To go up and to go down, to go further or to go backwards

(Jn 3:13-17)

Nothing doing, despite two millennia of Christian symbols, formulas and rituals, especially in Italy we remain at the usual pole: Guelphs versus Ghibellines; even as a shaky destiny looms.

Why such a folded-up faith, incapable of freeing us from occasional stings? Why is it that - even when we are on our way to a mountain of debt - we continue to behave like those who do not stop pawing each other?

We need a good Conversion, with the inverted pyramids of 'supremacy' and glory: arrogant, aggressive, intransigent and haughty becoming humble, meek, benevolent and weak.

Never need? Have great need! All the more reason to cling to the Crucifix.

After all, one of Francis' first companions - Brother Aegidius - used to say: "The way to go up is to go down". We ask ourselves: what is the meaning of such a paradox?

Today's feast has the title of Exaltation (or Invention - derived from the Latin: finding). The Gospel, on the other hand, speaks of "Elevation".

Of course, synonymous with being seen and noticed, but under an 'opposite species'. So, how can one elevate one's life by staring at the crucified Jesus? The Nicodemus passage suggests an answer.

The doctor of the Law, Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin is "in the night" because he is uneducated to the normal idea of a successful man: if God is "somebody", the follower too... must resemble him in the attributes of possession, power and glory.

However, there comes a time when even popular or theological custom and the antiquated way of seeing things is shaken by doubt, by the alternative of Christ.

Is the person who evolves really the one who imposes himself? Is the successful man really the one who rises above others - treated as a stool - or is he not the one who has the freedom to come down and let us breathe?

Everything with spontaneity and fluidity, not effort: imposing climbs of renunciation and pain is not therapeutic and does not extract the best from us. On the contrary, it separates us from that plasticity and simplicity that produce the best things in the world.

The Cross is not a discipline of standard purifications, such as wanting to change one's life, sorting out relationships by suffocating the inconsistencies that belong to us, setting oneself up to hit targets and succeed (even spiritually) at all costs...

These are the usual clichéd improvement programmes that often do not make us natural, but full of artifice - and do not allow us to be open with ourselves, and therefore not even with others.

In Christ, the Cross opens up unbroken horizons, because it no longer takes anything for granted. It is a new Judgement, global and of merit.

Other possibilities emerge, which make us encounter the change that solves the real problems - precisely in the midst of unbridled vacillation.

When lived in Faith, the wavering mixture is a profoundly energetic, malleable and evolutionary reality.

It brings us into a situation of chaos, disorder in which, however, a better relationship with actions and our destiny emerges, even recovering all that we thought unattainable.

This happens in the indeterminacy that brings us closer to our essence - in the days when events become serious, and we call for resources, fresh air, more solid relationships.

We then need to take a leap, not retreat [to stand there and retreat (self-centred) in order to identify problems and faults, then hastily and unnaturally correct them].

It would be an absurd waste of virtues and opportunities for growth in the search for our territory.

Even on the spiritual path, in fact, we do everything to achieve complete life, total fulfilment, strong freedom. Not to be seen to be perfect.

The passage into the climate of social contempt will be inevitable.

The Crucified One does not say 'how we should be and yet are not' (in a conventional way): for we only approach our Vocation if we surprise ourselves and others - just when common, conformist opinion judges us inconsistent.

It does not mean that we are rejecting the gallows.

Convicting situations can become creative, so the gallows that belongs to us in that situation - although it compromises reputation - need not torment the soul beyond measure.

Mishaps, upheavals, contrarieties, bitter contexts... they reshape the soul and the point of view, questioning the idea (that we have already made) of ourselves.

Indeed, they open up astounding new paths - realisations otherwise stifled at the start, due to external convictions.

This is why there is something paradoxical and absurd in Jesus' proposal: to grow, reach fullness and complete oneself, one must lose; not be an opportunist, not be quick-witted, not take advantage. All insulting and puerile attitudes that do not regenerate, that bring us back to friction, to unreliable conformisms, and accentuate them.The logic of the Cross is puzzling: on the spur of the moment it seems to humiliate us. Conversely, it shields us from the poison of a vain religiosity, of fine manners and bad habits.

Empty, consolatory or merely theatrical spirituality, which produces conflictual but inert environments [they make the arms fall off: useless and haunting].

Everyone knows that one must learn to accept the inevitable contrarieties of existence. But this is not the meaning of the Cross.

God does not redeem through pain, but with Love - that which does not fold and crumple, but expands life and unexpressed capacities.

The providential Cross is not given by God, but actively taken up and accepted by the disciple. In the Gospels it signifies the acceptance of the inevitable shame involved in following Jesus - even in a comically vain, albeit papier-mache scenario.

For those who choose to be themselves in the world of 'seeming' and name-calling, the (outward) fate of persecution, misunderstanding, mockery and slander, lack of credit and laurels - as if we were failures - is sealed.

But in the Judgement of the Crucified One, this is the right position to become children who find human completeness, stand firm in their choices of specific weight - and bear corresponding fruit: often the best time in their history.

A free gift, for a Saved Life, the Cross redeems us from the lure of appreciation in society that willingly on the side of the banal and extrinsic bestows ample credits, which however extinguish our complete personal growth.

It saves us from the dangers of crumbling pedestals, on which it is not worthwhile to keep climbing in order to be noticed and unnecessarily - cunningly - pleasured. As would any manipulator who loves mightiness; even a pious one, full of attributes of vigour, but inexorably old and doomed to death - bogged down and sterile - incapable of generating new creatures and reviving himself.

The best opportunities for development, fulfilment and completion emerge from sides of ourselves and situations we do not want. Exactly; even from deep wounds, which affect a whole way of being, doing and appearing.

It is not the end of the world. Today, the global crisis has already annihilated our powerful side, yet it is bringing out the virtue of the fragile side; previously overshadowed for the sake of social catwalks.

Here is the Crucified One, who bleeds not only to heal, soften and remove ballasts, but to overthrow, replace horizons and supplant the entire system of addicted conformisms; and 'stitches' even self-styled alternatives, ways of thinking that seemed like who knows what.

All this, by Faith. Not with identified tension and design, but by baptismal attitude to the new integrity that comes: given, welcomed, recognised.

Thus the embraced Cross saves us.

It appears to be a sabotage to our 'infallible' side, instead it is the Antidote to the city slumbering on the same paths as before - in the usual ways of being and taking the field (now without a future).

Lifting up the Cross goes far beyond resilience.

[Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 14 September]

“What a great thing it is to possess the Cross! He who possesses it possesses a treasure” (Saint Andrew of Crete, Homily X on the Exaltation of the Cross, PG 97, 1020). On this day when the Church’s liturgy celebrates the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Gospel you have just heard reminds us of the meaning of this great mystery: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that men might be saved (cf. Jn 3:16). The Son of God became vulnerable, assuming the condition of a slave, obedient even to death, death on a cross (cf. Phil 2:8). By his Cross we are saved. The instrument of torture which, on Good Friday, manifested God’s judgement on the world, has become a source of life, pardon, mercy, a sign of reconciliation and peace. “In order to be healed from sin, gaze upon Christ crucified!” said Saint Augustine (Treatise on Saint John, XII, 11). By raising our eyes towards the Crucified one, we adore him who came to take upon himself the sin of the world and to give us eternal life. And the Church invites us proudly to lift up this glorious Cross so that the world can see the full extent of the love of the Crucified one for mankind, for every man and woman. She invites us to give thanks to God because from a tree which brought death, life has burst out anew. On this wood Jesus reveals to us his sovereign majesty, he reveals to us that he is exalted in glory. Yes, “Come, let us adore him!” In our midst is he who loved us even to giving his life for us, he who invites every human being to draw near to him with trust.

This is the great mystery that Mary also entrusts to us this morning, inviting us to turn towards her Son. In fact, it is significant that, during the first apparition to Bernadette, Mary begins the encounter with the sign of the Cross. More than a simple sign, it is an initiation into the mysteries of the faith that Bernadette receives from Mary. The sign of the Cross is a kind of synthesis of our faith, for it tells how much God loves us; it tells us that there is a love in this world that is stronger than death, stronger than our weaknesses and sins. The power of love is stronger than the evil which threatens us. It is this mystery of the universality of God’s love for men that Mary came to reveal here, in Lourdes. She invites all people of good will, all those who suffer in heart or body, to raise their eyes towards the Cross of Jesus, so as to discover there the source of life, the source of salvation.

The Church has received the mission of showing all people this loving face of God, manifested in Jesus Christ. Are we able to understand that in the Crucified One of Golgotha, our dignity as children of God, tarnished by sin, is restored to us? Let us turn our gaze towards Christ. It is he who will make us free to love as he loves us, and to build a reconciled world. For on this Cross, Jesus took upon himself the weight of all the sufferings and injustices of our humanity. He bore the humiliation and the discrimination, the torture suffered in many parts of the world by so many of our brothers and sisters for love of Christ. We entrust all this to Mary, mother of Jesus and our mother, present at the foot of the Cross.

[Pope Benedict, homily 150th anniversary Lourdes, 14 September 2008]

1. "Rejoice, Holy Church, for today Christ, King of heaven, has crowned you with his Cross and adorned your walls with the splendour of his glory".

Your liturgy sings these words on many occasions, dear brothers and sisters of the Armenian people who have come here to celebrate your Jubilee. The Bishop of Rome extends his cordial greeting to you all and gives you a fatherly embrace.

I exchange a holy kiss of brotherhood with His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, Patriarch of Cilicia for Armenian Catholics, and the Bishops who accompany him. On this happy occasion, I express my best wishes for the Synod which in a few days will begin in this city of Rome. I greet the priests, the religious and all the lay people who have come for this meeting and for today's celebration.

"Today Christ has crowned you with his Cross". Supreme shame, ignoble torture, the cross of the condemned has become a crown of glory. We exalt and venerate what was the despicable sign of abandonment and shame for everyone. How is this paradox possible? The hymn you will sing in this evening's Office explains it to us:  "You were hung on this holy Cross, O God, and you spilled your precious blood upon it". Our salvation originates in Christ's total humiliation.

"I, when I am lifted up from the earth", he said, "I will draw all men to myself" (Jn 12: 32).

The power that triumphs over death is born of the inexpressible pain of love, and the Spirit, sent into the world by the crucified One, restores the rich foliage of the earthly paradise to the withered tree of humanity.

Humanity is astounded by this mystery; it can only kneel and adore the divine plan of our liberation.

2. Brothers and sisters, a few months ago the celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the Baptism of the Armenian people began. With this act, accomplished by your ancestors, the holy waters of redemption have brought forth new seeds of life and prosperity among the thorns and thistles that the earth had produced as a consequence of our first parents' sin. This Jubilee of the universal Church opens your Jubilee, in a wonderful continuity of spirit and theological content:  from the Cross, from the side of the crucified Lord, flowed the water of your Baptism. May this anniversary be the opportunity for a precious renewal, for rediscovered hope, and for deep communion among all believers in Christ.

The Armenian people know the Cross well:  they bear it engraved upon their hearts. It is the symbol of their identity, of the tragedies of their history and of the glory of their recovery after every adverse event. In all epochs, the blood of your martyrs has mingled with that of the crucified One.

Whole generations of Armenians have not hesitated to give their lives in order not to deny the faith which, as one of your historians says, belongs to you as the colour belongs to your skin.

The crosses with which your land is strewn are of bare stone, just as human pain is bare; at the same time they are carved with elegant volutes, to show that the whole world is sanctified by the Cross, that pain is redeemed. This evening you will bless the four cardinal points with the Cross, to recall that this poor instrument of torture has become the measure of the world's judgement, a cosmic symbol of the blessing of God, which sanctifies all things and makes all things fruitful.

3. May this blessing reach your regions and bring them serenity and trust! I pray to the crucified One first of all for your communities in Armenia:  there, new and serious forms of poverty are putting your brothers and sisters to the test, giving rise to the temptation of new exoduses to seek elsewhere the means to live and assure safety to their families. Your people are asking for bread and justice, asking politics to be what they should be by their profound vocation:  the honest and disinterested service of the common good, the struggle to enable the poorest and the most forsaken, always clothed in spite of all in the indelible dignity of every child of God, to live a dignified and human life. Do not abandon your suffering brethren:  today, more than ever, may Armenians across the world who, through their hard work, have achieved financial and social security, take charge of their compatriots in a common effort for rebirth!

Today the Pope wants to carry with you the cross of those who suffer. He reminds you that in privations and daily suffering your gaze must be raised to the Cross, from which salvation continues to come. The Gospel is not only a comfort, it is also an incitement to live to the full the values which restore dignity to civil life, uprooting from the depths of the human heart the temptation of violence and injustice, of the exploitation of the lowly and the poor by the powerful and the rich. It is only by putting Christ the Lord at the centre of life that society will be just and that the selfishness of the few will give way to the good of all.

In addition to the Catholics, my remembrance and my greeting are extended to the children of the Armenian Apostolic Church:  may they rest assured that the Pope of Rome is following with concern their efforts to be "the salt of the earth and the light of the world", so that the world will believe and find the strength to hope and to fight. The Catholic Church intends to uphold this effort as though it were her own, in the love which unites us all in Christ.

4. Dear friends, I invoke the blessings of the Lord upon you here, upon all your loved ones, upon the entire Armenian people and particularly upon the sick, the elderly and all who are suffering in body and in soul.

