Holy Trinity [15 June 2025]

May God bless us and the Virgin protect us! 

*First Reading from the Book of Proverbs (8:22-31)

 Last Sunday, the feast of Pentecost, in the responsorial psalm (Ps 103/104), we sang: "You have made all things with wisdom". Today, in this passage from the Book of Proverbs, there is a splendid hymn to Wisdom personified, through whom God guides the world. "The Lord created me as the first of his works... From eternity I was formed... when there were no depths, I was brought forth" (vv. 22-24). The author makes Wisdom speak as a person, and the Hebrew verb qanah means to acquire, to possess, to create, to generate, all meanings appropriate when taken into account the various nuances of the concept of Wisdom. Wisdom never speaks of herself, but always in relation to God, as if they were inseparable. Therefore, there is great intimacy between God and Wisdom. The Jewish faith in the one God has never imagined a triune God; but here it seems that, while remaining firm in the uniqueness of God, it senses that within the One God there is a mystery of dialogue and communion. There is a word that recurs often in this passage: 'first'. 'The Lord created me before his works... from eternity... before the foundations of the earth were laid... before the hills'.  Wisdom is prior to all creation, and the work she accomplishes is so beautiful that it generates true joy: 'I was his delight every day, playing before him... on the earth's surface, placing my delight among the sons of men' (vv. 30-31).  Wisdom 'finds its delight' in God and also in us. We can hear here an echo of the refrain from Genesis: 'God saw that it was good'; and even more so on the sixth day, when man was created (Gen 1:31).  This text from the book of Proverbs reveals a particular aspect of the faith of Israel: eternal Wisdom presided over the entire work of creation, and since the dawn of the world, humanity and the cosmos have been immersed in God's Wisdom, so that the created world is not disordered. Indeed, Wisdom is its creator, and this urges us never to lose faith. Finally, it is truly "folly" of faith to believe that God is always present in human life and, even more, that God finds delight in our company. Divine folly, but reality: if God continues tirelessly to offer us his Covenant of love, it is precisely because "he finds his delight among the children of men" (v. 31).  This text never mentions the Trinity because when the Book of Proverbs was written, not only did the term Trinity not exist, but the very idea did not even occur to anyone. For the chosen people, the first priority was to affirm the one God, and the prophets fought against idolatry and polytheism, since Israel was called to be the witness of the one God (Deut 4:35). Later, however, after the resurrection of Christ, believers discovered that God is One but not solitary: God is Trinity. When this mystery began to be glimpsed, the Scriptures were reread in a new light, and in particular this text which speaks of the Wisdom of God, in order to discern, as in a filigree, the person of Christ. St John writes: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God', an expression which in Greek expresses an intimate communion, an uninterrupted dialogue of love. St Irenaeus and Theophilus of Antioch identified Wisdom with the Spirit, while Origen identified it with the Son. This second interpretation was then accepted by Christian theology.

*Responsorial Psalm (8)

"When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place." Perhaps we are in the context of a night-time celebration, and the prophet Isaiah sometimes alludes to night-time celebrations, for example when he says: "You will sing as on the night of the festival" (Isaiah 30:29). Let us imagine, then, that we are on a summer evening in Jerusalem during a pilgrimage under the stars. If we read the psalm in its entirety, we notice that the first and last verses are exactly the same: "O Lord, our Lord, how great is your name in all the earth!" (vv. 1, 10). The theme is therefore a hymn to the greatness of God, and the name of God is the name of the Covenant, the famous four letters YHVH, which are never pronounced. And so, even if the word "Covenant" is not pronounced, it is implied, and it is the people of the Covenant who are speaking. The first and last verses frame a meditation on man with an interesting construction. Man is at the centre of creation and then everything, including man, is brought back to God: God acts and man contemplates. Everything is the work of God's fingers, who fixed the stars... he thinks of man, cares for him, crowned him with glory and honour and set him above the works of his hands, placing everything at his feet. The overall structure of the psalm therefore presents concentric circles: at the centre is man – 'What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You have given him power over the works of your hands, you have put everything under his feet'. Then there is a first circle, creation: on one side the starry sky and the moon... on the other all living beings: flocks, wild animals, birds, fish; a second circle, the repeated phrase: man contemplates the true king of Creation: 'O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!'.  God does not jealously guard his kingship for himself, but in turn crowns man, and even for man, royal language is used: man is "a little lower than a god", he is "crowned"... everything is "at his feet". Our thoughts turn to the book of Genesis, which recounts the creation of man as the last act after all other living beings, precisely to show that man is at the summit and gives a name to all creatures. Man's vocation is to be the king of creation, and to the first human couple, God said to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). We are faced with a psalm that breathes the joy of living, even though there may be days when God's presence is perceived as oppressive. Think of Job, who surely knew this psalm by heart. Yet in his despair, he regretted having sung it with enthusiasm and went so far as to say: 'Why do you search out man every morning and test him every moment?  How long will you look down on me and let me swallow my saliva? (Job 7:17-19). On that day, his faith was in danger of wavering. This can happen to us too, but, as with Job, in the end we too discover that God watches over us and, whatever happens, continues to 'take care of man'. The Bible is a 'joyful' book, and this psalm breathes joy in the splendour of God and man. Man, the king of creation, submits himself to the true Lord: he recognises his smallness and knows that he owes everything to his Creator.

*Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (5:1-5)

 We are in Rome, at the time of Emperor Nero, in the year 57 or 58 AD; as in almost all cities in the Mediterranean basin, there is a Jewish community, estimated at several tens of thousands of people, experiencing a first serious schism between Jews and Judeo-Christians (Jews converted to Christ), accusing each other of heresy or deviation. There are also difficult relations between Judeo-Christians, still attached to their religious practices, and converted pagans called pagan Christians, who maintain possible remnants of idolatry. These conflicts become more entrenched over the years, so that in his letter to the Romans, Paul sets himself the task of restoring peace. The big question between former Jews and former pagans is this: since God chose the Jewish people to proclaim salvation to the world and since Jesus was Jewish, should former pagans be asked to become Jews before becoming Christians and be required to undergo circumcision and all Jewish practices? St Paul responds by arguing as follows: first of all, Christians, whatever their past, are all equal before salvation when they accept Christ, the only one who saves. Furthermore, even though they know that only faith saves and not human merits, some Jewish Christians claimed the privilege of being the only people of the Covenant and do not consider pagans to be descendants of Abraham. In chapter four, Paul has already answered that Abraham was declared righteous long before he was circumcised and was a pagan when he received God's call and, moved by trust, obeyed the One who asked him to leave his land and go to the country he would show him (Genesis 12). 'Abraham believed in the Lord, and because of this, the Lord considered him righteous' (Genesis 15:6). In today's text, Paul has clearly in mind the exemplary adventure of Abraham who, "through faith," became the father of all believers, with or without circumcision. Therefore, there is no point in arguing about this among Christians. He states this clearly at the beginning of today's text: "Justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Salvation is a free gift from God, who asks for a trusting abandonment of faith. By repeating the expression "through faith" or "by faith," he reaffirms that we are justified by the death and resurrection of Christ, who makes us live in intimacy with God, what Paul calls "grace." By pure grace, we participate in Christ's justice, thus reintegrated into God's Covenant and immersed in Trinitarian communion. Here, as in the first reading (from the book of Proverbs), there is no mention of the word Trinity, but it is precisely the Trinity that Paul is referring to when he speaks of "the grace in which we find ourselves." He contemplates the mystery of God in Trinitarian terms when he writes: "we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" and "the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us". He then speaks of the turmoil that can become a path to God, producing perseverance and hope. Hope, a virtue of the poor, is at the end of a long journey of dispossession which, "despite everything", trials, discouragement, obstinacy, problems of all kinds, arises from trusting abandonment to God, knowing that divine love has been poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Finally, when he writes 'the love of God', one wonders about the meaning of the preposition 'of': is it the love that God has for us or our love for God?  He answers that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts the same love that God has for humanity and, in turn, we become capable of loving by entering more and more into the Trinitarian communion already now: this journey is participating "in the glory of God" in the hope of sharing in God's glory. This hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, as we celebrated last Sunday, the feast of Pentecost.

