Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

MARTA, Mary and Jesus' lesson on the dimension of the Eternal

«Marta, March, You struggle and you get acted for many things, But of one only one is needed. Maria chose the best part, that will not be removed "

Author
Hermit Monk

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The evangelical song of this Sunday belongs to a tradition that only Luca knows, since it is not reported by the other Synoptics.

The fourth Gospel, however, knows Marta and Maria, The two women protagonists, and reports that they are resident in Bethany, with his brother Lazzaro. Over time, Pericopes has increased its strong influence on Christian spirituality, so much so that it becomes the paradigm of the contrast between active life to the contemplative one. For example, St. Francis of Assisi wrote a "rule" for the herds imagining that the friars should be inspired by these two sisters:

«Those who want to lead religious life in the hermitages, are three friars or at the most four. Two of them act as mothers […] and follow Marta's life, And the two who act as children that of Maria ".

Let's read the Evangelical text.

"During that time, while they were on the way, Jesus entered a village and a woman, named Marta, he hosted him. She had a sister, named Maria, which, Sitting at the foot of the Lord, he listened to his word. Marta, on the other hand, was distorted for the many services. Then he came forward and said: "Man, I don't care anything that my sister left me alone to serve? So say that help me ". But the Lord replied: «Marta, March, You struggle and you get acted for many things, But of one only one is needed. Maria chose the best part, that will not be removed " (LC 10,38-42).

This tale He is placed by Luca after the beginning of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. More precisely after he stopped to answer the question of a doctor of the law on who is the "next" and having told the parable of the good Samaritan. Following, continuing his journey to the Holy City, before going up for the Monte degli Ulivi and then arrive in the city, Jesus enters a village where the meeting with the two sisters Marta and Maria takes place. We know of the two women and his brother Lazzaro who is not mentioned by Luca. Some hypothesized that they were celibates, Because in the Gospels we are not talking about husbands for Marta and Maria, nor of a wife for Lazzaro, e, according to some commentator, they could belong to the group of pii Israelites called Esseni. Perhaps Jesus conquered followers even between pious essenes who ardently desired eschatological salvation and that in the first century AD. Intensify, apparently, The expectation of the Messiah Davidico? Lazzaro and his sisters Maria and Marta, clearly unmarried people who lived in Bethany near the Mount of Ulivi, they could be examples of sympathizers of this kind.

Much more interesting For us it is the fact that Luca placed this meeting immediately after the parable of the good Samaritan, making the readers perceive the gospel that the two scenes are connected. The parable served to explain what it means to do close; This page instead speaks of love for the Lord. In this way Luca, counterbalanced a philanthropic ideal perhaps too high, Bring the example of Marta and Maria. Some exegetes underline the accurate choice of the evangelist in presenting below the two scenes: The teaching contained in the song of Marta and Maria can be read in relation to the previous parable of the Samaritan which is done next, completing it, since it offers the foundation of merciful behavior. It is important to, that is, listen to the word of Jesus, because authentic expression of the divine will expressed in the commandment of the love of others. Listening to the Word of Christ is therefore the foundation of Christian behavior and becomes the essential condition for inheriting eternal life, who was the request of the doctor of the law. The words of Jesus in Marta, like this, they restore a priority and invite not to lose sight of the essential, what you really need, or, stay at the feet of Jesus.

From the Gospel of John we know that the guests of Jesus are friends of the Lord, in particular it is said of Lazzaro, but here, in Luca, as shown above, he is not remembered, nor is there a failure to curiosity about the emotions or feelings of Jesus towards the guests. We have two sisters, Two women, one of which is even sitting at the feet of Jesus, taking, therefore, The posture of the disciple. Now, never a Jewish master of the time would have accepted that a woman assumed the attitude of a disciple towards him. Mary's behavior is alienating and contravenes the rules imposed by the culture of time. Unless rare exceptions are well known the said rabbinic according to which women should not have been disciple of any teacher and even studying the Torah. That's why this text had ample resonance among those who seek a favorable voice in the Gospel on the identity and condition of women in the Christian community. If we look, indeed, Marta and Maria, We discover that the way they are represented touches a very current theme. Maria is depicted like a disciple at the foot of an Rabbi, While by Marta, Luca, Speaking of his "many services", Use the verb diakone. Listening to the word (v.39) Perhaps it does not remember the Ministry of the Word and the verb "serve" (v.40) does not refer to the Ministry of the Table, to diaconal tasks? The Gospel seems to report a trivial gesture of a person's welcome in his own home, But as often happens when Jesus is half, A simple event has unpredictable consequences. Let's see it closely. Luca writes that Marta and not Mary welcome Jesus to welcome:

“While they were on the way, Jesus entered a village and a woman, named Marta, he hosted him " (v.38).

We do not know why only Marta is mentioned: perhaps because it is then she who actually deals with hospitality? And why there is no man to welcome, as it was of practice, Another man who enters the house, come, eg, Abraham made guests in Mamre under his tent? The rest, It is not the only case that Luca tells us: Let's think of Lidia, that in the book of the acts of the Apostles the author presents as a small entrepreneur who even obliges Paul to stop in his home (At 16,15).

