When Bishop Luigi Negri believed that the whores along the Via Aurelia were paying homage to him
WHEN BISHOP LUIGI NEGRI BELIEVED THAT THE WHORES ALONG THE VIA AURELIA WERE HONORING HIM
He had launched the more or less joking joke about "obsequious sluts", precisely because he was very touched by those young and beautiful girls reduced to beating on the street. Then he told me: «Let's recommend them to the Madonna». And it began: «Ave Maria, full of grace, The Lord is with you …». And his eyes were shining.
— The Briefs of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos —
Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo
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Luigi Negri (Milan, 26 November 1941 – †Milano, 31 December 2021) Bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro (2005-2012), Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio (2013-2017), he would have accomplished today 83 year old.
Luigi Negri and Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo in the sacristy of the church of Santa Prisca all'Aventino (2010)
Complex personality, man of great faith and solid doctrine, endowed with acumen and at the same time burdened by forms of naivety that led him to make gross errors. Most faithful servant of the Church and the Papacy, generally as delicate as number sandpaper 10, especially when he opened his mouth in more or less private contexts with hilarious phrasebooks from the Trastevere carter of the late nineteenth century, which personally made me laugh out loud, I am so allergic to the falsity of certain apparently so delicate clerical mouths. All of this, But, it was mostly stage, because few had understood what it really was like: with these poses of his, Luigi Negri hid his fundamentally shy character and a sensitive, even tender soul.
It was the month of May 2009 when he came to visit me in the international priestly house where I resided on the Via Aurelia, as I was preparing to complete my training. He left his driver free for a couple of hours, who waited for him in front of the Paul VI Hall, where the plenary assembly of the CEI took place, where I took him back in my car.
Along the Via Aurelia the cute one, mostly young Romanian men already impaled in broad daylight, as we drove by they smiled and waved with hand gestures. After one, due, three … Luigi Negri blurts out amused: “But these bitches are always so obsequious towards bishops?». I replied: «Don't be under any illusions, it's not her they greet, with». And I explained to him that I often made that journey on foot for a few kilometers and I always stopped to say hello to those poor girls, I also gave them all a rosary.
He had launched the more or less joking joke about "obsequious sluts", precisely because he was very touched by those young and beautiful girls reduced to beating on the street already in broad daylight. Then he said: «Let's recommend them to the Madonna». And it began: «Ave Maria, full of grace, The Lord is with you …». And his eyes were shining.
This too was Luigi Negri, rather, especially this one. With all due respect to the delicate sweethearts with the flowery little clerical mouths who would never say "fuck!», as he said more or less thirty times a day, who however was moved by young sluts and prayed to the Virgin Mary for them.
the Island of Patmos, 26 November 2024
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Ok Houston, down here in the visible Church we have had big problems in religious life
OK, HOUSTON, DOWN HERE IN THE VISIBLE CHURCH WE HAVE HAD BIG PROBLEMS IN RELIGIOUS LIFE Some people who in lay life would not have been able to access positions of responsibility because they were deficient from various points of view, taking advantage of the weakness of the Religious Orders they manage to realize themselves in them and acquire prestige and credit, keeping track....
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The cross of Christ the King bearing the sign of triumph on his shoulders
Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos
THE CROSS OF CHRIST THE KING WHO BEARS THE SIGN OF TRIUMPH ON HIS SHOULDERS
Christ carried the cross for himself, and for the wicked it was a great ridicule but for the faithful a great mystery. Christ carries the cross as a king carries his scepter, as a sign of his glory, of his universal sovereignty over all. He carries it as a victorious warrior carries the trophy of his victory
Author
Hermit Monk
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If last Sunday the announcement of the second coming of Christ "in the clouds with great power and glory" was proclaimed (MC 13, 26), today, on the last Sunday of this Liturgical Year, we reopen the Gospel according to John at the point where a peculiar quality of the coming Lord is revealed, his royalty. The singular context, the passion of the Lord, and the interlocutor, an imperial official, make the understanding of the kingship that Jesus embodies particularly intriguing.
What the world represented by Pilate he cannot understand, However, those who open themselves with faith to an unusual and surprising revelation understand it. Let's read the passage.
"During that time, Pilate said to Jesus: “You are the king of the Jews?”. Jesus replied: “You say this for yourself, or have others told you about me?”. Pilate said: “Maybe I am a Jew? Your people and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”. Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jews; but my kingdom is not from here ". Then Pilate said to him: “So you are king?”. Jesus answered: “You say it: I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever it belongs to the truth, listen to my voice" (GV 18,33-37).