Today I will be with you in spirit during your pilgrimage of faith which is a fundamental dimension of the Jubilee. The pilgrimage reminds us that our being is on the way towards the fullness of the kingdom, which will be given to us when, with grateful wonder, we will see the Lord of the ages come again in glory, still bearing on his Body the marks of the Passion:  "per Crucem ad gloriam".

Do not forget to pray for me too, so that the Lord will guide my steps on the path of peace!
I cordially impart my Blessing to everyone!

[Pope John Paul II, Audience Armenian Patriarchate 14 September 2000]

On 14 September the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Some non-Christian person might ask: why “exalt” the Cross? We can respond that we do not exalt any cross whatsoever or all crosses: we exalt the Cross of Jesus, because in it God’s love for humanity was fully revealed. That’s what the Gospel of John reminds us of in today’s liturgy: “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son” (3:16). The Father “gave” the Son to save us, and this resulted in the death of Jesus, and his death on the Cross. Why? Why was the Cross necessary? Because of the gravity of the evil which enslaved us. The Cross of Jesus expresses both things: all the negative forces of evil, and all of the gentle omnipotence of God’s mercy. The Cross would seem to decree Christ’s failure, but in reality it signals His victory. On Calvary, those who mocked him said to him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (cf. Mt 27:40). But the opposite was true: it was precisely because Jesus was the Son of God, that He was there, on the Cross, faithful to the end to the loving plan of the Father. And for this very reason God “exalted” Jesus (Phil 2:9), conferring universal kingship on Him.

When we look to the Cross where Jesus was nailed, we contemplate the sign of love, of the infinite love of God for each of us and the source of our salvation. The mercy of God, which embraces the whole world, springs from the Cross. Through the Cross of Christ the Evil One is overcome, death is defeated, life is given to us, hope is restored. This is important: through the Cross of Christ hope is restored to us. The Cross of Jesus is our one true hope! That is why the Church “exalts” the Holy Cross, and why we Christians bless ourselves with the sign of the cross. That is, we don’t exalt crosses, but the glorious Cross of Christ, the sign of God’s immense love, the sign of our salvation and path toward the Resurrection. This is our hope.

While we contemplate and celebrate the Holy Cross, we think with emotion of so many of our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and killed because of their faith in Christ. This happens especially wherever religious freedom is still not guaranteed or fully realized. It happens, however, even in countries and areas which, in principle, protect freedom and human rights but where, in practice, believers, and especially Christians, encounter restrictions and discrimination. So today we remember them and pray for them in a special way.

On Calvary, there at the foot of the Cross, was the Virgin Mary (cf. Jn 19:25-27). She is Our Lady of Sorrows, whom we shall celebrate tomorrow in the liturgy. To her I entrust the present and the future of the Church, so that we may all always be able to discover and welcome the message of love and salvation of the Cross of Christ.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 14 September 2014]

House on the Rock or practitioners of vain things

(Lk 6:43-49)

Pope Francis said: «In order to give Himself to us, God often chooses unthinkable paths, perhaps those of our limits, our tears, our defeats».

Hasty builders are content to build directly on the ground; paying attention only to what is seen and experienced (on the spot). They do not dig the house to the core - deep down, in the gold of themselves.

In the inner world everything is reversed: the primacy is of Grace, which displaces, because it takes into account only the essential, inexplicable reality - and our dignified autonomy.

«Too pure water has no fish» [Ts'ai Ken T'an]. Accepting ourselves will complete us: it will make us recover the co-present sides, opposite and shadowed. It’s the leap of the deep Faith.

Jesus aims to arouse in people a critical conscience about banal and external solutions, something common among the leaders of ancient religiosity.

To build a new Kingdom, the public liturgies abounding in beautiful signs and resounding social greetings are not enough - not even the most striking gifts.

False security is what makes you feel quiet. There is no sick or inmate worse than the one who thinks he’s healthy, arrived and not infected: only here there is no therapy, nor revival.

It will be seen in the moment of the storm, when it will be evident the need to translate the personal relationship with the Lord into life, starting from the ability to welcome gambling.

Merits not grounded in intimately firm beliefs will not hold the whirlwind of trial.

Are there foundations behind a front of butterflies? You understand it in the storm, and if you become «rock» even for the invisible - not tourists of the "spirit" who praise praise and do not risk.

Security doesn’t come from adapting to customs and obligations, nor from being admired (at least) like others, which makes the Common House unhealthy.

Our specific and hallmark of the Faith is not an identity drawn from protocols or the manners - it plays on appearances and not on the only strong point: the attitude of pilgrims in Christ.

We are only firm in the prophetic royal priestly dignity, which is given to us in an unrepeatable Gift and will never be the fruit of deriving from consent.

We live to follow a deep Vocation: Root, Spring and Engine of our most intimate fibers; related to the dreams and naturalness of each one.

Only relying on the soul is an authentic platform, true salvation and medicine.

The Mission will reach the existential peripheries, starting from the Core.

It seems senseless, paradoxical, incredible, but for every Called the Rock on which he can and must build his way of taking the field... is Freedom.

[Saturday 23rd wk.  in O.T.  September 13, 2025]

The strength of the inner world, even in its depths

(Lk 6:43-49)

Pope Francis said: "God often chooses unimaginable ways to give himself to us, perhaps those of our limitations, our tears, our defeats."

The Lord's call is not Manichean, but profound.

Our behaviour has fascinating roots. The light and shadows of our being remain in dynamic relation.

Sometimes, however, our discomforts or distortions are the result of an excess of 'light' - detached from its opposite. 

This excess is readily associated with the pretence of exorcising the dark side within us, which we would like to hide for social reasons.

We feel that our calling card should only reflect our bright, relaxed, serious and high-performing side.

Perhaps a moral style that is completely upright - at least at first glance.

However, those who become attached to their bright side and even try to promote it for reasons of appearance (even ecclesiastical), established culture, habit (even religious), risk strengthening the opposite side.

Be careful: in every person there is always a side that fails, that does not succeed; and it is not one-sided.

Perhaps it is precisely in those who preach goodness that there is the greatest danger of neglecting its coexisting opposite - which sooner or later will burst forth and find its space.

Blowing up the whole house of cards. But to achieve something alternative and absolutely not artificial.

For those who embark on a path of 'perfection', their counterpart seems only a danger.

And conditioned by models, we continue to play [our already identified 'part'].

Yet the dark side hides resources that the light side does not have.

In the dark side, we read our character seed.

Here lies the therapy and healing from the discomforts we rush to hide (in our family, with friends, in the community, at work).

The dark aspects [selfishness, coldness, closed-mindedness, introversion, sadness] lurk within; there is no point in denying it.

It is worth considering them instead as a source of characterising primordial energies.

It is in fact concealment - sometimes depression itself - that makes us find unimaginable solutions.

As if we were a grain planted in the ground, wanting to exist. And ultimately wanting a natural life, to develop its abilities.

