(Mt 11:25–30)

God’s broad wisdom is not based on ‘chance’ or ‘measure’

Jesus’s only prayer that is seldom taught

Scientists and the Little Ones: the abstract world and incarnation

(Mt 11:25–27)

‘The world gives credence to the “wise” and the “learned”, whilst God favours the “little ones”. The general teaching that follows is that there are two dimensions of reality: one deeper, true and eternal, the other marked by finitude, transience and appearance’ [Pope Benedict].

God’s broad Reason is not according to ‘fortune’ or ‘measure’

    Commenting on the Tao Te Ching (iv), Master Ho-shang Kung writes:

‘Human desires are sharp and subtle; they strive to appropriate merit and glory. When they are blunted, man masters them, and in imitation of the Way, he does not fill himself.’

The leaders viewed religiosity with self-serving aims. The professors of theology were accustomed to scrutinising every detail based on their own knowledge—ridiculous yet presumptuous—and alien to real-world events.

Jesus found himself at odds even with his own family. Under the cloak and the blackmail of habitual social conventions, they too were subject to the preconceptions of the ‘great ones’ and of the evasive oral tradition, which offered no nourishment to the concrete fabric of human existence.

The Lord observes: even the Apostles are not free people; for this reason, they emancipate no one and indeed prevent any turning point (cf. Lk 9).

Their way of being is so deeply rooted in standard attitudes and obligatory behaviours that it translates into impenetrable mental armour.

Their predictability is too limiting: it offers no breathing space to the journey of those who, on the contrary, wish to re-energise themselves, to discover and appreciate the surprises hidden behind the secret facets of reality and personality.

That which remains bound to ancient customs [or abstractions] and the usual protagonists [or sophisticated pseudo-masters] does not inspire dreams; it is not an apparition or an astonishing witness to the Otherworld; it robs the Proclamation and life of expressive richness.

The Master rejoices in his own experience, which brings a joy that is not superficial and a teaching from the Spirit – to those who are well-disposed and capable of understanding the depths of the Kingdom in ordinary things.

[At a certain point on the spiritual journey, in Christ one realises one must detach oneself from the idolatry of deference: it suffocates and mocks life.

Faith proceeds along the path of the happiness of real men and women, who are instead turned into puppets by a false piety that is entirely exhibitionist or disembodied].

In short, after an initial moment of wild enthusiasm, the Master delves deeper into the themes and finds himself with everyone against him, except God and the least of these: those without weight, but with a great desire to start from scratch.

A glimmer of the Mystery that lifts history – without making it its own.

At the conclusion of the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis cites the figure and experience of Charles de Foucauld, who – by overturning everything – ‘only by identifying with the least did he come to be a brother to all’ (no. 287).

At first, even Jesus is taken aback by the rejection of those who considered themselves already satisfied with the official religious structure and expected nothing more that might dislodge the well-trodden path, stirring up habits (or fantasies) and self-interest.

Then he overcomes his initial surprise: he fully grasps, praises and blesses the Father’s plan, making it his own, drawing it close to himself.

He brings his Secret to full and proper awareness: that the Root of the transformation of being into God’s Unpredictability is concealment, ‘humility’ [(tapeínōsis, ‘lowliness’), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, ‘low’) [v.29; Lk 1:48].

Here the Son knows and understands the core of the Expectations and Promises of the Covenant, and its protagonists (by contrast): the trustworthy Person is born precisely from the lowest depths, not from the ranks of the elites.

In short, Christ intuits the all-encompassing authenticity proper to the weak – a profound impulse, motive, driving force, quintessence and sole energy of the history of salvation.

Transparency of the Eternal One, which stems from a different understanding.

Genesis itself, which upends the established religious relationship, which has at times become inert and ‘reassuring’ – never profound nor decisive for human destinies.

God is simple Relation: he demystifies the idol of greatness.

The Eternal One is no longer the master of creation [He who manifested Himself as strong and peremptory; in His action, even in the ancient Covenant illustrated through the uncontainable powers of nature].

Quite the opposite. In this way, by extension, and also on the spiritual path, the Father does not lead us to alienation, to the hysteria of coercion we do not want, to inner dissociations.

He is Friend and Refreshment who comforts, for He makes us feel whole and lovable; He seeks us by Name, He attends to the language of the heart.

He is Guardian of the world, even of the uneducated – of the ‘infants’ (v.25) spontaneously free from a haughty spirit, that is, of those who do not remain closed off within their self-sufficient sense of belonging.

Already as they are, ‘perfect’ in terms of their mission in the world. Not empty vessels, merely to be re-educated for institutional purposes.

No longer souls to be chiselled according to models.

If anything, hearts to be guided to total awareness; souls to be completed in the sense of the full discovery of themselves, in the opposites of their character and vocational essence.

In this way, the Father-Son relationship is communicated to God’s poor: those endowed with a family-like disposition (v.27).

Capable of living together, yet more autonomous than those who are identified and well-integrated… committed to imitating, in order to be recognised.

The poor remain genuine: what they are; not outward appearances.

Insignificant and invisible, lacking great gifts, yet strangely always filled with another ‘power’.

It is the ‘virtue’ of the frail, who surrender to the proposals of the provident life that is to come, like children in their parents’ arms.

With a spirit of pietas – which 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 does not proceed along the paths of functional thought or calculating initiative.

