Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

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PROSTITUTES PASS AHEAD OF YOU INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

«John in fact came to you on the path of justice, and you didn't believe him; the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him instead. Butter, on the contrary, you have seen these things, but then you didn't even repent enough to believe him"

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Author
Hermit Monk

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In the chapter 21 of his Gospel Matthew shows how the confrontation between Jesus and the Jewish authorities becomes increasingly tense and embittered.

The Venerable Father Oreste Benzi, the angel of prostitutes

In particular, after a discussion with the chief priests and the elders of the people on his authority (Mt 21,23-27), Jesus speaks three parables all focused on rejection, by the leaders of Israel, of the offer of salvation. Here is the song for this XXVI Sunday in Ordinary Time:

"During that time, Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What do you think? A man had two sons. He turned to the first and said: 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered: "I don't want to". But then he repented and went there. He turned to the second and said the same. And he answered: "Yup, Gentleman". But he didn't go. Which of the two fulfilled the will of the father?». They replied: «The first». And Jesus said to them,: "Truly I say to you: the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God. For John came to you on the path of righteousness, and you didn't believe him; the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him instead. Butter, on the contrary, you have seen these things, but then you didn't even repent enough to believe him" (Mt 21,28-32).

This parable had a particular textual transmission. Some important witnesses of the text, like the Vatican Code (B), they reverse the order of the children, so he becomes the second son to respond to his father that he doesn't want to go, only to then go to the vineyard. It could be due to an ideological reason centered on a certain vision of the history of salvation: the first child, who says to go but then doesn't carry out his intention, it would have already been identified by some Christian copyists with the Jews, while the pagans would be represented by the son who says he doesn't want to go, but then he will go to work. And since this logic was not supported by the order in which the protagonists are presented, the order would have been reversed. On the level of textual criticism, the order currently present in the critical text is to be preferred, although some doubts remain.

The parabolic story in San Matteo it is the second to be set in a vineyard (the first is found in Mt 19,30–20,16), and it is part of the material of the first evangelist, therefore it has no parallels with Mark or Luke. Consisting of only three verses, it is framed by two questions that attract the interlocutor's attention - v. 28: «What do you think?», which is a classical rabbinical formula; and the v. 31: “Who of the two” — and is followed by his explanation that takes up the question again, left pending at v. 27, on the authority of Jesus and the baptism of John.

The interpretations of our song they have multiplied over time and vary depending on the author. For some Fathers of the Church, the son who will not go to work in the vineyard is unquestionably Israel. This reading conveyed that theology of "substitution", also called "supersessionism", according to which - as a consequence of the fact that all the Jews would have rejected Jesus - there would no longer be any role for the people of the alliance in the history of salvation, who would therefore be assumed by the Church. This theology is not sustainable since it would be enough to reread, per convincersene, chapters 9–11 of Paul's letter to the Romans.

But those to whom Jesus addresses in the text, that is, those who investigate his authority, they are not "all" Israel, but only some of the leaders of that people, as is specified just before the parable (cf.. Mt 21,23), and as the evangelist will say shortly afterwards (cf.. Mt 21,45). It is to these that Jesus is speaking and only to these will he say a little further on: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits” (Mt 21,43). This alternative interpretation can be based on literary reasons, but also on the fact that the identification of the son who refuses to go into the vineyard with Israel is not universal: for other Fathers, such as Saint Hilary of Poitiers, these would be only a part of the Jewish people: the Pharisees or those who allowed themselves to be influenced by them.

More than the problem of identification, that is, who Jesus is talking about, upon closer inspection, the parable seems to be centered above all on another question: the one concerning the classic relationship in the biblical and Jewish tradition between saying and doing. Carry out the will of the Father, for Jesus, it is not simply a question of words, but rather facts, as emerges in the Sermon on the Mount: «Not just anyone says to me «Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Mt 7,21). The religious leaders addressed in the parable, who believe they can serve God by remaining faithful to the Torah, in fact they do not obey him.

For this Jesus rebukes them of not having listened to the message of John the Baptist who came on the path of observance of "justice" (Mt 21,32), while paradoxically those who were normally considered incapable of following God's commands listened to it and put it into practice, i.e. tax collectors and prostitutes. These are the children who actually go to work in the vineyard and will enter the kingdom first. They are the ones who repent (cf.. Mt 21,29.32) and knowing that they need divine grace they will open themselves to it and receive it. From this point of view, that is, by correlation between words and facts, the parable is very close to the concreteness of the Letter of James, especially when he insists on the contradiction between having faith but not works (cf.. GC 2,14-17).

At the conclusion of the parable, this expression - "the way of justice" - with which the story ends could refer both to the history of salvation in which the Baptist is also included as the precursor of Jesus, or the right behavior, in accordance with the will of God, that characterized Giovanni's life. The concept of justice, as Matthew has already made clear in the Sermon on the Mount, it takes on a specific meaning and, rather, it almost becomes a guiding concept. Matteo, indeed, will describe Jesus during the passion - (cf.. Mt 27,19, the words of Pilate's wife: «Don't have anything to do with that righteous man») — the same way the Baptist is defined. Since the beginning of the Gospel, justice has been the program that Jesus decided to fulfill and which was expressed in his first words, pronounced right in front of Giovanni (cf.. Mt 3,15: «Leave it for now, because it is fitting that we fulfill all righteousness"). For Matteo, so, It is above all important to carry out and practice justice (cf.. Mt 6,1), as the son in the parable who puts his father's will into practice shows himself to do.

From this parable the Christian learns that obedience to the word and will of God could also involve denying his own word and will. Faith, indeed, he does not ask us not to make mistakes and not to sin, but to recognize the error and confess the sin. In that son's change of mind we glimpse his internal dialogue together with his awareness of reality; there is the audacity to look oneself in the face, to dare to see each other in truth, with a view to acting responsibly. In this sense, far from being a sign of weakness, repentance is a sign of courage and strength. As rare and unpopular as it is, also in the Church, the gesture of someone who recognizes having made a mistake, of those who admit having taken positions that have proven to be not in conformity with the Gospel and change their position trying to be more faithful to the Gospel, it is a sign of human and spiritual greatness.

From the Hermitage, 26 September 2026

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PROSTITUTES ARE ENTERING THE KINGDOM OF GOD BEFORE YOU

«When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him»

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Author
Hermit Monk

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In chapter 21 of his Gospel, Matthew shows how the confrontation between Jesus and the Jewish authorities grows ever more pointed and bitter. In particular, after a dispute with the chief priests and the elders of the people over his authority (Mt 21:23–27), Jesus speaks three parables, all centred on the refusal, on the part of the leaders of Israel, of the offer of salvation. Here is the passage for this Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

«At that time, Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him» (Mt 21:28–32).

This parable has had a distinctive textual history. Some important witnesses to the text, such as Codex Vaticanus (B), reverse the order of the sons, so that it becomes the second son who answers the father that he will not go, only to go to the vineyard after all. This may be due to an ideological reason bound up with a particular reading of the history of salvation: the first son, who says he will go but then fails to act on his word, would already have been identified by some Christian copyists with the Jews, while the pagans would be represented by the son who says he will not go, but then goes to work. And since this logic was not, however, supported by the order in which the two figures are presented, the order would have been reversed. On the level of textual criticism, the order currently found in the critical text is to be preferred, even if some doubt remains.

The parabolic account in Saint Matthew is the second to be set in a vineyard (the first is found in Mt 19:30–20:16), and belongs to material proper to the first evangelist, and therefore has no parallels in Mark or Luke. Composed of only three verses, it is framed by two questions that draw the listener’s attention — v. 28: “What is your opinion?”, a classic rabbinic formula; and v. 31: “Which of the two” — and is followed by an explanation of his own that takes up the question, left open at v. 27, concerning the authority of Jesus and the baptism of John.

Interpretations of our passage have multiplied over time and vary according to the author. For some Fathers of the Church, the son who will not go to work in the vineyard is unquestionably Israel. This reading has carried within it that theology of “replacement”, also called “supersessionism”, according to which — as a consequence of the claim that all the Jews rejected Jesus — the people of the covenant would no longer have any role in the history of salvation, a role that the Church would then take up in their place. Such a theology is not sustainable, since it would suffice to reread, to be convinced of this, chapters 9–11 of Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

But those to whom Jesus is speaking in the text, those, that is, who are questioning his authority, are not “all” Israel, but only some of the leaders of that people, as is specified shortly before the parable (cf. Mt 21:23), and as the evangelist will say shortly afterward (cf. Mt 21:45). It is to these that Jesus is speaking, and only to these that he will say a little further on: “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (Mt 21:43). This alternative interpretation can be grounded in reasons of a literary kind, but also in the fact that the identification of the son who refuses to go into the vineyard with Israel is not universal: for other Fathers, such as, for example, Saint Hilary of Poitiers, these would be only a part of the Jewish people: the Pharisees, or those who let themselves be influenced by them.

More than the problem of identification — that is, of whom Jesus is speaking to — on closer inspection the parable seems to be centred above all on another question: that concerning the classic relationship, in the biblical and Jewish tradition, between saying and doing. To do the will of the Father, for Jesus, is not simply a matter of words, but rather of deeds, as emerges in the Sermon on the Mount: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21). The religious leaders to whom the parable is addressed, who believe they can serve God while remaining faithful to the Torah, do not in fact obey him.

For this reason Jesus reproaches them for not having listened to the message of John the Baptist, who came in observance of “the way of righteousness” (Mt 21:32), while paradoxically it was heeded and put into practice by those who were normally considered incapable of following the commandments of God — namely, tax collectors and prostitutes. These are the sons who by their deeds go to work in the vineyard and will enter the Kingdom first. They are those who repent (cf. Mt 21:29,32) and, knowing that they need God’s grace, open themselves to it and receive it. From this point of view — that is, by correlation between words and deeds — the parable comes very close to the concreteness of the Letter of James, especially where it insists on the contradiction between having faith but not works (cf. Jas 2:14–17).

At the conclusion of the parable, this expression — “the way of righteousness” — with which the account closes could refer either to the history of salvation, into which the Baptist too is inserted as forerunner of Jesus, or to righteous conduct, in keeping with the will of God, which marked the life of John. The concept of righteousness, as Matthew has already made clear in the Sermon on the Mount, takes on a specific meaning and, indeed, becomes almost a guiding concept. Matthew, in fact, will describe Jesus during the passion — (cf. Mt 27:19, the words of Pilate’s wife: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man”) — in the same way that the Baptist is described. Righteousness is, from the very beginning of the Gospel, the programme that Jesus has resolved to carry out, and which was expressed in his very first words, spoken precisely in the presence of John (cf. Mt 3:15: “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”). For Matthew, then, it is above all important to do and practise righteousness (cf. Mt 6:1), as the son of the parable shows in putting his father’s will into practice.

From this parable the Christian learns that obedience to the word and the will of God may pass even through the disavowal of one’s own word and one’s own will. Faith, in fact, does not ask us never to err and never to sin, but to acknowledge our error and confess our sin. In that change of heart on the son’s part one glimpses his interior dialogue, together with his coming to terms with reality; there is the audacity of looking oneself in the face, of daring to see oneself in truth, with a view to acting responsibly. In this sense, far from being a sign of weakness, repentance is a sign of courage and strength. However rare and unpopular it may be, even within the Church, the gesture of one who acknowledges having erred, who admits to having taken positions that have proven not fully in keeping with the Gospel, and who changes his position in seeking to be more faithful to the Gospel, is a sign of human and spiritual greatness.

From the Hermitage, 26 September 2026

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PROSTITUTES GO AHEAD OF YOU IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

"For John came to you, teaching you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him."; instead, The publicans and prostitutes believed him.. Y, even after seeing this, "You did not repent nor believe him."

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Author
Hermit Monk

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In the chapter 21 of his Gospel, Mateo shows how the confrontation between Jesus and the Jewish authorities becomes increasingly tense and sharpens. In particular, after a discussion with the chief priests and elders of the people about his authority (Mt 21,23-27), Jesus speaks three parables, all focused on rejection, by the leaders of Israel, of the offer of salvation. Here is the passage from this XXVI Sunday in Ordinary Time:

«At that time, Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: What do you think? A man had two children. He approached the first one and said: 'Son, go to work in the vineyard today'. He answered her: 'I don't want to'. But later he repented and went. He approached the second and said the same thing.. He answered her: ‘Voy, señor’. But it wasn't. Which of the two fulfilled his father's will??’. They answered: 'The first'. Jesus told them: 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are ahead of you in the kingdom of God.. Because John came to you teaching you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him.; instead, The publicans and prostitutes believed him.. Y, even after seeing this, "You did not repent nor believe him." (Mt 21,28-32).