It is precisely the emotions we dislike and detest – like muddy, dark earth – that reconnect us with our deepest essence.

In short, unpleasant emotional states are the well from which other ideas, other guiding 'images', new insights and different lifeblood come to us. And changes.

Light does not possess all possibilities, all dynamism. Indeed, it often seems to be presented [by traditions themselves] in a fictitious, reductive way.

In chiaroscuro, on the other hand, we no longer pretend. Because it is the foundation of the house of the soul.

We consider all this for a solid harmony that comes from within.

Paradoxes of personal vocation: if we did not follow it in its entirety, we would continue to follow wrong ideas or the styles of others.

And we would become ill. Evil will take over.

If we are structured around an abstract, local or false identity, then the storm could destroy everything.

In our trials and errors, we must keep all aspects close at hand - those we have learned to know over time and realised are part of us.

This will change the solidity of our relationship with ourselves, others, nature, history, and the world.

The harmony between conduct and intention of the heart overcomes hypocrisy, but conformity between word and life is not achieved by practising automatisms or surrendering to the convictions of others.

In the post-lockdown period, we are becoming acutely aware of this.

It was once thought that education (especially of young people) also shaped the soul, and that everything naturally flowed into choices: into means, results, external works, and even dreams: 'Tell me what you do and I will tell you who you are'.

Instead, qualitative harmony with the Mystery and the Word of Christ is not achieved by setting things up, but is found within (each of us) enigmatically, and starting from the depths - as a pure secret Gift, for creative independence.

Haste, fear of failure, a culture of concatenation and stability, resolutions (even 'spiritual' ones) or, conversely, the lure of tranquillity; aims, the desire to be recognised, lack of detachment, ambition, fear of being excluded, difficulty in shifting one's gaze... all lead to ignorance of the Mystery.

Devoid of depth, we will be condemned to never dig deep, not even within ourselves; perpetually at the mercy of particular roles, spheres and events; of occasional or local relationships.

Hasty builders are content to build directly on the ground, paying attention only to what they see and experience (on the spot). They do not dig the house down to its core - deep down, into the gold of themselves.In the inner world and its hidden power, everything is turned upside down: primacy belongs to Grace, which is unsettling because it takes into account only the essential, inexplicable reality - and our dignified autonomy.

The rest will unfortunately be destined to collapse disastrously, because it is not based on the Word, on character [albeit magmatic, but strongly potential]... nor on the vocational relationship with God and things, or on the most genuine communion [conviviality and shared richness of differences].

We are experiencing a laceration, even in times of emergency: the inner world is stronger and more convincing, yet the exterior does not want to give way to immediate goals. In fact, we are still attracted to them.

But we know full well that the latter do not reactivate any stage of specific weight, as our young inner being spontaneously does - almost like a child we are carrying in gestation.

In general, even on the spiritual path, we immediately fall into the coveted persona we would like to be: here we do not grow, we are only excited by futilities, nor do we realise that they are not our 'owners'.

Of course, the immediate external goal does not suffer from the wait for the long and necessary evolution of having to give birth to oneself (even in anguish and loneliness), stage after stage, which is activated and reactivated without comfort and security.

Yet we were born to fly, not to follow in others' footsteps and become photocopies in our souls.

So everything that matters will be in the oscillation, because a path of personal specific weight is configured according to the gift of our exceptionality.

And uniqueness can be achieved in the process of every side of ourselves, every aspect of our personality - even those that are apparently petty or superficial. Even those that are unflattering from the point of view of religious tranquillity; which will also have had its value.

Jesus does not intend to distinguish the good from the bad [cf. vv.15-20 and parallel passage in Lk 6:43-45] in a trivial way: he wants us to live fully, in integral uniqueness, and to perceive well.

The Lord does not propose an imprisoned destiny; rather, a reversal of meaning.

His is a warning to sharpen our gaze and focus it inward—not to leave it outside, observing ephemeral results, those that are obvious and sensational; and then that's it, don't live too many shocks... as if we were in a relaxation zone.

The unit of measurement in Christ is not what is immediately perceptible to the eye, nor is it 'progress' in itself, but rather 'the value of each part'.

It is precisely the awareness of limits that becomes a transformative principle within us. And every imperfection calls for Exodus.

To deny one's own boundaries means to allow oneself to be hijacked by common opinions, devoid of Mystery - with horizons reduced to a single 'word'.

It is, for example, the severe crisis that stimulates the upheaval of a system that is ostentatious but competitive and dehumanising, with corrupt inner principles - even though they once appeared to us as absolutes.

Why not be satisfied, if we are generally doing well? Because forced identification has taken away Freedom, even the freedom to admit that we are made of light and shadow.

It is not the disorder that deprives women and men of eloquent vocational emancipation.

Everyone who beats their chest does so in a particular way; and recognises themselves in symbiosis with their own Name.

Then, at every age of life - as in every era - there is a 'sin', which is not a monster but a symptom that speaks precisely of the personal, moral, cultural and social calling.

Even if we do not like it, this oscillation must be understood, not criticised and accused.

I would even say welcomed and reworked - not simplistically rejected, with attitudes of artificial distance or gestures of ambiguous virtue, which make them external and bring us back to square one.

Today, the lack of a full life and beautiful relationships, the general upheaval, the restlessness of the soul - nervousness, dissatisfaction - force us to abandon both the ancient and fascinating devout certainties and the disembodied sophistications 'à la page'.

All in favour of concrete and personal situations, within the horizon of a unique vocation and the leap of faith that opens up to coexistence.

'Water that is too pure has no fish' [Ts'ai Ken T'an].

Accepting ourselves without reservation will introduce us to a dizzying, astonishing experience: with the amazement produced by the recovery of coexisting, opposing and shadowed sides. As many as our brothers and sisters.

Perhaps we will find that they are the most activating and fruitful.

Not the ethics of perfection and approved distinctions, but rather the reviled chaos and our inner demons will paradoxically become the best companions on our journey, and the only true ones; leaders of an amazing Mission.

After all, our works are the fruit of our thoughts and desires. The latter certainly spring from a good, varied education, but not in a mechanical sense.

Here too, it is essential not to be thwarted. Poor discernment destroys the authentic Rock, which coincides with one's own spontaneous Guide to completeness.

The stable foundation of our journey is the Freedom to welcome and the Freedom to correspond to the unique character - our own - of the instinct to fulfil ourselves.

In fact, Jesus distances himself not only from ancient religion, but even from the rather crude messianic strands of early times (e.g. James 3:11-12).

This does not mean that the Master rejects the profound spirit of the ancient Holy Scriptures; on the contrary, he grasps their heart: Qo 3:14; 7:13-18; Sir 37:13-15 [and many other passages (incredible for the mentality in which we have been educated)].

Therefore, it is not enough to say, 'Lord, Lord' (v. 46). It is not enough to formally recognise the Son of God.