Marta welcomes, so, Jesus, But in a way we would say today "hyperactive". Luca writes that it was: "Distralta for the many services" (v. 40, According to the CEI), So much to be totally absorbed. It is excessively worried and lets itself be taken by anxiety. But on this point we must be precise. Where lies marta's mistake? Her, evidently, He performs too much his "service" (Diakonia) that, while it should be positive, The result is in truth prejudiced. They are neither the welcome of Marta, nor his intention to serve to fall under the blows of criticism, But the excess of his actions and the concerns that are at the origin. The text does not contrast the Diacony of the table or what was the lovely listening to the word.

Marta advances her protest to the master Jesus, without entering dialogue with her sister Maria, which, in the text, never takes the floor; taciturn becomes the central character, In the end praised by the Lord. Marta instead speaks and moves, which refers to the episode preserved in Giovanni, where she always goes to Jesus, He speaks and disputes him that if he had been there his brother Lazzaro would not have died. Mary also in the Gospel of John remains sitting, It is Jesus who calls her and only then does it move towards him. In a situation similar to who knows how many, It happened in every family, What emerges here is the word of Jesus. This story has been preserved precisely to remember what Jesus says and not for the banality of the meeting. And Jesus, turning to Marta, with that double vocative - «Marta, Marta » - Typically biblical, reproaching it veiledly, but showing, But, also sympathy and affection for her, wishes to lead the woman to the essential, To that unique and priority part that Mary has chosen spontaneously.

Jesus tells Marta what he really needs, that is necessary, and now, through the story that Luca does, Readers are also aware of this. It is the good part, As the Greek text says. The CEI version, as we read, he feels to translate with: "Better part". The commentators here are divided, Some prefer the "best" qualifying adjective, others insist that the text, instead, would avoid comparison: improve, indeed, presupposes something less good. San Girolamo also translates, in the vulgate, adopting a superlative: Mary's best part of chosen.

Luca uses the Greek adjective hagathèn (it gives Hagas, «buono»), which in the New Testament first designates the incomparable goodness that distinguishes God in his essence. But then what is the meaning of the word of Jesus who underlines Mary's choice compared to that of Marta, his sister? The Word of Christ is very clear: No contempt for active life, nor much less for generous hospitality; But a clear call to the fact that the only really necessary thing is another: listen to the word of the Lord; And the Lord at that moment is there, present in the person of Jesus! Everything else will pass and will be removed, But the Word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily action.

From the Hermitage, 20 July 2025

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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

In the lighting of the spirit, WE WILL SEE THE TRUE LIGHT THAT ILLUMINATES EVERY MAN WHO COMES INTO THE WORLD

There are two equally deadly ways of separating Christ from his Spirit: that of dreaming of a kingdom of the Spirit who would bring beyond the Christ, and that of imagining a Christ who would constantly bring us back to this side of the Spirit.

Author
Hermit Monk

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Il prophet Isaiah begged: «If you rent the heavens and come down» (Is 63,19). At Pentecost that ancient desire was fulfilled.

El Greco, "Pentecost", 1597-1600 (particular) – Madrid, Prado Museum

«In your light we will see the light», the psalmist prayed (Shall 36,10) and Saint Basil commented: «In the illumination of the Spirit, we will see the true light that illuminates every man who comes into the world". Pentecost is the fulfillment of the Paschal mystery and revelation of the Christian vocation. The Spirit, indeed, like a teacher to a disciple, teaches and reminds, so that Christ dwells in the disciple, becomes an interior and intimate presence. Therefore not external, extrinsic or functional: the fulfillment of the Christian vocation comes true when the life of Christ lives in us. And the vocation, O, if you want, the essential part of Christian life under the guidance of the Spirit is the interior life, as the ability to make the word of the Lord dwell within us, to meditate on it, understand it, interpret it and then live it. Let's read the Gospel of this Solemnity:

"During that time, Jesus told his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to remain with you forever. Be one my love, He will observe my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and we will take home with him. Who does not love me, does not observe my words; And the word you listen to is not mine, But of the father who sent me. I told you these things while I'm still with you. But the paràclito, The Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything that I have told you." (GV 14,15-16.23-26).

The fulfillment of the Lord's Passover implies the inclusion of the believer in this fundamental mystery and this occurs through the gift of the Holy Spirit. He favors the transition from Christ to Christian, from the mission of Jesus to that of the disciples, as well as from the preaching and action of Jesus to the preaching and action of believers in history. Complete, that is, the transition from Christ to the Church. As Jesus states in the Gospel, thanks to the Spirit, the believer understands and remembers the word of Jesus and announces it with His strength, he responds to you with prayer and obeys you with testimony. In this way the Pentecostal event reveals to us who the believer is, because it shines the light on life according to the Spirit. Let's take prayer for example. Thanks to the Spirit it arises in response to the Word of the Lord heard and allows us to invoke God with the name of Father, Abbà, for those born again of the Spirit are his children, as the Apostle Paul recalls in today's second reading with words that have remained famous:

«For all those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. And you did not receive a slave spirit to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit who makes you adopted children, through which we cry: “Abba! Dad!”. The Spirit itself, together with our spirit, testifies that we are children of God. And if we are children, we are also heirs: heirs of God, co-heirs of Christ" (RM 8, 14-15).

Immediately before, the Apostle had recalled another intrinsic aspect to life according to the spirit, that of the internal struggle, which is characterized by the break with the "flesh" and selfishness:

«But you are not under the dominion of the flesh, but of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, it doesn't belong to him. Now, if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life for righteousness. And if the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, siblings, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to carnal desires, Why, if you live according to the flesh, you will die. Are, instead, by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, you will live".

