APRIL 21^st 2013. FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 10:27-30

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

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

GOSPEL                   John 10:27-30

Jesus said:

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; 
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life; 
they will never be lost 
and no one will ever steal them from me.
The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, 
and no one can steal from the Father.
The Father and I are one.'

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

Don Fabio breaks this Gospel into four principal phrases. “My sheep listen to my voice”. In order to be true disciples of the Lord we must listen to his word and ponder it, as Our Lady did. “I know them”. Jesus knows us in the most intimate and profound sense. When Jesus says that he knows his sheep, he means that he has established a relationship of loving union with his disciples. “They follow me”. Following the Lord is not a matter of obeying moral or religious prescriptions. Christian discipleship is founded on intimacy with the Lord. This intimate relationship leads us to follow his ways naturally. “I give them eternal life”. Once an intimate relationship has been established with Christ, then nothing will ever delete it from our hearts. The eternal has entered into us. It is essential that we too play our parts, as Mary did, in keeping this flame of intimacy at the forefront of our daily lives. We do this by cherishing and reflecting on the love that God has shown us at particular moments in our lives.

A brief Gospel that is full of relevance for our spiritual lives

This brief and simple Gospel reading is packed with meaning. It consists of four principal assertions:

1. My sheep listen to my voice.

2. I know them.

3. They follow me.

4. I give them eternal life.

This passage recalls many elements from the Old Testament. It resonates especially with Psalm 95 which is read every morning at the beginning of the liturgy of the hours to remind the faithful of the true nature of their relationship with God. Let us consider each of the four assertions separately.

“My sheep listen to my voice”

The analogy of the sheep and the shepherd is particularly apt for the relationship between God and us. Sheep are animals that need a shepherd to lead them to water and pasture. They recognize the voice of their shepherd and this fact enables them to live well. In our case, we do not see God, but we are able to listen to his voice. In order to follow the Lord we must exercise the sense of listening, the sensory capacity that is most fundamental for living the faith. Of all the five senses, listening is the one that is most important (for the majority of people) for communication and inter-relationship. If we see a person speaking but are unable to hear his words, then we will have more difficulty in understanding what he wishes to communicate than if we are unable to see him but yet can hear him. Seeing, in fact, carries inherent dangers. In life we are constantly tempted by idolatry. The word “idol” comes from the verb “to see”. We want to see, whereas we are called to listen. The relationship we have with the Lord is mediated to us by the reception of his word. The things we see often remain external to us, but the things we hear can enter into us and touch our hearts. The Scriptures present a beautiful image of Our Lady as the one who listens attentively, welcomes the word, and conserves it in her heart. In Hebrew the verb “to obey” does not exist. Instead the verb “to listen” is used to signify obedience. To listen to someone’s voice means to obey that voice, because true listening involves complete openness to that which the other person is saying.

“I know them”

Listening to the shepherd’s voice is not enough by itself to establish the relationship that Jesus is alluding to. The verb “to know” in Hebrew has a very profound meaning.  To know someone in Hebrew does not mean simply that we recognize them by name, know where they come from and what they do for a living. Neither does it mean to know something in an intellectual way. “To know” in the Hebrew sense means to be on intimate terms with someone. To be known by Jesus means to be in an intimate union with him. It is this which leads us to follow him. Our relationship with Jesus begins when he makes himself intimate with us. He takes the initiative and comes to us to establish this relationship. How wonderful it is to be known by someone! How great it is when someone understands us, when they are patient with us because they know we didn’t mean things to turn out that way, when they refuse to lose their temper with us because they know we didn’t really intend what we said. Love involves understanding and knowledge of this sort. Love is not all about doing things for others, but involves relationship, and this requires going beyond oneself and arriving at the innermost sanctuary of the other, not just at the level of their skin. Knowing someone involves a relationship that is not skin-deep but operates at the level of the heart. Only those who have an intimate relationship with Jesus can appreciate the full significance of Jesus’ statement, “I know them and they follow me”. Jesus knows us even though we do not fully know ourselves. It is Jesus, ultimately, who reveals our true identity to us.

“They follow me”

It is because of this intimate relationship with their shepherd that the sheep wish to follow him and be with him. Christian discipleship is founded on intimacy with the Lord, not on moral prescriptions or obligations. We are not Christians because we agree with what Jesus says. We are Christians because we are known by him, in this intimate sense of “knowing”. Jesus’ word enters into the most personal part of each of us in a way that our relationship with other creatures of flesh and blood does not. The following of Jesus is something that flows naturally from listening to his word and entering into profound relationship with him.