This parable has had a particular textual transmission. Some important witnesses of the text, like the Codex Vaticanus (B), they reverse the order of the children, so it becomes the second son who responds to the father that he will not go, for later, however, head to the vineyard. This could be due to an ideological reason focused on a certain vision of salvation history.: the first son, who says he will go but then does not put his purpose into practice, would have already been identified by some Christian copyists with the Jews, while the pagans would be represented by the son who says he does not want to go, but then he goes to work. And since this logic was not, however, supported by the order in which the two protagonists are presented, the order would have been reversed. At the level of textual criticism, the order currently present in the critical text is preferable., although some doubt remains.

The parabolic story in San Mateo It is the second to be set in a vineyard (the first is found in Mt 19,30-20,16), and is part of the material of the first evangelist, so it has no parallels in Mark or Luke. Composed of only three verses, is framed by two questions that demand the attention of the interlocutor — v. 28: «What do you think?», which is a classic rabbinic formula; and the v. 31: "Which of the two?» — and is followed by an own explanation that takes up the question, left in suspense in the v. 27, on the authority of Jesus and the baptism of John.

Interpretations of our passage They have multiplied over time and vary depending on the author.. For some Church Fathers, the son who will not go to work in the vineyard is, no discussion, Israel. This reading has conveyed that theology of "substitution", Also called "supersessionism", according to which — as a consequence of the fact that all the Jews had rejected Jesus — there would no longer be any role for the people of the covenant in the history of salvation, role that the Church would then assume in its place. Such theology is not sustainable, Well, it would be enough to reread, to convince yourself of it, the chapters 9-11 from Paul's letter to the Romans.

But those to whom Jesus addresses in the text, that is to say, those who inquire about his authority, They are not "all" Israel, but only some of the leaders of that town, as specified shortly before the parable (cf. Mt 21,23), and as the evangelist will say shortly after (cf. Mt 21,45). It is to these that Jesus addresses, and only to these he will tell a little later: "the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits" (Mt 21,43). This alternative interpretation may be based on literary reasons., but also in the fact that the identification of the son who refuses to go to the vineyard with Israel is not universal: for other parents, as, For example, Saint Hilary of Poitiers, These would be only a part of the Jewish people: the pharisees, or those who were influenced by them.

More than the problem of identification, that is to say, Who Jesus is Addressing, Looking closely, the parable seems to focus above all on another issue.: the one referring to the classical relationship, in biblical and Jewish tradition, between saying and doing. Fulfill the will of the Father, for Jesus, It's not just a matter of words, but rather facts, as can be seen from the Mountain Speech: «Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mt 7,21). The religious leaders to whom the parable is addressed, who believe they can serve God by remaining faithful to the Torah, In fact they do not obey him.

That is why Jesus reproaches them not having heard the message of John the Baptist, come down the path of observance "of justice" (Mt 21,32), while, paradoxically, It was heard and put into practice by those normally considered incapable of following God's commandments., that is to say, publicans and prostitutes. These are the children who, with their deeds, will work in the vineyard and will enter the Kingdom first.. They are the ones who regret (cf. Mt 21,29.32) and, knowing that they need divine grace, they open to it and receive it. From this point of view, that is to say, by the correlation between words and deeds, The parable is very close to the concretion of the Letter of James, especially when he insists on the contradiction between having faith but not works (cf. St 2,14-17).

At the conclusion of the parable, This expression — “the path of justice” — with which the story closes could refer both to the history of salvation, in which the Baptist is also inserted as a precursor of Jesus, as to just conduct, according to the will of God, that characterized the life of Juan. The concept of justice, as Matthew has already implied in the Discourse on the Mount, acquires a specific meaning and, even more, becomes almost a guiding concept. Mateo, indeed, will describe Jesus during the passion — (cf. Mt 27,19, the words of Pilate's wife: «Don't have anything to do with that righteous man») — in the same way that the Baptist is defined. Justice is, from the very beginning of the Gospel, the program that Jesus has decided to fulfill, and that was expressed in his first words, pronounced precisely before Juan (cf. Mt 3,15: «Leave it now. It is appropriate that in this way we fulfill all justice."). For Matthew, therefore, It is important above all to comply and practice justice (cf. Mt 6,1), as the son in the parable shows by putting the father's will into practice.

From this parable The Christian learns that obedience to the word and will of God can even involve going back on one's own word and will.. faith, indeed, does not ask us not to make mistakes and not to sin, but to recognize the error and confess the sin. In the son's change of mind, his inner dialogue is glimpsed., along with awareness of reality; there is in it the audacity to look oneself in the face, to dare to see oneself truly, with a view to responsible acting. In this sense, far from being a sign of weakness, repentance is a sign of courage and strength. However rare and unpopular it may be, even in the Church, the gesture of someone who admits having made a mistake, of those who admit to having assumed positions that have been revealed to be little in accordance with the Gospel and change their positions seeking to be more faithful to the Gospel, It is a sign of human and spiritual greatness.

From the Hermitage, 26 September of 2026

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The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

«MAGNIFICAT», THE GREAT HARD ROCK OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION

Even the heresiarch Martin Luther, that the Blessed Virgin was always very devoted - which most of the Catholic faithful, But also many scholars ignore -, In the 1521 he composed an intense little book entitled The Magnificat translated into German and commented.

Author
Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo

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PDF print format article

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On Christmas Day 1886 the young writer and poet, agnostic at the time, Paul Claudel, pass through the portal of Our Lady from Paris and the song of the Magnificat, evangelical text of the liturgy of Vespers.

He later confessed that he emerged from that experience transformed, destined to become the singer of the Christian faith known to all; many know his drama: Announcement made to Mary. Years after, In the 1913, will narrate:

«On that day I believed with such strength of adhesion, with such an elevation of my entire being, with such a strong belief, with such certainty, with such an absence of doubt that later nor the books, nor the reasoning, nor could the fate of a troubled life shake my faith".

The 15 August of each year, the calendar commemorates the solemnity of the assumption into heaven of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of the Lord, despite the widespread secularized denomination of "Ferragosto". Well, that one enters a solemn cathedral like Our Lady or in a small chapel lost in the mountains, each one, on this day, will hear that song of the Magnificat which distinguishes the Holy Mass of this Solemnity. Here is the passage reported by the evangelist Luke.

«In those days Mary got up and went quickly towards the mountainous region, in a city of Judah. Entry into the house of Zaccarìa, greeted Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed in a loud voice: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! To what do I owe the mother of my Lord to come to me? there, as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leapt for joy in my womb. And blessed is she who believed in the fulfillment of what the Lord told her”. Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior, because he looked at the humility of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me and Holy is his name; his mercy to those who fear him from generation to generation. He explained the power of his arm, he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has overthrown the mighty from their thrones, he raised up the humble; he has filled the hungry with good things, he sent the rich away empty-handed. He helped Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy, as he had told our fathers, for Abraham and his descendants, forever”. Maria stayed with her about three months, then he returned to his home" (LC 1,39-56).

Maria, pregnant with Jesus, while he is visiting his relative Elizabeth, pregnant in turn with John the Baptist, intones this extraordinarily long hymn that Luke reports. It is the only time that the words of the Mother of Christ expand to the point of understanding well 102 words in Greek, including articles, pronouns and particles. The other times, only five in total, Mary's sentences reported in the Gospels are short and almost halting, as in Cana during the wedding in which his Son also participates: «They have no more wine» and «Whatever I tell you, do it" (GV 2, 3). Let's follow, At that time, the poetic flow of this Marian psalmody woven onto a palimpsest of biblical allusions.

Ideally the singing is for soloist and choir. The first movement is intoned by Maria's "I".: «My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior, because he looked at the humility of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me." (LC 1,49). Origen asks (III):

«What did he have, the mother of the Lord, humble and low, she who carried the Son of God in her womb? Saying: “She looked at the humility of her handmaid”, it's as if he were saying: he looked upon the righteousness of his handmaiden, he looked at his temperance, he looked at his strength and his wisdom" (Origene, Homilies on Luke).

In the second movement of the hymn the voice of a choir enters into which Mary's voice joins, just like a soprano who lets her singing emerge. It is the choir of Christians, heirs of those "poor" of the Old Testament, the grapes (Anawim), those who are stooped, not only under the oppression of the powerful, but also in the humility of adoration towards God, thus overcoming the arrogance of the proud. These, socially poor, but above all faithful and just, they celebrate, ideally uniting with the voice of Mary, the particular divine choices that differ from worldly logic, privileging not the strong or the powerful, but the last and the marginalized; thus overturning historical hierarchies. The Evangelista Luca, using the Greek aorist tense called «gnomic», because it refers to experiences acquired beyond their temporal character, describes through seven verbs, a number that indicates fullness, the singular divine choices:

«He explained the power of his arm, / he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, / he has overthrown the mighty from their thrones, / he raised up the humble, / he has filled the hungry with good things, / he sent the rich away empty-handed, / he has helped his servant Israel" (LC 1,51-54).

It is a constant logic of God which we also find on the lips of Jesus: «So the last will be first and the first, last" (Mt 20,16) and “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (LC 14, 11).

The charm of Mary's words, In the Magnificat, it has been imprinted in Christian spirituality ever since, informing the lives of many saints and has given rise to a myriad of comments of all kinds and many works of art, both pictorial, how musical. Even the heresiarch Martin Luther, that the Blessed Virgin was always very devoted - which most of the Catholic faithful, But also many scholars ignore -, In the 1521 he composed an intense little book entitled The Magnificat translated into German and commented.

This beautiful song of Magnificat it is placed by the Liturgy as the setting of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary which is celebrated everywhere, in the East, as in the Christian West. Since the Dormition-Assumption of Mary is a sign of the ultimate realities, of what must happen in a future that is not so much chronological but rather meaningful, a sign of the fullness that our limits yearn for: in her we sense the glorification that awaits the entire cosmos at the end of time, when "God will be all in all" (1Color 15,28) and in everything. She, the Vergine Maria, it is the portion of humanity already redeemed, figure of that promised land to which we are called, strip of earth transplanted into the sky. A hymn of the Serbian Orthodox Church sings Mary as "land of heaven", earth now in God forever, anticipation of our common destiny.

I would like to conclude with the words of a famous prayer with which Saint Francis greets Mary today remembered as Assumption into heaven:

«Hail Madam, Santa Regina, holy parent of God, Maria, that you are a virgin made Church / and elected by the most holy heavenly Father, who consecrated you together with his most holy beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit Paraclete; / you in whom there was and is every fullness of grace and every good. / Ave, his palace, ave, his tabernacle, ave, your home. / Ave, his clothing, ave, his handmaiden, ave, his Mother. / And I greet you all, holy virtues, that by grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit you are infused into the hearts of the faithful, because they are unfaithful / make them faithful to God" (FF 259-260).

From the island of Patmos, 15 August 2026

Solemnity of the Assumption

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The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

Italian, english, español

IF ANYONE EATS THIS BREAD HE WILL LIVE FOREVER

In the Eucharist it is the body of Christ itself that, in its fullness as a source of grace, comes to us; and it is not through a more or less superficial and ephemeral contact, but through the most intimate and lasting way possible: the assimilation of a food"

Author
Hermit Monk

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The Gospel of this Solemnity it is the conclusion of the story of the multiplication of the loaves according to John.

This "sign" of sharing, seems to be very important to Jesus, since it is the only one narrated by all four gospels; rather, Matthew and Mark even tell it twice. The narratives are similar, yet each retains some of its own characteristics. Let's see the text:

"During that time, Jesus said to the crowd: «I am the living bread, down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world ". Then the Jews began to argue bitterly among themselves: «How can this man give us his flesh to eat?». Jesus said to them,: "In truth, verily I tell you: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will resurrect him on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Like the Father, that has life, he sent me and I live for the Father, so also he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like what the fathers ate and died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever" (GV 6,51-58).