*From the Gospel according to John (16:12–15)
To immerse ourselves in this Gospel, we need to 'dress our hearts', to paraphrase Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944): 'It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye' (The Little Prince, chapter 21). On the eve of his death, Jesus does not use the word "Trinity", but does much more by introducing us into the intimacy of the Trinity. To perceive this mystery of love and communion, we need to be in tune with him, to be ourselves a burning fire of love and communion. Unfortunately, however, we are more like green wood placed in contact with fire, which burns with difficulty. Jesus assures us that it will be the Spirit of God, the fire, that will come into us and dwell in our hearts. At the Last Supper, he prepares his disciples for the events that are about to take place, knowing that there are things that cannot yet be understood because 'you cannot bear it now' (v. 12). The history of humanity, like that of every human being, is the adventure of a long journey, and God accompanies us. Throughout biblical history, God reveals himself progressively, and the chosen people abandon their beliefs to discover the true face of God. Even the disciples struggled to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, so different were their messianic expectations. The journey of encounter and discovery of God will continue throughout the centuries and along this historical path, the Spirit of truth accompanies us to guide us to the whole truth. Truth, one of the key words of this text, is a goal, not a possession: it is not intellectual, it is not knowledge, and Jesus says, "I am the Truth": therefore, a Person to be "known." In biblical language, 'to know' indicates an experience of life to such an extent that 'to know' is used for marital union. It is a knowledge of love that cannot be explained, it can only be lived and marvelled at. The Spirit will come to dwell in us, to penetrate us and guide us towards Christ who is the Truth, and if we wish to enter into the knowledge of the mysteries of God, we must resolutely invoke the Holy Spirit. Then, little by little, the revelation of God's mystery will no longer be external to us: we will have an intimate perception of it, as the prophets already promised: 'All shall know me, from the least to the greatest' (Jer 31:34). One last observation: the Spirit 'will tell you things that are to come' (v. 13). Let us not expect revelations in the manner of seers, because this is something much greater: it is the plan of love and salvation that God is realising in human history. St. Paul calls it "the plan of his kindness," which is, in fact, the entry of the whole of humanity into the intimate life of the Trinity (cf. Eph 1:3-10). The Spirit of love enabled Jesus to overcome Satan's temptations in the desert, guided him throughout his mission, inspiring his words, actions and miracles, until the final act of extreme courage in his total abandonment in Gethsemane. In our existence, we too walk towards this whole truth of Christ, and it is the Spirit who dwells in us who makes us bold in our mission, introducing us to the very experience of the intimacy of the Triune God. Ultimately, in celebrating the feast of the Trinity, we do not contemplate from afar an inaccessible mystery; we are already celebrating the great feast of the end of time: that of humanity's entry into the House of God.

NOTE For the disciples of Christ, the truth is Christ himself: Jesus of Nazareth, true God and true man, who reveals the face of truth. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote to Mrs Fonvizina in 1854 about the relationship between truth and Christ: 'I have formed a symbol of faith in which everything is clear and sacred to me. This symbol of faith is very simple, here it is: to believe that there is nothing more beautiful, more profound, more sympathetic, more reasonable, more courageous and more perfect than Christ; and not only is there nothing, but with jealous love I tell myself that there cannot be. But there is more: if someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth and it actually turned out that the truth is outside Christ, I would prefer to remain with Christ rather than with the truth" (letter to N.F. Fonvizina, No. 61, February 1854). Without knowing Christ, there can be no knowledge of the truth. Benedict XVI also writes this clearly in his book Jesus of Nazareth.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

Between intimate struggle and not opposing the evil one

(Mt 5:43-48)

Jesus proclaims that our heart is not made for closed horizons, where incompatibilities are accentuated.

He forbids exclusions, and with it resentments, communication difficulties.

In us there is something more than every facet of opportunism, and instinct to retort blow by blow... to even the score... or close oneself in one's own exemplary group.

In Latin perfĭcĕre means to complete, to lead to perfection, to do completely.

We understand: here it’s essential to introduce other energies; letting mysterious virtues act... between the deepest spaces that belong to us, and the mystery of events.

Otherwise we would assimilate an external integrity model, which doesn’t flow from the Source of being and doesn’t correspond to us in essence.

Within the paradigms of perfection, the captive Uniqueness would no longer know where to go.

Diamonds seem perfect - but nothing is born of them: God's ‘perfect’ ones are those who go ‘all the way’.

Jesus doesn’t want the existence of Faith to be marked by the usual hard extrinsic struggle - made up of intimate lacerations.

There are differences; however He orders to subvert the customs of ancient wisdom and divisions (acceptable or not, friend or foe, near or far, pure and impure, sacred and profane).

The Kingdom of God, that is the community of sons - this sprout of an alternative society - is radically different because it starts from the Seed, not from external gestures; nor does it use sweeteners, to conceal the intimate confrontation.

Events spontaneously regenerate, outside and even within us; useless to force.

The growth and destination continues and will become magnificent, also thanks to the mockery and constraints set up in an adverse way.

Surrendering, giving in, putting down the armor, will make room for new joys.

Fighting what appear to be “adversaries” confuses the soul: it is precisely the stumbles on the intended path that open up and ignite the living space - normally too narrow, suffocated by obligations.