I give them eternal life

Once the relationship with Christ is established in an authentic way, then it is something indelible. It cannot be displaced by anything else. It sometimes happens that we see a change in a person that is of a profound and permanent nature. The change touches the depths of the being of the person. Once the relationship of intimacy with Christ has been established, then we are marked in a permanent and beautiful way. It is important that we ponder on the memory of occasions when we have felt known and visited by the Lord. If we can keep the memory of such moments alive in our hearts, as the Virgin Mary did, then no-one will ever be able to shake us. No other experience will be able to distract us from the beauty and tenderness of the good shepherd, our true Spouse. The Gospel tells us that the sheep “will never be lost”, because the eternal has entered into us through the word of God that we have listened to, and is lived and celebrated in the sacraments. No matter how poor and miserable I am, Jesus has loved me truly. No one can remove this fact that is written on my heart. It is essential that I reflect and learn to rejoice in the reality of being known by the Lord.

“The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone”

To know Jesus is to know the Father, to know that which is greater than everything. Jesus reminds us of this fact because we are constantly fretting about the vulnerability and precariousness of our existence. There is always a certain anxiety lurking in our hearts. To know Jesus, however, is to know the Father, and relative to the greatness of the Father everything else is put into perspective. “No-one can steal from the Father”, Jesus tells us. St Paul writes, “Who can separate us from the love of God?” No power in heaven on earth, death itself, cannot separate us from the one who loves us. The problem is that we make a concerted effort to separate ourselves from the Lord. We become burdened with the brokenness of life, we torture ourselves with needless anxieties, because we do not live our lives with Jesus in the presence of the Father. We are like sheep that stray away from the shepherd, trying to be autonomous, and we end up separating ourselves from the source of life itself. Life is to be in front of the Father, gazing upon his glory, standing in the presence of the One (“The Father and I are one”). The oneness of Jesus and the Father means that there is no confusion in God. It is not that different “words” are issuing from God. It is not that God tells us one thing, and then later says something completely different. When God makes a decision, he does not revoke it. Our God is not a God of chaos, as St Paul tells us. There is complete order in God. He loves us, full stop. This is the nature of the Father as revealed to us in Jesus.

APRIL 14^th 2013. THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: John 21: 1-19

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

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

GOSPEL                   John 21:1-19

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing'. They replied, 'We'll come with you'. They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.

It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, 'Have you caught anything, friends?' And when they answered, 'No', he said, 'Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something'. So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord'. At these words 'It is the Lord', Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land.

As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, 'Bring some of the fish you have just caught'. Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast'. None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, 'Who are you?'; they knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.

After the meal Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?' He answered, 'Yes Lord, you know I love you'. Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs'. A second time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' He replied, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you'. Jesus said to him, 'Look after my sheep'. Then he said to him a third time, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and said, 'Lord, you know everything; you know I love you'. Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.

'I tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.'

In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God. After this he said, 'Follow me'.

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

Don Fabio tells us that this is NOT a Gospel of two separate parts. Both parts belong inseparably together and they tell the story of the renewed call of Peter. At the beginning of the passage, Peter goes back fishing. He returns to his old ways of doing things, his old profession - a way of life in which he relied totally on himself. But he fails to catch anything. Then Jesus appears, tells Peter what to do, and suddenly Peter catches so many fish that he can hardly draw in the nets. In the second part, Jesus asks Peter three times if he really loves him more than he loves other things. The point is that Peter went back fishing because he was still attached to the “old things”. It is only when we love Jesus above all other things that we become true disciples. When Peter replies “Yes” to the questions that were put to him, Jesus tells Peter that “he will stretch out his hands, and somebody else will put a belt round him and take him where he would rather not go”. This is a clear reference to the Cross. In other words, once we learn to love Jesus above all other things, leaving the old ways behind us, then we become true disciples, capable of embracing the Cross. This Gospel is a reminder to the Church, and to all of us, that we must keep our focus on the risen Lord, and to resist the temptation of falling back into our old ways and reliance on our own capacities.

This is not a Gospel of two parts, but a story that must be read as an integral whole

If we read the long version of the Gospel for this Sunday, then it seems that it is divided into two distinct parts. The first part tells of the miraculous catch of one hundred and fifty three large fish, whilst the second relates the pained profession of love for Jesus on the part of Peter. But the two parts in fact form an integral whole. When the Gospel is read in its entirety, then we see that it recounts the story of a renewed call of Peter, who has decided to return to his old ways. At the end of the Gospel, Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me more than these?" This phrase has always been translated to mean "these others". In other words, the text is interpreted as a call on Peter to love the Lord more than the other disciples love him. But the terms "others" in the original Greek can equally refer to things and not to people. This means that the passage can justifiably be interpreted to represent a call on Peter to love the Lord more than material things. Which interpretation is the correct one? If we argue that the Lord is challenging Peter to love him more than the other disciples do, then this raises a question about how to understand other elements of John's Gospel. Elsewhere in the Gospel, John is the one who is presented as the disciple who has the closest relationship with the Lord. Is Jesus challenging Peter to love him as much as John loves him? Perhaps, but it is also a worthwhile exercise to interpret “these others” as referring to “these other things”. In the text, in fact, we see that Jesus’ enigmatic question follows his request for Peter to bring some of the fish that he has just caught.