Giovanni's story, in particular, it does not seem to be a model of that of the synoptics, since it was not put together with passages taken from the other Gospels; appears as an original composition based on an independent tradition that John would have collected and preserved. E, more specifically, in the Johannine narrative there is a very strong theological orientation which emerges above all in the passage proposed today in the lectionary. This passage could be considered the Eucharistic or sacramental section of the story. Even in the other five versions in the synoptic gospels there is a strong Eucharistic motif, but in John it is more explicit, because it is probably the Gospel furthest from the events narrated. It is possible that gradually the story of the multiplication of the loaves formed part of the tradition of the Christian community, its connection to the special food of God's people, l'Eucharist, was increasingly recognized. The language of the multiplication stories was colored by the Eucharistic liturgies familiar to the various communities.

Even today our communities celebrate the memory of the Body and Blood of the Lord, that is, of the donated body, delivered, of Jesus for the life of men. The words of the Lord: «I am the living bread, down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever" (GV 6,51) they reveal first of all who Jesus is: He who reveals the Father and gives life to the world with his own life, for love. In this way the words: «eat my flesh and drink my blood» (cf.. GV 6,53-56), they refer the disciple to the spiritual operation of assimilating the life of Christ into his own existence.

And therefore they refer to faith, that is, to believe, as well as listening to the word of the Lord and acting in practice, in concretely doing the will of the Father, as Jesus himself did. The life of the Lord, his flesh and blood, as witnessed in the Gospels, it is the food that every believer is called to eat so that the life of Jesus lives concretely in him. And the Church becomes the place where the humanity of every believer is called to conform to the life of the risen Lord who continues to give himself to us. So that it is true that a single life binds the Lord and his disciple. The Church thus manifests itself as a place of the alliance between the Lord and the believer.

The evangelical page that was proclaimed it reveals to us the meaning of the Eucharistic mystery that we celebrate. But the verse – «Whoever eats me, he too will live through me" (verbatim) – may seem strangely harsh, so much so that some of Jesus' listeners did not understand him and ended up abandoning him. Perhaps this apparent harshness can be explained, first of all recovering the anthropological sense of eating:

«In the Eucharist it is the very body of Christ that, in its fullness as a source of grace, comes to us; and it is not through a more or less superficial and ephemeral contact, but through the most intimate and lasting way possible: the assimilation of a food" (Pierre-Marie Benoît, ON, The stories of the institution and their scope, Light & Vie, n° 31, 1957).

Even Saint John uses the Greek verb to indicate "eating". three, which some translate literally as "chew". That is, we have a reference to that essential activity of eating which involves the transformation of food through the destruction of solid forms to make them digestible and assimilable.. In this way we can recover the realism of John's text and make it eloquent today, without losing the theological and spiritual value of the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist.

For man, eating is a primordial act which accompanies us from life in the womb until death. But the act of eating is also a reference to man's cultural activity: it involves work, food preparation, sociality, conviviality. Indeed, man eats together with others and eating is connected to a table, place of friendship creation, fraternity, alliance and society. At the table you don't just share food, but they also exchange words and conversations that nourish relationships, that is, what gives meaning to life supported by food. Eating therefore also involves the most extraordinary cultural creation: the language. Tied as it is to orality and desire, the act of eating affects the affective and emotional sphere of man. It is therefore an anthropological symbol of unique significance that captures the human being in his most intimate and hidden depths and places him in the bond with the earth, with the cosmos, with the police, society and the world. There is no more total assent for man to everything that surrounds him than the act of eating. It is the human way of saying yes.

From this material and anthropological aspect we move spontaneously to the theological and spiritual one, which we grasp in all its significance in the words of Jesus that we have heard: «Like the Father, that has life, he sent me and I live for the Father, so also he who eats me will live because of me.". The "eating of me" is placed in line with the sending of the Son by the Father. It is the outcome of the mission received from the Father and the culmination of the Trinitarian event of divine revelation and communication to man in Jesus, but also the extreme act of love reached by the obedience of the Son towards the Father. From the anthropological level of eating we thus go back to the deepest and most intimate theological level which makes us understand how the Lord is the One who gives himself as food to man. “Eating me” is then the most radical expression of the love of Christ and God for humanity. This eating is made possible by the gift that the Father, in his great love (GV 3,16), He makes the Son by sending him into the world so that men may have life in abundance (GV 10,10) and that the Son freely makes of himself, for the love of humanity (GV 10,11.18; 15,13).

What, so, it is fundamental in this eating it is recognizing the gift that is at its origin. This food, indeed, it does not come from man, but it flows from God's love for man and tends to communicate the love in which true life consists. The Eucharistic food we eat is sacrament ― Sacramento ― through which the love and life of God reach man. The Eucharistic community which in approaching the Lord's table reaches its culmination and rediscovers its source, as the Council expresses it, therefore flows from love, through the mediation of the goods of creation, the bread and wine that the Church blesses, which become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Underlining, at last, the many connections that our evangelical passage has with the entire sixth chapter of Saint John of which it is part, we realize that we find this reality that Jesus reveals to us everywhere: He presents himself as the One who reveals the Father and then as Eucharistic food and drink. For us believers this means that "eating me", requested by Jesus, cannot be separated from "coming to Jesus" (GV 6,35-45), or from "believing in Him". The parallel between believing and eating is significant. Let us remember the important and decisive words of Jesus: «This is the will of my Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (GV 6,40); “He who believes has eternal life” (GV 6,47); "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day" (GV 6,54); «Whoever eats this bread will live forever» (6,58). Thus believing in the Lord and eating his Body and drinking his Blood are inseparably united, Why: "the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (GV 6,33). And the life that Jesus offers us is that of the Father; for this reason coming to Jesus and listening to his Word allows believers to be generated into the new life of the children of God (GV 1,12-13). Before the multiplication of the loaves and the dense discourse that followed, Jesus had stated: «Whoever listens to my word... has eternal life» (GV 5,24). In this way, the phrase «Whoever eats me, he too will live through me" (6,57) it expresses not only the culmination of God's donation and communication to man in Christ, but it also opens us to an unexpected and completely free perspective. He, the Lord Jesus, who has "returned to the bosom of the Father" continues to show us the way of life: “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (GV 6,33).

But eternal life promised to those who assimilate the life of Christ (cf.. GV 6,51.54.58), in reality it already begins here and now for the believer. In every Eucharist we announce, indeed, the death of the Lord, we proclaim his resurrection, waiting for Him to come.

Like Jesus we too integrate death into life making life an act of donation, an act of love in the footsteps of Jesus (cf.. GV 13,34). For this love Jesus still gives himself as food and drink to men. The life of God and the life of man meet in love, nell’agape, food that truly nourishes man and reality that constitutes the life of God; indeed: «God is love» (1GV 4,8.16). The Eucharist is the sacrament of charity, dell’agape, every time we celebrate it we hear stories of how God gives himself to men and by communicating with the Body and Blood of the Lord we too become capable of giving.

From the Hermitage, 6 June 2026

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IF ANYONE EATS OF THIS BREAD, HE WILL LIVE FOR EVER

«In the Eucharist it is the very Body of Christ that comes to us in the fullness of its power as a source of grace; and it comes not through a contact that is more or less superficial and fleeting, but through the most intimate and enduring mode possible: the assimilation of food.»

Author
Hermit Monk

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The Gospel proclaimed on this Solemnity is the conclusion of Saint John’s account of the multiplication of the loaves. This “sign” of sharing appears to have been of particular importance to Jesus, since it is the only miracle narrated by all four Evangelists; indeed, Matthew and Mark recount it twice. The accounts are similar, yet each preserves certain distinctive characteristics. Let us consider the text:

«At that time Jesus said to the crowd: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”» (Jn 6:51-58).

John’s account, in particular, does not appear to be a reworking of the Synoptic narratives, for it has not been assembled from passages borrowed from the other Gospels. Rather, it appears as an original composition based upon an independent tradition which John gathered and preserved. More specifically, within the Johannine narrative there is a very strong theological orientation which emerges above all in the passage proposed today by the lectionary. This section may rightly be regarded as the Eucharistic or sacramental portion of the account. The other five versions found in the Synoptic Gospels also contain a strong Eucharistic motif, but in John it is expressed more explicitly, probably because this Gospel stands at a greater chronological distance from the events narrated. As the account of the multiplication of the loaves increasingly became part of the living tradition of the Christian community, its connection with the special food of God’s people — the Eucharist — came to be recognised ever more clearly. The language of the multiplication narratives gradually took on the colouring of the Eucharistic liturgies familiar to the various Christian communities.

Even today our communities celebrate the memorial of the Body and Blood of the Lord: that is, of the Body given and handed over by Jesus for the life of mankind. The Lord’s words: «I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever» (Jn 6:51), first of all reveal who Jesus is: the One who reveals the Father and gives life to the world through His own life, out of love. In this way the words «eat my flesh and drink my blood» (cf. Jn 6:53,54,56) direct the disciple towards the spiritual task of assimilating the life of Christ into his own existence.

Thus these words point us towards faith — that is, towards believing — as well as towards listening to the word of the Lord and putting it into practice by concretely doing the will of the Father, just as Jesus Himself did. The life of the Lord, His flesh and His blood, as witnessed in the Gospels, is the food upon which every believer is called to nourish himself, so that the life of Jesus may live concretely within him. The Church thus becomes the place in which the humanity of every believer is called to be conformed to the life of the Risen Lord, who continues to give Himself to us. In this way it becomes true that a single life binds together the Lord and His disciple. The Church therefore manifests herself as the place of the covenant between the Lord and the believer.

The Gospel passage proclaimed today reveals to us the meaning of the Eucharistic mystery that we celebrate. Yet the verse — «Whoever feeds on me will have life because of me» (literally) — may seem strangely harsh, so much so that some of Jesus’ listeners failed to understand it and ultimately abandoned Him. Perhaps this apparent harshness can be explained by first recovering the anthropological meaning of eating:

«In the Eucharist it is the very Body of Christ that comes to us in the fullness of its power as a source of grace; and it comes not through a contact that is more or less superficial and fleeting, but through the most intimate and enduring mode possible: the assimilation of food» (Pierre-Marie Benoît, OP, The stories of the institution and their scope, Light & Vie, no. 31, 1957).

Saint John even uses the Greek verb three to indicate “eating”, a verb that some translators render literally as “to chew”. We are thus referred to that essential human activity of eating which implies the transformation of food through the breaking down of solid forms so as to make them digestible and capable of being assimilated. In this way we may recover the realism of the Johannine text and render it eloquent for our own time without losing the theological and spiritual value of the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist.

For man, eating is a primordial act that accompanies us from life in the maternal womb until death. Yet the act of eating also points towards man’s cultural activity: it implies labour, the preparation of food, social interaction and conviviality. Indeed, man eats together with others, and eating is connected with the table, a place where friendship, fraternity, covenant and society are created. Around the table not only is food shared, but words and conversations are exchanged, nourishing relationships and thus that which gives meaning to the life sustained by food. Eating therefore also implies humanity’s most extraordinary cultural creation: language itself. Bound as it is to orality and desire, the act of eating engages the affective and emotional sphere of man. It is therefore an anthropological symbol of unique richness, one that grasps the human being in his deepest and most hidden dimensions and situates him within his relationship to the earth, the cosmos, the police, society and the world. For man there exists no more total assent to all that surrounds him than the act of eating. It is the human way of saying “yes”.

From this material and anthropological dimension we pass naturally to the theological and spiritual one, which we grasp in all its richness in the words of Jesus that we have heard: «Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.» The expression “feeds on me” is placed in continuity with the sending of the Son by the Father. It is the outcome of the mission received from the Father and the culmination of the Trinitarian event of divine revelation and communication to humanity in Jesus. At the same time, it is the supreme act of love to which the Son’s obedience to the Father attains. From the anthropological dimension of eating we thus ascend to the deepest and most intimate theological dimension, which enables us to understand how the Lord is the One who gives Himself as food to mankind. “Feeding on me” thus becomes the most radical expression of Christ’s love and of God’s love for humanity. This feeding is made possible by the gift that the Father, in His great love (Jn 3:16), gives in sending the Son into the world so that men may have life in abundance (Jn 10:10), and by the gift that the Son freely makes of Himself for love of humanity (Jn 10:11,18; 15:13).