It is described here is the first of the two confrontations that Pilate had with Jesus inside the Praetorium. They will culminate in that central scene of the entire narrative of the passion according to St. John, occurred on Litòstroto, where Pilate spoke the words: «Behold your King» (GV 19,14). To highlight the importance of the scene and the depth of meaning of the words spoken, John will note that at that same time the Passover lambs were being prepared, on the day of Preparation.
In this Sunday's evangelical passage Pilate, without wasting time, he immediately gets to the point and the crucial question that interests him most: «You are the king of the Jews?». For the Roman Prefect, representative of imperial power, this question highlights a concern about the governance of its territories. On the occasion of Jewish Passover, indeed, the Prefect moved, troops following, from Caesarea to Jerusalem, precisely to prevent a riot from destabilizing order and security pax romana. Ma, as several commentators point out, the expression "King of the Jews" that Pilate uses can be understood, in our song, in at least two other ways, different from what he probably means. The Jews, with that expression, they meant the messiah king awaited since the time of David for the time of salvation, invested with both a religious and political-national mission. The term Re has here, therefore, in this context, an earthly and historical meaning, with also an allusion to a theological content. In biblical history, both are closely linked and employed for each other; so much so that the two meanings will play a decisive role in the accusation made against Jesus.
But we must take into account of the meaning that the words must have had for Jesus, particularly indicative for understanding today's celebration. In the mouth of Jesus this title reveals a new meaning, which only Saint John highlights and makes stand out. Jesus accepting the title and responding: "You say: I am king", at the same time it denies the meaning that Pilate wants to attribute to it, to insist instead on his special kingship. Jesus refuses to embody an earthly messianism, like the one already evoked in the temptations in the desert, in particular in the Lucanian version of the test: «The devil led him up and, showing him in an instant all the kingdoms of the earth, he told him: «I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, because it has been placed in my hands and I give it to whoever I want. If you bow down before me everything will be yours" (LC 4,5-7). «The whole world belongs to Satan, who is willing to give Jesus power over all the kingdoms of the earth. But Jesus, from the beginning of his public life, radically refuses to found an earthly kingdom" (cf.. Ignace de La Potterie, The passion of Jesus according to the Gospel of John, 1993). If the kingship of Christ is to be understood in another way, this should not lead us to the opposite idea, that is, to imagine a Messiah estranged from the world. The text of this Sunday's gospel must be read carefully. In greco, the words of Jesus to v. 36 I'm, verbatim: «My kingdom is not «from» this world». What a difference compared to the apocrypha. «In certain Gnostic writings inspired by the fourth gospel, for example the Acts of Pilate, the following small change is introduced in this text: «My kingdom is not «in» this world"; which evidently has a completely different meaning and leads to a separation between the world and the kingdom of God". The words of Jesus instead mean that «the kingship of Christ is not based on the powers of this world and is not in the least inspired by these. It is a sovereignty in the World, but which is realized in a different way from earthly power and draws its inspiration from another source" (cf.. Ignace de La Potterie).
Pilate was an experienced official, concrete and, as needed, violent and ruthless. According to Saint John to the words of Jesus, almost surprised, he could only ask: "So you are a king?». Jesus answered:
"You say: I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Whoever it belongs to the truth, hears my voice ".
It is here that the Lord specifies the profound meaning of his kingship and where it comes from. Its source is in the Father who sent it, to become the way of truth and life. John states in the Prologue:
«And the Word became flesh and came to live among us; and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten Son who comes from the Father, full of the grace of truth" (GV 1, 14).
San Giovanni then continues urgently:
"From his fullness we have all received: grace upon grace. Because the Law was given through Moses, the grace of truth came through Jesus Christ. It gave, no one has seen him: the only Son, who is God and is at the Father, it is he who has made him known " (GV 1, 16-18).
The truth therefore that Jesus brings to humanity as a grace, a gift and a mission from the Father, it is his revelation. Not a simple abstract and aseptic truth, but life, the word, the entire existence of the Lord Jesus, in the inexhaustible fullness of its meaning of love, of salvation and life in the Father, for every person who opens up to it and adheres to it with faith. In every man or woman who welcomes the truth of Christ He reigns in peace. And this despite the fact that the kingship of the Lord had to pass through the crucible of passion, of which this Sunday's evangelical scene is the precursor. But for San Giovanni, and only for him, precisely the passion will be the manifestation of the kingship of Jesus: Christ reigns from the Cross.