Peter goes back fishing. He goes back to the old life he led before meeting Jesus

At the beginning of the passage, Peter goes back fishing. He returns to his old ways. He goes back to the things he used to do before he ever encountered the Lord. He discovers, however, that these old ways are not very productive. He doesn’t manage to catch anything. Jesus appears on the shore, but Peter does not recognize him. This passage is a passage that has the theme of recognition at its core. Through the miraculous catch of fish, and with the help of the beloved disciple (who exclaims, “It is the Lord!”), Peter recognizes Jesus. The beloved disciple is presented as the one who is always one step ahead of Peter, helping him along, as when they arrived at the empty tomb and Peter was allowed by John to enter first. Even at the scene of Peter’s denial of Jesus, it was the beloved disciple who gained access for Peter to the courtyard during Jesus’ trial. Having recognized Jesus, they take the haul of fish on to land and eat with the Lord. At this point Jesus asks, “Do you love me more than these things?” In other words, do you love me more than the boat, the nets, the fish, all of the things you left in order to follow me? You left these things aside to follow me, and now you are returning to your old ways!

Falling back into our old ways is an ever-present danger for each of us

This is a story of rediscovery of the Risen Lord. Peter has experienced the Risen Lord already, but this experience is being drowned out by his return to his old ways. This is an ever-present danger to the Church! The Twenty-First Chapter of John’s Gospel, in fact, offers us a perspective on the Church in its moments of difficulty, at the times when it doesn’t catch any fish, at the times that it loses sight of its vocation and tries to rely on its own internal dynamics to keep itself going. But the Church is nothing without its Spouse, and the call on the Church must be renewed continually. Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me more?” Jesus is the one who must be loved above all else. It is only when Peter loves Jesus above all else that he returns to the full state of being a disciple. This bountiful catch of fish must be abandoned and Peter is called by Jesus to follow him. He must love Jesus more than all else and he must follow him. The call on Peter is made three times because Peter denied the Lord three times. Peter must be brought to full awareness of his deficiencies. He must be brought to the realisation that he was not called in the first place because he was worthy. In Chapter Thirteen he had declared that he would lay down his life for Jesus. But before he can attain the capacity to lay down his life for Jesus, he must be brought to a state where he begins to love Jesus more than other things. Once he begins to love Jesus in this way, then he becomes capable of following the Lord right to the end.

Once we learn to love Jesus above all things, then we become true disciples capable of following Jesus in the way of the Cross

The vocation to follow the Lord is expressed in the statement, “I tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old, mature, an adult, you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.” The change in Peter is a change in his very being. In the beginning he is represented in an infantile, immature state, in which he dresses himself as he likes and goes where he likes. This state is transformed when he is loved by the Lord despite his weaknesses and faults, and he comes to the understanding that Jesus is worth more than any other thing. Once he comes to this understanding, then he realizes that it is no longer necessary to keep his old profession in reserve just in case things go wrong with his vocation to follow the Lord. At the start of this Gospel passage, he seemed to be returning to his old ways in exactly this manner. When Peter finally takes the step and enters into an adult way of life, then he “will stretch out his hands and somebody else will dress you and take you where you would rather not go”. This is a clear reference to Peter’s newfound capacity to follow Jesus in embracing the Cross.

Let us summarize our reading of the passage. Viewed globally, this text is the story of how the Church must constantly re-possess the Resurrection of the Lord. As Christians we all have powerful and beautiful experiences of the Risen Lord, but there is a constant temptation to lose sight of the Lord and to return to our old ways, to a reliance on our own capacities and our old patterns of behaviour. We must learn to constantly cast our nets in a new and different way. We must continually and habitually re-learn to love the Lord above all else, and this requires renunciation of other things, the things of this world. At this point – the point where we love Jesus above all else - we become adults; we become capable of loving the Lord more than our own lives; we attain the capacity to become true disciples.

April 7th 2013. Second Sunday of Easter. Feast of the Divine Mercy
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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Gospel: John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

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

Don Fabio focuses on the theme of the forgiveness of sins. Like the Apostles, we are all locked in inner rooms behind barriers of fear. This fear is in the background to all of our sinful activity. Our obsession with our own preservation drives us to engage in activity that is harmful to others and ultimately to ourselves. How do we escape from this closed room of sin and fear? We are not capable of escaping using our own methods. Self-analysis and psychological techniques can only take us so far. The forgiveness of sins is something that only the Lord can do. In the Gospel, Jesus appears in the closed room and says "Peace with you!" He shows them his wounds of love and commands them to bring his pardon to others. We too need to have Jesus in our midst. We must look to him, listen to his word, and welcome him into our inner enclave of sin and fear. We must contemplate his wounds, as Thomas did, and believe in his forgiveness. The Lord will dissolve our sin and make us capable of carrying his pardon to others.

