata perfetta: per questo la invochiamo Speculum iustitiae. Affidiamoci a lei, perché guidi anche i nostri passi nella fedeltà alla Legge di Cristo (Papa Benedetto)
Jesus showed us with a new clarity the unifying centre of the divine laws revealed on Sinai […]  Indeed, in his life and in his Paschal Mystery Jesus brought the entire law to completion.  Uniting himself with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, he carries with us and in us the “yoke” of the law, which thereby becomes a “light burden” (Pope Benedict)
Gesù ci ha mostrato con una nuova chiarezza il centro unificante delle leggi divine rivelate sul Sinai […] Anzi, Gesù nella sua vita e nel suo mistero pasquale ha portato a compimento tutta la legge. Unendosi con noi mediante il dono dello Spirito Santo, porta con noi e in noi il "giogo" della legge, che così diventa un "carico leggero" (Papa Benedetto)
The light of our faith, in giving of oneself, does not fade but strengthens. However it can weaken if we do not nourish it with love and with charitable works. In this way the image of light complements that of salt. The Gospel passage, in fact, tells us that, as disciples of Christ, we are also “the salt of the earth” (Pope Francis)

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