We must examine his Call in our being, make it our own and understand it fully, so that it is not corrupted and distorted into inessential forms of childish external conformity.

In insecurity, many people demand expressions of power, seek overt strength; they are content with moral paradigms, look for forms of immediate assurance, or crave renowned guides [who perpetuate and comfort their defensive path].

Paralysing illusions... even on the path of Faith.

On this path, one does not build the expected happiness, nor any solidity, but rather, day after day, one's own sadness - as is evident from too many events, and ultimately from the most hidden forms of compensation (now unmasked).

There is no guru who can put things right at the root.

Our Seed is what it is: we must discover its virtues, especially the unexpected ones - those that derive from the essence and from magmatic and plastic forms of energies that are even opposed.

It is useless to 'heal' oneself according to a conformist standard that does not belong to one's personal Core.

The soul has an autonomous life, suspended from contexts and distances; it exists both inside and outside the passing of time - like Love. 

Each person is a multiplicity of coexisting faces - to which space must be given for greater completeness.

This is what matters, and allying oneself with one's own limitations: embracing what the surrounding environment or the conventionalist cultural paradigm - which defends its territory - may consider inconclusive (and so on).

We guard other boundaries.

What we dislike is perhaps our best part.

In any case, giving voice to tensions means finally being able to name them, to welcome them with dignity - so that they may enjoy more complete joys.

And let them cross the threshold of the joy of living, and therefore of authentic reliability.

By sweeping away the anxiety of imperfection, we will find a more harmonious, energetic steadfastness.

By welcoming fragility along with rebellion, we will not live half-heartedly; on the contrary, we will experience the fullness of being (vital and lively).

Not always feeling trapped, we will be able to fly away.

But we can immediately realise that certain peaceful situations are counterfeit constraints and traps for the soul: in the radical discomforts that arise.

Many continue in vain to seek futile confirmation: in the search for extraordinary gifts or in meticulous observance, or in fashions of thought. All external realities.

However, this is not the pedagogy that educates and launches life in the Spirit outside of extrinsic mechanisms.

Nor is it enough to 'do God's will' in a disciplined manner but without friendly awareness of ourselves in order to truly overcome the storms.

No form of inculcated exteriority can convince us.

Nor can it make us become a 'rock' - or a small bulwark - to persuade, empower and strengthen others.

The difference between common religiosity and personal faith?

Life in its humanising and divine state of preciousness opens up varied paths - even abysmal ones, but full of inner experiences; of unimaginable searches and discoveries, where we can be ourselves.

In the sphere of Faith, there are no longer sacred times, places, knowledge, or models—all superficial if rigid—that are not also new and personal.

Union with the Lord, the Rock from which we were cut and extracted, is neither binary nor a groove, but a fundamental option.

It leaves the reins loose on each person's particular inclinations and colours.

With the entire Discourse on the Plain (vv. 17ff.) - now coming to an end - Jesus aims to awaken in people a critical awareness of trivial and external solutions. This is common among the leaders of popular and official ancient religiosity.

To build a new Kingdom, it is not enough to have public liturgies overflowing with beautiful signs and the right creed, and sensational social obeisance - not even the most ostentatious gifts.

False security is that of those who profess... but only perform conformist acts and reflect aligned ideas - and therefore feel they are okay.

There is no one more sick or reclusive than those who consider themselves healthy, accomplished and uninfected: only here is there no therapy, no revival.This will be seen in times of turmoil, when the need to translate one's personal relationship with the Lord into life will become evident, starting with oneself and one's ability to embrace the risk of Love.

Merits that are not rooted in deeply held convictions - gestures produced by intrigue, calculation and artificial attitudes - will not withstand the whirlwind of trial.

'Practisers of vain things', that is, insubstantial things (this is the meaning of the Greek text that introduces the parallel passage in Matthew 7:23): they are the standard-bearers of an empty spirituality which, despite its veneer, even spectacular aspects, has nothing to do with God.

According to convenience, the 'masters' who stand in the way of personal developments seem willing to renounce any commitment, plotting the reversal of their own proclamations - because they are prisoners in this regard [rather than how they appear: leaders].

They do not yet reveal the divine Face, but rather a populist and calculating opposite.

They live to get by - together with the club they belong to - and obtain only immediate recognition, obeisance, and handouts of consensus around them.

And this despite the great disciplines of censorship they advocate:

They do not correct the separation between teaching and personal commitment: they may preach the true God and (always) great things every day – but as if it were their job.

The schemers multiply high-sounding or symbolic formulas and gestures, like soporific or exciting drugs... but they are the first not to believe what they say and repeatedly impose on others.

Full of obtuse demands on people, they do not understand the Father, God of the desperate, exiled and mocked, who resurrects the unchosen - those deprived of a future; not those assured of life, commanded by self-interest and appearances.

Are there foundations behind a facade of butterflies? This can be understood in the test, and if one becomes a 'rock' even for the invisible - not spiritual tourists who praise (v.46) and take no risks.

Therefore, security does not come from conforming to customs and obligations, nor from being admired (at least) as much as others. Fiction that makes the common home unhealthy.

Our specific and defining feature of Faith is not a 'cultural' identity drawn from protocols or mainstream manners - a plot that plays on appearances and not on the only strong point: the attitude of pilgrims in Christ.

We are steadfast only in the prophetic, regal priestly dignity that is given as an unrepeatable gift and will never be the result of consensus.

Nor is it the result of appearances, of saying and not saying, of building oneself up, of adapting to the forces at play, of struggling to stay afloat.

We live to follow a profound vocation: the root, spring and motor of our innermost fibres; related to the dreams and naturalness of each one of us.

Only trusting in the soul is an authentic platform, true salvation and medicine.

The Mission will reach the existential peripheries, starting from the Core.

It seems senseless, paradoxical, incredible, but for every Called one, the Rock on which he can and must build his way of taking the field... is Freedom.

To internalise and live the message:

When the storm hits your house, do you imagine a great fall? What is the rock on which your community is built? Is it interested in your naturalness or does it want to standardise you?

Do you know people with strong prophetic, apostolic or thaumaturgical activity, who give the impression of an extraordinary or circumstantial familiarity with God, perhaps only apparent?

What do you think is the reason for this? Do you think they have ever truly surrendered to themselves and to the quintessence of their Calling by Name?