The story of doubting Thomas is perfectly in line with Divine Mercy Sunday

Blessed John Paul  II dedicated the second Sunday of Easter to the Divine Mercy. At first glance, this dedication might seem incompatible with the traditional Gospel reading which recounts the story of doubting Thomas. But in fact the dedication is perfectly consistent with the Sunday readings - the forgiveness of sins is the central element in the apparitions of Jesus to the apostles. "Those whose sins you forgive shall be forgiven. Those whose sins you retain shall be retained". This command should not be interpreted as a form of dominion or arbitrary power given to the Church by Jesus. It would be very worrying if that were the case. The command rather, should be understood to mean that we should make every effort to carry the forgiveness of God to as many people as possible, because no-one else except us has been entrusted with this mission. In this sense, if we do not bring pardon to people then there is no one else who will do it. We must not forget that the forgiveness of sins is very much a divine capacity. In the Gospels, the Pharisees object when Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins have been forgiven. Sin is an issue that only God can resolve. Our various techniques for analysing human brokenness can achieve some things that are positive, but they cannot dissolve sin. We can analyse ourselves endlessly, but only a relationship with God - the only being who is greater than sin - has the power to create things anew and eliminate sin. 

The Resurrection is the first day of a new order in which God's forgiveness is transmitted to the world.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us reflect on how this divine capacity for the forgiveness of sins is transmitted to human beings. The Gospel begins on the evening of the first day of the week. Which week is being referred to here? It is the week which begins immediately after the week of God's new act of creation. During this act of creation the new Adam is wounded in the side, out of which flows blood and water. The week ends on the Saturday, the Sabbath day (according to the order of the Old Testament) in which Jesus is placed in the tomb. The following day, the day of Resurrection, is the beginning of a new order in which God is doing something entirely new. The forgiveness of sins requires going beyond the categories of the old world. The forgiveness of sins is effectively life after death. After the death of sin, the dissolution of sin allows us to live a new life. We can begin again because Christ is risen.

Just like the disciples, we are locked in closed rooms behind barriers of fear. Our sinful activity is a response to deep-seated fears. Only Christ can overcome these barriers and dissolve our sinfulness.

It is interesting that Sunday, the day of resurrection, is described in the Gospel as the first day of the week. In our secular world, Sunday is considered part of the weekend. But Sunday is properly viewed as the first day of the week, the day from which the week takes its departure! It should not be thought of as the day we arrive at exhausted after our week's work, looking to be regenerated in whatever way takes our fancy. The celebration of the Eucharist adds a completely new dimension to our existence  and sends us out into the world to live the new week that has begun. The Gospel tells us that the disciples were locked in the upper room for fear of the Jews. The human being is not capable by himself of escaping from the closed room in which his fears entrap him. Fear is in the background of all sin, as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us. The fear of annihilation, the fear of death is the motor that is whirring away behind all sinful activity. The human being, in his fear of destruction and his disordered quest for life, engages in behaviour that is harmful to himself and others. This wall of fear that generates sin must be demolished, but we are not capable of doing it. The pardon that makes us overcome the fear that generates sin is the free gift of God, the eruption of Christ in person in the upper room in which we are enclosed. 

We cannot overcome sin unless we have Jesus standing in our midst

The Gospel tells us that Jesus comes and stands in the midst of the disciples. What a beautiful expression - to stand in their midst! Chapter 15 of the same Gospel says, "If you remain in me then my word will remain in you". Jesus is the one who wishes above all to remain in our midst. He departs from us only because he leads the way and we do not follow. The basic characteristic of the Christian community is to have Christ in their midst. How many people focus obsessively on their own errors and problems because they remain only with themselves. Do we really think that this organism of body and spirit that produces sin can, of itself, find a way of escaping from our situation? And so we continue going around in circles until the one who says "Peace be with you" comes in our midst. This Hebrew greeting is a greeting that initiates a relationship between two people. In this case it is heaven itself that salutes us, indicating that heaven is not distant from us. Even if we are in a state of sin, enclosed inside our barricades of fear, Jesus comes to us exactly where we are, demonstrating that he simply wishes to be with us. 

In the Old Testament, God tells us that he has carved us on the palm of his hands. The wounds of love on the risen Jesus are the way that the Lord has carved us on his hands. 