Subtle awareness and perfection that distinguishes the authentic new man in the Spirit from the barker who ignores the things of the Father and seeks laboured shortcuts, by passing favours and 'bribes' in order to immediately settle his business with God and neighbour.

Loving the enemy who [draws us out and] makes us Perfect:

If others are not as we have dreamed of, it’s fortunate: the doors slammed in the face and their goad are preparing us many other joys.

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a wounding Beauty and an abnormal, prominent Happiness.

The ‘win-or-lose’ alternative is false: one must get out of it.

Here, only those who know to wait will find their Way.

To internalize and live the message:

What awareness or purpose do you propose in involving time, perception, listening, kindness? Appear different from your disposition, to please others? Get accepted? Or become perfectly yourself, and wait for the developments that are brewing?

[Tuesday 11th wk. in O.T.  June 17, 2025]

Between inward struggle and not opposing the evil one

(Mt 5:43-48)

In his first encyclical Pope Benedict wrote:

"With the centrality of love, the Christian faith has taken up what was the core of Israel's faith and at the same time given this core a new depth and breadth. The believing Israelite prays every day with the words of the Book of Deuteronomy, in which he knows that the centre of his existence is contained: Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (6:4-5). Jesus united, making them a single precept, the commandment of love of God with that of love of neighbour, contained in the Book of Leviticus: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29-31). Since God first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer just a 'commandment', but is the response to the gift of love, with which God comes to us.

In a world where the name of God is sometimes linked to vengeance or even the duty of hatred and violence, this is a message of great relevance and very concrete meaning" [Deus Caritas est, n.1].

The 'victory-or-defeat' alternative is false: we must come out of it

Jesus proclaims that our heart is not made for closed horizons, where incompatibilities are accentuated.

He forbids exclusion, and with it resentments, difficulties in communication.

There is something more in us than any facet of opportunism, and the instinct to strike back blow after blow... to even the score... even to shut oneself away in one's own exemplary group.

In Latin perfĭcĕre means to fulfil, to complete, to bring to perfection, to do completely.

We understand: here it is indispensable to introduce other energies; to let mysterious virtues act... between the deepest spaces that belong to us, and the mystery of events.

How for us to reach the top of the Mount of the Beatitudes. For a new Birth, a new Beginning.

Impossible, if we do not allow an innate, primal, magmatic Wisdom to develop.

Venturing away from one's enclosure - even out of the worldly chorus - may not make one original, but it does begin to cure our eccentric exceptionalism.

Otherwise we would assimilate an external model of integrity, which does not spring from the Source of being and does not correspond to us in essence.

Within the paradigms of perfection, the captive oneness would no longer know where to go. It would go round in circles believing to climb [in religion, as on a helicoidal staircase, which leads to nothing: typical mechanism of ascetic forms].

In the exasperation of models outside ourselves, we subject the soul to the style of (even ecclesiastical) celebrities.

The anxiety produced by the narrowness of charisma, of champions, of roles lacking deep harmony, will then be ready to attack us; it will present itself around the corner as an invincible adversary.

Perfect seems like diamonds - from which, however, nothing is born: the perfect of God are those who go all the way.

Says the Tao: 'If you want to be given everything, give up everything'.

"Everything" also means the image we are accustomed to present to others, to please them at any cost. We must come out of this.

A transgressive Jesus meets the Wisdom of all times, even the natural one - absolutely not conformist.

He does not want the existence of Faith to be marked by the usual hard extrinsic struggle [typical of the 'spiritual' mentality] made of intimate lacerations.

Even today - sadly - in many believing realities we are still being trained to the idea of the inevitable conflict between instincts for life and decent standards.

The Lord glosses over the habituated idea of devout toil, and does so by daring to complete the ancient Scripture, almost correcting the roots of the civil and venerable identity of the people, identified in the Torah.

Several times and in succession he suggests changing the sacred and inappellable Treasure of the Law: "It was said [...] Now I say to you".

The differences are there, yet Jesus orders the subversion of the customs of ancient wisdom, the divisions involved: acceptable or not, friends or foes, near or far, pure and impure, sacred and profane; and so on.

The Kingdom of God, i.e. the community of children - this offshoot of an alternative society - is radically different because it starts from the Seed, not from outward gestures; nor does it use sweeteners, to conceal the intimate struggle.

It is not 'new' as the last of the tricks or inventions to be cooked up.... But because it supplants the whole world of one-sided artifices.