While instead the value of the advert and of the testimony are the Acts of the Apostles, today's first reading, to underline them, when the disciples begin to speak the language of the Spirit, making the message of God's great works eloquent for all:

«Aren't all these who speak Galileans? And how come each of us hears people speaking in their native language?» (At 2,8).

Returning to the Gospel, we can briefly summarize how Jesus prepares his followers to receive the "other" Paraclete. At the Last Supper the hearts of the disciples are troubled by the unexpected announcement of Jesus' departure (GV 14,1). Until now he had remained with them (GV 16,4; 14,25); but now he announces that he will only stay for a short time (GV 13, 33): soon they will no longer see him (GV 16,11) because it goes to the Father (John 16:10). However, Jesus will immediately return to his people (GV 14,18) not only at the time of the Easter apparitions, but through an entirely spiritual and interior presence: then only the disciples will be able to see it, in a contemplation of faith (Gv14,19). And this will be the work of the Holy Spirit, who is called "another Paraclete" (GV 14,16), because the work of the first Paraclete will continue among the disciples, Jesus, he started. In the great conflict between Jesus and the world, the Spirit will have the task of defending the cause of Jesus among the disciples and confirming them in their faith. In this way it becomes in the interest of the disciples that Christ Jesus leaves, since without this departure the Paraclete will not come to them (GV 16,7). Only in this way will the Father give them the Paraclete at the request of Jesus and in the name of Jesus (GV 14,16.26); rather, Christ himself from the Father will send them the Paraclete (GV 15,26). This Spirit that comes from the Father will remain with the disciples forever (GV 14,16), that is, until the end of time: throughout his entire stay here on earth, the life of the Church will be characterized by the assistance of the Spirit of truth.

Saint John recalls that the Father will send the Holy Spirit "in the name of Jesus", as before he had said that Jesus himself was on earth "in the name of his Father" (GV 5,43), in close communion with the Father; in fact he was among men to make the name of the Father known, to reveal the Father (cf.. GV 17,6). From here we understand better what Jesus means when he announces that the Paraclete will be sent "in his name". It does not simply mean that the Father will send the Spirit at the Son's request, or in place of or as a representative of the Son, or even to continue the work of the Son. The "name" here expresses what is most profound in the person of Christ Jesus, his quality as Son, and as such will have an active part in the sending of the Spirit. For this reason the two complementary formulas are found in farewell speeches: the Father will send the Spirit in the name of Jesus (GV 14,26); the Son himself will send the Spirit from the Father. The formula "in my name" therefore clearly indicates the perfect communion between the Father and the Son when They send the Spirit. Without a doubt the origin of this "mission" is the Father and this is why the Son will send the Spirit "from the Father". However, the Son is also the beginning of this sending: and therefore the Father will send the Spirit "in the name of the Son". Thus the Father and the Son are both the principle of this mission of the Paraclete. Therefore, if the Spirit is sent in the name of Christ Jesus, his mission will be to reveal Christ Jesus, to make his real name known, that name of Son of God which expresses the mystery of his person: The Paraclete will have to inspire faith in Jesus Son of God.

But the Gospel goes further. The second half of the verse (GV 14,26) describes the Paraclete «in the office of teacher of doctrine» (Reginald Garrigue Lagrange). This action is designated by two different verbs: «He will will teach everything and it will do to you remember everything I told you". This is an important proposition, because it gave rise to a recurring temptation in the Church, that of introducing new revelations due to the Spirit. A temptation that is not at all illusory if we remember Montanism at the beginning of the Church and the spiritualist current of Joachim of Fiore in the Middle Ages. Father Henry de Lubac wrote very well:

«There are two equally deadly ways of separating Christ from his Spirit: that of dreaming of a kingdom of the Spirit who would bring beyond the Christ, and that of imagining a Christ who would constantly bring us back to this side of the Spirit".

But the Paraclete will not bring a new Gospel to the disciples, in the life and teaching of Jesus, indeed, it contains everything we need to know in view of the establishment of the Kingdom of God and to implement our Salvation. The function of the Spirit remains essentially subordinate to the Revelation already brought by Jesus. «Teaching» according to John is almost a verb of revelation. The Father taught the Son what he revealed to the world (GV 8,28). But more often Jesus himself is presented as the one who teaches (GV 6,59; 8,20). However, this doctrine of Christ Jesus must not remain extrinsic to the believer, for this reason John strongly insisted on the need to make it internal by welcoming it through an ever more lively faith. This is the meaning of the typically Johannine expressions "to remain in the doctrine of Christ" (2GV 9), «remain in his word» (GV 8,31). Precisely here the action of the Spirit arises: he also "teaches". He teaches exactly what has already been taught by Jesus, but to make it penetrate the hearts. So, Revelation has perfect continuity: coming from the Father, it is communicated to us by the Son and yet it does not reach its end until it has penetrated into the most intimate part of ourselves and this happens through the work of the Spirit.

