(Mt 15:1–2, 10–14)
The encyclical Fratelli Tutti invites us to take a forward-looking perspective that inspires decision and action: a new way of seeing, filled with hope.
It ‘speaks to us of a reality that is rooted in the depths of the human being, regardless of the concrete circumstances and historical conditions in which they live. It speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a yearning for fulfilment, for a life well-lived, for engaging with what is great, with what fills the heart and lifts the spirit towards great things, such as truth, goodness and beauty, justice and love. [...] Hope is bold; it knows how to look beyond personal comfort, the petty certainties and consolations that narrow the horizon, in order to open itself up to great ideals that make life more beautiful and dignified’ (no. 55; from an Address to young people in Havana, September 2015).
The Invisible Friend within us is the only Guide whom we should follow with prudence and diligence.
The sole Spiritual Teacher who understands diversity and does not harass it – because he does not use us (to promote himself or his own group).
The paradox of Law versus Tradition is found in verse 3 – initially included, then excluded from the Liturgy: ‘Why do you also transgress the Commandment of God in the name of your Tradition?’.
Habits normalise behaviour.
Over time, customs carried out mechanically cause us to lose sight of the meaning of the Commandments from which they sprang.
And hollow moral customs then ruin lives (vv. 4–9), cause annoyance and inflame tempers.
The laws of purity discriminated against people and filled them with resentment.
Instead, exclusivism must not be introduced at the Eucharistic Banquet. Nor does one belong to the Lord’s Community on the basis of ambiguous criteria.
The washing of hands up to the elbows was a customary practice, proclaiming the Judaizers’ detachment from the pagan world: a sort of rite celebrating the separation between the (supposedly) pure and the impure.
Access to the Eucharist, on the other hand, is without any secret rites or disciplines, nor any prior scrutiny.
Everyone is warmly welcomed, for it is the Encounter with God that makes humanity—whatever its cultural background—alive and whole.
For Jesus, access to the Father cannot be regulated: it depends on the individual and their life circumstances.
Communion with God is therefore immediate and free, entirely devoid of any prior conditions of perfection.
According to him, children may appear before the Father in any situation, at any time or in any manner: in a relationship of immediacy and freedom.
Only a poor quality of relationship with one’s neighbour can taint a man or a woman; nothing else.
There are no other obligations or fears that can haunt us with feelings of imperfection, inadequacy or unworthiness.
Conversely, people lived in a climate of obsession, overwhelmed by fears about details that were of no concern to God.
And amidst the vibrancy of Semitic culture, there was certainly a current more attuned to the social and practical realities of life [linked to the theology of the prophets and the Psalms] which gave rise to Jesus of Nazareth.
A growing number of the faithful no longer agreed with the legalistic teaching of the official leaders.
Furthermore, the expectation of the Messiah helped them to hope for a path of ‘purity’ linked to the quality of life and to concrete relationships.
Christ opens up a completely new Way, to bring ordinary people closer to a greater balance; to an understanding and communion with the Father, animated by a spousal, creative trust.
Within the realm of Faith, it is Life that conquers death.
According to conventional religious thinking, it is, on the contrary, the seed of death that taints purity.
Trapped in this prison of misguided ideas, people lived in constant fear of sin and transgressions (even unintentional ones) that seemed to cling to them at all times.
To free the oppressed masses from the moralistic and devotional ideology that subjected them to a daily barrage across all aspects of life, Jesus found himself compelled to overturn the ‘inside-outside’ hierarchy (v. 11).
The spiritual leaders instilled the idea that impurity came from the outside, and was so pervasive that it could contaminate even holy people [even through a mere brush – let alone the masses destined for an ordinary existence of deprivation].
Jesus, on the other hand, makes us feel at ease.
He turns the tables, fully aware of the power of Life – and shifts the debate on purity and impurity to another level: that of depth, behaviour and relationship.
Even today, Faith instils in us balance and complete trust in the providential tide of true Grace, which, even in this time of rebirth from crisis, comes to revitalise us with its unexpected impulses – far from being merely religious or sterile.
It ceaselessly opens up new paths, to enable us to realise our potential and reach God.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit free us from group-think and from always being on the defensive; to restore our self-esteem, our joy of living, and to make us feel as though we are in a ‘Focolare’.
In short, Christ’s teaching is Good News precisely because it is the exact opposite of established conventions.
Its aim is to let us live life to the full, with the sense that it is He within us who is at the helm. And to do so more wisely, rather than letting us come to a bad end – as if in the same old mass grave [v.14; where only a few contrived positions of leadership and manipulation are spared – which make no sense to us].
Towards a transparent way of living together
Jesus and the obsession with ruling: the blind and those made blind
[cf. Lk 6:39–45]
‘Leave them alone! They are blind guides. But if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit’ (Mt 15:14).
‘How much our human family needs to learn to live together in harmony and peace without all of us having to be the same!’ (Pope Francis, FT no. 100).
To live in a fraternal and wise manner, it is not enough simply to be together in twos, threes, tens or more: we could be like so many blind people who do not know how to be at peace with themselves.
In that case, our relationships become superficial and can turn hollow – filled only with judgements: harsh, stubborn and narrow-minded.
Then resentment arises within us, at being forced into a constricting space that does not suit us.
The inevitable unease begins to subside if and when the very person leading the group or company lives out their role with extreme modesty, with an awareness of their own limitations.
The Way of the Spirit is, in fact, a vocational initiative and response to the need for an authentic Guide.
Authentic shepherds help only when they question themselves before questioning others, when they do not become entangled in an exercise of vacuous indoctrination and moralising that exasperates people and causes irritation.