Thus: souls must take the pace of things, to grasp the very rhythm of God, who wisely creates.

Happenings regenerate spontaneously, outside and even within us; no need to force.The growth and destination remains and will become magnificent, even through the mockery and constraints set up against it - by the most blatant and insincere exhibitionists, or by those who seem close.

Surrendering, yielding, laying down the armour, will make room for new joys.

Fighting the 'allergic' confuses the soul: it is precisely the stumbling on the intended path that opens and ignites the vital space - normally too narrow, suffocated by obligations.

In the Tao Tê Ching we read: 'If you want to obtain something, you must first allow it to be given to others.

Blossoming will follow the natural nature of the children: it will be without any effort or recitation of volitional, overloaded holiness (sympathetic or otherwise).

Subtle awareness and perfection distinguishes the authentic new man in the Spirit from the barker who ignores the things of the Father and seeks laboured shortcuts, passing favours and "bribes" under the table in order to immediately settle his business with God and neighbour.

Loving the enemy that [draws us out and] makes us perfect:

If the others are not as we dreamed, it is fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their stinging are preparing us for other joys.

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a Beauty that wounds and an abnormal, prominent Happiness.

Here, only those who know how to wait will find their Way.

To internalise and live the message:

What awareness or end do you set yourself in engaging time, perception, listening, kindness?

Appear different from your nature, to please others? Make yourself accepted? 

Or to be perfectly yourself, and wait for the developments that are brewing?

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy”, we read in the Book of Leviticus (19:1). With these words and with the consequent precepts the Lord invited the People whom he had chosen to be faithful to the Covenant with him, to walk on his path; and he founded social legislation on the commandment “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18).

Then if we listen to Jesus in whom God took a mortal body to make himself close to every human being and reveal his infinite love for us, we find that same call, that same audacious objective. Indeed, the Lord says: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

But who could become perfect? Our perfection is living humbly as children of God, doing his will in practice. St Cyprian wrote: “that the godly discipline might respond to God, the Father, that in the honour and praise of living, God may be glorified in man (De zelo et livore [On jealousy and envy], 15: CCL 3a, 83).

How can we imitate Jesus? He said: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven” (Mt 5:44-45). Anyone who welcomes the Lord into his life and loves him with all his heart is capable of a new beginning. He succeeds in doing God’s will: to bring about a new form of existence enlivened by love and destined for eternity.

The Apostle Paul added: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (I Cor 3:16). If we are truly aware of this reality and our life is profoundly shaped by it, then our witness becomes clear, eloquent and effective. A medieval author wrote: “When the whole of man’s being is, so to speak, mingled with God’s love, the splendour of his soul is also reflected in his external aspect” (John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, XXX: PG 88, 1157 B), in the totality of life.

“Love is an excellent thing”, we read in the book the Imitation of Christ. “It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity…. Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low… love is born of God and cannot rest except in God” (III, V, 3).

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 20 February 2011]

1. "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem" (Mk 10:33). With these words, the Lord invites the disciples to journey with him on the path that leads from Galilee to the place where he will complete his redemptive mission. This journey to Jerusalem, which the Evangelists present as the crowning moment of the earthly journey of Jesus, is the model for the Christian who is committed to following the Master on the way of the Cross. Christ also invites the men and women of today to "go up to Jerusalem". He does so with special force in Lent, which is a favourable time to convert and restore full communion with him by sharing intimately in the mystery of his Death and Resurrection.

For believers, therefore, Lent is the appropriate time for a profound re-examination of life. In today’s world, there is much generous witness to the Gospel, but there are also baptized people who, when faced with the demanding call to "go up to Jerusalem", remain deaf and resistant, even at times openly rebellious. There are situations where people’s experience of prayer is rather superficial, so that the word of God does not enter deeply into their lives. Even the Sacrament of Penance is thought by many to be unimportant and the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is seen as a mere duty to be performed.

How should we respond to the invitation to conversion that Jesus addresses to us in this time of Lent? How can there be a serious change in our life? First of all, we must open our hearts to the penetrating call that comes to us from the Liturgy. The time of preparation for Easter is a providential gift from the Lord and a precious opportunity to draw closer to him, turning inward to listen to his promptings deep within. 