Giovanni, as he recounts the passion of Christ, it does not deny the reality or materiality of the events that were painful. However, it highlights, unlike the Synoptics, the appearance of royalty and triumph, of victory over evil and the salvific value, which is inherent in the passion and death suffered by Jesus Christ: while the narration also gives us the meaning of the events. These aspects emerge already during the trial and then at the crucifixion of Jesus. At the end of the Roman trial Pilate brings Jesus in front of the crowd and says: «Here is a man, Here's the man." (GV 19,5). At that moment Jesus is wearing the symbols of royalty and in addition to the crown of thorns he still has his cloak. While the Synoptic Gospels say that the purple was taken from him causing him pain, in the Fourth Gospel we even have the impression that Jesus goes towards the cross still wearing both the purple and the crown. And there is a striking parallel, also literary, between the scene that took place in the praetorium, in the place called Gabbatà (GV 19, 13-16), and what happens at the foot of the cross, on Golgotha (GV 19, 17-22). In both cases John places the emphasis on the theme of kingship and in both cases it is Pilate, that is, the holder of the highest civil power, who honors Jesus. «Here is your king» he says to the crowd gathered in front of the praetorium (GV 19,14); then over the cross he has it written: «The king of the Jews» (GV 19,19). This is it, in front of the world, a proclamation of the kingship of Christ made in three languages: in Hebrew, the language of Israel, in Greek, the language of culture; and in Latin, the language of civil power. The episode, Once again, it is told only by Saint John. And it is no coincidence that in the Christian tradition the Way of the cross, mainly inspired by Giovani's story, it will become a triumphal path. Likewise quite a few painted crosses, like the famous Crucifix of San Damiano in Assisi which spoke to Saint Francis, they depict Jesus according to the typology of Christ triumphant. John writes that Jesus leaves the city: «And bearing the cross to himself». It is usually translated: «Carrying the cross himself». Actually the correct translation is: «Carrying the cross for himself», that is, bringing it as an instrument of his victory. Saint Thomas Aquinas confirms this translation and says: «Christ carried the cross for himself, and for the wicked it was a great ridicule but for the faithful a great mystery. Christ carries the cross as a king carries his scepter, as a sign of his glory, of his universal sovereignty over all. He carries it as a victorious warrior carries the trophy of his victory.". And in the first centuries Saint John Chrysostom had already used a similar expression: «He carried the sign of triumph on his shoulders».
From the Hermitage, 24 November 2024
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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)
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Cardinal Carlo Caffarra and his teaching on the vital pluralism of thought within the Church
CARDINAL CARLO CAFFARRA AND HIS TEACHING ON THE VITAL PLURALISM OF THOUGHT WITHIN THE CHURCH
May these words lead to reflection certain emulators with the wooden cross hanging from their necks, the poor at heart, the sacred migrant on the mouth and the wooden crosier in the hand, terrified at the idea of not conforming to that system that the Archbishop Emeritus of Pisa Alessandro Plotti defined bluntly as the conformism of mediocre and pandering bishops.
— The Briefs of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos —
Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo
.
I was very close to the Cardinal Carlo Caffara in the last years of his life and I knew his discomfort when some tried to pit him against the Supreme Pontiff Francis, this touched him so much that he made a statement:
«I would have been more pleased if it were said that the Archbishop of Bologna has a lover rather than if it were said that he has a view contrary to that of the Pope. If a bishop has a thought contrary to that of the Pope, he must leave, but just you have to go by the diocese. Because lead the faithful on a road that is not what Jesus Christ. So lose himself forever and would risk eternal loss of the faithful " (see video WHO).
Today someone tries to argue that statement he did it in October of 2014 and who changed his opinion in the following years, after the results of the Synod on the family (!?). I can testify that the whole thing is false and that in May 2017, four months before his death, in one of our long conversations he returned to the topic by telling me:
«In the Church, the different voices, they have always been extremely valuable. In fact, it would be fearful if the bishops all had the exact same thoughts. In the Church it is necessary for Bruno Forte and Carlo Caffarra to live together and express themselves. A Church formed solely by Bruno Forte or formed solely by Carlo Caffarra would be a dangerously unbalanced Church, if not worse dead to any form of theological speculation".