The exact nature of this teaching of the Paraclete is specified by another verb: he will "make us remember" everything that Jesus said. This theme of "recall" or "remembrance" is strongly underlined by the fourth Gospel. John observes more than once that after Jesus' departure the disciples "remembered" this or that other word or action of Jesus, that is, they understood its true meaning and full significance only after the Resurrection (GV 2,17.22; 12,16). Precisely here lies the function of the Holy Spirit: in "remembering" everything that Jesus had said, but He will not limit himself only to bringing to their memory a teaching that they would otherwise have risked forgetting. His real task will be to make the words of Jesus understood in their interiority, to make them grasp the light of faith, to perceive all its virtualities, and riches for the life of the Church. Therefore, through the secret work of the Paraclete, the message of Jesus no longer remains external and alien to us or simply consigned to the past; the Holy Spirit internalizes it in us and helps us to penetrate it spiritually so that we discover in it a word of life. This word of Jesus, assimilated in faith under the action of the Spirit, it is what John calls "the anointing oil" in his first letter that remains in us (1GV 2,27). The Spirit acts within the believer so that Jesus' teaching acquires an ever fuller meaning (vv. 20 e ssg.) and instructs him about all realities; the Christian is now "born of the Spirit" (GV 3,8). Having reached this level of spiritual maturity he no longer needs to be educated (1GV 2,27): now the only thing that matters is that he remains in Jesus and allows himself to be taught by God (cf.. GV 6,45).

From the Hermitage, 07 June 2025

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

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

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The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

True peace is of Christ, Not that of pacifists or pacifondists

The Spirit is "the topicality of Christ" himself, But not as a simple memory of the Lord's land life. Its actualization is the one that makes us "contemporaries of Christ" (Søren Kierkegaaard), ensure its permanent presence in the Church, As Saint Paul also states of Jesus, which remains present in our existence as a "lively spirit".

Author
Hermit Monk

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San Girolamo, In the comment to the letter to the Galatians, It tells a perhaps legendary story, certainly ancient:

«The Blessed Giovanni Evangelista, while, up to advanced old age, He lived in Ephesus and with difficulty he was transported to the church on the hands of the disciples was more able to say many words, nothing else he used to utter in each meeting if not this: "Kids, love each other " (cf.. 1GV 3,11)».

In the Giovannei writings Love is the figure around which the evangelist condenses the Christian mystery, As in the words that are read in the Gospel of this Sunday. In them we are revealed something great and at the same time profound, Since they say that thanks to love the Trinity lives in us. The risen Lord who did not leave us, new form, spiritual, Keep living in us by bringing the love of the Trinitarian god. Let's read.

"During that time, Jesus said [his disciples]: "I know my mistress, He will observe my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and we will take home with him. Who does not love me, does not observe my words; And the word you listen to is not mine, But of the father who sent me. I told you these things while I'm still with you. But the paràclito, The Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, He will teach you everything and remind you of everything I told you. I leave you peace, I give you my peace. Not as the world gives, I give it to you. Your heart is not troubled and is not afraid. You heard that I told you: "I'm going and I'll come back to you". You loved me, you would rejoice that I go to the Father, because the father is bigger than me. I told you now, before it happens, Why, When it happens, You believe "" (GV 14,23-29).

In the context of the last meeting between Jesus and his, Several disciples ask him questions: Pietro in the first place (GV 13,36-37), Then Tommaso (GV 14,5), then Judas Iscariota: "Man, how did it happen that you have to show yourself to us, and not in the world?» (GV 14,22). It is a question that highlights, perhaps, suffering in the disciples, so long as, After the adventure lived together with Jesus for years, He leaves and seems that nothing has truly changed in the life of the world. A small and small community understood something because Jesus manifested himself to it, But the others have not seen and see nothing. What is therefore reduced to the coming of the unigenite son in the flesh? Jesus then replies: «I know my mistress, He will observe my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and we will take home ". The Lord Jesus does not manifest himself in the world who does not believe in him, that remains hostile without being able to love him: to have, instead, The manifestation of Jesus is needed love. Those words of Jesus are surprising because they open the horizon on the unexpected new home of the Lord in us. What will this new presence of Jesus be like in the community of believers? It will be characterized by two fundamental sections.

First of all, It will be an inner presence, spiritual: through it the Lord will manifest himself to his disciples. Until then Jesus was simply "near" them (v. 25). Will start, But, without leaving them orphans, since he will return to his (v. 18), and "on that day", says Jesus, they will make a new experience: "You will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you" (v. 20). They will recognize simultaneously that Jesus is in his Father and that therefore he will not be alone to come to the disciple he loves: Jesus and His Father will come and will dwell (v. 23). Jesus will manifest himself in the mystery of his encouragement in his Father. However, says Jesus, almost like a refrain, This condition occurs if the disciple loves the Lord, according to the teaching he received from him (vv. 15.21.23.24). In this existential observance of the precept of love, The disciple will finally recognize that Jesus and the Father dwells in him.

The other fundamental trait revealed by the words of Jesus is that all this will not be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit. As a above, Jesus was "at" the disciples (v.25), So the spirit was also "near" them (v.17), because it was in Jesus. Later it will be "in" them - still the V. 17: «The spirit of truth, that the world cannot receive because it does not see it and does not know it. You know him because he remains with you and it will be in you " - because his task will be to remind the disciples all that Jesus had told them and to teach him from within: "He will teach you everything and remind you of everything I told you" (v. 26).

