PETER AND HIS FRAGILITY: FROM «IF YOU ARE» TO «YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD»

“He who believes will never encounter a miracle. You can't see the stars during the day". “He who works a miracle says: I can't detach myself from the earth". (Franz Kafka)

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We have seen moles many times legal thriller Americans, which take place for most of the scenes in a courtroom, the lawyers press the witnesses who have climbed onto their bench, with direct questions that only required a yes or no answer. These are the questions that communication science identifies as closed. Open ones are of another kind, that make it possible, instead, a reasoned and articulated response, even if short. It is those questions that psychologists, eg, they are preferred because they foster relationships and a positive climate between interlocutors.

On the evangelical page of this one twenty-first Sunday of ordinary time Jesus asked his disciples two questions of the second type, that is, open. The evangelical text is as follows:

"During that time, Jesus, arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples: “The people, Who says he is the son of man?”. They replied: “Some say John the Baptist, other Elijah, other Jereame the advent gorge dei”.. He told them: “But you, Who do you say I am?”. Simon Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God ". And Jesus said to him: “Blessed are you, Simone, son of Jonah, because neither flesh nor blood has revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: you are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the powers of hell will not prevail over it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven: everything you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and everything you melt on earth will be melted in heaven ". Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.". (Mt 16, 13-20)

This scene which is commonly defined as the confession of Peter takes place in the far north of Israel, where Jesus was after passing through Genesareth (Mt 14, 34), then from the parts of Tire and Sidon (Mt 15, 21), then along the Sea of ​​Galilee (Mt 15, 29) and in the Magadan region (Mt 15, 39). We are on the slopes of Mount Hermon where the Jordan rises, near Caesarea Philippi, city ​​whose name refers to the power of Rome because it was built by the tetrarch Philip, son of Herod, in honor of the emperor. Both spiritually and geographically we are therefore very distant from the holy city of Jerusalem, practically at the opposite extreme, and it is here that Peter's messianic confession takes place. After which Jesus' path will move away from these territories, where until now it had lingered, to head straight towards Jerusalem: «From then on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem» (Mt 16, 21).

Near the city that in ancient times bore the name of the god Pan (APEA)[1] and now Caesar's Jesus questions his disciples, first indirectly and then directly with words that leave no room for digression because they require an answer that involves the interviewees. A leave no escape also expressed by the adversative: «But you, Who do you say I am?».

Nowadays Surveys are very fashionable, indispensable kit for politicians and their coalitions, as well as the exit poll which soon make it possible to understand who won an electoral competition or market surveys launched before a certain product is put into circulation, to find out if it will be appreciated by buyers. The research that Jesus invoked with the first question was certainly not of this type and tenor, yet he also wanted to explore what opinion people might have of him. If in the first question the question is aimed at knowing what was said about the "Son of man", probably the most important messianic title at that time ( cf.. Mt 9, 6; Mt 10, 23; Mt. 24, 27-30 etc..), in the second Jesus, passing directly to the ego, he placed the disciples in front of a personal response, difficult, maybe even painful. You who lived with me, that you have walked this far with me, that you listened to what I said, that you saw what I did, that you witnessed the clashes and encounters you witnessed. Butter, who do you say who I am? It's not so much the request itself, which is more than legitimate, as much as the fact that Jesus, in this way of posing, He himself becomes a question both for the disciples to whom he addresses himself and for the immediate readers of the Gospel. Someone[2] collected all the questions that Jesus asked in the Gospels, it seems to be two hundred and seventeen (217)[3]. But this one here, which we find in this Sunday's song, is the question that reaches everyone: believers and non-believers. The second why, if honest and thoughtful, they cannot help but be fascinated and disturbed by the figure of Jesus. And receive, believers, because they know that this is the question that resonates every day and shakes them to the core, since it is not a question of accepting an opinion or adhering to an idea, however noble, but it concerns Jesus himself, his person and his mystery. Jesus is the question. It cannot be avoided nor is it easy. In fact, the answer to the first question was unanimous: «And they said “and they said“»; the second was answered by Pietro alone. Because it is a decisive request that evaluates the true disciple, removing him from the risk of remaining silent.

Returning to the first question, Jesus asked about circulating opinions regarding the “Son of Man”, an expression obscure to us but clear to his listeners, in fact Jesus preferred to identify himself with it: a messianic character who «is a person, not a community; has a divine nature, it exists before time and still lives; knows all the secrets of the Law and therefore has the task of celebrating the Great Judgment at the end of time"[4]. All the disciples' answers on what was thought of the "Son of Man" will have a prophetic trait in common. First of all, they equate him with John the Baptist whom Jesus himself had defined as "more than a prophet" (Mt 11,9) and precursor of the Messiah (Mt 11,10). According to Matthew, the crowd itself considered John a prophet (Mt 14,5) and now identifying him with Jesus he had to necessarily think of him as resurrected. This was also the opinion of Herod who had also put him to death: «This is John the Baptist. He rose from the dead and for this reason he has the power to work wonders." (Mt 14,2).