He salutes the disciples as a friend, and then shows them the scars in his hands and side. In other words he recalls the memory of the Cross. Jesus is not with them as he was before. He is with them after the event of the Cross. His wounds are a demonstration of what he has done for them. As the prophet Isaiah says, "A mother cannot forget her child, but even if a mother were to forget her child, I have carved you on the palm of my hands". Those hands are the hands of Christ who bear upon themselves the marks of suffering love. The disciples look on Jesus and rejoice. We too must look only for him and to him. In order for pardon to enter our lives, and in order for us to become instruments of pardon, we must take our point of departure from the Lord. At the heart of our misery, we must allow ourselves to be visited by Jesus, we must listen to his word and look upon him. We do not have the solution for sin within ourselves; we must look to him for the solution. When Thomas is finally present, he too must look at Jesus and contemplate his wounds. All of us need pardon for our sins in order to escape from the narrow room in which we are enclosed. To bring this about, we must look at Jesus and stop looking at ourselves.

MARCH 31ST 2013. EASTER SUNDAY

Gospel: John 20:1-9

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

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Easter is not simply a beautiful historical event in which Jesus overcomes the barrier of death. Don Fabio encourages us to consider Easter also as a relational thing. In everything that we do we must live Easter. We must go beyond the here and now and follow Jesus towards the Father. Easter is a call to action, a call to follow Jesus beyond the absurdities and preoccupations of this life and to focus our existence on heavenly things. It is a call to leave behind the things that belong to the phase of death, a call to stop making absolutes out of ourselves and the things that we possess. In every moment of our lives we must undergo the growth and evolution towards the Father that is Easter.

Easter is about transition, passage, development 

We are celebrating Easter, which is at the heart of our faith.. There are many things important for the faith hidden in this enigmatic passage from St John's Gospel. The stone has been rolled back from the tomb and the question is raised: "They have taken the Lord away, and we don't know where they have put him". The word "paschal" refers to a passage or transition. When the Apostles are confronted by the enigma of the empty tomb, they are themselves being prompted to undergo a passage or transition. In fact they run to the tomb, led by Peter, and they find that Jesus is no longer there. What is happening in this passage? The disciples are doing what Jesus called them to do: they are following him. Easter is a movement, a going beyond. We are confronted here with the greatest of all obstacles - death. We have arrived at the final destination, and this final destination has become a point of departure. Easter is not simply about receiving the news that Jesus has overcome death. Easter is about following Jesus so that we too go beyond death. 

Easter involves leaving something behind and moving on to something new

Peter and John stand in the empty tomb and they see the cloths used for the burial of Jesus. These cloths belong to the phase of death that Jesus went through and they remain here. They have not been taken with him because they do not belong where Jesus is now. To go through Easter signifies to leave something behind. It signifies to follow Jesus and to go towards the Father. When Jesus called the disciples originally he asked them to come and follow him. They said that they wanted to know where he lived and he replied, "Come and see". The call of Jesus is always a dynamic call. It always involves action like coming and seeing. The disciples run to the tomb to see where Jesus has gone. They see and they believe, but then they are driven to go elsewhere. Easter  launches all of us towards that which happens in the aftermath of the Paschal events, always in the company of the Lord. Easter makes us look upon death, the tomb, putrefaction, as stages of a journey, as places from which we go beyond. Easter does not simply reveal beautiful news about the future: that in the death of Jesus our deaths will be overcome, that the impregnable wall of the void has been broken down by Jesus. Easter does more than this. It proclaims that the essence of the Christian life is a state of movement. 

Easter is not a historical event to be noted; it is a way of life, a relationship, a journey with Jesus to the Father

We must live Easter in everything that we do. Every event of our lives must become a passage towards the Father. Jesus did not come out of the tomb simply to come out of the tomb; he came out so that he could go towards the Father. Later Jesus asks Mary Magdalen not to cling to him. He asks that their relationship not remain as it is in that moment. "I must go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God".  We too, in everything we do, must follow Jesus on the road to the Father. In every situation we must undergo this moment of growth and evolution that is Easter. We must go beyond death, beyond injustice, beyond the absurdities of life. In all of these situations there is a stone that must be rolled back. God will look after the business of moving the stone. We are not capable in ourselves of following Jesus. It is Jesus who makes us capable. Easter is not something to be comprehended with our rational faculties alone. It is not that we contemplate on Easter and then decide that we have understood it completely. Easter is a relational thing. It is an act of following Jesus towards the Father. Human existence is essentially a journey from the self towards God. Life becomes terrible and horrible when it is lived in a solitude without God, when we do not live the Paschal mystery of passage towards the Father, when we do not allow the Lord to throw the doors open, when we are left with no apparent way out. 