May these words lead certain emulators to reflection with the wooden cross hanging from his neck, the poor at heart, the sacred migrant on the mouth and the wooden crosier in the hand, terrified at the idea of not conforming to that system that the Archbishop Emeritus of Pisa Alessandro Plotti he defined bluntly as the conformism of mediocre and pandering bishops (the full text of the interview in the monthly magazine Jesus of February 2014 "Enough ruffians, now we need courage", is reported WHO).
the Island of Patmos, 17 November 2024
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Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away
Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos
HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS WILL NOT PASS
In this condition the believer can therefore spiritually assume the dimension of the coming of the Lord in the space of waiting. It will not be distressing or a harbinger of anxiety, quite full of confidence, since it rests on the assurance of the Lord: "I'll come soon"
Author
Hermit Monk
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A certain event, but we don't know when it will happen, demands that we wait for it. This is what emerges from this Sunday's Gospel passage. Taken from Mark's eschatological discourse (Cap. 13), it announces the coming of the Lord as certain, but states that its date and time are uncertain. Let's read it:
"During that time, Jesus told his disciples: “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers that are in the heavens will be upset. Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. He will send the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the ends of the sky. From the fig tree learn its lesson: When its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So do you: when you see these things, know that he is near, It is coming. Verily I say unto you: this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day or that hour, nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, except the Father”» (MC 13,24-32).
He Cap. 13 of the Gospel of Mark begins with two questions from the disciples addressed to Jesus upon leaving the Temple and on the Mount of Olives:
«As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples told him: “Maestro, Look at those stones and what buildings!”. Jesus answered him: “You see these great buildings? Not one stone upon another will be left here that will not be destroyed” (vv.1.2). «While he was on the Mount of Olives, sitting in front of the temple, Pietro, Giacomo, Giovanni and Andrea questioned him aside: “Tell us: when these things will happen and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?”» (vv. 3.4).
Jesus does not immediately answer the question of the four disciples, but in the meantime he has the opportunity to talk about the latest things. The words of Jesus describing the arrival of these "last things", in "those days", they are a revival of prophetic texts of Isaiah, Joel and Daniel. Who heard them from the mouth of Jesus, he probably understood the meaning better than us, that after so many years away we struggle to orient ourselves. In reality, apocalyptic language is not far from our culture, indeed it is strongly permeated by it. It must be kept in mind, But, that said language is a "literary genre", therefore not a historical tale or a scientific treatise. Unfortunately, many believers interpret it exactly like this, reading present events as a realization of Jesus' words. Eschatological language has its own key and must be interpreted as such. It is a genre that arises from the confluence of the wisdom and prophetic current. Especially when the latter ends, a prophet will be expected in Israel who would put things right: «They placed the stones on the temple mount in a convenient place, until a prophet appeared to decide on them" (1Mac 4, 46). After all, we cannot think that Jesus meant that the end of the world will happen exactly as he described it. Then, we are sure that He was talking about the "end of the world", and not, instead, of a new beginning? Because he says that "this generation" will see what he announced.
The central figure of today's Gospel is that of the Son of Man. While previously the Lord had spoken of his suffering destiny, this time he agrees with what was thought about this character at the time and therefore among the disciples. The Son of Man is a powerful figure, almost a divine hypostasis as the prophet Daniel describes it (7, 13-14), whose main task seems to be that of the judge (Book of Jubilees). Jesus describes himself in this way, when he responds to the High Priest who asks him if he is the Messiah: «I am! And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." (MC 14,62); and these words will become one of the reasons for his condemnation. But today He speaks of the Son of Man, linking him to a theme dear to Judaism, or the gathering of the missing. Surprisingly, indeed, for the evangelical traditions it will not happen only at the "end of the world", but it was already realized in a particular moment, that is, at the death of the Messiah Jesus. This is particularly clear in the Fourth Gospel when Saint John reports the words of Jesus: "And I, when I am lifted up from the ground, I will attract everyone to me " (GV 12,32). The gathering of the people brought about by the Son of Man is preceded by celestial upheavals. So if we look at the way in which the Evangelist Mark describes the death of the Messiah, we find that some signs that were announced in today's Gospel passage are fulfilled. Jesus had said that the sun would darken (MC 13,24), and here it is after the crucifixion of Jesus, « come noon, it became dark over the whole earth, until three in the afternoon" (MC 15,33). Matteo, amplifying the Marcian story, he then adds that "the earth trembled and the rocks split" (Mt 27,51), a reference to Jesus' phrase that "the stars will begin to fall from the sky" (MC 13,25). We are therefore faced not only with an announcement of the end of the world and of time. which, moreover, had already been glimpsed in the opening words of the Gospel: «The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near; convert and believe in the Gospel" (MC 1,15). But with the coming of the Messiah and the death of the Lord Jesus the eschatological time begins, the time of the end, through which the scene of this world passes: «This I tell you, siblings: time has become short... in fact the figure of this world passes!» (1Color 7, 29-31).