Regarding the correlation of the “Son of man” with Elia, instead, it must be remembered that biblical tradition considered these as a precursor of the Messiah (cf.. Mal 3,23; Sir 48,10), while Jesus had identified him with John the Baptist (Mt 17, 10-13). Instead, approach Jesus, Son of man, to Jeremiah is Matthew's own, probably because like Jesus the ancient prophet spoke words against the temple (cf.. Gives 7) and how he suffered from the caste of priests and in the city of Jerusalem. A foreshadowing, so, of what would happen to Jesus himself. In the end, say the disciples, others think of him as a prophet, one among many. It is at this point that Jesus, perhaps dissatisfied or eager to take the dialogue to a higher level, more personal and engaging, he asked them a direct question: «But you, Who do you say I am?». This time Peter alone answered: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God ".

In the apostle's response we have the reprise of the declaration made to Jesus on the boat: “Truly you are the Son of God” (Mt 14,33) premised by the messianic confession "You are the Christ", with the addition of an adjective referring to God which refers to the awareness expressed in the Old Testament that the God of Israel was indeed "living": And it will happen that instead of telling them: "You are not my people", they will be told: “You are children of the living God” (cf.. Os 2,1)[5].

We are faced with a Christian title of great importance which together makes up both the messiahship of Jesus and his divinity, since he proceeds from God and through Him the very life of the Father is revealed and communicated. As Giovanni will say, Jesus is the way of truth and life (See GV 16, 6). These are statements that theology will be pleased to explore, but which the Bible simply states as solid and quiet truth. This is thanks to the evolution of the apostle Peter who went from the hesitant "if it's you" uttered as he was about to sink[6] to today's clear confession of faith in Jesus. A transition that occurred not on merit, but by grace as stated in the subsequent beatitude that Jesus addressed to Peter which refers to another evangelical saying that we have already encountered: «I give you praise, Dad, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and have revealed them to little ones"[7]. We know from other circumstances that Peter was a man of very human frailties and weaknesses, this did not prevent the Lord from seeing him as a "little one" and benefiting from a particular revelation and an important task. This is attested by the words of Jesus who choose the patronymic «Simone, son of Jonah" and Semitism "flesh and blood": it is therefore within the personal and generational history of Peter that divine grace descends. And note that, if in Mark and in Luke, Peter expressed the faith of the entire group of disciples (cf.. MC 8,29; LC 9,20), here in Matthew, however, he spoke in his own name and for this reason Jesus' response is addressed to him alone: «Blessed are you, Simone, son of Jonah, because neither flesh nor blood has revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven".

This statement is the basis of the subsequent revelation of Jesus on the Church because it too will be born from the grace and gift of God. Simone who was almost like a stone would have reached the bottom of the lake if he hadn't been grabbed, it will become, in the words of Jesus, the "stone" on which the Church will rest, which however will be built by the Lord and will be his (build my church – Oikodomeso we our response to). Yet despite the important placement of the apostle as the stone at the base, the last mention of Peter, in the Gospel of Matthew, he will show him in tears after the triple denial (Mt 26, 75) nor will he be mentioned in the resurrection stories. This aspect of Peter that the synoptic tradition does not fail to mention will not prevent Jesus from giving him important powers. As Paul states in today's second reading, the Lord knows what lies deep inside and does not take advice from anyone: «How unfathomable are his judgments and inaccessible his ways!»[8]. The power of the keys of the Kingdom refers to the words of the prophet Isaiah recalled in the first reading this Sunday: «I will place the key to the house of David on his shoulder: if he opens, no one will close; if he closes, no one will be able to open"[9]. They are a sign of authority granted by the Lord - the keys, indeed, they are his - which cannot be taken advantage of like the 'doctors of the Law' who had distorted their metaphorical use by preventing most people from accessing the knowledge of the word of God or interpreting it in their favor (cf.. LC 11, 52)[10]. The task of Peter and the apostles with him must now be the one that Jesus will give them at the end of the Gospel: «Go and make disciples of all peoples… teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you» (Mt 28,19).

In this step, as we read, the word Church appears, which will return only one more time in all the Gospels, again in Matthew (cf. Mt 18,17). The term Church - ekklesia - identified the assembly of the called-by (I-kletoí): this in fact was the name given by the Helleno-Christians to their communities, also to differentiate itself from the synagogue (assembly) of non-Christian Jews. Like the ancient one ekklesia of the Greeks had their own organs, its own laws and resolutions as well as Peter to guide theekklesia Christian will be endowed with the power of the keys which will be accompanied by the power of loosening and binding, or to prohibit or allow in the disciplinary and doctrinal field. And it will become especially, in the ecclesial space, the authority to forgive sins, true power that narrates the power of the resurrection.

