July 30^th 2017. Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 13, 44-52

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 13, 44-52

Jesus said to his disciples:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls. 
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind. 
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets. 
What is bad they throw away. 
Thus it will be at the end of the age. 
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
"Do you understand all these things?" 
They answered, "Yes." 
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old." 

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the first reading the Lord tells Solomon that he can have whatever he wants. Instead of asking for riches, or for a long life, or for the defeat of his enemies, Solomon asks for wisdom. What is wisdom? Is it the fruit of a superior intellect? Is it the possession of all the important facts? No! Wisdom involves the capacity to discern between what is worthwhile and what is worthless. It involves the capacity to renounce the things that bind me. It requires detachment from things and the freedom to choose the one thing that matters – Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel passage, a man sells all he owns in order to have the true treasure, while the merchant gives up everything so that he can possess the pearl of great price. If I am to be a good parent, if I am to have the capacity to love someone truly, if I am to fulfil the mission that the Lord is giving me, then I must renounce earthly things and choose the one thing that matters most – the Lord. The ironic thing is that the person who neglects Christ and goes after the things of this world will end up with nothing at all because the things of this world will one day turn out to be illusory! And the one who renounces everything for the Lord will turn out to have riches beyond compare.

Solomon asks God for wisdom. What is wisdom? Does it come a superior intellect? From possession of all the facts? No, true wisdom requires discernment, the capacity to reject that which leads nowhere, the capacity for renunciation of self.

In the first reading, we hear of the dream of Solomon. Though he is only a young man, the time has come for him to begin his mission and rule the kingdom of his father David. The Lord asks him in the dream to request whatever he wishes. Solomon does not ask for a long life, riches, or for victory over his enemies. Instead he asks for a heart with understanding, a heart capable of discerning. It is very interesting to examine the Hebrew term used by Solomon. It does not refer to a capacity for great erudition or intelligence. Rather it indicates a heart that is capable of listening. Wisdom does not derive from a superior possession of facts but involves a constant openness to reality. It requires a person to place themselves before reality and learn from it. The wise person is not the one who has already learned something from reality in the past but the one who is still open in a constant and humble way to that which the Lord wishes to say to them. An understanding heart is a heart that allows itself to be permeated by the word that it receives.

In the Gospel, those who are wise renounce everything in order to possess the one thing that matters. This is the kind of discernment that is necessary if we are to be able to truly love someone, if we are to be good parents, if we are to fulfil the mission that the Lord gives us.

What do we encounter in the Gospel passage for Sunday? We encounter instances of wise discernment. A man discovers a hidden treasure and sells everything he has to possess that treasure. Wisdom involves discernment. It involves being able to discriminate between that which must be retained and that which must be let go. A wise person does not accept everything. The wise person selects only that which is right. He realizes that the hidden treasure is greater than all of his possessions. Our lives are exactly like that. We must seek to discern where the work of God is located and get rid of everything so that we can be where the hidden work of God is situated. Similarly, the merchant in search of fine pearls sells all that he has in order to possess the greatest pearl. There is something that is worth more than anything else! There is something that we should be willing to do anything in order to possess that thing! In life we must discern where this precious pearl is and do everything in order to have it. How often we try to hold onto other treasures as well! We must learn to renounce everything in order to have one thing only. Only in this way can we be capable of loving a person, of being faithful to our family, of fulfilling our mission, of leaving everything in order to do what is right. This is how life can be lived to the full, by renouncing all that is not the pearl of great price.

As long as I remain attached to things, then I am unable to discern what is good among those things. I must attain independence from the things of this world if I am to have the capacity to discern the things of heaven

A curious path to wisdom appears in this Gospel passage. In order to be rich, one must make himself poor. In order to have the great pearl, one must give up all other pearls. All other goods must be renounced in order to have the only good that really counts. This is how one develops the capacity of discernment: by being no longer a slave of possessions we become oriented to the one true good. When the treasure in the field is discovered, when the pearl of great price appears, then one learns how to renounce all else. There can be no true discernment while one remains attached to his possessions. I cannot choose between different goods if I have made myself dependent on some of those goods. In order to discern from among things, I must have attained independence from everything. In order to receive the true pearl, which is Our Lord Jesus, the disciples and many saints had to leave everything in order to possess him. It is not that love can be bought by selling all that we have. Rather, in order to become disciples of the kingdom of heaven then we must be capable of abiding by the things of heaven and them alone. Saint Philip Neri had a famous saying attributed to him, “I choose Paradise” (“Preferisco il Paradiso”). The road that leads to Paradise is a different one to the road that leads to hell. The path that leads to beauty is not the one that leads to destruction. If we wish to take the path that leads to Paradise then we must avoid the path that leads to hell. The things that are not the true treasure must be thrown away.