In this condition the believer can therefore spiritually assume the dimension of the coming of the Lord in the space of waiting. It will not be distressing or a harbinger of anxiety, quite full of confidence, since it rests on the assurance of the Lord: "I'll come soon" (AP 22,7). The Christian expectation of the second coming of the Lord is an act of faith. It will branch out in the different directions of patience, of resistance, of perseverance and above all of hope. Says the Apostle Paul: «But if we hope for what we do not see, we await it with perseverance" (we wait patiently, cf.. RM 8,25). Patient waiting even becomes a reason for bliss according to the book of Daniel: «Blessed is he who waits patiently» (Dn 12,12).
It should be underlined that this Sunday's evangelical passage is framed between two almost identical warnings: blepete, «look», "be careful"; e agrupneite, «keep your eyes wide open and take care» (MC 13,23.33). The text is set within an exhortation to vigilance and discernment. The time of history is inhabited by tribulations of which Mark spoke in the previous verses (MC 13,19-20), tribulations that precede the central event of the eschatological announcement, which will put an end to the story by giving it an end: the coming of the Son of Man. The upheaval of celestial realities (MC 13,24-25) he says that a divine event is taking place, an event of which the creator God is the protagonist. But the sun and the moon, the stars and celestial powers were also part of the pantheon of the ancient Romans, deified entities and idols; and we know that Mark writes to Christians in Rome. Therefore not only the end of the world is announced here, but also the end of a world, the collapse of the world of pagan gods dethroned by the Son of Man. And if it is stated that the end of idolatry will be accomplished with the Kingdom of God established by the coming of the Lord, it is also insinuated that the practice of Christians in the world can represent a sign of the reign of God; thanks to your vigilance, so as not to let idols reign over him. Announcing his glorious coming, Jesus therefore asks Christians, as a prophetic gesture, conversion from idols and worldly powers. Living the wait for the Lord means living in a state of conversion. But conversion has vigilance as a necessary premise.
Here then is the very sweet image of the sprouting fig tree, in all directions, since it almost gives a foretaste of the final outcome when the ripe fruit appears. This is a parable of the Lord who teaches us how looking at celestial signs and observing terrestrial ones are not alternatives.. The future is being prepared in the present day, on the earth where we are planted and where we can see many signs of the glorious coming of the Lord. Only those who know how to observe well can also see them: «From the fig tree learn the parable: when its branch already becomes tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near" (MC 13,28).
From the Hermitage, 17 November 2024
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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)
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Coincidence of opposites. Between utopia and sexophobic Catholic fundamentalists
Coincidence of opposites. BETWEEN UTOPIA AND SEX-PHOBIC CATHOLIC INTEGRALISTS Certain sad characters are capable of criticizing two homosexuals who, or for lack of shame, or out of stupid provocation, they kiss in the middle of the street in the sunlight leaning against the wall of a building, but they don't care at all, nor are they scandalized in the slightest except on scaffolding, al...
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The Italian Episcopal Conference on Rai: «Do not divide what unites». And the garbage?
THE ITALIAN BISHOPS' CONFERENCE ON RAI: «DON'T DIVIDE WHAT UNITES». AND THE GARBAGE?
Possible not to see, or worse, gloss over all the ideological rubbish dumped night and day incessantly for decades directly into the homes of Italians by the state radio and television subservient to scientistic individualism and vulgarized in the downward pursuit of Berlusconi's private one and therefore an effective instrument of the definitive de-Christianization of the country, together with the State School of all levels?
– The briefs of the Fathers of the Isle of Patmos –
Author
Teodoro Beccia
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Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, in the Holy Mass for RAI on the occasion of 70 years of television and 100 years of radio commented:
«The national ethos would not be the same, our country and we all would not be the same without these 70 years of television. An entire generation would not have emerged from illiteracy without TV and Italy would have been less united without this common imagination that creates what unites us. Woe betide you if you divide or weaken it." (cf.. WHO).