When we live Easter, we are freed from the tendency to make absolutes out of ourselves and the things that we possess

Easter has a fundamental eschatological note; it is concerned with that which is beyond this world. We cannot comprehend the resurrection unless we are freed from the tendency to make absolute the things that we are and that we possess. We are not made for this world. Jesus is risen and has gone beyond. When he came out from the tomb he didn't stay among us saying, "Look how I overcame that little obstacle there". We too must go beyond this world. Easter is a process of transformation of everything into that which is heavenly. In the Our Father we say, "on earth as it is in heaven". Heaven is descending on earth because we are in a process of entering heaven. Our condition is one of making a leap into a dimension that is beyond temporal things. From our childhood we enter into a mode of existence in which our primary concern is to find contentment in this life. Even when we pray, we ask that events unfold so that we can continue to be contented in this life. It is true that faith can bring contentment to our lives here and now, but this is only a collateral effect. Faith makes us contented here and now because we are no longer here. We achieve a detachment from everyday things and find our point of reference in things that are beyond. The Easter passage has been made to that which is greater. It often happens that we meet seriously ill people who are evidently living the resurrection, and then we come across healthy people living in death. These latter people are bogged down in the here and now, they do not live Easter, and they do not follow anyone except themselves.

MARCH 24^th 2013. FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: Luke 19:28-40

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

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

PROCESSION GOSPEL : Luke 19:28-40

Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Now when he was near Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives as it is called, he sent two of the disciples, telling them, 'Go off to the village opposite, and as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no one has yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, "Why are you untying it?" you are to say this, "The Master needs it".' The messengers went off and found everything just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owner said, 'Why are you untying that colt?' and they answered, 'The Master needs it'.

So they took the colt to Jesus, and throwing their garments over its back they helped Jesus on to it. As he moved off, people spread their cloaks in the road, and now, as he was approaching the downward slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen. They cried out:

'Blessings on the King who comes, 
in the name of the Lord! 
Peace in heaven 
and glory in the highest heavens!'

Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Master, check your disciples', but he answered, 'I tell you, if these keep silence the stones will cry out'.

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

One of the central figures in the Psalm Sunday Gospel is the donkey, a humble beast of burden! This lowly animal is untied by the disciples of Jesus and becomes the bearer of the glory of God! In a similar way, all of us need to be untied, liberated, by the word of Jesus so that we too can carry Jesus to the world and manifest his glory. What is it that ties us down and prevents us from carrying Jesus to the world? We are tied down by sin, by the evil one, by our preoccupations with ourselves and the opinions of others. We need to be liberated by Jesus so that we too can become bearers of his glory.

A humble beast of burden is given a central role in bearing Christ

The processional Gospel that precedes the liturgy of Palm Sunday recounts Jesus’ glorious entrance into Jerusalem. Ironically, a humble beast of burden takes a central role in the manifestation of Jesus’ glory. Jesus sends two of his disciples to obtain the donkey that will carry him into the city. The fact that Jesus sends two disciples is an indication that this is a special mission, because the sending of people in pairs is an indication of mission in the Gospels. What is the significance of the peculiar events of this particular mission to obtain a donkey for Jesus? A donkey is a beast of burden, but the donkey in the Gospel is tied up and has never been used before. Jesus gives the donkey the opportunity to become the true beast of burden that he is supposed to be.

We are all beasts of burden that are tied up and unable to carry a load

All of us have much in common with the donkey in the Gospel. Each of us is a beast of burden that is unable to carry the burden that has been assigned to us. We are unable to carry the burden because we are immature, lost, tied up by other things. The verb “untie” appears four times in this passage. We are called to be untied, loosened from our bonds, so that we, insignificant though we are, can carry the glory of God on our shoulders. Each individual Christian is a poor and miserable thing, but someone is with us, someone marvellous who can transform what we are. Later in the Gospel of Luke, the good thief on the Cross asks Jesus to remember him when he comes into his Kingdom. Jesus replies, “This day you will be with me in Paradise”. To be with Jesus is to be in Paradise. This insignificant beast of burden, once liberated from his bonds, becomes something glorious. He lives the extraordinary experience that comes when one is with Jesus, when one is liberated by Jesus.

It is the word spoken by Jesus that liberates the beast of burden

The details of the story in which the disciples go and find the colt are of special significance. The donkey has been tied up by someone - donkeys do not tie themselves up. It is tied up and is not yet considered ready, or perhaps even capable, of carrying out its function. Jesus instructs the disciples to untie it, and if someone asks why they are untying it, they are to reply, “The Master needs it”. It is significant that this text is repeated in full twice. Luke could simply have written, “And everything happened just as Jesus said”. But instead he insists on repeating everything. Why so? The passage wishes to emphasize a central point. The owners of the colt allow the disciples to untie their colt and take it away. Why do they allow such a thing to happen? Because of the word spoken by Christ. The repetition of the text drives home the point that it is the word of Jesus that leads directly to the liberation of the donkey. The Lord says to untie the donkey and the donkey must be untied. The verb “tie/untie” appears earlier in the Gospel of Luke in the context of the battle against the evil one, and the need for a man to be untied when he is bound by a stronger man who has become his master.