The strength of the risen Christ it is now also granted to the Church, construction carried out by himself. The resurrection is the decisive moment that allows the disciples to remember and take up the words of Jesus and finally understand them. From that moment on the Church rested and founded on his resurrection, will prolong the life and salvation of Jesus who, risen from the dead, he will give hope to all men. Openness to the gift of God will allow the Church to counter the action of the forces of evil, making room for the power of Christ through faith. The Church lives by the promise of Christ.

To conclude it is necessary to remember that this meditation on the Church and on the role of Peter that the gospel triggered, it will probably have been a bit heavy because the summer period we are going through would most likely require lighter topics, perhaps because they are not easy topics, they seem to concern only the configuration of the Church and its powers. In fact, we cannot fail to say that on Peter's confession and on the consequent words of Jesus regarding his role and that of his successors, the various Christian communities have divided. Catholics think one thing differently from the Orthodox and the various Reformed churches think another.

As I wrote at the beginning the open questions, like these posed by Jesus, they allow a positive climate between the dialogue partners and the relationship. Because Jesus instead of simply revealing who he was and it would have been the easy way, he preferred to ask himself? Probably because he wanted this relationship then and still. It will be based on the response we are able to give that faith as a vital experience will be determined, because each of us will only believe in the Christ we feel is our own, the one whose face he recognized as true for himself. Even in its divine absoluteness, Jesus wants to remain relative to the lives of individual people and in the name of that relationship he continues to ask us to be the ones to say who he is, regardless of the words of others.

From Matthew's perspective who remembered the Caesarea episode and wrote about it, the intention was to make people understand what a great gift faith in the now risen and living Jesus was, Son of God. And how from this gift that illuminates and gives hope to existence many others flow in cascade. The first is that Jesus' disciples are not monads, but a community, a ekklesia precisely, a spiritual but also vital and concrete place where it is possible to make the other gifts that now come from the Spirit grow and mature, for the benefit of all. Pietro plays an important role in this community that he did not choose for himself and for this we thank him in every one of his representatives. I am reminded of the last of his successors that we have known, John Paul who is holy, Benedict and Francis, beyond obvious personal differences, at a certain point in their lives they found themselves in the position of having to reveal their physical infirmity to everyone: almost a parable or an icon of that fragility and weakness of the first, Pietro's.

And I conclude by recalling that in the tradition of the fourth Gospel Peter will be the one who doesn't understand[11], he will be the one who arrives at the tomb second[12]. He will be the one who needs someone else to tell him: «It is the Lord»[13], because he didn't realize it. But he is also the one who, before the others, will cover his nakedness and start swimming until he reaches Jesus on shore.. Maybe he needs to apologize, to recover. Jesus asked him three times if he loved him and he was saddened by understanding. «More than these?» (GV 21,15) Jesus asked him and he understood. He understood that his particular service would be that of love and of confirming his brothers in their relationship with Jesus, that is, in faith. Then he will continue his journey with the others behind him, because it will be to him that Jesus will say: «You follow me»[14].

Happy Sunday everyone!

from the Hermitage, 27 August 2023

 

NOTE

[1] Polybius, Stories, Book 16, paragraph 18, Rizzoli, 2002.

[2] Monti L., Jesus' questionsÙ, St. Paul, 2019.

[3] op cit. pg. 251-262: To the disciples (111), to religious men (51), to the crowd (20), to sick people (9), to others (25), to God (1).

[4] Sacchi P., Jesus Son of man, Morcelliana, 2023; the author rereads the figure of the son of man in Mark in the light of the apocryphal book Book of Parables, second book of the Ethiopian Enoch collection (IH).

[5] "Just, indeed, among all mortals he heard, like us, the voice of the living God speaking from the fire and remained alive." (Deut 5, 26).

[6] Mt 14, 30.

[7] Mt 11, 25.

[8] Rom 11, 33.

[9] Is 22, 22.

[10] "Woe to you, doctors of the Law, that you have taken away the key to knowledge; you didn't enter, and you prevented those who wanted to enter.".

[11] GV 20, 9 «In fact they had not yet understood the Scripture, that is, he had to rise from the dead".

[12] GV 20, 6 «Meanwhile Simon Pietro also arrived, who followed him, and entered the tomb and observed the cloths placed there".

[13] GV 21, 7.

[14] GV 21, 22.

San Giovanni all'Orfento. Abruzzo, Mount Maiella, it was a hermitage inhabited by Pietro da Morrone, called in 1294 to the Chair of Peter on which he ascended with the name of Celestine V (29 August – 13 December 1294).