Ironically, the one who neglects Christ in order to go after the things of this world will neither possess Christ nor the things of this world! Ultimately these worthless things are illusory. But if I renounce these things then I actually acquire treasure beyond price

In the first reading, Solomon chooses the one thing that matters and as a result everything else is given to him as well. He who decides to attach himself to the worthless things of this world and neglects Christ, will possess neither Christ nor the things of this world because the things of this world are illusory! Curiously, to him who has more will be given. The one who chooses to be seriously connected to Christ will live happily in this world. The few things he has in this world will be enjoyed in their fullness because he is detached from them and does not depend on them. The possession of the true treasure, the precious pearl, indicates that one is free. Thousands of times in life we are required to make this act of selection, of self-abandonment, of renunciation. But in reality this renunciation is in fact acquisition! When something is truly worthwhile, then we must give everything in order to have it. When the Lord presents us with a mission, with something beautiful to do, then we must not turn away towards other things. With our minds fully operational, and in a gradual and prudent fashion, we must take possession of that which the Lord has shown us is truly important. One thousand times we ought to ask ourselves, is this anger worthwhile? Is this anxiety worthwhile? Is this thing really what is best for me? We must direct ourselves to that which is best, that which is deepest, that which is not passing, but which saves me authentically. For this I must renounce everything.

July 23^rd 2017. Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 13, 24-30

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 13, 24-30

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man
who sowed good seed in his field. 
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. 
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. 
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? 
Where have the weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'
His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them. 
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The parable of the wheat and the weeds is a parable that throws much light on human existence. In all of us there are weeds, weeds of duplicity and sin. How should we respond to his fact? By open warfare on all our imperfections? No, imperfections are part of being human. In the last century many monstrous ideologies sought to create utopian societies by eliminating human “problems”. Any focus on human failings is the wrong focus. The fact is that God has sown us with good seed, the best of seed. Our task is to nourish this seed so that it will yield a harvest in God’s own time. The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast reveal that God is working in hidden ways. He is preparing a great harvest for us and all we are called to do is to remain faithful to the good seed that he has planted within us.

Weeds exist within us alongside the good seeds sown by God. A focus on trying to eliminate the weeds can be symptomatic of a perfectionism that is damaging. Instead of being obsessed with the weeds, it would be better to try to nourish the god seed

The first reading this week is a marvellous reading from the Book of Wisdom. We are told of God’s mercy, how he uses his power in a paternal and meek manner. He indulges us, waits for us, remains patient with us. The Gospel reading tells of the weeds in the corn. There are two sowings, the good one and the evil one. And that is how we are, people whose hearts are influenced by two contradictory inputs: the one that originates in the providence of God, his generosity and love; and the one that comes from the Tempter, whose aim it is to put us in difficulty and deceive us. From the time of Eve onwards, these two sowings have been a fact of life for humanity. How can this situation be resolved? Sometimes we tend to think that the evil can be uprooted from our hearts so that we can all present ourselves before God, like soldiers, lined up and perfectly drilled. This is a dream that is dangerous because it is symptomatic of a perfectionism that does not correspond to reality. The existence of evil is a fact that we do not the ability to tackle by ourselves. What is more important is to discern how to live on a daily basis. There are weeds within us. There is something tortuous within us. These things can only be uprooted by God on the last day. It is important for us to realize that these weeds are there. It is essential to acknowledge that the things that come out of our heart have a duplicity about them. They should not be “canonized” by us, as if the weeds were not there. In the last century, many ideologies arose which sought to create a world in which everything was resolved, all human failings were dealt with. It is vital that we realize that this kind of perfection is not possible. Woe to the man who tries to resolve everything! Do we really think that we can do a kind of “ethnic cleansing” inside our hearts, slaughtering everything that is imperfect? This kind of attitude can end up killing also the good seed. It can damage the process of maturation that occurs in our hearts, the sort of patient development that leads eventually to a good result. We must live by discernment, not by spontaneity whereby we make rash decisions about the worthiness of what comes from within us.

The Lord is present in our lives in hidden ways. The parable of the mustard seed and the yeast tell us that the Lord is bringing us to fruition. Our job is to allow him to act.