1. At the source of your deepest aspirations

In every period of history, including our own, many young people experience a deep desire for personal relationships marked by truth and solidarity. Many of them yearn to build authentic friendships, to know true love, to start a family that will remain united, to achieve personal fulfilment and real security, all of which are the guarantee of a serene and happy future. In thinking of my own youth, I realize that stability and security are not the questions that most occupy the minds of young people. True enough, it is important to have a job and thus to have firm ground beneath our feet, yet the years of our youth are also a time when we are seeking to get the most out of life. When I think back on that time, I remember above all that we were not willing to settle for a conventional middle-class life. We wanted something great, something new. We wanted to discover life itself, in all its grandeur and beauty. Naturally, part of that was due to the times we lived in. During the Nazi dictatorship and the war, we were, so to speak, “hemmed in” by the dominant power structure. So we wanted to break out into the open, to experience the whole range of human possibilities. I think that, to some extent, this urge to break out of the ordinary is present in every generation. Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really truly greater. Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. Nothing else will ever be enough. Saint Augustine was right when he said “our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you”. The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear his “imprint”. God is life, and that is why every creature reaches out towards life. Because human beings are made in the image of God, we do this in a unique and special way. We reach out for love, joy and peace. So we can see how absurd it is to think that we can truly live by removing God from the picture! God is the source of life. To set God aside is to separate ourselves from that source and, inevitably, to deprive ourselves of fulfilment and joy: “without the Creator, the creature fades into nothingness” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, 36). In some parts of the world, particularly in the West, today’s culture tends to exclude God, and to consider faith a purely private issue with no relevance for the life of society. Even though the set of values underpinning society comes from the Gospel – values like the sense of the dignity of the person, of solidarity, of work and of the family –, we see a certain “eclipse of God” taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.

For this reason, dear friends, I encourage you to strengthen your faith in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the future of society and of the Church! As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae, it is vital to have roots, a solid foundation! This is particularly true today. Many people have no stable points of reference on which to build their lives, and so they end up deeply insecure. There is a growing mentality of relativism, which holds that everything is equally valid, that truth and absolute points of reference do not exist. But this way of thinking does not lead to true freedom, but rather to instability, confusion and blind conformity to the fads of the moment. As young people, you are entitled to receive from previous generations solid points of reference to help you to make choices and on which to build your lives: like a young plant which needs solid support until it can sink deep roots and become a sturdy tree capable of bearing fruit.

2. Planted and built up in Jesus Christ

In order to highlight the importance of faith in the lives of believers, I would like to reflect with you on each of the three terms used by Saint Paul in the expression: “Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith” (cf. Col 2:7). We can distinguish three images: “planted” calls to mind a tree and the roots that feed it; “built up” refers to the construction of a house; “firm” indicates growth in physical or moral strength. These images are very eloquent. Before commenting on them, I would like to point out that grammatically all three terms in the original text are in the passive voice. This means that it is Christ himself who takes the initiative to plant, build up and confirm the faithful.

The first image is that of a tree which is firmly planted thanks to its roots, which keep it upright and give it nourishment. Without those roots, it would be blown away by the wind and would die. What are our roots? Naturally our parents, our families and the culture of our country are very important elements of our personal identity. But the Bible reveals a further element. The prophet Jeremiah wrote: “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jer 17:7-8). For the prophet, to send out roots means to put one’s trust in God. From him we draw our life. Without him, we cannot truly live. “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 Jn 5:11). Jesus himself tells us that he is our life (cf. Jn 14:6). Consequently, Christian faith is not only a matter of believing that certain things are true, but above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an encounter with the Son of God that gives new energy to the whole of our existence. When we enter into a personal relationship with him, Christ reveals our true identity and, in friendship with him, our life grows towards complete fulfilment. There is a moment, when we are young, when each of us wonders: what meaning does my life have? What purpose and direction should I give to it? This is a very important moment, and it can worry us, perhaps for some time. We start wondering about the kind of work we should take up, the kind of relationships we should establish, the friendships we should cultivate... Here, once more, I think of my own youth. I was somehow aware quite early on that the Lord wanted me to be a priest. Then later, after the war, when I was in the seminary and at university on the way towards that goal, I had to recapture that certainty. I had to ask myself: is this really the path I was meant to take? Is this really God’s will for me? Will I be able to remain faithful to him and completely at his service? A decision like this demands a certain struggle. It cannot be otherwise. But then came the certainty: this is the right thing! Yes, the Lord wants me, and he will give me strength. If I listen to him and walk with him, I become truly myself. What counts is not the fulfilment of my desires, but of his will. In this way life becomes authentic.

Just as the roots of a tree keep it firmly planted in the soil, so the foundations of a house give it long-lasting stability. Through faith, we have been built up in Jesus Christ (cfr Col 2:7), even as a house is built on its foundations. Sacred history provides many examples of saints who built their lives on the word of God. The first is Abraham, our father in faith, who obeyed God when he was asked to leave his ancestral home and to set out for an unknown land. “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God” (Jas 2:23). Being built up in Jesus Christ means responding positively to God’s call, trusting in him and putting his word into practice. Jesus himself reprimanded his disciples: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I tell you?” (Lk 6:46). He went on to use the image of building a house: “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built” (Lk 6:47-48).

Dear friends, build your own house on rock, just like the person who “dug deeply”. Try each day to follow Christ’s word. Listen to him as a true friend with whom you can share your path in life. With him at your side, you will find courage and hope to face difficulties and problems, and even to overcome disappointments and set-backs. You are constantly being offered easier choices, but you yourselves know that these are ultimately deceptive and cannot bring you serenity and joy. Only the word of God can show us the authentic way, and only the faith we have received is the light which shines on our path. Gratefully accept this spiritual gift which you have received from your families; strive to respond responsibly to God’s call, and to grow in your faith. Do not believe those who tell you that you don’t need others to build up your life! Find support in the faith of those who are dear to you, in the faith of the Church, and thank the Lord that you have received it and have made it your own!

3. Firm in the faith 

You are “planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith” (cf. Col 2:7). The Letter from which these words are taken was written by Saint Paul in order to respond to a specific need of the Christians in the city of Colossae. That community was threatened by the influence of certain cultural trends that were turning the faithful away from the Gospel. Our own cultural context, dear young people, is not unlike that of the ancient Colossians. Indeed, there is a strong current of secularist thought that aims to make God marginal in the lives of people and society by proposing and attempting to create a “paradise” without him. Yet experience tells us that a world without God becomes a “hell”: filled with selfishness, broken families, hatred between individuals and nations, and a great deficit of love, joy and hope. On the other hand, wherever individuals and nations accept God’s presence, worship him in truth and listen to his voice, then the civilization of love is being built, a civilization in which the dignity of all is respected, and communion increases, with all its benefits. Yet some Christians allow themselves to be seduced by secularism or attracted by religious currents that draw them away from faith in Jesus Christ. There are others who, while not yielding to these enticements, have simply allowed their faith to grow cold, with inevitable negative effects on their moral lives.