2. There are Christians who think they can dispense with this unceasing spiritual effort, because they do not see the urgency of standing before the truth of the Gospel. Lest their way of life be upset, they seek to take words like "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27) and render them empty and innocuous. For these people, it is extremely difficult to accept such words and to translate them into consistent patterns of behaviour. They are in fact words which, if taken seriously, demand a radical conversion. On the other hand, when we are offended or hurt, we are tempted to succumb to the psychological impulses of self-pity and revenge, ignoring Jesus’ call to love our enemy. Yet the daily experiences of human life show very clearly how much forgiveness and reconciliation are indispensable if there is to be genuine renewal, both personal and social. This applies not only to interpersonal relationships, but also to relationships between communities and nations.

[Pope John Paul II, Message for Lent 2001]

Loving our enemies, those who persecute us and make us suffer, is difficult and not even a 'good deal' because it impoverishes us. Yet this is the way indicated and travelled by Jesus for our salvation [...].

During his homily, the Pontiff recalled that the liturgy in these days proposes to reflect on the parallels between 'the old law and the new law, the law of Mount Sinai and the law of the Mount of the Beatitudes'. Going into the specifics of the readings - taken from St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians (8:1-9) and from the Gospel of Matthew (5:43-48) - the Holy Father dwelt on the difficulty of loving enemies and asking how it is possible to forgive, he added: "We too, all of us, have enemies, everyone. Some enemies weak, some strong. We too many times become enemies of others; we do not love them. Jesus tells us we must love our enemies'.

This is not an easy task and, generally, "we think Jesus asks too much of us. We think: 'Let's leave these things to the cloistered nuns who are holy, to some holy souls!'". But that is not the right attitude. "Jesus," the Pope recalled, "says that you must do this because otherwise you are like the publicans, like the pagans, and you are not Christians". Faced with the many dramas that mark humanity, he admitted, it is difficult to make this choice: how can one love, in fact, 'those who make the decision to bomb and kill so many people? How can one love those who, for the love of money, do not let medicine reach those in need, the elderly, and let them die?" And again: 'How can one love people who only seek their own interest, their own power, and do so much evil?

I do not know,' said the bishop of Rome, 'how this can be done. But Jesus tells us two things: first, look to the Father. Our Father is God: he makes the sun rise on the bad and the good; he makes it rain on the just and the unjust. Our Father in the morning does not say to the sun: "Today enlighten these and these; not these, leave them in the shade!" He says: 'Enlighten everyone. His love is for all, his love is a gift for all, good and bad. And Jesus ends with this advice: 'You therefore be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect'". So Jesus' instruction is to imitate the Father in "that perfection of love. He forgives his enemies. He does everything to forgive them. Let us think with how tenderly Jesus receives Judas in the Garden of Olives", when among the disciples there are those who are thinking of revenge.

"Revenge," the Pontiff said in this regard, "is that meal that tastes so good when eaten cold" and that is why we wait for the right moment to carry it out. "But this," he repeated, "is not Christian. Jesus asks us to love our enemies. How can this be done? Jesus tells us: pray, pray for your enemies". Prayer works miracles and this is true not only when we are in the presence of enemies; it is also true when we nurture some antipathy, "some small enmity". And so we must pray, because 'it is as if the Lord came with oil and prepared our hearts for peace'.

But - added the Pope addressing those present - "now I would like to leave you with a question, which each person can answer in his own heart: do I pray for my enemies? Do I pray for those who do not love me? If we say yes, I say: go ahead, pray more, because this is a good way. If the answer is no, the Lord says: Poor you! You too are the enemy of others! Then you must pray for the Lord to change their hearts'.

The Pope then warned against attitudes aimed at justifying revenge according to the degree of the offence received, the evil done by others: revenge, that is, based on the principle 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'. We must look again to the example of Jesus: "For you know the grace of which the Apostle Paul speaks today: though he was rich, he became poor for your sake, that you might become rich through his poverty. It is true: love of enemies impoverishes us, makes us poor, like Jesus, who, when he came, lowered himself to the point of making himself poor". Perhaps it is not a 'good deal', the Pontiff added, or at least not according to the logic of the world. And yet, 'it is the way that God has done, the way that Jesus did', to the point of winning for us the grace that has made us rich.

This "is the mystery of salvation: with forgiveness, with love for the enemy, we become poorer. But that poverty is fruitful seed for others, just as Jesus' poverty has become grace for us all, salvation. Let us think of our enemies, of those who do not love us. It would be nice if we offered the Mass for them, if we offered the sacrifice of Jesus for them who do not love us. And also for us, so that the Lord may teach us this wisdom: so difficult but also so beautiful and make us similar also to his Son, who in his lowering made himself poor to enrich us with his poverty".