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PERHAPS IT IS APPROPRIATE TO REMEMBER THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS MONTH WE ARE NOT CELEBRATING "SAINT AUGUST" BUT THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN

In the first centuries, indeed, as the divinity of Jesus ceased to be questioned by heretics, the Church dealt with the opposite problem: affirm the truth of his Incarnation. It is in this context that the figure of Mary became crucial and important, because her availability tied her inextricably to her son, to the Son of God who became flesh, in her flesh.

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After Benedict XVI so refined in his manner and measured in his words, more than one was surprised by some of the sentences, especially those uttered in one go by the Supreme Pontiff Francis, his successor. Which as well, it must be said, they are best remembered by simple people who probably don't remember even one of their predecessors. Among these there is one that he has repeated several times and on which I imagine there is everyone's consensus, that is, that we are experiencing a "piecemeal third world war"[1]. One of these "pieces", the conflict in Ukraine, concerns us more closely since it has been causing destruction and deaths every day for some time and for the fact that from the point of view of the relationship between the Churches it has caused estrangements, divisions and discord which will require years and years of healing.

For this reason it is so significant that the Feast of the Assumption[2] as the Catholic Church calls it or of the Dormition as it is defined in the Eastern Churches is celebrated liturgically by all these communities on the same day of 15 of August. For the entire month the Eastern Church sings of joy in the liturgy:

«In your motherhood you remained a virgin, in your dormancy you have not abandoned the world, O Mother of God. You have been transferred to life, you who are the Mother of Life and redeem our souls from death with your intercession"[3].

The belief that Mary's body, the Virgin mother, has not suffered the corruption of the tomb dates back to the first Judeo-Christian communities. The oldest nucleus (2nd-3rd century) of the apocryphal saying Dormition of Mary in fact it already contains the narrative, imaginative in terms of the story but univocal in terms of content, of Mary's transportation to heaven. And Jerusalem, it is known, there was an unbroken tradition regarding the place of burial (or of temporary deposition) of the body of the Virgin in that tomb of Gethsemane on which, towards the end of the 4th century, Emperor Theodosius I had a church built. Precisely from the celebration that the 15 August was held in this ancient center of Marian worship, the date of the feast of the Dormition of Mary was resumed and extended to the entire Christian East in the 4th century[4].

Both Western texts, by Gregory of Tours (538 ca.- 594) to Pius XII who adopted the terminological precision required for a dogmatic pronouncement, than the ancient works of the Fathers of the Church, over all those of Giovanni Damasceno (676 ca.- 749) with his repeated "it was convenient"[5], they explain the faith content of this Marian celebration and refer to the theme of life. An incorruptible life of which the Theotòkos it is a privileged image and hence the symbolism of light that pervades both artistic representations in the West (from Titian to Tintoretto and Guido Reni), than Byzantine iconographic images; both the plot of the liturgical texts, that the prayers of invocation in the east, like this very old one that reads:

«Maria, please, Mary light and mother of light, Mary life and mother of the apostles, Mary golden lamp who carries the true lamp, Mary our queen, plead with your Son"[6] .

Naturally beyond tradition which dates back to the time of the United Churches is the Holy Scripture, and the Gospel stories in particular, the source from which to draw the reason for so much attention given to Mary, the Mother of the Lord. If today we celebrate Mary's transit to God it is because she herself recited God's passage into her existence, as expressed in today's Gospel passage [cf.. LC 1, 39-56]. In response to Elisabetta's greeting, Maria pronounces the words of Magnificat, which distract attention from her and make her turn totally to the Lord. She didn't do anything, but the Lord did everything: this is the basic meaning of the Magnificat. This hymn, indeed, celebrates the God who did everything in Mary because Mary's story has God as its subject. And God's action in Mary is defined by her as a look: «The Lord looked at the littleness of his servant» [LC 1,48]. This divine gaze rested on her from the preparatory moment, transforming it through grace[7], so that she would become the Mother of the incarnate Word and will accompany him throughout his life, right up to the cross where she will receive the new motherhood over the nascent Church and beyond.

A beyond that Maria already glimpses in the passage of Magnificat when he lists the works of God that unfold from generation to generation in favor of the humble and the hungry, while the powerful, the rich and proud already satisfied will be adjusted unlike the little ones who will be raised while the powerful, the rich and proud already satisfied will be devalued. A drama that, as Jesus will teach when announcing the Kingdom of God does not happen in heaven, but here: it's history, it is life in the world, lived in the flesh that is born and that one day will die. In this story, Mary becomes a protagonist from the moment of the call, she will be the friend and model of those who want to follow an authentic journey of faith.