What ties us? From what do we need the liberating word of Jesus?

We too are beasts of burden.  What is it that ties each one of us and prevents us from fulfilling our role? Sin and evil bind us. Deception, the opinions of other people, our disordered passions. These are the things that play the role of master in our lives. But Jesus, with one word, can liberate us from these bonds. The word of Jesus frees the donkey and permits it to participate in the glory of the Lord. What a beautiful thing! This most humble of creatures plays a central role in the most glorious event of the earthly life of Jesus! And so it is with us. It doesn’t matter that we are humble beasts of burden; what matters is that we are liberated and used by Jesus. This is our destiny. This is the wonderful adventure to which we are called – to be freed by the power of Christ’s word, “The Master needs you”.

God has a plan of freedom and glory for each one of us

In this we see the fulfilment of God’s plan. God has a plan for this beast of burden. God has a plan for the humblest of animals. God has a plan for each one of us. A plan of freedom and a plan of glory. God wants to be served by us. Let us allow the phrase “The Master has need” to enter into our hearts. We are miserable but the Lord needs us! Incredibly, we are extremely important for him. He does not want to manage without us. He needs us to make him known. He uses the poverty of the disciples and the church to spread his word to the world. The two disciples in the Gospel are themselves beasts of burden who fulfil the mission they were called to do, but they achieve this only through the authority of Jesus.

Jesus did not promise the owners of the donkey that the animal would be returned to them. The Lord needed it, and the Gospel of Luke does not tell us where it ended up. If Jesus needs us, then let us allow ourselves to be taken by him, on a one-way ticket only! This Psalm Sunday let us make our celebration visible and tangible. Let us pray and sing aloud in the procession so that through us others can experience the King of kings, the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the one who brings heaven down to earth. We are the voice of Jesus in the world. We are the beasts of burden who carry on our shoulders the glory of God.

MARCH 17^th 2013. FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: John 8:1-11

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

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

GOSPEL:                       John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, 'Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?' They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, 'If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her'. Then be bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said,

'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' '

No one, sir' she replied.

'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus 'go away, and don't sin any more.'

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

The story of the woman caught in adultery is captivating and inspiring. But Don Fabio encourages us to focus on a curious phrase that Jesus utters at the end of the Gospel: “Go away and sin no more”. How can Jesus expect this woman never to lapse into sin again? Sin involves living in a state in which we are cut off from intimacy with God. In this isolated state, we strive to dispel our loneliness by engaging in sinful activity that is egoistic and self-directed. How can we overcome such sinful habits? We overcome sin by living in an intimate relationship with the Lord. The woman in the Gospel is left alone with Jesus when all of her accusers walk away. Being alone with Jesus - a genuine one-to-one relationship with the Lord - is the complete cure for all of our sinful tendencies. It is an effective guarantee that we will never sin again. Don Fabio points out that attempted adherence to a moral code is never a solution for sin. If it were, then we would not need a saviour. The solution to sin is not an ethical framework but an alternative way of life that springs from intimacy with God. In this week that has given us a new Holy Father, let us make the time to experience that life-changing intimacy with the Lord! Viva il Papa!

How can Jesus seriously expect this woman never to sin again?

This week’s Gospel presents the memorable episode in which Jesus defends the woman who has been caught in the act of adultery. At the beginning of the scene, the woman stands accused before everyone. At the end, the tables have been completely turned: the accusers walk away in an implicit admission of their own sinfulness, whilst the woman is completely absolved of her guilt. This story captivates the imagination. Jesus confounds those who wish to trap him, and he manifests tender mercy to the sinful woman. But we should not overlook the significance of the final phrase of the Gospel. Jesus says, “Has no-one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you. Go away and sin no more.” It is a major thing to ask someone never to sin again! How can Jesus seriously expect this woman to go through life without ever falling into sin? Who among us could guarantee that they will never sin again? And, more crucially, what does Jesus do to help ensure that this woman will never lapse into sin?

Sin involves self-directed actions of people who are not on intimate terms with God

How do we overcome sin? Sin is distance from God; it is intimacy with inappropriate things; sin involves a disordered union with people and objects. We overcome sin when we return to intimacy with God, which is the contrary of sin. In the background to all sinful actions, whether we know it or not, there is a lack of trust towards God, towards that which transcends our narrow self-interest. Even in the case of people who do not know God, sin involves activity that is egoistic, self-reliant and self-directed.