What is therefore fundamental in this feeding is recognising the gift that lies at its origin. This food does not come from man; rather, it springs from God’s love for man and tends towards the communication of that love in which true life consists. The Eucharistic nourishment that we receive is a sacrament — a Sacrament — through which the love and life of God reach mankind. The Eucharistic community, which reaches its summit in approaching the table of the Lord and there rediscovers its source, as the Council teaches, springs from love through the mediation of the goods of creation: bread and wine, which the Church blesses and which become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Finally, by considering the many connections that our Gospel passage has with the entirety of Saint John’s sixth chapter, of which it forms a part, we realise that we encounter everywhere this reality revealed to us by Jesus: He presents Himself as the One who reveals the Father and then as Eucharistic food and drink. For us believers, this means that the “feeding on me” demanded by Jesus cannot be separated from “coming to Jesus” (Jn 6:35-45), that is, from “believing in Him”. The parallel between believing and eating is significant. Let us recall Jesus’ important and decisive words: «For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day» (Jn 6:40); «Whoever believes has eternal life» (Jn 6:47); «Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day» (Jn 6:54); «Whoever eats this bread will live forever» (Jn 6:58). Thus believing in the Lord, eating His Body and drinking His Blood are inseparably united, because: «the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world» (Jn 6:33).

And the life that Jesus offers us is the life of the Father. For this reason, coming to Jesus and listening to His word enables believers to be begotten into the new life of the children of God (Jn 1:12-13). Before the multiplication of the loaves and the profound discourse that followed it, Jesus had already declared: «Whoever hears my word … has eternal life» (Jn 5:24). In this way, the phrase «Whoever feeds on me will have life because of me» (Jn 6:57) expresses not only the culmination of God’s self-giving and self-communication to humanity in Christ, but also opens before us an unexpected and entirely gratuitous perspective. He, the Lord Jesus, who has «returned to the bosom of the Father», continues to show us the way of life: «For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world» (Jn 6:33).

Yet the eternal life promised to those who assimilate the life of Christ (cf. Jn 6:51,54,58) actually begins already here and now for the believer. In every Eucharist, indeed, we proclaim the Lord’s death, we profess His Resurrection and await His coming.

Like Jesus, we too integrate death into life by making our life an act of self-giving, an act of love in the footsteps of Jesus (cf. Jn 13:34). For this love Jesus continues to give Himself as food and drink to mankind. The life of God and the life of man meet in love, in agape, the food that truly nourishes man and the reality that constitutes the very life of God; for: «God is love» (1 Jn 4:8,16). The Eucharist is the Sacrament of charity, the Sacrament of agape. Each time we celebrate it, we hear proclaimed how God gives Himself to mankind; and by receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord we ourselves become capable of self-giving.

From the Hermitage, 6 June 2026

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______________________________

IF ANYONE EAT THIS BREAD, WILL LIVE FOREVER

«In the Eucharist it is the same Body of Christ that comes to us, in all the fullness of its condition as a source of grace; and it does not do so through a more or less superficial and ephemeral contact, but through the most intimate and lasting way possible: the assimilation of food.

Author
Hermit Monk

.

The Gospel of this Solemnity constitutes the conclusion of the story of the multiplication of the loaves according to Saint John. This “sign” of sharing seems to be very important to Jesus, since it is the only one narrated by the four evangelists; even more, Matthew and Mark even tell it twice. The stories are similar and, however, each one retains some of its own characteristics. Let's look at the text:

«At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.. "Whoever eats this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.". Then the Jews began to argue heatedly among themselves: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"?”. Jesus answered them: "Actually, truly I tell you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. Because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Like the Father, what does life have, He has sent me and I live because of the Father, so also he who eats me will live for me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; not like the one your fathers ate and died. "Whoever eats this bread will live forever." (Jn 6,51-58).

John's story, in particular, does not appear to be a simple reworking of the synoptic accounts, since it has not been composed by gathering fragments taken from the other Gospels; rather it appears as an original composition based on an independent tradition that John would have collected and preserved.. Y, more specifically, In the Johannine narrative there is a very marked theological orientation that emerges especially in the passage proposed today by the lectionary.. This text can be considered the eucharistic or sacramental section of the story. Also in the other five versions present in the synoptic gospels there is a strong Eucharistic motif., but in John it appears more explicitly, probably because it is the Gospel furthest from the events narrated. It is possible that, as the story of the multiplication of the loaves became part of the tradition of the Christian community, its relationship with the special food of God's people, the Eucharist, was being recognized more and more clearly. The language of the multiplication stories was progressively permeated by the Eucharistic liturgies familiar to the different communities..

Also today our communities celebrate the memory of the Body and Blood of the Lord, that is to say, of the body given and offered by Jesus for the lives of men. The words of the Lord: «I am the living bread that came down from heaven. "Whoever eats this bread will live forever." (Jn 6,51), they reveal above all who Jesus is: He who reveals the Father and gives life to the world with his own life, for love. Thus, the words "eat my flesh and drink my blood" (cf. Jn 6,53-56), They refer the disciple to the spiritual task of assimilating the life of Christ into his own existence..

So, These words refer to faith, that is to say, to the act of believing, as well as listening to the Word of the Lord and putting it into concrete practice through the fulfillment of the Father's will., just like Jesus himself did. The life of the Lord, his flesh and blood, as witnessed to us in the Gospels, It is the food that every believer is called to nourish so that the life of Jesus lives concretely in him.. And the Church becomes the place where the humanity of each believer is called to be configured with the life of the risen Lord., that continues to give itself to us. So that it is true that one life unites the Lord and his disciple. So, The Church is manifested as the place of the alliance between the Lord and the believer.

The evangelical page that has been proclaimed reveals to us the meaning of the Eucharistic mystery that we celebrate. But the verse — "Whoever eats me, He too will live for me." (literally) — may seem strangely harsh, to the point that some of Jesus' listeners did not understand him and ended up abandoning him. Perhaps this apparent hardness can be explained by recovering, first of all, the anthropological sense of eating:

«In the Eucharist it is the same Body of Christ that comes to us, in all the fullness of its condition as a source of grace; and it does not do so through a more or less superficial and ephemeral contact, but through the most intimate and lasting way possible: the assimilation of food (Pierre-Marie Benoît, OP, The stories of the institution and their scope, Light & Vie, n.º 31, 1957).

Even Saint John uses the Greek verb to indicate the act of "eating" three, which some literally translate as "chew". We thus have a reference to that essential activity of eating that involves the transformation of food through the destruction of solid forms to make them digestible and assimilable.. Through this path we can recover the realism of the Johannine text and make it eloquent for our time., without losing the theological and spiritual value of the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist.

for the man, Eating is a primordial act that accompanies one from life in the womb until death. But the act of eating also refers to the cultural activity of the human being.: involves work, food preparation, sociability and coexistence. Indeed, the man eats together with others, and the act of eating is linked to the table, place where friendship is born, the brotherhood, alliance and society. At the table not only food is shared, but also words and conversations that nourish relationships, that is to say, that which gives meaning to life sustained by food. Eating involves, therefore, also the most extraordinary cultural creation of human beings: the language. Linked as it is to orality and desire, The act of eating affects the affective and emotional sphere of the person. It is about, well, of an anthropological symbol of a unique wealth, capable of capturing the human being in its most intimate and hidden depths, placing it in relation to the earth, the cosmos, the police, society and the world. For man, there is no more total adhesion to everything around him than the act of eating.. It's the human way of saying your own yes.

From this material and anthropological aspect we spontaneously move on to the theological and spiritual aspect, that we perceive in all their richness in the words of Jesus that we have heard: "Like the Father, what does life have, He has sent me and I live because of the Father, "So also he who eats me will live for me.". The "eat me" appears in continuity with the sending of the Son by the Father. It is the result of the mission received from the Father and the culmination of the Trinitarian event of revelation and divine communication to man in Jesus., but also the supreme act of love to which the obedience of the Son towards the Father reaches. From the anthropological level of eating we thus ascend to the deepest and most intimate theological level., that allows us to understand how the Lord is the One who gives himself as food to man. "Eating me" then becomes the most radical expression of the love of Christ and God for humanity.. This eating is possible thanks to the gift that the Father, in his great love (Jn 3,16), makes the Son by sending him into the world so that men may have life in abundance (Jn 10,10), and thanks to the gift that the Son freely makes of himself, for love of humanity (Jn 10,11-18; 15,13).

The fundamental thing in this eating is, therefore, recognize the gift that is at its origin. This food does not come from man, but springs from the love of God for man and tends to the communication of that love in which true life consists. The Eucharistic food we receive is sacrament — Sacrament — through which the love and life of God reach man. The Eucharistic community that, when approaching the Lord's table, reaches its summit and rediscovers its source in it, as the Council teaches, springs from love through the mediation of the goods of creation: the bread and wine that the Church blesses and that become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Underlining, Finally, the many connections that our evangelical passage maintains with the entire sixth chapter of Saint John, of which it is part, We notice that this reality that Jesus reveals to us reappears everywhere.: He presents himself as the One who reveals the Father and then as Eucharistic food and drink. for us, the believers, This means that the "eat me", demanded by Jesus, cannot be separated from "coming to Jesus" (Jn 6,35-45), that is to say, of "believing in Him". The parallel between believing and eating is significant. Let us remember the important and decisive words of Jesus: «This is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (Jn 6,40); "He who believes has eternal life" (Jn 6,47); «He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (Jn 6,54); "Whoever eats this bread will live forever" (Jn 6,58). So, believing in the Lord and eating his Body and drinking his Blood are inseparably linked, why: "the bread of God is what comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (Jn 6,33). And the life that Jesus offers us is that of the Father; that's why, Coming to Jesus and hearing His Word enables believers to be begotten into the new life of the children of God. (Jn 1,12-13). Before the multiplication of the loaves and the dense discourse that followed, Jesus had stated: "Whoever hears my word... has eternal life" (Jn 5,24). Thus, the expression "Who eats me", He too will live for me." (Jn 6,57) expresses not only the culmination of the gift and communication of God to man in Christ, but also opens us to an unexpected and completely free perspective. That, the Lord Jesus, who has "returned to the bosom of the Father", continues to show us the path of life: "For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (Jn 6,33).

But eternal life promised to those who assimilate the life of Christ (cf. Jn 6,51.54.58), in reality it begins here and now for the believer. In each Eucharist we announce, indeed, the death of the Lord, we proclaim his Resurrection and await his coming.

Like Jesus, We also integrate death into life making our existence an act of surrender, an act of love in the footsteps of Jesus (cf. Jn 13,34). For this love Jesus continues to give himself as food and drink to men. The life of God and the life of man meet in love, in the agape, food that truly nourishes the human being and reality that constitutes the very life of God; why: "God is love" (1 Jn 4,8.16). The Eucharist is the sacrament of charity, from agape; Every time we celebrate it we hear the story of how God gives himself to men and, by communing with the Body and Blood of the Lord, we too become capable of giving ourselves to others.

From Ermo, 6 June 2026

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

Italian, english, español

THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP GATE

The sheep pen metaphorically indicates the holy place of Israel, the Temple of Jerusalem, or its vestibule, which represents and symbolizes theocratic Judaism; while the shepherd of the sheep, he who enters through the door, it is Jesus, new Shepherd of Israel, that, effectively, he presented himself at the Temple in Jerusalem, to reveal himself to the Jews during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Author
Hermit Monk

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The liturgy reserves a privileged place for the figure of the Good Shepherd on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The whole Tradition conveys the fundamental idea that Christ is the savior of the sheep, since Jesus leads his followers beyond death, towards heavenly pastures, in the Father's house. The passage reported below expresses this tension which is both soteriological and Christological.

"In truth, verily I tell you: whoever does not enter the sheepfold through the door, but it comes up from another side, he is a thief and a brigand. Who instead enters the door, he is a shepherd of the sheep. The guardian opens the door and the sheep listen to his voice: he calls his sheep, each by name, and leads them out. And when he drove out all his sheep, walk before being, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. However, they will not follow a stranger, but they will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers". Jesus told them this simile, but they did not understand what he was talking to them about. Then Jesus said to them again: "In truth, verily I tell you: I am the door of the sheep. All those who came before me, they are thieves and brigands; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door: Whoever enters through me, will be saved; He will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance" (GV 10,1-10).