Maybe that's why only the Virgin Mary and no other characters, in the west, it has had so many artistic representations that depict it close to the daily experience of men and women. When it was painted with the clothes of a particular historical period, on backgrounds that reproduced the life of that time, under architectures of a specific era, in the most disparate contexts. From Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks, to the sumptuous Madonna by Piero della Francesca, from the common Maria, even one prostitute drowned in the Tiber who inspired Michelangelo Merisi known as Caravaggio, to follow with the Virgin with her arms wide open of the many Neapolitan mysteries, under a ruined Roman temple. Mary was able to take on the role of the woman of every period because she, more than anyone, was the protagonist of the great mystery of the incarnation in which

«the mystery of man finds true light. Adamo, indeed, the first man, he was a figure of the future [cf.. RM 5, 14], that is, of Christ the Lord. Christ, who is the new Adam, precisely revealing the mystery of the Father and his Love, it also fully reveals man to man and makes known to him his very high vocation... Since in him human nature was assumed, without being destroyed thereby, for this very reason it has also been raised to a sublime dignity for our benefit. With his incarnation, indeed, the very Son of God he united in a certain way with every man. He worked with human hands, he thought with the mind of a man, he acted with the will of man, he loved with the heart of a man. Born of the Virgin Mary, He truly made himself one of us, similar to us in everything except sin"[8] [The joy and hope].

In the first centuries, indeed, as the divinity of Jesus ceased to be questioned by heretics, the Church dealt with the opposite problem: affirm the truth of his Incarnation. It is in this context that the figure of Mary became crucial and important, because her availability tied her inextricably to her son, to the Son of God who became flesh, in her flesh. "And the Word became flesh" says the Gospel according to John [GV 1, 14] and Paul echoes him in the letter to the Galatians: «But when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" [Gal 4, 4-5].

That's why in churches almost immediately it began to be said that the flesh of Mary, after having given life to the Son of God, could not suffer the affront of corruption. And if he couldn't, its natural location was with the Son where from there it could become a "lively fountain of hope"[9].

"No, you are not just like Elijah 'ascending towards heaven', you were not like Paolo, transported to the 'third heaven', but you have reached the royal throne of your Son, in direct vision, in joy, and stand next to Him with great and unspeakable security... Blessing for the world, sanctification for the whole universe; relief in punishment, consolation in tears, healing in illness, port in the storm. For sinners forgiveness, benevolent encouragement for the afflicted, for all those who call upon you for always ready help"[10] (Saint John Damascene).

This is Mary's path which anticipates that of every child adopted in the Son as Paul said in the words quoted above.

There are two icons of the Byzantine tradition which tell us a lot about today's celebration. The first is that of the meeting between Maria and her cousin Elisabetta, which is the episode that preludes the Magnificat reported in the Gospel of this solemnity. In some of these icons the two women, the barren and the virgin, they hug each other tightly and their faces touch almost as if the eye of one borders on that of the other. This is a true fraternal meeting that we need so much in this time of conflict and division. That embrace and that fusion of looks between the two women reveals the exchange of the gift that each has received, it is a new Pentecost in which each recognizes the other in their peculiarity, in his calling without rivalry or jealousy.

The other icon is that of the Dormition of Mary that radiates great hope and peace. I always thought it would be cool, for instance, place it in the church during the celebration of Christian funerals. Because in these times of hospitalized and privatized death, watching a scene where we see that at the moment of passing away we are not alone is of great consolation. The Virgin was painted lying down with her cloak reminiscent of the nativity. Pietro is at the head of the bed and Paolo at the foot, while John places his head on the pillow as he had placed it on Jesus' chest. All the apostles are bent over her as well as some bishops of the primitive Church and the Christian people: no one is missing. In ancient times the dead descended to the lower regions or were ferried to them. However, they entered a dark condition, shady. If we look at the icon we can see that the whole thing is a boat, a hull that does not go to dark regions, but towards the light.

All the gazes of those present converge downwards towards Mary's body stretched out horizontally to signify human nature. Now we would expect, as the dogma says, that Mary ascended to heaven. Instead here it is the sky that descends and on the horizontal line of the Virgin the figure of Christ who occupies the scene appears in a vertical and central line, on whose face we read the strength and determination of the Risen One, of the one who has conquered death and holds a little girl in his hand. While the horizontal figure represents human nature lying on a mantle, the little girl would be the soul of Mary. A meeting, so, between visible and invisible. The horizontal space of sleep/death is intercepted by a vertical of light to form a cross.

The point where the planks of the cross meet it is the life and light brought by the figure of Christ. Even the rays surrounding him indicate the rising movement of the Son who came to take his Mother. With an atypical twist of the body to the right, towards his mother's head, the Risen One takes her soul in his arms and supports it since it is he who makes the transition from this life to the next.