The teaching of Paraclito it will therefore coincide with the inner teaching of Jesus: his words will become, in the intimate of the disciples, rivers of living water that will arouse a new life for them and for the Christian community: «If anyone is thirsty, come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As Scripture says: From her womb rivers of living water will flow.". This he said of the Spirit that those who believe in him would receive: in fact there was not yet the Spirit, because Jesus had not yet been glorified" (GV 7, 37-39). Through the internalization of the word of Jesus and through the presence of the Spirit in the disciples, Jesus himself and with him the Father, will be present again in them. But only in the Paracolito spirit will it be possible to "see" Jesus (GV 16,22-23); like this, through a new look, It will discover its mystery, As Sant’Ambrogio also states: «Not with the eyes of the body, But with those of the Spirit you see Jesus " (Expos. ev.sec. Luke: I,5).

Of this way, in an absolutely unpredictable way, The promise of the eschatological unit of God among men will be carried out (cf.. Zac 2,14: «Slowed, exult, Daughter of Zion, Why, there, I come to live in the middle of you "). So Sant'Agostino expresses itself regarding this new divine presence that is Trinitarian: "There, so, that also the Holy Spirit, Together with the Father and the Son, fix his home in the faithful, within them, like God in his temple. God Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit come to us when we go to them " (Tract. and., PL 35, 1832).

We know that the three main authors of the New Testament who wrote about the Holy Spirit are Luca, Paolo and Giovanni. But only the latter says that the historical Jesus gave the Spirit. According to the fourth gospel, the activity of the spirit consists in arousing, deepen or defend, in the heart of the disciples, faith in Jesus and to give them the knowledge of the Lord. As it was rightly affirmed: It is in a revelation framework that the doctrine on the Holy Spirit is inserted in San Giovanni; And the fourth Gospel continuously makes us witness the progressive revelation of the increasingly intimate relationship between Jesus and the Spirit. If at the beginning Jesus presents himself as the one on which the spirit "remains" - of him, indeed, The Baptist says: "I contemplated the spirit descending like a dove from heaven and staying on him" (GV 1, 32) - He later gives him, rather, At the time of "his hour" he becomes the source. After the resurrection Jesus will ask the Father to send the spirit of truth (GV 14, 16-17) which will be another Paraclito. From the Spirit, the permanence and effectiveness of the revelation of Jesus is now ensured to the Church. On the contrary, for John, The Spirit is "the topicality of Christ" itself, But not as a simple memory of the Lord's land life. Its actualization is the one that makes us "contemporaries of Christ" (Søren Kierkegaaard), ensure its permanent presence in the Church, As Saint Paul also states of Jesus, which remains present in our existence as a "lively spirit" (1Color 15,45).

From the Hermitage, 24 May 2025

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

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

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Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

WHEN YOU ARE OLD SOMEONE ELSE WILL TAKE YOU WHERE YOU DON'T WANT

In the Synoptic Gospels Peter, After being scolded and accused of being like Satan, receives a second call, Similar to that of Abraham in Gen 22, After that of Gen 12: “If someone wants to come behind me deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

Author
Hermit Monk

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Towards the end of the first century someone integrates the Gospel of John with his current chapter 21, even if the work seemed already finished in the previous one, that of the apparitions of the Risen One.

This is explained by the fact that times were rapidly changing for the church, with the signs of the first differentiations within it and the formation of a primitive, specifically Christian literature. More, allows the writing to be glimpsed, the death of two great apostles had occurred: Peter and the beloved disciple, the inspiring source of that Gospel. Today we read only a section of the chapter 21, but to understand its scope it is advisable to read it all. Here's the song.

"During that time, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples on the Sea of ​​Tiberias. And it manifested itself like this: they were together Simon Pietro, Thomas known as Didymus, Nathanael of Cana of Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two other disciples. Simon Peter told them: “I'm going fishing”. They told him: «We're coming with you too». Then they went out and got into the boat; but that night they took nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them,: “children, you have nothing to eat?”. They answered: “No”. Then he told them: “Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you will find”. They threw it away and could no longer lift it due to the large quantity of fish. Then that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter: “It is the Lord!”. Simon Pietro, as soon as he heard that it was the Lord, she tightened her dress around her waist, because he was undressed, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples instead came by boat, dragging the net full of fish: in fact they were not far from the ground except a hundred meters. As soon as I got off the ground, they saw a fire of embers with fish on them, and some bread. Jesus told them: “Bring some of the fish you caught now”. Then Simon Peter got into the boat and brought the net full of one hundred and fifty-three large fish to land. And although there were many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them,: «Come and eat». And none of the disciples dared to ask him: “Who are you?”, because they knew well that it was the Lord. Jesus approached, he took bread and gave it to them, and so is the fish. It was the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples, after rising from the dead. When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter: “Simone, son of John, you love me more than these?”. She answered him: “Of course, man, you know that I love you”. He told him: “Feed my lambs”. She told him again, for the second time: “Simone, son of John, what is?”. She answered him: “Of course, man, you know that I love you”. He told him: “Graze my sheep”. He said to him the third time: “Simone, son of John, you love Me?”. Peter was saddened that he asked him for the third time: "You love Me?», he said: “man, you know everything; you know that I love you” Jesus answered him: “Feed my sheep. In truth, truly I tell you: when you were younger you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and take you where you don't want”. This he said to indicate by what death he would glorify God. E, said this, he added: “Follow me”» (GV 21,1-19).