To better grasp the scope of the text, it is necessary to insert it into the large section of the fourth Gospel to which it belongs, that goes from GV 7,1 until Gv l0.42. These four chapters constitute the center of Jesus' public life, the culmination of his revelation to the world, in the Temple of Jerusalem. The thematic unity of this section is evident: Jesus reveals himself to the world (cf.. 7,4), but he is continually in controversy with "the Jews". A theme from the prologue returns that reaches here, regarding the public life of Jesus, its discriminating point: «He came to his own and his own did not welcome him» (GV 1,11).

First of all, what is this "sheep pen"?. In the Greek Bible it is often metaphorically associated with areas involving the Temple. Let's also add that, already in the AT, the term "sheep", it is often used in a simply allegorical sense to designate the people of Israel (This 34,31; Gives 23,1). The words in our verse would therefore evoke a situation similar to that of Shall 100,3-4 (LXX):

«Recognize that only the Lord is God: he made us and we are his, his people and flock of his pasture. Enter its doors with hymns of thanks, its halls with songs of praise, praise him, bless his name".

In Gv l0.1 the sheep enclosure metaphorically indicates the holy place of Israel, the Temple of Jerusalem, or its vestibule, which represents and symbolizes theocratic Judaism; while the shepherd of the sheep, he who enters through the door, it is Jesus, new Shepherd of Israel, that, effectively, he presented himself at the Temple in Jerusalem, to reveal himself to the Jews during the Feast of Tabernacles (GV 7,14).

They are veiled allusions, ma precise, that Jesus, according to St. John, he is doing regarding his mission and they mix both figurative elements together, and references to historical situations, with the aim of making people understand the value and quality of his messiahship. He is not a thief or a brigand — the same Greek term will be used to identify Barabbas in the passion story, defined by Matteo as a "famous" prisoner (Mt 27,16) — Jesus is not a rioter or rebel interested in violent liberation from Roman domination, in order to establish a Jewish power that was both political and religious. Instead he entered the Temple the normal way, during the Feast of Tabernacles; he presented himself legitimately to the Jewish people to reveal himself to them as their Shepherd, like the true Messiah. In the chapter. 10 of Saint John Jesus adopts figurative language, enigmatic, yet the teaching remains essentially the same: still always has as its object the messianic mission of Jesus.

The second verse of the passage is even more theologically relevant: "He (the Shepherd) calls his sheep, each by name, and leads them out". All the sheep in the pen, the Jews, they were able to know the word of Jesus (cf.. GV 18,20), but only some of them became "his sheep", that is, those that were given to him by the Father (v. 29; cf.. 6,37.39). By virtue of this gift, Jesus will be able to say that I am "in his hand" (v.28); for the same reason again, at the Last Supper, he will be able to consider the disciples as "his own" (GV 13,1). This predisposition on the part of the Father corresponds to a call on the part of Jesus: «He calls his sheep, each by name". It is the first act of the constitution of a new flock by Jesus.

His sheep, the Shepherd "lets them out" of the enclosure. The verb used here by the evangelist is the technical term from the vocabulary of Exodus: God "brought his people out of Egypt"., the children of Israel (It is 3.10; 6,27); the same way later, at the time of the second Exodus, he will "bring them out" from among the peoples (This 34,13). The idea evoked by this word is clear: «let out», it means freeing from slavery. It is considerable and at the same time tragic, that this term, a time used to indicate the end of captivity, must now be used against Israel itself; since his eyes have not been opened to the true light of the messianic times and therefore the Messiah Jesus himself must now "bring out" his sheep, as once from Egypt.

But to grasp all the implications of this idea in the general economy of the life of Jesus, it must be connected to the previous story, that of the man born blind, in which it had already been formulated. For this man of the people, Jesus at the beginning was just a stranger (GV 9,11). Ma, after healing, during the controversy with the Jews, he progressively discovers a prophet in him (v. 17), a messenger of God (v.33), the Son of man (vv. 35-37), thus becoming the very type of the believer. The Jews, instead, who believed themselves to be so clairvoyant in religious matters, they have become totally blind to the light of the world (vv. 39-4l). Now, noting the former blind man's attachment to Jesus, "they threw him out" (GV 9,34). This is when discrimination takes place (pity) which Jesus will talk about at the end of the controversy (GV 9,39), discrimination that prefigures and announces the rupture between Church and Synagogue (synagogue dis GV 9,22). In today's passage the behavior of the Jews themselves is thus taken up and sanctioned, who had excluded from the synagogue the man born blind who was healed by Jesus and became his disciple. The call that the Shepherd addresses to his sheep in the Jewish enclosure thus becomes the first act of a separation, the one that will contrast the ancient flock Israel and the new, Judaism and the Church. And it is likely that John is writing at this particular moment in which the separation is taking place, which in any case does not authorize anyone to make anti-Jewish revenge or justify anti-Semitism.

The relationships between the Shepherd and his sheep are described in these terms: “He walks before them and the sheep follow him”. As he already did, the evangelist again uses the typical vocabulary of the Exodus cycle: "The Sir, your God, that precedes you, he himself will fight for you, as he did with you, before your eyes, in Egypt" (Deut 1,30; Mich 2,13). In the fourth gospel, the verb «to walk (journey)» is almost always referred to Jesus in relation to his mission, which is a new Exodus (cf.. GV 14,2.3.12.28; 16,7.28). Thus the Shepherd, who walks before his sheep, he presents himself as the new leader of God's people. The sheep "follow" him, expressing that essential docility of the disciple towards the Master (cf.. GV 1,37.38.41.43), based on the fact that they know his voice. These themes, then, they will be taken up with greater insistence in the second part of the speech (vv. 14-16) and then in the final declarations of Jesus at the feast of the Dedication (v. 27).

As necessary, at last, interpret the formula «the sheep gate»? If the old fence has ceased its function, it is no longer necessary to mention it, in fact logically Jesus could have said: «I am the door of the enclosure». But instead he uses a new expression because He is now the door for the sheep themselves. Between Jesus and his, new relationships are outlined from now on; once you leave the enclosure, the sheep must now "enter" through the door that is Jesus. Here we move from the historical level to the typological and spiritual level. It is no longer about the enclosure of Judaism: entering through the "door" that is Jesus, the sheep enter a new environment, of a completely different nature. In this regard, the exegetes recall the Shall 118,19-20: «Open the doors of justice to me: I will enter to thank the Lord. This is the door of the Lord: the righteous enter through it". That the background of our verse is constituted by this psalm is likely as Ps 118 it was used in the liturgy of the Feast of Tabernacles and we remember that the speech on the Good Shepherd was given, according to John, near the Temple, at the final moment of that great solemnity. The whole context therefore favored the use of this metaphor of the door. But the insistence with which Jesus applies it to himself - "I am the door of the sheep" - clearly demonstrates that this can no longer be a question of the Temple of the ancient economy. Jesus, taking inspiration from the realities that surround him, he wants to talk about the new Temple that he himself inaugurates. In figurative speech, the gate and the enclosure still designated historical realities: the Temple of Jerusalem and theocratic Judaism; but starting from the moment in which these realities are metaphorically referred to Jesus, they are transposed from the plane onto another plane, which is spiritual.

Even the use of the terminology of our verse in the pre-John Christian tradition it is very enlightening. The Synoptics speak several times about the door that gives access to the Kingdom (Mt 7,13-14; 25,10-12; LC 13,24-26); it was a metaphor for the eschatological vocabulary. The same goes for the verb «to enter», which was commonly used to designate entry into the Kingdom of God (Mt 7,21; At 14,22). Giovanni takes up this usage again (GV 3,5), but in the current context, everything focuses on Jesus: it is through him that we must "enter" to be saved.

This necessarily brief analysis of the vocabulary of our passage highlights the theological significance of Jesus' phrase: "I am the door of the sheep". The first idea he expresses is that of mediation, therefore of the possibility of access to salvation. It is explicitly said in the text of v. 9: "I am the door: whoever enters only through me will be saved". The other part, Jesus is not just a mediator. The door is not just a place of passage through which one "enters", it already belongs to the enclosure itself. Indeed, in the Old Testament, the "gate" of the city or of the Temple often metonymically indicates the whole of the city or the Temple in its entirety: cf.. Shall 122,2; 87,1-2; 118,20. Referring to Jesus, the image of the door therefore does not only mean that salvation and life are accessed through him; it also indicates that the sheep find these goods in him. In other words, Jesus is not just a way of access; it is also the new fence, the new Temple, in which his people can obtain messianic goods. Here we find the theme of Jesus the new Temple, stated by S. John from the beginning of his gospel (2,13-22). But if so, we may perhaps wonder why the metaphor of the door was preferred to that of the enclosure or temple. Probably, the image of the door, with everything its biblical background suggested, it was better suited to expressing two related ideas simultaneously: one part, the entrance one, of mediation; on the other, that of a vital environment and communion. These are the two ideas that will reappear in the very suggestive text of GV 14,6: «I am the Way, the Truth and the Life"; Jesus is the Way to the Father, the perfect mediator who gives us access to the life of the Father; but at the same time it is Life: in Jesus himself we find the life of the Father, because he, the Only Begotten Son "now returned to the bosom of the Father" (GV 1,18), he possesses it fully within himself.

The patristic tradition will highlight the future aspect more, specifically eschatological, of the door theme: through Jesus we have access to eternal life, to the kingdom of heaven. But here as elsewhere, John anticipates eschatological themes in the very person and historical work of Jesus: at the same time through him and in communion with him, end of ora, we can obtain the goods of salvation, divine life. The idea expressed here was commented magnificently in an anonymous text that circulated under the name of Augustine in various anthologies of patristic quotations: «Jesus is the door, the door in which is the house, the house in which the weary rests». See also Ignatius of Antioch: «He is the door of the Father, through which Abraham enters, Isaac and Jacob and the prophets and the apostles and the Church"; Erma: «The door is the Son of God. It is the only entrance that leads to the Lord. Therefore no one will bring us to him except his Son."; St. Augustine: «For Christ is that door, and through Christ we enter into eternal life».

from the Hermitage, 26 April 2026

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THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE GATE OF THE SHEEP

The sheepfold metaphorically indicates the holy place of Israel, the Temple of Jerusalem, or its vestibule, which represents and symbolizes the theocratic Judaism; while the shepherd of the sheep, the one who enters through the gate, is Jesus, the new Shepherd of Israel, who, in fact, presented himself in the Temple of Jerusalem to reveal himself to the Jews during the feast of Tabernacles.

Author
Hermit Monk

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The liturgy assigns a privileged place to the figure of the Good Shepherd on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The whole Tradition conveys the fundamental idea that Christ is the savior of the sheep, since Jesus leads his own beyond death, toward the heavenly pastures, into the house of the Father. The passage reported below expresses this tension, which is at once soteriological and Christological.

«Amen, amen, I say to you: whoever does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens to him and the sheep listen to his voice: he calls his own sheep, each one by name, and leads them out. And when he has brought out all his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger, however, they will not follow, but they will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers». Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus said to them again: «Amen, amen, I say to you: I am the gate of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate: if anyone enters through me, he will be saved; he will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly» (Jn 10:1–10).

In order to grasp more fully the scope of the text, it is necessary to situate it within the great section of the Fourth Gospel to which it belongs, which extends from Jn 7:1 to Jn 10:42. These four chapters constitute the center of the public life of Jesus, the culminating point of his revelation to the world, in the Temple of Jerusalem. The thematic unity of this section is evident: Jesus reveals himself to the world (cf. 7:4), but he is continually in controversy with «the Jews». A theme from the Prologue returns here and reaches, with regard to the public life of Jesus, its decisive point: «He came to his own, and his own did not receive him» (Jn 1:11).

First of all, what is this «sheepfold»? In the Greek Bible it is often metaphorically associated with areas concerning the Temple. We must also add that, already in the Old Testament, the term «sheep» is frequently used in a purely allegorical sense to designate the people of Israel (This 34:31; Because 23:1). The vocabulary of our verse would therefore evoke a situation analogous to that of Ps 100:3–4 (LXX):

«Know that the Lord alone is God: he made us and we are his, his people and the flock of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; give thanks to him, bless his name».