Thus, the inner Friend who unfailingly guides souls does indeed wish to be reflected in the ‘masters’ – but only to the extent that they lead us to encounter ourselves and the wisdom of Scripture (rather than indulging in their own megalomaniacal pursuits).
Commenting on the Tao xxix, Master Ho-shang Kung points out (regarding those who wish to be lords of the world):
‘He wishes to govern creatures through action. In my view, he will not succeed, for the Way of Heaven and the hearts of men are clear.
The Way of Heaven [Perfection of Harmony] abhors confusion [regarding one’s own nature, expressed spontaneously] and impurity [artifice]; the human heart abhors excessive desires’.
The ancient chosen people found themselves hard-hearted, lost and without a sense of direction, because they were misguided by religious leaders who were self-serving and worldly.
Their blinding and contrived blindness was the actual ruin of the destiny and quality of life of the entire nation.
Jesus appeals to the apostles so that his congregations of the simple, the humble and the disoriented may not meet the same fate – due to a lack of integrity on the part of those in charge of the community.
The latter – if intoxicated by self-satisfaction – sometimes, instead of humanising, uplifting and bringing joy to the lives of ordinary people, willingly suffocate them with trivialities and lead them astray into trivialities.
The Lord absolutely does not want the leaders of his communities to allow themselves the luxury of setting themselves above others and claiming to be masters of the truth. Gospel Truth is not something one possesses, but something one lives out.
The Master is not one who simply imparts lessons: he accompanies his disciples and lives with them; he does not confine himself to mere manners.
He does not teach various subjects, etiquette, mannerisms or good manners: rather, he conveys the living and all-encompassing Person of Christ – even that aspect which defies etiquette – without stripping the disciple of his or her individuality.
In short, the Risen One is not merely an example to be imitated, a model that imposes obligations and minutiae, a founder of an institution, of a specific ideology, or of a religion (grammar, doctrine, style and discipline).
In Jesus we are called to identify with him – not ‘by ear’, nor by copying. Faith itself is a multifaceted relationship.
It drives us to reinterpret Christ in a novel way; each of us in relation to our life story, to new situations, events, cultural developments, sensibilities and the spirit of the age.
It is the direct and personal experience of the Father as championed by the Son. A triumph that shatters childish, worldly or conventional standards.
A source and an appropriation that allows us to boldly recognise ourselves as already redeemed, so that we may pass from darkness into light without conditions or relentless scrutiny.
The Lord’s Light is the fruit of the Spirit’s unprecedented and powerful Action.
An intuition of the signs and a Virtue that overcomes the disorientation of every straying soul, whether a prisoner of opinions, pettiness, or selfishness—whether solitary or otherwise.
An unexpected energy which nevertheless comes into play thanks to the stagnant situations to which it feels compelled to react; and it becomes a regenerating power, an unexpected life (for those saved already here and now).
Christ calls for an inventive attitude even in reaching out to one’s neighbour – without preconceived, suffocating, morbid or intellectual frameworks and caveats; without ‘maybes’, simply to welcome.
Such openness is almost impossible if community leaders remain distracted or are already set in their ways – and thus unnecessarily rigid towards others.
In this way, they would remain pedantic, more impatient than the pagan god they still harbour within their bodies and minds.
All of us, healed without merit, have indeed been called by Name: in a special way – and to guide our brothers and sisters on fundamental choices. As expert guides of the soul and of the depth of relationship.
Not commanders and rulers with no possibility of replacement: but rather bread, support, nourishment, a luminous sign of the Lord, a spur in favour of the lives of others.
Church leaders must be very special points of reference and cornerstones of imaginative, regenerating communion – through whom the persistence and tolerance of a higher force of reciprocity shine through.
The eye of the believer in Christ remains clear and luminous because they find brilliant Friends who introduce them to engaging with and reflecting upon not external, imposed models (derived from opinions or intentions), but the Word.
Influenced by the barrage of the ‘external society’ or by trivial partisan interests, the spiritual guide themselves may, conversely, lose their creative discernment.
Thus they cling once more to the old man, bound to vain hopes; so many petty and insignificant trifles – and in the end they become ‘blind’ once more.
In the realm of darkness, unfortunately, there are not only those who are short-sighted, long-sighted or astigmatic, but above all those who see ‘far away’ (as they say) but not the people right before their eyes.
More agile and organised than others, they take control of the situation.
For a long time, things in their company seem pleasant, but having no deep roots, it is precisely these people who ultimately ruin the fate of the weak.
They organise events or festivals, instead of renewing from within, and singing the authentic song of a full life, joyful for all.
Beyond these shortcomings of vision, we must also be mindful of ‘moderation’: we are not called to become do-gooders who are impeccable, nor to be defeatists who are merely a little more prudent and ‘practical’.
All these are already old failures, which fail to face the present head-on and do not open up the future.
We have received as a gift the mission to build the world in the Risen One, who radiates strength and divine spark: radically new heavens and earth, even in our own quests.
Let alone dwell on ‘splinters’.
In short, through grace, guidance, driving direction and action, the genuine workings of vital Providence draw us away from the domination of ancient superstructures [‘beams’ in the eye].
With this personal wealth of experience, we can also become companions to a humanity that is no longer alienated, but rather enabled to breathe beyond the usual rants… which incite trifles.
Despite our flaws, guided and blessed by the great Master and his Word in the Spirit, it will be our desire for a full, broad and complete life that prevents us from losing sight of our sacred Oneness in the world.