Maybe it would have been good to remember that the Public Service, precisely because it is so, should help “the sense of the common good”, free from strong commercial and ideological constraints. Unless you choose to live in the world of fairy tales, populated with literacy-style fairies maestro Alberto Manzi.
Possible not to see, or worse, gloss over all the ideological rubbish dumped night and day incessantly for decades directly into the homes of Italians by the state radio and television subservient to scientistic individualism and vulgarized in the downward pursuit of Berlusconi's private one and therefore an effective instrument of the definitive de-Christianization of the country, together with the State School of all levels?
All this with the connivance and often complicity of many self-styled Catholics, that they should neither connive nor celebrate such a state of affairs.
Velletri of Rome, 3 November 2024
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San Carlo Borromeo, patron saint of Milan and the cardinal's purple to the Archbishop of Naples
SAINT CARLO BORROMEO PATRON OF MILAN AND THE CARDINALITY OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF NAPLES
The appointment of the Neapolitan prelate as cardinal was announced on 4 November, day on which the Church commemorates San Carlo Borromeo, who was cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, city of which he is co-patron together with the main patron Sant'Ambrogio.
— The Briefs of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos —
Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo
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The cardinal nomination of the Neapolitan Prelate was announced on 4 November, day on which the Church commemorates San Carlo Borromeo, who was cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, city of which he is co-patron together with the main patron Sant'Ambrogio.
There are things that many people miss, busy as I am jumping from one blog to another to quickly scroll through half the news, most of which fake news or gossip offered by social media.
Not surprising that the conferral of cardinal dignity on the Metropolitan Archbishop of Naples was suddenly announced. Something else is perplexing: the cardinal nomination of Neapolitan prelate was announced on 4 November, day on which the Church commemorates Saint Charles Borromeo, who was cardinal and archbishop of Milan, city of which he is co-patron together with the main patron Sant'Ambrogio.
Coincidence, inadvertence or malice? Nobody is allowed to know, Only God can read the intentions hidden in man's conscience.
the Island of Patmos, 5 November 2024
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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos
JESUS TO THE GOOD SCRIBE: «YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM KINGDOM OF GOD»
«One of the scribes asked him: “Which is the first of all commandments?”. Jesus replied: “The first is: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord; you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength". The second is this: "You will love your neighbor as yourself". There is no other commandment greater than these ".
Author
Hermit Monk
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Before this Sunday's Gospel passage Jesus had to face several groups of adversaries: priests, scribes and elders of the people (Mc 11,27ss.); Pharisees and Herodians (Mc 12,13ss.) finally the Sadducees (Mc 12,18ss.).
Reggio Calabria: Jesus and the scribe, Metropolitan Cathedral of Maria Santissima Assunta
Now, But, He approaches him, alone, a single member of one of these groups. It has no preventions, nor a prejudicially negative disposition towards Jesus. He has just listened to the last discussion with the Sadducees on the Resurrection and must have appreciated its wisdom. In fact, a sincere consonance is established between the two. Let's read the passage:
"During that time, one of the scribes approached Jesus and asked him: “Which is the first of all commandments?”. Jesus replied: “The first is: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord; you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength". The second is this: "You will love your neighbor as yourself". There is no other commandment greater than these”. The scribe told him: “You said it right, Maestro, and according to truth, that He is unique and there is no other but Him; love him with all my heart, with all the intelligence and with all the strength and loving one's neighbor as oneself is worth more than all the holocausts and sacrifices”. Seeing that he had responded wisely, Jesus told him: “You are not far from the kingdom of God”. And no one had the courage to question him anymore.". (MC 12,28-34).
The question asked by the scribe: «Which is the first of all commandments?», was born from a widespread need among industry experts Torah: there is a commandment, a summary of God's precepts, on which all others depend? The rabbis will count 613 commands in the Babylonian Talmud and this search for the essential, of the commandment on which everything else "was hung" is not new. In the Old Testament there were already several formulations of precepts in synthetic form. In Shall 15 are listed 11, in Is 33,15-16 hello beautiful 6 and so on. Later elaborated by the wise men of Israel, were divided, particularly from the school of Rabbi Hillel, in «heavy» or «light». Even Jesus seems to accept this approach and recognizes that there are "minimal" precepts (Mt 5,19), which however cannot be overlooked.