In Jn 10:1 the sheepfold metaphorically indicates the holy place of Israel, the Temple of Jerusalem, or its vestibule, which represents and symbolizes the theocratic Judaism; while the shepherd of the sheep, the one who enters through the gate, is Jesus, the new Shepherd of Israel, who indeed presented himself in the Temple of Jerusalem to reveal himself to the Jews during the feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7:14).

These are veiled yet precise allusions that Jesus, according to Saint John, is making regarding his mission; they combine both figurative elements and references to historical situations, in order to make understood the value and the nature of his messianic identity. He is not a thief or a robber — the same Greek term will be used to identify Barabbas in the Passion narrative, described by Matthew as a «notorious» prisoner (Mt 27:16) — Jesus is not a revolutionary or a rebel interested in violent liberation from Roman domination, in order to establish a Jewish power that is at once political and religious. Rather, he entered the Temple by the proper way, during the feast of Tabernacles; he presented himself legitimately to the Jewish people in order to reveal himself as their Shepherd, as the true Messiah. In chapter 10 of Saint John, Jesus adopts a figurative, enigmatic language, yet the teaching remains essentially the same: it always concerns his messianic mission.

The second verse of the passage is even more theologically significant: «He calls his own sheep, each one by name, and leads them out». All the sheep of the fold, the Jews, were able to hear the word of Jesus (cf. Jn 18:20), but only some of them became «his sheep», that is, those who were given to him by the Father (v. 29; cf. 6:37,39). By virtue of this gift, Jesus can say that they are «in his hand» (v. 28); for the same reason, during the Last Supper, he will consider the disciples as «his own» (Jn 13:1). To this disposition on the part of the Father corresponds a call on the part of Jesus: «He calls his own sheep, each one by name». This is the first act in the constitution of a new flock brought about by Jesus.

His sheep, the Shepherd «leads out» from the fold. The verb used here by the evangelist is the technical term of the vocabulary of the Exodus: God «brought out» his people, the children of Israel, from Egypt (Ex 3:10; 6:27); likewise later, at the time of the second Exodus, he will «bring them out» from among the peoples (This 34:13). The idea evoked by this word is clear: «to lead out» means to liberate from slavery. It is striking, and at the same time tragic, that this term, once used to indicate the end of captivity, must now be used against Israel itself; for its eyes did not open to the true light of the messianic times, and therefore the Messiah Jesus must now «lead out» his sheep, as once from Egypt.

But in order to grasp all the implications of this idea within the overall economy of Jesus’ life, it must be connected to the preceding account, that of the man born blind, where it had already been formulated. For this man, Jesus was at first only an unknown figure (Jn 9:11). But after the healing, in the course of the controversy with the Jews, he progressively discovers in him a prophet (v. 17), one sent by God (v. 33), the Son of Man (vv. 35–37), thus becoming the very type of the believer. The Jews, on the other hand, who considered themselves so clear-sighted in religious matters, became completely blind before the light of the world (vv. 39–41). Now, seeing the attachment of the former blind man to Jesus, «they cast him out» (Jn 9:34). At this moment the κρίμα is fulfilled, the judgment of which Jesus speaks at the end of the controversy (Jn 9:39), a judgment that foreshadows and announces the rupture between Church and Synagogue (Synagogue of Jn 9:22). In the present passage, the behavior of those same Jews is thus taken up again and ratified: they had excluded from the synagogue the man born blind, healed by Jesus and become his disciple. The call that the Shepherd addresses to his sheep within the Jewish fold thus becomes the first act of a separation: that which will oppose the old flock, Israel, and the new one, the Church. It is probable that John is writing precisely in this moment when this separation is taking place, which nevertheless does not authorize any anti-Jewish retaliation or justification of antisemitism.

The relationship between the Shepherd and his sheep is described in these terms: «He goes before them, and the sheep follow him». As he has already done, the evangelist once again uses the vocabulary typical of the Exodus cycle: «The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes» (Deut 1:30; Mic 2:13). In the Fourth Gospel, the verb «to go» (journey) almost always refers to Jesus in relation to his mission, which is a new Exodus (cf. Jn 14:2,3,12,28; 16:7,28). In this way, the Shepherd who walks ahead of his sheep presents himself as the new leader of the people of God. The sheep «follow» him, expressing that essential docility of the disciple toward the Master (cf. Jn 1:37,38,41,43), founded on the fact that they know his voice. These themes will then be taken up more insistently in the second part of the discourse (vv. 14–16) and later in Jesus’ final declarations at the feast of Dedication (v. 27).

How, finally, must the expression «the gate of the sheep» be interpreted? If the old fold has completed its function, it is no longer necessary to mention it; logically, Jesus could have said: «I am the gate of the fold». But instead he uses a new expression, because now he himself is the gate for the sheep. New relationships are henceforth outlined between Jesus and his own; once they have gone out of the fold, the sheep must now «enter» through the gate which is Jesus. Here we pass from the historical level to the typological and spiritual level. It is no longer a matter of the fold of Judaism: by entering through the «gate» that is Jesus, the sheep enter into a new environment of a completely different nature. The exegetes refer in this regard to Ps 118:19–20: «Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will enter them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it». It is likely that the background of our verse is this psalm, since Ps 118 was used in the liturgy of the feast of Tabernacles, and we recall that the discourse on the Good Shepherd was delivered, according to John, in the vicinity of the Temple, at the concluding moment of that great solemnity. The whole context therefore favored the use of this metaphor of the gate. But the insistence with which Jesus applies it to himself — «I am the gate of the sheep» — clearly shows that it can no longer refer to the Temple of the old economy. Jesus, drawing inspiration from the realities that surround him, intends to speak of the new Temple that he himself inaugurates. In the figurative discourse, the gate and the fold still designated historical realities: the Temple of Jerusalem and the theocratic Judaism; but from the moment in which these realities are referred metaphorically to Jesus, they are transposed to another level, which is spiritual.

The use of the terminology of our verse in the pre-Johannine Christian tradition is also very illuminating. The Synoptics speak several times of the gate that gives access to the Kingdom (Mt 7:13–14; 25:10–12; Page 13:24–26); it was a metaphor belonging to the eschatological vocabulary. The same applies to the verb «to enter», which was commonly used to designate entry into the Kingdom of God (Mt 7:21; Acts 14:22). John takes up this usage (Jn 3:5), but in the present context everything is centered on Jesus: it is through him that one must «enter» in order to be saved.

This necessarily brief analysis of the vocabulary of our passage highlights the theological significance of Jesus’ statement: «I am the gate of the sheep». The first idea it expresses is that of mediation, and therefore of the possibility of access to salvation. This is explicitly stated in v. 9: «I am the gate: whoever enters only through me will be saved». On the other hand, Jesus is not only mediator. The gate is not merely a place of passage through which one «enters»; it already belongs to the fold itself. Indeed, in the Old Testament, the «gate» of the city or of the Temple often metonymically indicates the entire city or the Temple in its totality: cf. Ps 122:2; 87:1–2; 118:20. Applied to Jesus, the image of the gate therefore does not only mean that through him one has access to salvation and to life; it also indicates that the sheep find these goods in him. In other words, Jesus is not only a way of access; he is also the new fold, the new Temple, in which his own can obtain the messianic goods. Here we find again the theme of Jesus as the new Temple, proclaimed by Saint John from the very beginning of his Gospel (2:13–22). But if this is so, one might ask why the metaphor of the gate has been preferred to that of the fold or of the Temple. Probably the image of the gate, with all that its biblical background suggested, was better suited to express simultaneously two connected ideas: on the one hand, that of entrance, of mediation; on the other, that of a vital environment and of communion. These are the two ideas that will reappear in the very evocative text of Jn 14:6: «I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life»; Jesus is the Way to the Father, the perfect mediator who grants us access to the life of the Father; but he is at the same time the Life: in Jesus himself we find the life of the Father, because he, the Only-Begotten Son «who is in the bosom of the Father» (Jn 1:18), possesses it in himself in fullness.

The patristic tradition will place greater emphasis on the future, specifically eschatological aspect of the theme of the gate: through Jesus we have access to eternal life, to the kingdom of heaven. But here, as elsewhere, John anticipates the eschatological themes in the very person and historical work of Jesus: at the same time, through him and in communion with him, already now we can obtain the goods of salvation, the divine life. The idea expressed here has been magnificently commented upon in an anonymous text that circulated under the name of Augustine in various florilegia of patristic citations: «Jesus is the door, the door in which is the house, the house in which the weary rests». See also Ignatius of Antioch: «He is the door of the Father, through which enter Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the prophets and the apostles and the Church»; Hermas: «The gate is the Son of God. It is the only entrance that leads to the Lord. No one will therefore be introduced to him except through his Son»; Saint Augustine: «For Christ is that door, and through Christ we enter into eternal life».

From the Hermitage, 26 April 2026

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THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP GATE

The sheepfold metaphorically indicates the holy place of Israel, the Jerusalem Temple, or your hallway, which represents and symbolizes theocratic Judaism; while the shepherd of the sheep, the one who enters through the door, It's Jesus, the new Shepherd of Israel, what, indeed, He appeared in the Temple of Jerusalem to reveal himself to the Jews during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Author
Hermit Monk

.

The liturgy reserves the figure of the Good Shepherd a privileged place on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. All Tradition transmits the fundamental idea that Christ is the savior of the sheep, because Jesus leads his people beyond death, towards the heavenly pastures, in the Father's house. The passage presented below expresses this tension that is at the same time soteriological and christological..

"Actually, truly I tell you: he who does not enter the sheepfold through the door, but it goes up on the other hand, that is a thief and robber. But he who enters through the door is a shepherd of the sheep. The guardian opens it and the sheep hear his voice: he calls his sheep, to each one by name, and takes them out. And when he has taken out all his sheep, walk in front of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. to a stranger, instead, they won't follow, but they will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers". Jesus told them this parable, but they didn't understand what he was talking about. Then Jesus told them again: "Actually, truly I tell you: I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door: if one enters for me, will be saved; will come and go and find grass. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; "I have come so that they may have life and have it abundantly." (Jn 10,1-10).

To better understand the scope of the text, it is necessary to place it within the great section of the fourth Gospel to which it belongs, which goes from Jn 7,1 until Jn 10,42. These four chapters constitute the center of Jesus' public life, the climax of his revelation to the world, in the Temple of Jerusalem. The thematic unity of this section is evident: Jesus reveals himself to the world (cf. 7,4), but he finds himself continually in controversy with "the Jews". Here we return to a theme from the prologue that reaches its decisive point with regard to the public life of Jesus.: "He came to his own and his own did not receive him" (Jn 1,11).

First of all, What is this "sheep fold"? In the Greek Bible it is frequently associated, in a metaphorical way, to spaces related to the Temple. Let us also add that, already in the Old Testament, The term "sheep" is often used in an allegorical sense to designate the people of Israel. (This 34,31; Because 23,1). The vocabulary of our verse would evoke, therefore, a situation analogous to that of Sal 100,3-4 (LXX):

«Recognize that the Lord is God: he made us and we are his, his people and the flock of his pasture. Enter its doors with thanksgiving, through its courts with hymns of praise; thank him, bless his name".

And Jn 10,1 the sheepfold metaphorically indicates the holy place of Israel, the Temple of Jerusalem or its vestibule, which represents and symbolizes theocratic Judaism; while the shepherd of the sheep, the one who enters through the door, It's Jesus, the new Shepherd of Israel, who in fact appeared in the Temple of Jerusalem to reveal himself to the Jews during the Feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7,14).

These are veiled but precise allusions that Jesus, according to Saint John, is doing about your mission; They mix figurative elements and references to historical situations., in order to make understand the value and nature of his messiahship. He is neither a thief nor a robber — the same Greek term will be used to identify Barabbas in the passion story., described by Mateo as a "famous" prisoner (Mt 27,16) — Jesus is neither a revolutionary nor a rebel interested in a violent liberation from Roman rule to establish a Jewish power that is both political and religious.. On the contrary, He entered the Temple by the legitimate path, during the Feast of Tabernacles; He legitimately presented himself to the Jewish people to reveal himself as their Shepherd, like the true messiah. In the chapter 10 of Saint John, Jesus adopts figurative and enigmatic language, but the teaching remains essentially the same: always has as its object its messianic mission.