Wisdom that conveys freshness in the willingness to receive, welcome and personally renew the Truth as a Gift – and the very spontaneous enthusiasm capable of realising it.

A simple prayer of blessing, for the simple – this one from Jesus (v.25) – which helps us grow in esteem, fits perfectly with our experience, and is in harmony with ourselves; starting from within.

But strangely, the learned ones in the area who do not live ‘the spirit of neighbourliness’ (FT no. 152) yet in the local community claim positions and always play cunning games, have never wanted to pass this on to us.

The newcomers, the nobodies, the voiceless and the invisible do not reason in terms of doctrine and laws – vv. 29–30: an 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, fulfilling without affectation or inner strain that ultimately pulls us out of ourselves.

For the outward appearance of the hierarchical world, the mistrust of those who wish to ‘count’, the anxiety of a competitive and superficial society, impoverish our outlook and taint the vital current.

For God’s sake, it is better to ‘count’ for little.

In this way, one must live in Communion, even with the ‘smallness’ of oneself, or there is no authentic life.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you feel when you are told: ‘You don’t count’?

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

The Yoke upon the Little Ones

Religion turned into an obsession (for the ‘restrained’)

(Mt 11:28-30)

    The rabbis chose their disciples from among those with the greatest intellectual and ascetic abilities. Jesus, however, goes out to seek those outside the circle, the ‘little ones’ (v.25) who did not even have self-esteem.

Even for the rebirth that lies ahead today, Christ has no need of fake phenomena; on the contrary, it is He who frees us from external constraints; He unleashes inner strength (and heals the mind as well). 

Those who know how to receive everything and let go enter into the intimacy of the Mystery of divine life – yet remain true to themselves.

God is not far away, but very near; He is not great, but small: the effective path to becoming intimate with the Father is not to make oneself subservient through effort, but to know how to be a relaxed member of the family.

Only here can we grasp Him at the heart of His revelation: a wise, helpful, united power; for us, just as we are.

The experts of official religion – brimming with self-love and a sense of being chosen – preached a God to be convinced through confident demeanours and artificial, sharp, imperious behaviour.

They allowed neither being nor becoming. Their intransigence was a sign that they did not know the Father.

The Eternal One, transformed into a Controller, had become a source of discrimination and obsession in the private lives of ordinary people, tormented by the insecurity of distinguishing, avoiding and observing, and by pangs of conscience.

Unwilling to live out (and as a class) the conversion they preached to others, the professors failed to realise that they needed to rid themselves of absurd presumptions and become – themselves – pupils of ordinary people.

In short, as children we are ceaselessly invited to build a multifaceted Family, where one is not always on alert.

We are not the subjects of a frowning, aloof – yet manipulative – Lord.

Rather, we are called to a paradoxical choice, both personal and class-based: without coercion, to recognise ourselves and stand alongside the humiliated and oppressed.

This whilst the false piety of the provinces continues to make people carry burdens – precisely those of the oppressed and weary, whose existence has been made more hesitant rather than free; obsessed and heavy, rather than light.

Why? To put it bluntly, the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti would reply:

‘The best way to dominate and advance without limits is to sow a lack of hope and stir up constant mistrust, albeit masked by the defence of certain values’ (no. 15).

In other words: when the authorities and the top of the class lack credibility, only the sowing of fear produces significant conditioning in the people, and keeps them on a leash.

In the wider Church, it is only in the last few decades that we have moved beyond the cliché of moralistic and terrorising sermons (e.g. even during Advent) divorced from a profound sense of humanisation.

The excluded, those crushed and worn down by meaningless obligations, have nevertheless continued to encounter the Saviour openly, finding rest for the soul, conviction, peace, balance and hope.

Instinctively, they have managed to carve out for themselves what no hierarchical religion had ever been able to offer or unfold.

Indeed, the newcomers, the nobodies, the voiceless, the inadequate and the invisible cannot be measured in terms of doctrine and laws, norms and codes – that ancient, unbearable ‘yoke’ (vv. 29–30) which crushes people and concrete vocations; or particular forms of autonomy or community.

In short, no ‘patriarch’ is authorised by God to package our souls, force our directions, and keep a maniacal, perfectionist and meticulous watch over us.

Exacerbating failures across the board.

Everyone has their own innate way of being in the world – even if it is habitual. This is an opportunity for inspiration and enrichment for all.

We ourselves do not wish to exacerbate events by regulating every detail, even ‘spiritual’ ones, based on irritating patterns of surveillance that do not belong to us.

We prefer to let personal ways of facing reality flow freely; thus tracing their essential and spontaneous energies.

We reason according to codes of life and humanisation: temperament, unique history, cultural influences, friendships of broad character. We do not live to prevent.

Only in this way can we enrich the fundamental experience: Love – which does not come from judgements, divisions and separations, but from the Father-Son relationship. The only one that does not irritate.

The root of the transformation of being in God’s Unpredictability is precisely concealment, ‘humility’ [(tapeínōsis, ‘lowliness’), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, ‘low’) [v.29 Greek text; Lk 1:48].

Only those who love strength begin with what is far removed from themselves.

To internalise and live out the message:

In community, do you find yourself more or less free and at peace?

Does your Calling find room to breathe, or do you feel the weight of others’ doubts, judgements, prohibitions and prescriptions?

Do you suffer from a sort of ‘controller’s complex’ imposed by some guide or by yourself?