In all of God’s work with us, there is a hidden element. The longer version of the Gospel speaks of the mustard seed and of the operation of the yeast in the dough. These parables tell us that the Lord does not enter our lives with impatience to castigate us and resolve all problems.  No, the Lord remains hidden in things and saves us in hidden ways. At this point the Evangelist makes a comment – rare for the Gospels - on Jesus’ modus operandi. “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.” The Evil One may have hidden ways of acting, but the Lord is also active in unseen ways. In fact, it is these hidden things that save us. The secret of salvation is something that remains hidden from people from the foundation of the world. That secret reveals itself to us when we realize that despite everything the work of the Lord is being fulfilled. The harvest will come. This harvest may well be at the end of the world, or it may be some upheaval that happens in our lives that leads to knowledge of the truth; we do not know, but what is important is that this line exists and he who remains faithful to that line, to that light that is in his heart, will come to a good end.

The Christian life is not about eliminating sin in a huge and violent battle. Rather, it involves nurturing and cherishing the seed of love and mercy that god has planted in our hearts.

It is good to be aware that belief in God is not something that brings quick results. Belief in God means to remain faithful to that light that one has received. Every human being receives the seed that enables him to recognize the beauty of that which really counts in the midst of thousands of other things. It is this hidden awareness that gives meaning to our lives. There is nothing to be gained by focussing on a full-scale war against the weeds within us. What is important is to nourish the seed within our hearts, to defend that within us which is the fount of mercy, the source of authentic relationships with others. That fount is the love of God for us that we remember deep in our hearts.

July 16^th 2017. Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 13, 1-9

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 13, 1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. 
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore. 
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
"A sower went out to sow. 
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up. 
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. 
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots. 
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 
But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The first reading tells us that the Word of the Lord is always effective. It does not return to the Lord without having its effect. In the Parable of the Sower, by contrast, Jesus describes three cases (the pathway, the rocky soil, the thorny ground) where the Word of the Lord does not produce fruit. How can we explain this contrast? The fact is that the Lord’s relationship with us does not develop in a single day or in a single “sowing” of his seed in our hearts. All of us reject the Lord’s grace on many occasions during our lives. But these graces are not wasted because often it is when we look back at our own past rejection of the Word sown in our lives that we come to true conversion. We look back at the ways we have wasted God’s blessings and this brings us to humble contrition and authentic openness to what the Lord wishes to do with us. In the longer version of the Gospel (not reproduced above), Jesus speaks dramatically of those who are not saved because their eyes are blind, their ears insensible and their hearts impenetrable. All of us run the risk of being like this, of being barren targets of the Lord’s seed. This Sunday let us look back on the many times we have wasted God’s grace. May this prompt us to be more merciful and welcoming of others and more open and docile to the action of God in our lives.

The first reading speaks of the fact that the Word of the Lord always achieves its purpose, but in the Gospel Jesus recounts a parable in which the Word of God often bears no fruit. How can we understand this contrast?

The first reading this Sunday is a marvellously incisive passage from the prophet Isaiah. We are told that the Word of God is like the rain and the snow: they do not fail to carry out their task of irrigating the earth. So too the Word of the Lord does not return to him without having achieved its purpose. However this declaration of the efficacy of the Word of God seems to be in contrast to the parable recounted by Jesus in the Gospel! The Parable of the Sower expresses the great drama of the relationship between God and humanity. The sower goes out to sow but his efforts have different results. All of this expresses the different ways in which the initiative of the Lord is welcomed by different people. And in contrast to the first reading it seems that the initiative of God does not always have an effect. In the first of the three negative cases given, the seed falls upon the road and is eaten by the birds. In the second case, the seed falls on rocky soil and springs up quickly, but soon dies in the heat. We could say that in the first case there is no openness to receive the Word of God, whilst in the second there is a limited openness. In the third case, the seed falls among the thorns. Here, there is an openness to receive the seed but unfortunately there is openness to the weeds as well. Any farmer will tell you that the weeds are usually stronger than the good plants, so in this case the new seed is suffocated. Surely these are three cases of failure?

God wants us to relate to him in freedom. This means that our “No” is always possible. Sometimes it is only when we when we have said “No” to the Lord many times that we begin to get a perspective on our own misery and failure. These failures were not complete failures if they eventually spur us to turn with humility to the Lord.