Jesus responds citing the beginning of the as the first commandment Shema, the profession of faith in the Lord God repeated three times a day by every Jewish believer, central to the entire rabbinic tradition:
«Listen, Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You will love the Lord, your god, with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength" (Dt 6,4-5).
According to this prayer listening has absolute primacy and is man's decisive relationship with God. Obedient listening is then the basis of love towards God and beyond, as we'll see. Looking closely at the words of Deuteronomy, taken from Jesus, outline a theological path, spiritual and emotional starting from listening, «Listen, Israel", It leads to the faith, "The Lord is our God"; from faith to his intimate knowledge, «The Lord is one», and from knowledge to love: «You will love the Lord». This increasingly penetrating knowledge that distinguishes Jewish monotheism and which influenced Christianity and then Islam is something original and unique in the cultural and religious panorama of the time. It is not born from an idea, from a philosophical reflection, as could happen in Greece, but from the experience that God has acted in history in favor of his people, saving it and making an alliance with it. From this revelation which requires recognition we arrive at a relationship of love for God, therefore we are His and He is for us. One and only God who loves each other with all the powers of the human soul.
But there's more. While the scribe asks Jesus for just one commandment, here He advances a second one, citing that of love for others: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19,18). The full version of the Leviticus verse reads:
«You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord ".
Love for others even in the tradition preceding Jesus it was considered a fundamental precept, that, together with the precept of love for God, it condensed the whole Torah. But Jesus connects the two commands, indissolubly combining the love of God with that of others. For Jesus the two precepts unite heaven and earth; man to God and man to man: "vertical" love which implies loving God and "horizontal" love which requires loving one's neighbor can no longer be separated. From this answer, therefore, it seems that love for God cannot exist without love for others. The first commandment implies the second and the second presupposes the first.
It is important to reflect on the new, at the level of the contents of faith, that this combination of biblical passages brings with it. There is no doubt that Jesus establishes a precise hierarchy between the two precepts, placing love for God above all else. At the same time, But, going back to the will of the Legislator, he discerns that love of God and neighbor are in close connection with each other: the Law and the Prophets are summarized and depend on the love of God and neighbor, never one without the other. It is no coincidence that in Matthew's version the second commandment is defined as similar to the first (Mt 22,39), while the evangelist Luke even unites them in one great commandment: «You will love the Lord your God […] and your next one" (LC 10,27). In other words, if it is true that every human being is created by God in his image (Gen 1,26-27), it is not possible to claim to love God and, at the same time, despise his image on earth.
The Christian tradition he expressed his love for God in different ways, expressing it as a movement of research, longing or desire. Or the love for Him was perceived as obeying, in the true sense of listening to his word and responding to it. It is the love that seeks to carry out God's will and to live as He wants. Anyhow, despite what the world thinks, world that curiously is linked to many gods and idols, until you become a slave to it, Christian love is liberating because it is inscribed in this relationship with God who exalts and strengthens it and like a pole attracts towards itself every type of love that man can build on earth.
In the end, in the Gospel of John, Jesus will take a further step when he affirms: “Love one another as I have loved you” (GV 13,34; 15,12), that is, without measure, "until the end" (GV 13,1). In this bold synthesis, Jesus does not even make explicit the request to love God, because he knows well that when people love each other, in doing this they already experience the love of God. This mutual love also becomes the recognizable sign of Jesus' disciples:
«From this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (GV 13,35).
At this point everyone stops, as satisfied, and they don't go any further. After all, what topic is more engaging and all-encompassing than love, especially if it is aimed at God. I like, instead, conclude by still remembering this scribe who provoked Jesus' answers. The fact, for instance, that he waited for the right moment to approach him. In conclusion, after all those discussions with those who wanted to test him, Jesus could also decline and say enough. Instead, the Lord must have found his question pertinent and took inspiration from it for a new teaching that we still find inexhaustible today.. This scribe replies to Jesus that he spoke well, repeat his words, unifying them in a single commandment that summarizes them. Finally he recognizes that this commandment even surpasses the system of sacrifices and burnt offerings, in that moment, it represented an important article of Jewish belief and worship. He therefore richly deserves that praise of Jesus which will remain forever: «You are not far from the kingdom of God».
From the Hermitage, 3 November 2024
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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)
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