The first thing that catches your eye approaching the chapter 21 of the fourth Gospel are the many clues that recall the first three Gospels, as if the Johannine tradition wanted to interact with the other, majority, contained in the Synoptic Gospels. May, indeed, in the fourth Gospel, it is said that the apostles were fishermen or the profession of fishing is insisted on there, which instead is greatly underlined by the synoptic gospels. An activity that these Gospels concentrate in Galilee, while John prefers the preaching and activity of Jesus in Judea. And now this scene is placed near the lake, where according to the synoptics the disciples fished, but called of «Tiberias» as in San Giovanni (GV 6, 1): a clear reference to the place where Jesus had fed the people with loaves and fish. We also note the identification of James and John as "sons of Zebedee", of clear synoptic derivation. Conversely, the passage does not forget the "beloved disciple" behind whom tradition has always seen the apostle John, the one who bowed his head on Jesus' chest at the last supper, who preceded Peter to the tomb and now here in recognition of the Risen One. And finally Pietro who appears as the main protagonist, except for the Risen One, but not with the nickname of Cephas as he is called in the Johannine Gospel and in the Pauline letters (cf.. GV 1,42; 1Color 1,12;3,22), but of Simone, according to the use that we find very frequently in the synoptics (Mt 4,18; MC 1,16; LC 4,38).

All these peculiarities allow us to affirm without a shadow of a doubt that this addition to the Gospel is seeking a dialogue that results in a request from tradition dating back to the beloved disciple, alias Giovanni, to have the same rank, to be placed at the same level as the synoptic one, which traditionally can be traced back to the preaching of the other apostles which Simon Peter summarizes here with his mere presence. In passing I remember that an ancient piece of news dating back to Papias of Gerapolis (+130 d.C.) links Peter to the Gospel of St. Mark, as the First Letter of that apostle also points out: «The community that was chosen like you and dwells in Babylon greets you [Rome, ndr.]; and also Marco, my son" (1 PT 5,13). The other tradition, instead, is here represented by the presence of Thomas who connects the readers to the previous chapter where he was the protagonist with his beautiful profession of faith, by the disciple Nathanael who appears at the beginning of the Fourth Gospel and here it is specified that he was from Cana where Jesus performed the first of the signs and by James and John themselves, however called "sons of Zebedee" as in the synoptics and remembered there as fishermen and partners of Simon.

We are in the early days of the life of the Church and the otherness is already taking shape, that is, the diversity of points of view on the Christian mystery, who wish to harmonize and not exclude each other. The synoptics are recalled with their insistence on sequela, the «You follow me» of GV 21,22, without neglecting to remain, which marks the profound life of the Son of God and of the disciple in the Johannine Gospel: «If I want him to stay until I come, what does it matter to you?» (GV 21,23). A lesson that comes to the contemporary Church from the ancient one and which is particularly good for it, especially today which needs to rediscover communion and brotherhood within itself and not division. There are four Gospels, different from each other and although they narrate the same object, they depend on the originality of the authors who dialogue with each other and refer to each other, sometimes they depend, so much to train, according to a fortunate expression of Irenaeus of Lyon, «The fourfold gospel».

In the Gospel story some topics dear to Saint John return such as the fact that the group of disciples does not recognize the Risen Lord or His presence remains in the night, so much so that fishing, in this case a symbol of apostolic activity and the attraction of people in the Church, it is fruitless or even nothing: «Then they went out and got into the boat; but that night they took nothing" (GV 21,3). But in the light of day an as yet unidentified Jesus invites them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. Here we see the reference to the prophecy of Ezekiel who saw water coming out from the right side of the temple which gradually increased, so much so that it became a huge torrent: «That water went down under the right side of the temple, from the southern part of the altar... On its banks there will be fishermen: from Engàddi to En-Eglàim there will be an expanse of nets. The fish, according to their species, they will be as abundant as the fish of the Great Sea" (This 47, 1-10).

The same prophecy that John sees it come true under the cross: Jesus dead, hit by the spear, it becomes the eschatological temple from which the water of the Spirit flows onto the nascent Church, represented there by the Mother of Jesus and the beloved disciple. Who, instead, it is the now Easter church that casts the net to attract people to Christ in the Church. Very briefly and quickly we need to mention the difference in our passage between the term stroke, fish, used by Giovanni for that catch, symbol of the new believers being pulled into the boat and the term opsarion, of fish, which is instead the fish of the meal, to which Jesus invites the disciples who have come ashore. I also remember the spring of Eglàim which was mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy mentioned above. It is located near the salty waters of the Dead Sea, which are healed by those that the prophet sees coming out of the temple and growing. Now the numerical value of Eglàim according to the calculation of Gematria — the system used in Judaism to assign numerical values ​​to letters and, Consequently, to words and sentences — it's really about 153, as many as the big fish that Peter and the others catch, that is, at this point we can say it, they save. And the net was not broken says Saint John using the verb schizo, sliver, hence the term schism, the same verb he used for Jesus' useless tunic under the cross, which for the Greek fathers was immediately an image of the unity of the Church.