[Pope Francis, meditation at St Martha's, in L'Osservatore Romano 19/06/2013]

The alternative "victory-or-defeat" is false: we must get out of it

(Mt 5:38-42)

«Other cheek»: climate of inventiveness.

Not opposing the wicked allows one to experience the Beatitudes, antidote to unilateral relationships; but this is impossible, if we do not allow an innate Energy to develop.

In the infinitely repeated counter-exchange there is no wisdom that ‘reads inside’; in the overthrowing, yes.

God's new experience is that of a genuine creative Love, which incessantly brings into question, introduces new powers, and incredibly overturns everything.

Outside and within us there is another Territory, where the affinity of Waiting meets God’s Plan: this after a time of Silence that intensely lives the Today grasping its depth, intuiting it as unpredictable root of the Tomorrow.

There is a different ‘kingdom’, where condescension meets new thrusts, cosmic and acutely personal; Profile of the Living One.

This without precipitation: after an «energy of pause», virtue becoming root and sap of the most exclusive future.

The firmness in the accepted tribulation becomes Seed of a new Son, of an unthinkable Genesis, which is just weaving its first roots right in that very marshy soil.

The expectation of God opens our destiny of foolishness without respite and already decreed, to trust in a new Sap and Power.

It opens wide the Sense that you don’t expect, in an atmosphere of inventiveness that flies over the action-reaction instinct [so that the chain of normalities doesn’t take over the mystery of our Identity-character and Destination].

Non-violence is not a norm, but an upper Arrow, pointing a direction of Research, which advances from discovery to discovery.

Truly exemplary life is always of a different kind, out of the ordinary.

Letting even the opportunists pass ahead, creates the right detachment, so that a new, unrepeatable Act of Being takes place.

When we are ready, we will realize that our mortification was a crossroads: it has unexpectedly opened wide the destiny to a less short hope, dilating life.

If the others are not as we dreamed, it’s fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their goad are preparing us well other joys.

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a Beauty that wounds - sharpening perception, shifting the gaze, dilating heart - and for an abnormal, prominent Joy.

The alternative "victory-or-defeat" is false: we must get out of it.

Tao Tê Ching says: «New beginnings are often disguised as painful losses [but] what is yielding overwhelms what is hard. The slow one overtakes the fast».

Only those who know the waiting find their way.

[Monday 11th week in O.T.  June 16, 2025]

The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: you have to get out of it

(Mt 5:38-42)

«Other cheek»: climate of inventiveness.

Not opposing the wicked allows one to experience the Beatitudes, the antidote to one-sided relationships; but this is impossible if we do not allow an innate Energy to develop.

The Tao says: "If you want to be given everything, give up everything". In the infinitely repeated reciprocation there is no wisdom that 'reads within'; in the reversal, yes.

[For this reason, e.g. the text of Lk 6,27-38 does not speak of 'merits' (cf. translation CEI 1974) nor of 'gratitude' (translation CEI 2008), but of 'Gratitude' (vv.31.33-34)].

Of course, it is not easy to understand the meaning of the Gift, of the Free: but the Master does not only want us to become more capable of thankfulness and well-behaved.

Jesus in us is not simply concerned with changing the situation and softening it: he wants to replace the whole system of spurious things and artificial relationships - of manner.

Otherwise nothing would be changed, nothing would be radically reversed; far from it: in the goodness of circumstance, the superstructures that alienate us would be strengthened.

The new experience of God is that of a genuine creative Love, which ceaselessly throws up, introduces new powers, and incredibly turns everything upside down.

There is a greater Justice: living in the new position that the tide of life and Providence chisels out for each of us.

It is not effort that will make us stay where the (truly perfect) Vocation wants us to stay, but a slow correspondence - even in the swings.

Outside and within us there is another territory, where the affinity of Expectation meets God's Plan: this after a time of Silence that intensely lives the Today, grasping its depth, intuiting it as the unpredictable root of Tomorrow.

There is a different realm, where condescension meets new drives, cosmic and acutely personal; Profile of the Living.

In this way, here we are without precipitation: after an energy of pause, a virtue that becomes the root and sap of the most exclusive future.

The spiral of returning offence can occupy all our space. This dampens our ability to correspond to the new tinkling of the Call.

It robs us of perception, of the whole listening to the Newness of God that is in the dawning.

Generating confusions all our own, it pales the History of Salvation that is on the contrary creating an unprecedented: it is being cut at the root.

This is why the Lord orders the subversion of the customs of ancient religiosity, of his own impetus; of the divisions involved [acceptable or not, friend or foe, near or far, pure and impure, sacred and profane, etc.].