How do we square the parable with the first reading? It is necessary to read things a little more deeply. The failure of the seed to produce fruit may not be the immediate effect that the farmer wished to achieve but it is still an effect. It is a fact of life that God’s grace does not - in most cases - arrive in the heart of man and have an abrupt positive outcome. Very often people mature and grow by means of the failures that occur in their lives. We must admit that many graces that have been given to us have been wasted entirely. But the story of a human being cannot be read by a focus on these individual failures. Our development does not happen in a single day. A global perspective on a person’s life is necessary. We are never too wise in our opinions if we look at a person’s development from a narrow standpoint. And, unfortunately, it often happens that it is only at the end of our refusals, failures and frustrations that that which is good in our hearts comes to the surface. Our problems, in the end, are problems of our relationship with the Lord. A relationship of love requires freedom. Our capacity to say “No” is essential if this relationship is to be authentic. Where this freedom is lacking there is no love but dictatorship. God is benevolent towards us and spreads his seed in all directions. He gives all of us the possibility to respond, but he does not impose himself upon us. This means that, inevitably, there is the tragedy of the “No” of man.  When we look back on the many times we said “No”, when we see how we have wasted the grace of God, we gradually begin to open our eyes on who God is.

We are like the stony path if we reject salvation unless it makes sense to my way of understanding the world

In the first case given in the parable (the seed that falls on the path), the “No” of man to the initiative of God is a rejection of the things that he does not understand. In the explanation he gives of the parable, Jesus says that the seed sown on the path refers to the case when the recipient hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand it. Then the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. This is what happens when the human being makes his own categories of understanding absolute. If he does not understand something, then he rejects its potential to save him. But this is simply not true. God can save me though the things that I do not comprehend. How many times I have damaged my soul, my heart and my life because I refused to go beyond that which was intelligible to me.

We are like the rocky soil if we do not allow the Word of God to take root in us. This requires giving the Lord the time and space to penetrate into our hearts.

In the second case, the hearer has all the enthusiasm that comes in the early moments of a positive experience. But he does not allow the seed to take root in him. We need to allow ourselves to be permeated by the wisdom of God. It must be permitted to enter into our hearts. It is not good to flit from one thing to another without reflecting on what is going on in our lives. How often in the life of faith there is a focus on activity. We keep moving from one activity to another. It would be much better to do less and to do it well. In the end we are not saved if we do not allow ourselves to be pervaded by God right to our roots. It is important to realize that the graces given to us are often wasted if we do not allow them to have the space and the time to have their effect.

How often we try to make our faith compatible with the things of this world, attachments to possessions and vainglory. These compromises are not legitimate and will suffocate the Word of God in our lives, preventing it from producing fruit.

The third case is that of the seed sown among thorns. The fixation with worldly things and the seduction of riches suffocate the Word of God and do not allow it to produce fruit. How often we try to combine the things that the Lord is saying to us with other sources of “wisdom”. We seek to find a compromise between the wisdom of God and the comfort of life. We think that we can steer a path between the ways of God and the vainglory of this world, the anxieties that are attached to material possessions. This kind of mishmash is not legitimate, but it is an effect that we can recognize as we look back at our response to the Word of God. A thousand times we have rejected grace because we sought to combine it with something incompatible. We endeavoured to associate unworthy things with the love of God, his grace and wisdom, his holy will.

This Sunday let us allow the Word of the Lord to take root in us. Let us look back at how the Word was rejected by us in the past and allow this knowledge to make us more merciful and welcoming towards others, more open and docile to what the Lord wishes to do with us.

This Sunday we are challenged to allow God’s Word to have its effect at the deepest level within us. Even if his Word has not had its intended effect in the past, it makes us wise. When we behold these past failures on our part, we become more merciful and welcoming towards others. In the longer version of this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks dramatically of those who are not saved because they do not hear with the ears, do not see with the eyes, nor comprehend with the heart. This is a real possibility for each one of us. Our eyes can be blind, our ears can be deaf and our hearts impenetrable. We must recognize this fact and fear it. Many opportunities that went wasted in our lives can now have their efficacy if our contemplation of them helps us to become wise and docile to what God is seeking to do with us. 

July 9^th 2017. Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 11, 25-30

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 11, 25-30

At that time Jesus exclaimed: 
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father. 
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

"Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . How often we think that peace can be brought about by compelling wrongdoers to see the error of their ways! How often we believe that we can bring about justice by reprimanding others and flexing our muscles! Jesus teaches us that true peace is founded upon a right relationship with the Father, and this involves humbly embracing the yoke of Christ. This is the sweet yoke of obedience to the Father, of acknowledging our sins, of confessing our smallness and our limits. When we place ourselves humbly before the Father, we multiply the graces that he sends our way. The Father can work through us when we acknowledge our littleness and allow him to be Lord. Authentic peace begins with humble and obedient submission to the Lord. Only then can he erupt into our lives.