And finally the apostle Peter. He learns what it means to truly follow Jesus. In the Synoptic Gospels Peter, After being scolded and accused of being like Satan, receives a second call, similar to that of Abraham in Genesis 22, After that of Gen 12: “If someone wants to come behind me deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Because who will want to save their life, will lose it; but whoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, will save her » (MC 8,34-35). Thus in the Gospel of John Peter receives an invitation to follow, after what had happened on the night of the passion. Thanks to the essential testimony - «It is the Lord!» — of the beloved disciple and therefore also of the evangelical tradition that refers to him, Pietro, right away, he throws himself from the boat to meet him and the Gospel tells us of yet another conversion of this extraordinary Apostle, through a very significant play on verbs. In Greek the verb fillet expresses the love of friendship, tender but not all-encompassing, while the verb agapáo designates unreserved love, total and unconditional. Jesus asks Peter the first time: «Simone, you love Me (agapâs me)», that is, according to this total and unconditional love (GV 21,15)? Before the experience of betrayal the impulsive Apostle would certainly have said: "I love you (agapô I know) unconditionally". Now that he has known the bitter sadness of infidelity and his own weakness, he says humbly: "Man, I love you (filo)», or "I love you with my poor human love". Christ insists: «Simone, you love me with this total love?». And Peter repeats the response of his humble human love: «Kyrie, filo», "Man, I love you as much as I know". But the third time Jesus only says to Simon: «Fileîs me?», «you love me?». Simon understands that his poor love is enough for Jesus, the only one he is capable of, and yet he is saddened that the Lord had to tell him this. So he answers him: "Man, you know everything, you know that I love you (filo)». One might say that Jesus conformed to Peter, instead of Peter to Jesus.

It is precisely this divine adjustment to give hope to the disciple Peter, but also to us when we have known the suffering of infidelity. From here comes the trust that will make Peter capable of following him to the end: «This he said to indicate with what death he would glorify God. And having said this he added: «Follow me» (GV 21,19). From that day Peter "followed" the Master as a true disciple with the precise awareness of his own fragility; but this awareness did not discourage him. In fact, he knew he could count on the presence of the Risen One next to him. From the naive enthusiasm of initial membership, passing through the painful experience of denial and the tears of conversion, Peter came to entrust himself to that Jesus who adapted to his poor capacity for love. And it is precisely love that defines and will distinguish his task and service in the Church from then on.

From the Hermitage, 4 May 2025

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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

«THEY TOOK THE LORD FROM THE TOMB AND WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY PLACED HIM»

Every Christian hope is founded on the Resurrection of Christ, on which our resurrection with him is "anchored". However, Since we now we have risen with him: the whole fabric of our Christian life is woven with this unshakable certainty and this hidden reality, with the joy and dynamism that derive from it.

Author
Hermit Monk

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The evangelical passage for Easter day does not present an ad, similar to a proclamation, of the resurrection of Jesus. This is the most surprising aspect of it, certainly diluted by the other liturgical readings and prayers that distinguish this solemnity.

The secret and reason for this absence lies in the quality of John's text which by not making it explicit reveals and in its movement, while describing what was true and physical of the disciple Magdalene together with Peter and another, it also drags readers along, almost as if they too were taking part in that race to the tomb, involved in what to all intents and purposes is the genesis of the Easter faith. Let's read the text.

«The first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb in the morning, when it was still dark, and he saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. He then ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, what Jesus loved, and told them: “They took the Lord away from the tomb and we don't know where they placed him”. Peter then went out together with the other disciple and they went to the tomb. They both ran together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down, he saw the sheets laid there, but he did not enter. Meanwhile, Simon Pietro also arrived, who followed him, and he entered the tomb and observed the cloths laid there, and the shroud - which had been on his head - not placed there with the cloths, but wrapped in a place apart. Then the other disciple also entered, who had reached the tomb first, and he saw and believed. In fact they had not yet understood the Scripture, that is, he had to rise from the dead" (GV 20,1-9).

On that first day of the week which will later become a holiday for Christians, «day of the sun» (Saint Justin) and of the Lord, the event of the Resurrection of Christ is a fact that is revealed in the guise of testimony. In John's story we grasp the inchoative moment, the release of the spark that will set the world on fire. but yet, what Mary Magdalene first communicates is an observation far from faith in the Resurrection of the Lord, whom he will meet shortly thereafter, as soon as she is left alone. She reports the most obvious thing: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we know not where they have laid!». In that plural we see the initial bewilderment of the disciples, underlined by an annotation, symbol of a faith that is not yet profound and convinced: "it was still dark". In the Fourth Gospel the darkness refers to the darkness that opposes the light of the Word that arrives (GV 1,5; 3,19); designates the problematic situation of the disciples in the absence of Jesus (GV 6,19), and it is the condition of uncertainty and confusion in which those who do not follow Jesus find themselves wandering (GV 8,12). Above all it is the condition of those who do not believe in him: «I came into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (GV 12,46). Maria is in that situation there, he peered into the empty tomb, but he has not yet understood because he has not seen with the eyes of faith and so he involves two important witnesses: Peter and another anonymous disciple. Only later will Mary of Magdala say with conviction: «I saw the Lord!». In this way the internal itinerary that will lead to the ecclesial announcement: «He is risen», passes through the evidence of death, consisting of the bandages and shroud that wrapped the body and the empty tomb in which it had been placed. According to the author of the Fourth Gospel, to arrive at a clear and certain profession of faith on the part of the believer - like that of St. Thomas: "My Lord and my God" - it must mature little by little in the consciousness of the disciples and he outlines its onset through the various degrees of seeing. It is worth highlighting how in the chapter 20 of San Giovanni the verb to see occurs well 13 times. Everywhere in the Gospel, but above all in this chapter the development of "seeing" is outlined, and it is Jesus himself who teaches his followers to look: it is his pedagogical method. Initially there is a sensitive seeing which subsequently leads to contemplation, so that the mystery is touched in the depth of the visible (cf.. GV 19,35: «He who has seen bears witness... so that you too may believe»).