But the beautiful thing is that Jesus holds his mother's soul in his arms with the same tenderness with which she held him as a child. The gestures that the Mother made to her Son, the Son now remembers them and rescues them from death. We saw the Mother holding her Son in her arms, now the situation is reversed and it is the Son who carries Mary in his arms. Only love makes things eternal. The risen Christ bears the marks of the nails to indicate that it is truly him, assumed by the love of the Father he could not remain at the mercy of the tomb. Thus Mary's body which, due to motherhood, was entirely at the service of love, cannot be left at the mercy of putrefaction.. This Feast of the Assumption is a Feast of Love and only lovers can understand it because they know that every gesture of love will be remembered forever..

Happy Assumption Day to everyone.

from the Hermitage, 15 August 2023

 

NOTE

[1] World war to pieces, see in The Osservatore Romano.

[2] The Dogma in the West was promulgated by Pius XII with the constitution the generous the 1 November 1950.

[3] Troparion t.1 of the great Vespers of the feast of the Dormition.

[4] Bagatti B., At the origins of the Church, LEV, Rome, 1981, p.75.

[5] Saint John Damascene, In Dormition, I, PG 96:«It was fitting that she who had preserved her virginity intact during childbirth should preserve her body intact from corruption after death. It was fitting that she who had carried the Creator made child in her womb should dwell in the divine abode. It was fitting that the Bride of God should enter the heavenly home. It was fitting that she who had seen her own son on the Cross, receiving into her body the pain that she had been spared in childbirth, contemplated him sitting at the right hand of the Father. It was fitting that the Mother of God should possess what was due to her because of her son and that she should be honored by all creatures as the Mother and slave of God.".

[6] Bagatti B., The apocryphal early church, Rome, 1981, pg 75

[7] from La Potterie I., Keharitomeni en Lc 1,28 Exegetical and theological study, Biblical, Vol. 68, No. 4 (1987), p. 377.382

[8] The joy and hope n. 22; S. John Paul II, The Redeemer of Man, no 8.

[9] Dante, Paradiso, Canto 33, 12

[10] on. cit PL 96, 717 AB.

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San Giovanni all'Orfento. Abruzzo, Mount Maiella, it was a hermitage inhabited by Pietro da Morrone, called in 1294 to the Chair of Peter on which he ascended with the name of Celestine V (29 August – 13 December 1294).

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

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Dear Readers,
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Or if you prefer you can use our
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IT74R0503403259000000301118
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We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

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THE CHURCH AS A BOAT ON THE STORM IS A CURRENT ACTUALITY AND REALITY ALREADY REPRESENTED BY CHRIST HIMSELF WHO PROVIDED US WITH THE SOLUTION OF FAITH

Jesus had already tried to take a boat to go to a place and isolate himself there, after learning of the violent end of the Baptist, but the attempt was frustrated by the rush of people for whom he felt compassion

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They have existed since ancient times many artistic representations of the boat as an image of the Church, which is told in this Sunday's Gospel page. But they don't exist, at least they don't matter to me, depictions of Jesus retreating alone to pray. Except for the case of Gethsemane, prelude to his passion. Perhaps because it is more difficult to make an internal experience artistically visible, spiritual and private. Yet in the Gospel the two moments are together, whoever composed this page wanted one not to exist without the other. here she is:

«After the crowd had eaten, Jesus immediately forced the disciples to get into the boat and precede him to the other shore, until he dismissed the crowd. The crowd is dismissed, he went up the mountain, on the sidelines, to pray. Evening came, he was standing up there, alone. Meanwhile, the boat was already many miles from land and was being tossed by the waves: in fact the wind was against it. At the end of the night he went towards them walking on the sea. Seeing him walking on the sea, the disciples were shocked and said: “He's a ghost!” and they screamed in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: "Courage, it's me, do not be afraid!”. Peter then answered him: "Man, if it's you, command me to come to you on the waters". And he said: "Alone!”. Peter got out of the boat, he started walking on the water and went towards Jesus. Ma, seeing that the wind was strong, he got scared and, starting to sink, he shouted: "Man, save me!”. And immediately Jesus held out his hand, he grabbed him and told him: “Man of little faith, because you doubted?”». As soon as we got on the boat, the wind stopped. Those who were in the boat bowed down before him, saying: “Truly you are the Son of God!”» [Mt 14, 22-33].

Jesus had already tried to get a boat to go to a place and isolate yourself there, after learning of the violent end of the Baptist [Mt 14,12], but the attempt was frustrated by the rush of people for whom he felt compassion. Not only, in the face of the hunger of the people and the impotence of the disciples[1] he performed the gesture of multiplication of the loaves. An act that was misunderstood, also given the Johannine tradition that says:

"Jesus, knowing that they were coming to take him to make him king, he retreated back to the mountain, him alone […] "In truth, verily I tell you: you are looking for me not because you have seen signs, but because you ate those loaves and were satisfied"" [GV 6, 15-26].