How can peace be achieved? Does it require forceful control of the wrongdoer?

This Sunday, the theme of the beautiful passage from the Gospel is introduced to us by the first reading from the prophet Zachariah. Chapter Nine of this book speaks of a humble King who makes his entry upon a donkey. This King will bring peace and will make the chariot of war disappear from Jerusalem. But how is the cycle of war to be broken? How can we finally arrive at peace? Too often, we take the wrong approach and try to bring peace by punishing someone. We think that the advent of peace requires forceful action and the violent application of justice. Justice is a genuine value, of course, but any focus on punishment will have difficulty in bringing about lasting peace, unless the offending person himself seeks purification. If we think that peace involves making wrongdoers finally acknowledge the error of their ways, then we could be in for a long wait: the “wrongdoer” often thinks that it is we who need to change our attitude about certain things.

True peace is not brought about by strength but by humility

We need a better master who can lead us to peace, and the Gospel this Sunday talks of something that is hidden from the wise and learned and that is revealed in the humility of one’s heart. It is revealed to the tired and oppressed, to those who are at the ends of their wits and cannot go on, to those who are finally willing to allow themselves to be helped. When we believe ourselves to be strong, then the way to “peace” involves the flexing of our muscles. When we realize our weakness, then we begin to intuit the way to authentic peace. The road to peace involves humility and smallness. Even by still working for justice, even in still saying the things that need to be said, all of this can be done in a humble way, not in a warlike fashion. Peace is brought about by peaceful means. It involves being peaceful rather than provoking anger. Do we really think that peace can be brought about by aggression?! How often in personal relationships do we think that peace can be realized by reprimanding others! Often it is only when we are tired of combat that we seek to dialogue and understand the other. Then we open ourselves to the only true road to peace, which is peace! It sounds banal, but it is the pacific attitude that brings about peace.

Peace is not something that can be achieved by human activity. It is the fruit of an authentic relationship with God. And this relationship involves humbly receiving from the Lord

The Lord Jesus brings peace, not by shouting aloud, nor by breaking the bruised reed, nor by quenching the wavering flame. Life is nourished and restored, not in war, but in peace. We need to take up the Lord’s yoke and entrust ourselves to him. In the Old Testament it was understood that accepting the Lord’s yoke involved following him in obedience. This was a sweet burden because in reality it was nothing other than relationship with God. And in the end, that is our only goal. We are not pacifists for the sake of some utopian ideal of peace. The text says that no one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son decides to reveal him. What is at stake here is an intimate relationship with God, and it is clear that it is not something that we can enter into on our own initiative. The door to this relationship cannot be opened by us, but is kindly opened for us through the gift of grace, a gift that allows us to live in relationship with the Father and the Son. If we wish to know the Father then we need the Son to open that door for us. The way of peace, thus, is received by us, not worked out by us. We must welcome it, not create it using our own powers. It is not by our intelligence that we will solve the problems that need to be solved: it is by our humility that we will allow ourselves to be saved. This is a feature of the spiritual life in general.

To receive profound peace in our hearts, we need to embrace our own smallness and acknowledge humbly our desperate need to be saved by the Lord

Peace – Shalom in Hebrew – signifies “abundance”. Here in the New Testament it is something that only Christ can give. It involves living the life of a child of God, the sort of life lived by Jesus himself, the life of one who is secure in the knowledge that he has handed his existence over to another. This life here on earth is a gift. It is not an obligation. It is not something that is under our control. Living an authentic life involves submitting to this sweet yoke, which requires trust, acts of obedience, the renunciation of pretending to know everything. It involves making ourselves small. He who makes himself small in the presence of the Lord multiplies the action of God towards his creature. In order to bring grace upon ourselves, all we have to do is stand humbly before the Lord, entrust ourselves to him in poverty. As the psalm says, who will the Lord look upon with favour? To whom will the Lord turn his face? Towards the one who is humble, towards the one with a contrite spirit. The Lord will not despise a humble, contrite heart. When we seek profound peace in our hearts, we don’t need to marvel at our own greatness. Rather, we must embrace our own smallness. In order to find peace, we don’t need to work out great schemes or have great ideas. We must acknowledge with simplicity our limits. It is by remaining in our littleness that the Lord can find a way to erupt into our lives. Authentic peace begins with our relationship with God. It begins by acknowledging with humility that we need to be saved.