The second verse of the passage It is even more relevant from a theological point of view: "He calls his sheep, to each one by name, and takes them out". All the sheep of the fold, the jews, they were able to know the word of Jesus (cf. Jn 18,20), but only some became "his sheep", that is to say, those that were given to him by the Father (v. 29; cf. 6,37.39). By virtue of this gift, Jesus can say that they are "in his hand" (v. 28); for the same reason, during the last supper, will be able to consider the disciples as "his own" (Jn 13,1). This disposition on the part of the Father corresponds to a call from Jesus: "He calls his sheep, to each one by name. This is the first act of the constitution of a new flock carried out by Jesus.

The Shepherd "takes" his sheep out of the fold. The verb used here by the evangelist is the technical term of the vocabulary of the Exodus: God “brought” his people out of Egypt, the children of Israel (Ex 3,10; 6,27); in the same way, later, at the time of the second Exodus, He will "take them out" from among the peoples (This 34,13). The idea evoked by this word is clear: "take out" means to free from bondage. It is notable and at the same time tragic that this term, once used to indicate the end of captivity, must now be applied against Israel itself; because their eyes were not opened to the true light of the messianic times, and therefore the Messiah Jesus must now "take out" his sheep, as in another time of Egypt.

But to understand the full implications of this idea in the whole life of Jesus, It is necessary to relate it to the preceding story, that of the man blind from birth, where it had already been formulated. for this man, Jesus at first was nothing more than a stranger (Jn 9,11). But, after healing, in the course of the controversy with the Jews, progressively discovers in him a prophet (v. 17), to a messenger from God (v. 33), to the Son of man (vv. 35-37), thus becoming the very type of the believer. The Jews, instead, who believed themselves to be so clairvoyant in religious matters, They became completely blind to the light of the world (vv. 39-41). Now, seeing the former blind man's attachment to Jesus, "they expelled him" (Jn 9,34). At that moment the κρίμα is fulfilled, the judgment that Jesus will speak about at the end of the controversy (Jn 9,39), judgment that prefigures and announces the break between Church and Synagogue (synagogue de Jn 9,22). In today's passage the behavior of those same Jews is taken up and sanctioned., that they had excluded from the synagogue the man born blind who was cured by Jesus and became his disciple. The call that the Shepherd addresses to his sheep within the Jewish fold thus becomes the first act of a separation: the one that the old flock will oppose, Israel, and the new, the Church. It is likely that John is writing precisely at this moment when the separation is taking place, which, however, absolutely does not authorize anti-Jewish reprisals or justifications of anti-Semitism.

The links between the Shepherd and his sheep are described in these terms: "He walks before them and the sheep follow him". As you have already done, the evangelist uses again the vocabulary typical of the Exodus cycle: "The Lord your God, that marches before you, will fight for you, as he did to you in Egypt before your eyes." (Dt 1,30; friends 2,13). In the fourth Gospel, the verb "walk" (journey) almost always refers to Jesus in relation to his mission, what is a new Exodus (cf. Jn 14,2.3.12.28; 16,7.28). Thus, The Shepherd who walks before his sheep presents himself as the new leader of God's people. The sheep "follow" him, expressing the essential docility of the disciple towards the Master (cf. Jn 1,37.38.41.43), founded on the fact that they know their voice. These topics will be taken up with greater insistence in the second part of the speech. (vv. 14-16) and later in the final statements of Jesus on the feast of the Dedication (v. 27).

How should it be interpreted, Finally, the expression "the sheep gate"? If the old fold has finished its function, no need to mention it anymore; logically, Jesus could have said: «I am the door of the sheepfold». But use a new expression, because now he himself is the door for the sheep. New relationships are now being outlined between Jesus and his people.; once out of the fold, the sheep must "enter" through the door that is Jesus. Here we move from the historical level to the typological and spiritual level.. It is no longer about the fold of Judaism: entering through the "door" that is Jesus, the sheep enter a new realm of a completely different nature. For this purpose, exegetes refer to Ps. 118,19-20: «Open the doors of justice for me: I will enter through them to give thanks to the Lord. This is the door of the Lord: through it the righteous enter. It is likely that the background of our verse is this psalm, since the Salt 118 It was used in the liturgy of the Feast of Tabernacles, and let us remember that the Good Shepherd speech was given, according to John, in the vicinity of the Temple, at the concluding moment of that great solemnity. The entire context favored, therefore, using this door metaphor. But the insistence with which Jesus applies it to himself – “I am the gate of the sheep” – clearly shows that it can no longer be the Temple of the old economy.. Jesus, inspired by the realities that surround him, He wants to talk about the new Temple that he himself inaugurates. In figurative speech, the door and the sheepfold still designated historical realities: the Temple of Jerusalem and theocratic Judaism; but from the moment in which these realities refer metaphorically to Jesus, they move to another plane, what is the spiritual.

Also the use of terminology of our verse in the pre-Johannic Christian tradition is very illuminating. The synoptics speak several times of the door that gives access to the Kingdom (Mt 7,13-14; 25,10-12; LC 13,24-26); It was a metaphor for eschatological vocabulary. The same thing happens with the verb "enter.", which was commonly used to designate entry into the Kingdom of God (Mt 7,21; Hch 14,22). Juan takes up this use (Jn 3,5), but in the current context everything focuses on Jesus: It is through him that we must "enter" to be saved..

This necessarily brief analysis of the vocabulary of our passage highlights the theological scope of Jesus' statement: "I am the door of the sheep". The first idea he expresses is that of mediation, and therefore the possibility of access to salvation. It is explicitly stated in v. 9: «I am the door: "Whoever enters only through me will be saved.". Besides, Jesus is not just a mediator. The door is not only a place of passage through which one "enters"; already belongs to the same fold. Indeed, in the Old Testament, The "gate" of the city or the Temple frequently indicates, by metonymy, the entire city or the Temple in its entirety: cf. Shall 122,2; 87,1-2; 118,20. Applied to Jesus, the image of the door does not mean, therefore, only that through it you access salvation and life; It also indicates that the sheep find these goods in it. In other words, Jesus is not just an access; It is also the new fold, the new temple, in which his own can obtain messianic goods. Here the theme of Jesus as a new Temple reappears, stated by Saint John from the beginning of his Gospel (2,13-22). But, if this is so, One may wonder why the metaphor of the door has been preferred to that of the sheepfold or the Temple.. Probably, the image of the door, with everything that its biblical background suggested, was better suited to simultaneously express two related ideas: on the one hand, the entrance, mediation; on the other, that of a vital atmosphere and communion. These are the two ideas that will reappear in the suggestive text of Jn 14,6: «I am the Way, "Truth and Life"; Jesus is the Way to the Father, the perfect mediator who introduces us into the life of the Father; but it is at the same time life: In Jesus himself we find the life of the Father, because he, the Only Begotten Son “who is in the bosom of the Father” (Jn 1,18), he possesses it in himself in fullness.

The patristic tradition will emphasize the future aspect more, specifically eschatological, of the door theme: through Jesus we have access to eternal life, to the kingdom of heaven. but here, like in other places, John anticipates eschatological themes in the same person and in the historical work of Jesus: at the same time, through him and in communion with him, From now on we can obtain the goods of salvation, divine life. The idea expressed here has been magnificently commented on in an anonymous text that circulated under the name of Augustine in various florilegiums of patristic quotations.: «Jesus is the door, the door in which is the house, the house in which the weary rests». See also Ignatius of Antioch: «He is the door of the Father, through which Abraham enters, Isaac and Jacob and the prophets and the apostles and the Church"; Hermas: «The door is the Son of God. It is the only entrance that leads to the Lord. "No one will be brought before him except by his Son."; Saint Augustine: «For Christ is that door, and through Christ we enter into eternal life».

From the Hermitage, 26 April 2026

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

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The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

Italian, english, español

EVERY MAN SHOULD SEARCH FOR HIS DESERT

John the Baptist lives in an essential way, simple and without any form of narcissism, he is completely focused on those he doesn't yet know, but who he already recognizes as stronger than him. So from the Baptist we learn not to look so much at ourselves, but to open ourselves to others and to the Other and above all we learn to search, maybe even where we live, a little "desert" of ours where not only our voice resonates, but that of the only Word that saves.

Author
Hermit Monk

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PDF print format article – PDF Article print format – PDF Article in printed format

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Not only the Gospels tell us about John the Baptist, but also historians, for example the Jew Flavius ​​Josephus who defined it in his work Jewish Antiquities as a "good man"., who exhorted the Jews to lead a virtuous life and to practice mutual justice and piety towards God, inviting them to approach the baptism together".

The Baptist imagines the figure of the Messiah as a ruthless judge, who would not come to save, but to settle the score by proposing the simplest solution, capable of remedying the spread of sin: the death of the sinner. But Jesus will never exercise his messianic role in this way and he will take up some of the Baptist's words, like the one on conversion (cf.. Mt 4,17: «Convert»), he will say that he came not for ruin, but for the salvation of sinners. This is the Gospel passage for the second Sunday of Advent:

"In those days, John the Baptist came and preached in the Judean desert saying: «Be converted, because the kingdom of heaven is near!». In fact, he is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said: «Voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, his paths straight!». And he, Giovanni, he wore a camel hair dress and a leather belt around his hips; his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea and the whole area along the Jordan flocked to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Seeing many Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he told them: "You brood of vipers!! Who made you believe you could escape the impending wrath? Therefore produce a fruit worthy of conversion, and don't think you can say it within yourselves: «We have Abraham as our father!». For I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already placed at the roots of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you in the water for conversion; but he who comes after me is stronger than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He holds the shovel in his hand and will clean his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but he will burn the straw with unquenchable fire" (Mt 3,1-12).

In the words of John the Baptist we understand his urgent call for conversion, which distinguishes the season of Advent. The word used is metanoia, which we could literally break down into two concepts, "beyond" (meta) the "mind" (We), to indicate a "change of opinion". Especially Jesus, more than the Baptist, who called for a revision of customs and the correction of injustices, will ask for a conversion of the way of thinking to welcome the kingdom and its newness.

Giovanni al Giordano must have aroused considerable amazement at the time, finding themselves in a rather particular situation and condition, if not anomalous; so long as, we know from the Evangelist Luke (cf.. LC 1,5) who was the son of a priest, nevertheless he lives in the Judean desert. This fact must have impressed the memory of his contemporaries, the fact, that is, that Giovanni had distanced himself from his father's profession. A commentator writes: «The only son of a priest of Jerusalem had in fact the solemn obligation to take over from his father in his function and to guarantee, through marriage and children, the continuity of his priestly lineage. If this was the real historical situation, at a certain point John must have turned his back and must have scandalously - for Jewish eyes - refused his obligation to be a priest in his father's footsteps". A sensational gesture therefore takes place at the beginning of Giovanni's story, that Matthew's Gospel passage presents to us today. He goes near the place from which Elijah ascended to heaven, the fiery prophet of the Old Testament who attempted to bring Israel back to God and whose return would precede the Messiah. Perhaps for this reason John dresses like Elijah (2Re 1,8), but because his diet was based on Jewish rules of purity, locusts being insects that we can feed on (Lv 11,22), and bee honey as well kasher — that is, respectful of the laws of Kasherut, the suitability of a food to be consumed by the Jewish people - it is however possible that the Forerunner also had other concerns. Because impurity prevented one from approaching God, John does not only perform ascetic gestures, but avoid dressing in fabrics touched by women or eating foods elaborated by others, for fear of contamination.

As we wrote at the beginning John did not clearly see the face of the Messiah, yet he consistently lived his wait to the end, in the desert and near the Jordan, where he baptized. Looking at him, Christians experience the time of Advent as an opportunity not to be wasted and to be, Also today, in our desert, returning to ourselves, changing mentality and life, to open ourselves to Him, Jesus the Christ, that is to come.