To those Christians influenced by ideas alien to the Gospel the Apostle Paul spoke of the power of Christ’s death and resurrection. This mystery is the foundation of our lives and the centre of Christian faith. All philosophies that disregard it and consider it “foolishness” (1 Cor 1:23) reveal their limitations with respect to the great questions deep in the hearts of human beings. As the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I too want to confirm you in the faith (cf. Lk 22:32). We firmly believe that Jesus Christ offered himself on the Cross in order to give us his love. In his passion, he bore our sufferings, took upon himself our sins, obtained forgiveness for us and reconciled us with God the Father, opening for us the way to eternal life. Thus we were freed from the thing that most encumbers our lives: the slavery of sin. We can love everyone, even our enemies, and we can share this love with the poorest of our brothers and sisters and all those in difficulty.

Dear friends, the Cross often frightens us because it seems to be a denial of life. In fact, the opposite is true! It is God’s “yes” to mankind, the supreme expression of his love and the source from which eternal life flows. Indeed, it is from Jesus’ heart, pierced on the Cross, that this divine life streamed forth, ever accessible to those who raise their eyes towards the Crucified One. I can only urge you, then, to embrace the Cross of Jesus, the sign of God’s love, as the source of new life. Apart from Jesus Christ risen from the dead, there can be no salvation! He alone can free the world from evil and bring about the growth of the Kingdom of justice, peace and love to which we all aspire.

4. Believing in Jesus Christ without having seen him

In the Gospel we find a description of the Apostle Thomas’s experience of faith when he accepted the mystery of the Cross and resurrection of Christ. Thomas was one of the twelve Apostles. He followed Jesus and was an eyewitness of his healings and miracles. He listened to his words, and he experienced dismay at Jesus’ death. That Easter evening when the Lord appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not present. When he was told that Jesus was alive and had shown himself, Thomas stated: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25).

We too want to be able to see Jesus, to speak with him and to feel his presence even more powerfully. For many people today, it has become difficult to approach Jesus. There are so many images of Jesus in circulation which, while claiming to be scientific, detract from his greatness and the uniqueness of his person. That is why, after many years of study and reflection, I thought of sharing something of my own personal encounter with Jesus by writing a book. It was a way to help others see, hear and touch the Lord in whom God came to us in order to make himself known. Jesus himself, when he appeared again to his disciples a week later, said to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe” (Jn 20:27). We too can have tangible contact with Jesus and put our hand, so to speak, upon the signs of his Passion, the signs of his love. It is in the sacraments that he draws particularly near to us and gives himself to us. Dear young people, learn to “see” and to “meet” Jesus in the Eucharist, where he is present and close to us, and even becomes food for our journey. In the sacrament of Penance the Lord reveals his mercy and always grants us his forgiveness. Recognize and serve Jesus in the poor, the sick, and in our brothers and sisters who are in difficulty and in need of help.

Enter into a personal dialogue with Jesus Christ and cultivate it in faith. Get to know him better by reading the Gospels and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Converse with him in prayer, and place your trust in him. He will never betray that trust! “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150). Thus you will acquire a mature and solid faith, one which will not be based simply on religious sentiment or on a vague memory of the catechism you studied as a child. You will come to know God and to live authentically in union with him, like the Apostle Thomas who showed his firm faith in Jesus in the words: “My Lord and my God!”.

5. Sustained by the faith of the Church, in order to be witnesses

Jesus said to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29). He was thinking of the path the Church was to follow, based on the faith of eyewitnesses: the Apostles. Thus we come to see that our personal faith in Christ, which comes into being through dialogue with him, is bound to the faith of the Church. We do not believe as isolated individuals, but rather, through Baptism, we are members of this great family; it is the faith professed by the Church which reinforces our personal faith. The Creed that we proclaim at Sunday Mass protects us from the danger of believing in a God other than the one revealed by Christ: “Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 166). Let us always thank the Lord for the gift of the Church, for the Church helps us to advance securely in the faith that gives us true life (cf. Jn 20:31).

In the history of the Church, the saints and the martyrs have always drawn from the glorious Cross of Christ the strength to be faithful to God even to the point of offering their own lives. In faith they found the strength to overcome their weaknesses and to prevail over every adversity. Indeed, as the Apostle John says, “Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn 5:5). The victory born of faith is that of love. There have been, and still are, many Christians who are living witnesses of the power of faith that is expressed in charity. They have been peacemakers, promoters of justice and workers for a more humane world, a world in accordance with God’s plan. With competence and professionalism, they have been committed in different sectors of the life of society, contributing effectively to the welfare of all. The charity that comes from faith led them to offer concrete witness by their actions and words. Christ is not a treasure meant for us alone; he is the most precious treasure we have, one that is meant to be shared with others. In our age of globalization, be witnesses of Christian hope all over the world. How many people long to receive this hope! Standing before the tomb of his friend Lazarus, who had died four days earlier, as he was about to call the dead man back to life, Jesus said to Lazarus’ sister Martha: “If you believe, you will see the glory of God” (cf. Jn 11:40). In the same way, if you believe, and if you are able to live out your faith and bear witness to it every day, you will become a means of helping other young people like yourselves to find the meaning and joy of life, which is born of an encounter with Christ!

[Pope Benedict, Message for the 26th World Youth Day, 2011]

3. What does Christ say in this regard in the Gospel we have heard today? At the end of the Sermon on the Mount he said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded upon the rock” (Mt 7:24-25). The opposite of the man who built on the rock is the man who built upon sand. The house he built could not stand. Faced with trials and difficulties, it fell. This is what Christ teaches us.

A house built upon rock. The building that is one’s life. How should it be built so that it does not collapse under the pressure of this world’s events? How should this building be built so that from being an “earthly dwelling” it may become “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor 5:1)? Today we hear the reply to these fundamental questions of faith: at the basis of the Christian building there is the hearing and keeping of the word of Christ. And in speaking of “the word of Christ” we have in mind not only his teaching, the parables and promises, but also his works, the signs, the miracles. And above all his Death, the Resurrection and the Descent of the Holy Spirit. Further still: we have in mind the Son of God himself, the eternal Word of the Father, in the mystery of the Incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).

[Pope John Paul II, Biskupia Góra (Pelplin), 6 June 1999]

Base your life 'on the rock of God' and on the 'concreteness' of action and self-giving, rather than 'on appearances or vanity' or on the corrupt culture of 'recommendations'. This is the advice that Pope Francis suggested — during Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on Thursday 6 December — in order to live the Advent season consistently.

These are simple yet demanding guidelines that the Pontiff drew from the readings of the day, in which three significant groups of contrasting words are found: 'saying and doing', 'sand and rock', 'high and low'.

Regarding the first group — 'saying and doing' — the Pontiff immediately recalled the words of the Gospel of Matthew (7:21): "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father." And he explained: "One enters the kingdom of heaven, matures spiritually, and advances in the Christian life by doing, not by saying." In fact, "saying is a way of believing, but sometimes very superficial, halfway there": as when "I say I am a Christian but I do not do the things of a Christian." It is a kind of "pretence," because "just saying is a trick," it is "saying without doing."