This preamble probably explains the opening line: «And immediately he forced the disciples to get into a boat». We do not know Jesus' hidden intentions and can only speculate. Perhaps the hasty action combined with the forcing of the disciples to get on the boat had the aim of saving him and the group that followed him from distorting the theological meaning of the gesture he had made on the loaves and, as John attests, to the misunderstanding of the type of messianism that Jesus intended and in which the disciples could bask. Or perhaps because he actually felt the urge to be alone, on a high place to pray. For the evangelist Matthew the mountain is a significant place. Thanks to him the discourse on the Beatitudes takes the name of the Sermon on the Mount. On a mountain Jesus was transfigured and on a hill, now resurrected, he gave the missionary mandate to his disciples [cf.. Mt 28, 16-20]. In this case it is the place of solitude and prayer. Jesus, in chapter six of Matthew, he had warned against the hypocritical prayer of those who want to be seen, preferring the hidden one, in the secrecy of the room [cf.. Mt 6, 5-6] and that above all it was addressed to God calling him in the intimate and personal form of "Father". A little later he taught the community prayer of Our father that we all know. What we can say is that Jesus was looking for this personal relationship, alone to alone, with Dio, not just any one, but with his Father. In prayer we know that Jesus, also thanks to other evangelical traditions, felt his filial conscience very alive.

But there's more. Matthew says that Jesus remained detached from the disciples, invisible from his family while in the meantime the evening and darkness fell. The boat with the disciples on board had already gained miles from land and the contrary wind was tossing it, making the situation precarious and dangerous. It is evidently a description of the situation of the Church in the post-Easter period. The episode that is now taking place - Jesus' journey on the water [Mt 14,24-33] – in fact it has a symbolic dimension: the text is a metaphor for the Church's journey through history, in the time between Easter and the parousia. Jesus is above, on the mountain, to pray [cf.. Mt 14,23]: or, he is the Risen One who is at the right hand of God in the heavens and intercedes for his people in the world. Precisely this important theological and symbolic covering has made even moderate scholars say[2] that the episode had little or no historical value. Which does not take away the meaning of an experience that transcends time and reaches us. That is, that of a Church that moves on an unstable element, with the darkness that prevents us from seeing the outlines, the wind that designates the adversities inherent in every era, the waves that cause disturbance and nausea. Finally, Peter, who in other circumstances expressed a strong and mature faith, here he displays a hesitant and weak confidence. And above all, in everyone, the inability to see the Lord which causes internal upheaval and fear.

Matthew describes the scene placing it on the broader backdrop of the story of the Exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea, to mean that what the disciples are doing is a gateway to salvation. As already in the exodus from Egypt, even now the protagonists are in serious difficulty and prey to fear. The presence of Jesus walking on the water is a clear reminder of the God who saved his people and who dominated the waters of the sea:

«Your way is on the sea [hate], your paths upon the great waters, but your footsteps were not recognized" [Shall 77,20]; «Thus says the Lord who opened a path in the sea and a path in the midst of mighty waters» [Is 43,16].

In particular, our text contains references to the fourteenth chapter of the Exodus in which the passage of the sea is narrated. Se Gesù avanza verso i discepoli alla "quarta veglia della notte" - but he is a prison of the night [Mt 14,25], the moment of salvation for the children of Israel, when God routs the Egyptian pursuers, strikes «at the morning watch» [Is 14,24]. For the children of Israel, the transition is not only geographical, but it is also a liberating passage from fear [Is 14,10-13] to the fear of the Lord [Is 14,31]; it is a transition from "seeing" the approach of the pursuers [Is 14,10] upon seeing the powerful hand with which the Lord had saved them [Is 14,31]. The presence of strong winds still unites the two stories [Is 14,21; Mt 14,24]. Jesus introduces himself to the disciples saying "It is I" [Mt 14,27], with an expression that corresponds to the Name of God revealed in Exodus: "I am". In short, we are facing the path of the Church, Easter journey, path of salvation, but of a salvation that is not so easily discernible because it is mixed with situations of contradiction and suffering.

At this point the temptation would be strong to apply this narrative to the current events of the Church. But those who know a little about history know very well that there has never been a quiet and peaceful period for it and that today it is no more difficult than in other moments. Nor that Peter is more or less faithful today than in other historical eras, rather. The Council developed a vision of the Church that defines it thus:

«(That) And, in Christ, the sacrament in some way, that is, the sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the entire human race"[3].