The divine Kingdom starts from the Seed, not from outward gestures or forms; nor does it use conformist sweeteners that leave roles untouched.

In order to grasp the very rhythm of God (who wisely creates) souls must take the pace of things, which mature in linear terms until they overthrow or multiply - not in a 'printed' way, but in a personal way.

The events themselves regenerate spontaneously, outside and even within us; no need to force it.

The growth and destination also remains thanks to the spring of external mockeries and constraints.

In the Tao Tê Ching we read: 'If you want to obtain something, you must first allow it to be given to others'. The flowering will be unforced.

Then, steadfastness in the tribulation, acceptance and endurance of profiteers, the superficial and the vain becomes the offspring of a new child, of an unthought-of Genesis that is just weaving its first roots with that very marshy soil.

From ingots nothing is born, from the obstinate the usual things are born, from the hasty the exact opposite; from dung new flowers are born, which we did not even plant.

The suspension experienced in Mystery opens our fate of already decreed foolishness to trust in a new, unrepeatable Act of Being.

It opens up the Sense that you do not expect, in a climate of inventiveness that overrides the action-reaction instinct - so that the chain of normality does not take over the prodigy of vocational Identity, of our character and realisation.

Non-violence is thus not a norm of mere exquisiteness of mind, but a superior Arrow, pointing in a direction of non-mechanical Research, which advances from discovery to discovery.

The truly exemplary life is always of another kind, out of the ordinary.

Exactly, letting everyone, even the opportunists [and holiness actors] move on, does not immediately put us in the saddle or in the shop window, but finally neither will it make us pay too much in person.

It creates the right detachment so that when we are ready, the time will come when we will realise that our mortification was a crossroads: it opened up our destiny to a less short-lived, life-expanding hope.

Says the Tao: "New beginnings are often disguised as painful losses [but] what is yielding overcomes what is hard. The slow overtakes the fast'.If the others are not as we dreamed, it is fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their prodding bring us into contact with our deepest virtues, and with resources to which we have not yet given space.

Betrayals, abuse, spite, revenge, outrages, mortifications... that would like to make us uneasy and dishearten us... are preparing our development.

The adventure of extreme Faith is indeed for a Beauty that wounds and an abnormal, prominent Happiness. But only he who knows how to wait finds his Way.

The First Testament recognised the principle of justice 'one is worth one' in the right of vengeance.

Thus stemming the volume of retaliation and the overwhelming power of the strong [their possible blind violence as a result of trifles] over the weak within the limits of equality.

But this is not enough not to pervert relationships and allow the Father to propose to us a special realisation-configuration, which imposes 'Suspensions' from the homologising spiral.

Generating confusions all our own, it pales that very story of salvation that is on the contrary creating an unprecedented: it cuts it off at the root.

The whirlpool of returning the offence can occupy all our space and time.

Thus such a vortex dampens the ability to correspond to the new tinkling of the Call.

It takes away the silence, the care, the Listening to the Newness of God that is germinating.

The steadfastness in the tribulation, acceptance and endurance of profiteers, the superficial and vain becomes the Seed of a new son, of an unthought-of Genesis, which is just weaving its first roots in that very marshy soil.

From the 'perfect' and 'brilliant' nothing is born, from the obstinate the usual things are born, from the hasty the exact opposite; from dung new flowers are born, which we did not even plant.

Waiting for God opens our destiny of relentless and already decreed foolishness to trust in a new Sap and Power.

It opens up the Meaning you do not expect, in a climate of inventiveness that overrides the action-reaction instinct, so that the chain of normality does not take over the mystery of our Identity-character and Destination.

Non-violence is not a norm, but a superior Arrow, pointing a direction of Search, which advances from discovery to discovery.

Truly exemplary life is always of a different kind, out of the ordinary.

Letting everyone get ahead does not put us in the saddle or in the shop window, but neither will it make us pay too much in person and sense.

It creates the right detachment so that when we are ready, the time will come when we will realise that our humiliation was a dividing line, a critical point.

It has unexpectedly opened up destiny to a less short-lived, life-expanding hope.

A new, unrepeatable Act of Being will take place.

If the others are not as we dreamed, it is fortunate: the doors slammed in our faces and their sting are preparing us for other joys.

The adventure of extreme Faith is for a Beauty that wounds - sharpening the perception, shifting the gaze, dilating the heart - and for an abnormal, prominent Joy.

The 'win-or-lose' alternative is false: we must come out of it.