Instead, "Jesus' proposal is concreteness." And so, "when someone approached him and asked for advice," he always proposed "concrete things." After all, the Pope added, "works of mercy are concrete." And again: "Jesus did not say, 'Go home and think about the poor, think about prisoners, think about the sick': no. Go: visit them."

This is the contrast between doing and saying. It is necessary to highlight this because "so often we slip, not only personally but socially, into the culture of saying". In this regard, Francis pointed to a practice that is unfortunately widespread, that linked to the "culture of recommendations". It happens, for example, that for a university competition, "someone who has almost no merits" is chosen over many talented professors; "and if you ask, 'But why this one? What about the others who are talented...?' - 'Because this one was recommended by a cardinal, you know... the big fish...'". The Pope commented: 'I don't want to think badly, but under the table of a recommendation there is always an envelope'. This is just one example of the prevalence of 'saying': 'it's not merit, it's not doing what gets you ahead, no: it's saying. Faking your life." And this is precisely "one of the contradictions that today's liturgy teaches us: do, don't say." In fact, the Pope explained, concluding this first part of his reflection, "Jesus advises" us to "do without saying: when you give alms, when you pray... in secret, without saying so. Do, don't say."

The second comparison refers to an image used by Jesus in the Gospel: 'a wise man builds his house on rock, not on sand'. The parable has its own evidence: 'Sand is not solid. A storm, winds, rivers, many things, rain cause a house built on sand to fall. Sand is a weak foundation." The Pontiff explained: "Sand is the consequence of saying: I put on a facade, as a Christian, I build a life for myself but without foundations. Vanity, vanity is saying many things, or showing myself without foundation, on sand." Instead, we must 'build on rock'. In this regard, the Pope invited us to grasp the beauty of the first reading of the day, taken from Isaiah (26:1-6), where we read: 'Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an eternal rock'.

This is a contrast closely linked to that between saying and doing, because "so often, those who trust in the Lord do not appear, are not successful, are hidden... but they are steadfast. They do not place their hope in words, in vanity, in pride, in the ephemeral powers of life," but entrust themselves to the Lord, "the rock." Francis explained: "The concreteness of Christian life makes us move forward and build on that rock that is God, that is Jesus; on the solidity of divinity. Not on appearances or vanity, pride, recommendations... No. The truth."

Finally, the "third group," where the concepts of "high and low" are confronted. Once again, the passage from Isaiah guides our meditation: "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an eternal rock, for he has brought down those who dwelt on high, he has overturned the lofty city, he has overturned it to the ground, he has levelled it to the ground. Feet trample it down: the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor." It is a passage, the Pontiff pointed out, that recalls the "song of Our Lady, the Magnificat: the Lord lifts up the humble, those who are in the reality of everyday life, and brings down the proud, those who have built their lives on vanity, pride... these do not last." And the expression, Francis emphasised, "is very strong, even in the Magnificat the word 'overthrown' is used, and even stronger: that great beautiful city is trampled underfoot. By whom? By the feet of the oppressed and the steps of the poor." That is, the Lord "exalts the poor, exalts the humble."

The category of 'high and low', the Pope added in his commentary, is also used by Jesus, for example, when he 'speaks of Satan: "I saw Satan fall from heaven." And it is the expression of a 'definitive judgement on the proud, on the vain, on those who boast of being something but are pure air'.

Concluding his homily, Francis invited us to accompany the season of Advent with reflection on "these three groups of words that contrast with each other. Say or do? Am I a Christian of saying or doing? Sand and rock: do I build my life on the rock of God or on the sand of worldliness, of vanity? High and low: am I humble, do I always try to start from the bottom, without pride, and thus serve the Lord?" It will be helpful to answer these questions; and, he added, also to take up the Gospel of Luke and pray "with the song of Our Lady, with the Magnificat, which is a summary of today's message."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha's House, in L'Osservatore Romano, 6 December 2018]

(Lk 6:39-42)

«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 n.100).

In the assemblies of the first centuries the baptized were called «enlightened», people capable of orienting themselves, choosing and making autonomous.

The Lord did not allow his followers to take on the role of "guides" in the life of others (v.39).

The apostles of all times must only announce and remain disciples, that is, pupils of the Spirit - not experts.

God's Way is Christ himself. Person that can’t be communicated by teachers.

Global Truth: it is not an “information” that fills empty heads and useless events redundant with exteriority.

The context of today's passage abolishes judgment, in the ideal of a ‘personal’ existence transformed into wealth and gift - which ridicules any tendency of domination.

No one is master of the fate and personality of those who do not orient themselves, otherwise everyone goes astray (v. 39) - even with the best of intentions.

Jesus himself neither commanded nor directed, but educated and helped.

The rabbis got paid: He offered everything, living with his disciples [for mutual identification, but with a wide mesh].

Transparent and creative attitude: this is the true and only norm of conduct for the apostles of all times, often unable to grasp their own blindness - because they are still one-sided.

Again, of a plant it’s not the size and appearance that count, but the Fruit (vv. 43-45).

All the more reason to re-emphasize that church animators are not superior to others, nor are they the repositories of absolute truths.

In fact, Jesus is incomparable: Master sui generis (v.40).

He does not have a classroom furnished with a Chair and desks. And he still teaches along the way: there introduces us to meet ourselves, our brothers and the surrounding reality; in a process, on a journey.

He doesn’t hold quiet glossary, compilation or moralistic lessons: He amazes.

He does not reinterpret the quagmire of archaic knowledge, customs and dispositions - or fashions - authentic «beams» (vv.41-42) poked into the free eye of the soul, which deform its gaze.

He proposes his Person and his Life. As well as his reproaches - but precisely those and not other [obvious] volatile as «motes» (vv.41-42).

This while the false teachers considered themselves friends of God and recipients of obvious recognition.

From how they behaved, they seemed to feel distinctly superior not only to the people, but to the Master himself (v.40).

So He dubbed them for what they are: «hypocrites» (v.42). In the Greek language it means actors, people who act.

Jesus warns his followers [who in words gladly call him Lord: v.46] against presuming to be captains of the troop.

There is only one Master who directs and knows where to go; and each person is ‘unique’ - perhaps inexperienced and believed to be blind, but who ‘sees’ better than the big names.

These, from their bad treasure, will bring out - just around the corner - the «ugly and corrupt» for others too (vv. 43-45; Greek text).

Instead, the man of Faith still experiences a new Beauty inside, which wants to express itself and remain at first hand - not be satisfied with tearing a "mediocre draw".

Worst of ditches (v.39) in which we fall together.

«We are absolutely lost if we lack this particular Individuality, the only thing we can truly say ours and whose loss also constitutes a loss for the whole world. It’s very precious, precisely because it is not universal» (Tagore).

[Friday 23th wk. in O.T.  September 12, 2025]