Therefore a human reality which retains all its fragilities to which the grace of the call and mission has been granted. So what, if the Church will always encounter difficulties, if waves and winds will toss the boat for three night watches, what is the true drama in which it may stumble and from which it will be difficult to escape except through a particular key? It is the drama of retaining Jesus, the Sir, a ghost! «And shocked they said: “It's a ghost!” and they cried out in fear".

This is why I wrote at the beginning that the two scenes that make up today's Gospel passage designate a single picture and are inseparable. As Origen rightly noted[4] Jesus almost forces his disciples to cross the sea of ​​history, with all the difficulties and vicissitudes that this entails, almost separating himself from them, returning to the Father. We can imagine the difficulties they had after Jesus' death, upon hearing that he was Risen, in recognizing him as alive and victor over death. Matteo points this out in the last chapter before leaving: «When they saw him, you are spoiled. But they doubted." [Mt 28, 17]. However, it is to these disciples of little faith that he will ensure a constant presence, of a different nature than the previous one, but equally effective: "And here, I am with you always;, until the end of the world " [Mt 28, 20].

They, so, he did not separate from us, as those disciples in the trembling boat and Peter himself feared who said: "if it's you"; but the necessary return to the Father, symbolized by his going up the mountain alone to pray to him, it happened so that God could be "all in all" and His love and His salvation, could be recognized in the Church which from now on becomes the sacrament of union with the Lord and of the unity of human beings as the Council said.

Thus we reach the last act, to that key or, given the context, that sail that allows you to travel the ferry without fear, that is, faith. The episode of Peter who wanted to walk on the water like Jesus teaches us this, but lacking full faith. A dangerous temptation that can seize every season of the life of the Church, perhaps even the current one. That of emptying Christ, to make it a ghost or an ectoplasm - Phanstasma estin, A ghost is ― mentre la Chiesa è intenta in altre cose, busy with who knows what precious work or with some arrangement of its structures. The Gospel, as Origen rightly notes, it does not say that Peter did not have faith, but he had little of it[5]. Elijah too, narrates the first book of Kings in the first reading this Sunday, shares a life-threatening situation with Pietro. God passes by him, but it will not be present in noisy and sensational realities, as in the massacre of the prophets of Baal, but in a “thin silent voice” (Qol demamah daqqah דקָּֽה דְּמָמָ֥ה ק֖וֹל)[6].

Jesus' rebuke to Peter, his stretching out his hand and grasping it are all sacramental actions that will become exemplary for the Church. Jesus, indeed, he does not scold Peter so that he remains half drowned in inadequacy, but why, through this moment of truth, he becomes aware of the situation he finds himself in and the hand of Jesus that grasps him is a gesture of salvation, healing and change, parable of what the Church does with the sacraments that multiply the love and grace of the Lord over time.

The presence of Jesus, grasped through faith, thin silent voice, it is fundamental for the boat that is the Church to find its tranquility and the disciples to finally recognize the fullness of the divine form of the Lord, no longer seen as a ghost: «As soon as we got on the boat, the wind stopped. Those who were in the boat bowed down before him, saying: “Truly you are the Son of God!”».

I close with a phrase from a famous book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

«The yes and the amen are the sure ground on which we rest. We continually lose sight in this troubled time of the reason why we deserve to live. We are allowed to live continuously close to God and in his presence and then there is no longer anything impossible for us as there is nothing impossible for God. No earthly power can touch us without the will of God, and misery and danger bring us closer to God."[7].

Happy Sunday everyone!

from the Hermitage, 13 August 2023

 

NOTE

[1] «But Jesus said to them: “They don't need to go; you yourselves feed them”. They answered: “Here we have nothing but five loaves and two fish!”. And he said: “Bring them here to me”» (Mt 14, 16-18).

[2] John Paul Meier, A marginal Jew. Rethinking the historical Jesus, Volume 2, Mentor, message and miracles, 2002

[3] The light 1.

[4] «So it could be, returning to the text, that the disciples feeling uncomfortably far from Jesus, they cannot separate from him even by chance, because they want to stay with him; by me, judging that they must have proof of the waves and the contrary wind, which would not have been there if they had been with Jesus, imposes on them the obligation to detach themselves from him and get on the boat" (Origene, (C)oment to the Gospel of Matthew, New Town, 1998, pg. 215.

[5] Op. cit. Pg 218.

[6] 1Re 19, 12. La Bibbia Cei translate: «the whisper of a light breeze». The Masoretic text has: «A thin silent voice».

[7] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Resistance and surrender, St. Paul, 2015.

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San Giovanni all'Orfento. Abruzzo, Mount Maiella, it was a hermitage inhabited by Pietro da Morrone, called in 1294 to the Chair of Peter on which he ascended with the name of Celestine V (29 August – 13 December 1294).

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