Furthermore, the words spoken by John are still relevant today, not only because they announce conversion for forgiveness of sins, but also because they invite us to be credible by leading an authentic life. John the Baptist lives in an essential way, simple and without any form of narcissism, he is completely focused on those he doesn't yet know, but who he already recognizes as stronger than him. So from the Baptist we learn not to look so much at ourselves, but to open ourselves to others and to the Other and above all we learn to search, maybe even where we live, a little "desert" of ours where not only our voice resonates, but that of the only Word that saves.

In fact all the readings for the second Sunday of Advent converge in delivering a message centered on the Messiah. He is the one on whom the Spirit of God rests with his gifts (Is 11,1-10); Jesus is that Messiah who, according to the word of Scripture, he fulfilled the promises of God made to the fathers (RM 15,4-9); finally he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire: it is the strongest announced by the Baptist (Mt 3,1-12). It is revealed by the Spirit (first reading), prophesied by the Scriptures (second reading), indicated by a man, Giovanni, the prophet and precursor (Gospel). Therefore this second Sunday of Advent has at its center the biblical message of preparation for the coming of the Lord. This happens with the help of the Spirit to be invoked and to whose dynamism one submits, with the help of Scripture to listen to and meditate on, so that he transforms our hearts so that they are inclined towards conversion. Which is what Giovanni asks for by experiencing it firsthand. While exhorting others by saying: «Prepare the way of the Lord» (Mt 3,3), Giovanni is already preparing it, he makes himself the path that the Lord will follow. He is the forerunner, he who precedes the Messiah with his life anticipating in himself much of what the Messiah will then do.

from the Hermitage, 7 December 2025

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EVERY MAN SHOULD SEEK HIS OWN DESERT

John the Baptist lives in an essential, simple way and without any form of narcissism; he is wholly oriented toward the One whom he does not yet know, but whom he already recognises as stronger than himself. Thus from the Baptist we learn not to look so much at ourselves, but to open ourselves to others and to the Other; and above all we learn to seek — perhaps precisely where we live — our own small “desert”, where not only our own voice resounds, but the voice of the one Word that saves.

Author
Hermit Monk

.

Not only the Gospels speak to us about John the Baptist, but also historians — for example the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who in his work Jewish Antiquities described him as “a good man, who exhorted the Jews to lead a virtuous life, to practice justice toward one another and piety toward God, inviting them to approach baptism together.” The Baptist imagined the figure of the Messiah as a ruthless judge who would come not to save but to settle accounts, proposing the simplest solution to remedy the spread of sin: the death of the sinner. But Jesus would never exercise His messianic role in such a manner, and even if He would take up some of the Baptist’s words — such as the call to conversion (cf. Mt 4:17: “Repent”) — He would declare that He had come not for the ruin but for the salvation of sinners. This is the Gospel passage of the Second Sunday of Advent:

«In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: “A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”» (Mt 3:1–12).

In the words of John the Baptist we perceive his urgent appeal to conversion, which characterises the season of Advent. The word used is metanoia, which we could literally break into two concepts: “beyond” (meta) the “mind” (We), indicating a “change of mind” or “change of understanding”. Above all Jesus — more than the Baptist, who invited to a revision of customs and to the correction of injustices — will ask for a conversion of the way of thinking in order to welcome the kingdom and its newness.

John at the Jordan must have aroused considerable astonishment in his own time, finding himself in a situation and condition rather unusual, if not anomalous; for we know from the Evangelist Luke (cf. Page 1:5) that he was the son of a priest, and yet he lives in the desert of Judea. This fact must have impressed the memory of his contemporaries — that John had distanced himself from his father’s profession. A commentator writes: “The only son of a priest of Jerusalem had, in fact, the solemn obligation to take his father’s place in his function and to guarantee, through marriage and children, the continuity of his own priestly lineage. If this was the real historical situation, at a certain point John must have turned his back and — scandalously, to Jewish eyes — refused his obligation to be a priest in his father’s footsteps.”

Thus, a striking gesture stands at the beginning of John’s story, which today’s Gospel passage from Matthew presents to us. He goes near the place from which Elijah had been taken up into heaven, the fiery prophet of the Old Testament who had attempted to bring Israel back to God, and whose return was expected to precede the Messiah. Perhaps for this reason John dresses like Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8), but since his diet was based on Jewish purity rules — locusts being insects permitted for consumption (Lev 11:22), and wild honey likewise kasher, that is, in accordance with the laws of kashrut which determine whether a food is suitable for the Jewish people — it is possible that the Forerunner had other concerns as well. Since impurity prevented a person from approaching God, John not only performs ascetical acts, but avoids wearing fabrics touched by women or eating foods prepared by others, for fear of becoming ritually defiled.

As we wrote at the beginning, John did not clearly see the face of the Messiah, yet he lived his expectation coherently and to the full, in the desert and by the Jordan, where he was baptising. Looking at him, Christians live the season of Advent as an opportunity not to be wasted, and as a call to dwell, even today, in our own desert, returning within ourselves, changing our mindset and our lives, opening ourselves to Him — Jesus the Christ — who is to come.

Moreover, the words spoken by John today are still timely, not only because they proclaim conversion for the forgiveness of sins, but also because they invite us to be credible by leading an authentic life. John the Baptist lives in an essential, simple way and without any form of narcissism; he is wholly oriented toward the One whom he does not yet know, but whom he already recognises as stronger than himself. Thus from the Baptist we learn not to look so much at ourselves, but to open ourselves to others and to the Other; and above all we learn to seek — perhaps precisely where we live — our own small “desert”, where not only our own voice resounds, but the voice of the one Word that saves.

Indeed all the readings of the Second Sunday of Advent converge in delivering a message centred upon the Messiah. He is the one upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests with His gifts (Is 11:1–10); Jesus is that Messiah who, according to Scripture, has fulfilled the promises of God made to the fathers (Rom 15:4–9); finally, He is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire: He is the Mighty One announced by the Baptist (Mt 3:1–12). He is revealed by the Spirit (first reading), prophesied by the Scriptures (second reading), pointed out by a man — John — the prophet and forerunner (Gospel). Therefore this Second Sunday of Advent has at its centre the biblical message of preparation for the coming of the Lord. This takes place with the aid of the Spirit — to be invoked and to whose dynamism we must submit — and with the help of Scripture — to be heard and meditated — so that it may transform our heart and incline it toward conversion. This is what John asks, living it himself in the first person. While he exhorts others saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Mt 3:3), John is already preparing it; he makes of himself the way that the Lord will follow. He is the forerunner, the one who precedes the Messiah with his life, anticipating in himself much of what the Messiah will later accomplish.

From the Hermitage, 7 December 2025

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______________________________

EVERY MAN SHOULD LOOK FOR HIS OWN DESERT

John the Baptist lives in an essential way, simple and without any form of narcissism; is totally oriented towards Him whom he does not yet know, but who he already recognizes as stronger than him. This is how we learn from the Baptist not to look so much at ourselves, but to open ourselves to others and the Other; and above all we learn to look for — perhaps precisely where we live — a small “desert” of our own., where only our voice does not resonate, but the voice of the only Word that saves.

Author
Hermit Monk

.

Not only the Gospels tell us about John the Baptist; so do historians — for example the Jew Flavius ​​Josephus, who in his work Jewish antiquities He described him as “a good man.”, who exhorted Jews to lead a virtuous life, to practice mutual justice and piety towards God, inviting them to approach baptism together.”. The Baptist imagined the figure of the Messiah as an implacable judge who would come not to save, but to settle accounts, proposing the simplest solution to remedy the spread of sin: the death of the sinner. But Jesus would never exercise his messianic mission in this way.; and although he will take up some words of the Baptist - such as that of conversion (cf. Mt 4,17: «Convert») - will say that he has come not for perdition, but for the salvation of sinners. This is the Gospel passage from the second Sunday of Advent:

«In those days John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert of Judea: “Become, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”. He is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said: “Voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight their paths!”. Juan wore a camel hair dress and a leather belt around his waist.; and their food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem came out to him, all Judea and all the region of the Jordan; and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing your sins. Seeing that many Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism, he told them: “Breed of vipers! Who has taught you to flee from the impending wrath? Dad, well, fruit worthy of conversion; and don't think that you can tell each other: 'We have Abraham as our father'. For I tell you that from these stones God is able to raise children to Abraham.. The ax is already placed at the root of the trees: and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for conversion; but he who comes after me is stronger than me, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He has the fork in his hand: He will clean his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn.; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.". (Mt 3,1–12).

In the words of John the Baptist we perceive his urgent call to conversion, that characterizes the season of Advent. The word used is metanoia, which we could literally decompose into two concepts: "beyond" (meta) of the “mind” (We), to indicate a “change of mind” or “change of mentality”. Above all Jesus — more than the Baptist, who invited us to review customs and correct injustices - will ask for a conversion of the way of thinking to welcome the Kingdom and its novelty.

Juan, next to the Jordan, must have aroused great astonishment in its time, finding yourself in a very particular situation and condition, if not abnormal; because we know from the evangelist Luke (cf. LC 1,5) who was the son of a priest, and yet he lives in the Judean desert. This fact must have impressed the memory of his contemporaries.: that Juan had distanced himself from his father's profession. A commentator writes: "The only son of a priest in Jerusalem had, indeed, the solemn obligation to succeed his father in his office and to guarantee, through marriage and children, the continuity of his priestly lineage. If this was the real historical situation, At one point Juan must have turned his back and — scandalously —, for Jewish eyes — rejecting his obligation to be a priest following in his father's footsteps.". a gesture, therefore, clamorous is at the beginning of the story of Juan, that the Gospel passage of Matthew presents to us today. He goes to the place from where Elijah had been taken to heaven., the fiery prophet of the Old Testament who had tried to lead Israel back to God, and whose return would precede the Messiah. Maybe this is why Juan dresses like Elijah. (2 Re 1,8), but since their diet was based on the standards of Jewish purity—locusts being insects permitted for consumption (Lv 11,22), and wild honey likewise kasher, that is to say, in accordance with the laws of the kashrut about the nutritional suitability of the Jewish people — it is possible that the Precursor had other concerns as well. Since impurity prevented us from approaching God, Juan not only performs ascetic gestures, but avoids wearing fabrics touched by women or eating foods prepared by others., for fear of ritual contamination.

As we wrote at the beginning, John did not see the face of the Messiah clearly, and yet he lived coherently and to the bottom his expectation, in the desert and by the Jordan, where he baptized. looking at it, Christians live the season of Advent as an occasion that should not be wasted and as a call to remain, also today, in our own desert, returning to ourselves, changing mentality and life, to open ourselves to Him — Jesus the Christ — who is to come.

Besides, the words spoken today by Juan they are still current, not only because they announce conversion for the forgiveness of sins, but also because they invite us to be credible by leading an authentic life. John the Baptist lives in an essential way, simple and without any form of narcissism; is totally oriented towards Him whom he does not yet know, but who he already recognizes as stronger than him. This is how we learn from the Baptist not to look so much at ourselves, but to open ourselves to others and the Other; Above all, we learn to look for — perhaps precisely where we live — a small “desert” of our own., where only our voice does not resonate, but the voice of the only Word that saves.

Indeed, All the readings of the second Sunday of Advent converge to transmit a message centered on the Messiah. He is the one on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests with his gifts (Is 11,1-10); Jesus is that Messiah who, according to the scripture, has fulfilled the promises made by God to the parents (RM 15,4-9); Finally, is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire: is the strongest announced by the Baptist (Mt 3,1-12). It is revealed by the Spirit (first reading), prophesied by the scriptures (second reading), pointed out by a man — John — the prophet and forerunner (Gospel). That is why this second Sunday of Advent has at its center the biblical message of preparation for the coming of the Lord.. This is done with the help of the Spirit — who we must invoke and whose dynamism we must welcome — and with the help of Scripture — which we must listen to and meditate on — so that it transforms our hearts and inclines our lives toward conversion.. That's what Juan asks, living it himself in first person. While exhorting others saying: "Prepare the way of the Lord" (Mt 3,3), Juan is already preparing it; makes himself the path that the Lord will follow. He is the forerunner, the one who precedes the Messiah with his life, anticipating in itself much of what the Messiah will later do.

From the wasteland, 7 December 2025

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.

Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

.

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

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______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome – Vatican
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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