At the Last Supper Jesus had stated: "Whoever has seen me has seen the father" (GV 14,9) and this is the central verse of the fourth Gospel. But physically seeing Jesus is not enough because, obviously, even his enemies see him, but consider him simply a man from Nazareth, indeed an impostor. Physically seeing and hearing Jesus, a man with a face, a flesh, it was indispensable to progressively come to contemplate in him, with the eye of faith, the Son of God, that is, to discover in him the Word made flesh. It is Jesus, with words and signs, with all his presence, which opens the door to the mystery and leads from "seeing" a man of flesh to recognition, in that flesh, the Word of God; so physical "seeing"., throughout the Gospel, it is the access route to this mystery that is revealed. The pedagogy of seeing becomes explicit, in fact, Jesus himself will explain it to Thomas, in our chapter 20. The starting point that becomes a pace, it is what we see with these fleshly eyes of ours; we start with the signs, like the empty tomb or the gardener, a real man whom Mary Magdalene encounters, in which he then recognizes the Risen Jesus. It's a progression, found in John's use of the verb to see. We go from Greek Bleppo with the meaning of seeing, notice something, like the cloths in the tomb, a theorein when the apostles and Magdalene look and observe more carefully. Finally the verb horan, to the perfect Greek, used by Saint John to express the fullness of Easter faith: «I saw the Lord» (heôraka ton Kyrion). Although we can't say much more here, what catches the eye, noting the concentric structure of the entire chapter 20 is that it describes the birth of faith in the risen Christ which however is based on the testimony of those who "saw" the empty tomb and the living Lord. This aspect is so important that the Risen Jesus will rebuke Thomas for his lack of trust in the testimony of the other disciples: «Because you saw me, you believed; Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!» (GV 20,29).

The Resurrection of Christ is therefore done, but also an event inextricably linked to faith and testimony. So the Lord, once again and especially on this occasion of the Resurrection from the dead, he does not deviate from his pedagogy and from the way in which he wanted to meet and save men, that is, by incarnating himself.

The Gospel describes the dynamics of Easter faith very well and how the testimony on it is consolidated. Of the other disciple, who ran with Peter to the tomb, arriving first, it is said that "he began to believe" (in Greek: the epistemic, ingressive aorist) and he will say to Thomas the Risen One: «And don't be incredulous, but become a believer!» (GV 20,27). This aspect of progress and becoming is often not well underlined, since even the translations are sometimes not always happy, yet it makes us understand that the Christian faith is not something static and acquired, but a virtue that grows with experience, the intelligence of the Scriptures and the encounter with the testimony that becomes the living tradition of the Christian community. Initially it is dark: «In fact they had not yet understood the Scripture, that is, he had to rise from the dead. The disciples, therefore, they went home again.". But slowly, also thanks to the presence of the Risen One, faith becomes increasingly sure and clear until: «My Lord and my God!» by Thomas, which are the last words of the disciples in the Johannine Gospel in its first draft (GV 20,28). How important it is today for our communities to rediscover this link between events, faith and testimony, judge it for yourself. Many still follow the latest private revelation, yet another alleged Marian message, when in fact it's all there, in the Gospel. Even today Christ is risen, respecting as then our humanity that He himself assumed, asks for our testimony and our sincere faith in Him risen from the dead so that the world, our concrete situations and personal and collective stories are reborn.

I would like to conclude by reporting the words that Paul VI addressed the participants in the Symposium on the mystery of the Resurrection of Christ in the distant past 1970:

"Yup, every Christian hope is founded on the Resurrection of Christ, on which it is “anchored” our resurrection with Him. However, Since we now we have risen with him (cf.. With the 3,1): the whole fabric of our Christian life is woven with this unshakable certainty and this hidden reality, with the joy and dynamism that derive from it. It is therefore not surprising that such a mystery, so fundamental to our faith, so prodigious for our intelligence, has always aroused, with the passionate interest of the exegetes, a multifaceted contestation throughout history. This phenomenon was already evident when the evangelist Saint John was still alive, who deemed it necessary to point out that the unbelieving Thomas had been invited to touch with his hands the mark of the nails and the wounded side of the risen Word of life (cf.. GV 20, 24-29). How not to mention, since, the attempts at a gnosis, always reborn in multiple forms, to penetrate this mystery with all the resources of the human spirit, and also to strive to reduce it to the dimensions of entirely human categories? A temptation that is certainly understandable and undoubtedly inevitable, but which has a formidable tendency to insensibly empty all the riches and scope of what is first of all a fact: the Resurrection of the Savior. Even today - and we certainly don't need to remind you of this - we see this trend manifesting its extreme dramatic consequences, going so far as to deny it, among the faithful who call themselves Christians, the historical value of inspired testimonies or, more recently, to interpret in a purely mythical way, spiritual or moral, the physical resurrection of Jesus. How could we not deeply feel the disintegrating effect of these harmful discussions on many faithful? But We proclaim with strength: we consider all this without fear, Why, today as yesterday, the testimony "of the Eleven and their companions" is capable, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to arouse true faith: “It's really true! The Lord was resurrected and appeared to Peter” (LC 24,34-35) (full text: WHO, my translation).

From the Hermitage, 20 April 2025

Easter of resurrection

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Sant'Angelo Cave in Ripe (Civitella del Tronto)

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

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The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

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