If this is what constitutes sin, then how is the woman to avoid it in the future? We are told in the Gospel that her accusers walk away and she is left alone with Jesus. She has a completely one-to-one, exclusive, encounter with Jesus. It is this intimacy with Jesus that will substitute the sinful behaviour that she had indulged in previously. The one-to-one relationship with Jesus becomes the foundation of a life without sin. Her life has now been filled by something else. She has an intimate relationship with someone who has been left alone with her. It is only when the solitude of the human being has been shattered by the love of God that it becomes possible never to sin again.

Sin cannot be overcome by  attempted adherence to moral or ethical codes

Our attempts to overcome sin are often based on ethical/moral considerations. We recognize that the act we are doing is wrong, and we try various techniques to stop doing that act. But all of our efforts to correct our bad habits meet with no success. If ethical codes, or moral values, or laws in themselves, had the capacity to change us, then there would have been no need for Christ to die on the Cross. There would have been no need for someone to take on himself the condemnation of humanity. Jesus became flesh and accepted upon himself the solitude of man, enduring willingly the complete separation from God that he experienced on the Cross. All of this was done so that we could discover the alternative to sin, which is tender, loving, intimacy with God.

Jesus does not simply tell us not to sin; he provides an alternative to sin, an antidote to sin, a way of life in which sin does not figure at all

When Jesus says, “Do not sin again,” he is not saying, “Adhere to the moral law and do not sin any more.” He is not saying, “Here is a list of things that you cannot do again, and, unfortunately for you, adultery is one of them.” Instead Jesus is presenting an alternative way of life to sin, and this way of life is simply intimacy with him. In what way does sin ruin my life? It ruins my life in that it creates an obstacle to encountering the Lord. It turns me away from the one who loves me and accepts me. The woman’s sinful ways end when she is left alone with Christ. She no longer has need of sin; she no longer has need to seek intimacy in inappropriate ways; she has found her true Spouse. A true spouse is someone who knows how to love the other, who accepts the other, understands the other, does not judge the other. The men of this generation need to remember how to love their spouses authentically as Jesus loves all of us. How many men are in need of learning the art of being with their spouses, never leaving them spiritually and emotionally isolated! In the Gospel, the woman who is loved finds herself in a state where she need never sin again; where she is welcomed and embraced by the arms of mercy. For her, sin is over; intimacy with God has begun - authentic love has begun.

MARCH 10^th 2013. FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3;11-32

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

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

GOSPEL:                        Luke 15:1-3;11-32

The tax collectors and the sinners, meanwhile, were all seeking his company to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. 'This man' they said 'welcomes sinners and eats with them. So he spoke this parable to them:

‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me". So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.

'When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave is this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants." So he left the place and went back to his father.

'While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found." And they began to celebrate.

'Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. "Your brother has come" replied the servant "and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound." He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, "Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property - he and his women - you kill the calf we had been fattening."

The father said:

"My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. 
But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, 
because your brother here was dead and has come to life; 
he was lost and is found."'

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

The central figure in the parable of the prodigal son is the eldest son who is envious that his brother has had the “enjoyment” of living a dissolute life, and yet is welcomed home by his father with great celebration. We are all akin to the eldest son in the sense that we continue to think of sin as if it were some kind of delight that has been denied to us by an unjust father. Don Fabio’s reflection on the parable highlights the level of depravity and baseness to which a human being descends when he lives a life devoted to the satisfaction of his own desires. To think of the state of sin as if it were an enviable way of life is to fail completely to appreciate the depth and greatness of humanity. Don Fabio focuses on the moment when the sinner realizes that his efforts at self-satisfaction have left him empty and alone. In this moment, the sinner recalls his secret and true identity. He realizes that he is a child of a providential Father. This moment of truth, this “entry into himself”, is the beginning of a process that will lead him back to the house of the Father.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is directed at those who secretly think that sin is enjoyable, and who are aggrieved when the Lord welcomes such self-indulgent sinners back into the fold.

The principal figure in the parable of the prodigal son is that of the eldest son, and this is clear when we consider the context in which Jesus recounts his parable. The Pharisees are complaining because Jesus is eating with sinners. In response ,Jesus tells them a parable that finishes with the image of a man who refuses to enter the feast; a man who is envious because (as he sees it) this sinner has had his self-centred gratification and now is being welcomed back as a hero. Jesus realizes that the Pharisees are grumbling about his association with sinners because they continue to think of sin as if it were something enjoyable that has been prohibited to them. They are envious that these ne'er-do-wells have indulged themselves in sin and yet have the joy of eating and associating with the Lord.  Jesus instead wants to show that sin is destructive and involves the loss of our most authentic identity. Anyone who thinks that sin consists in doing enjoyable acts that are prohibited has failed to comprehend the depth and greatness of the human being.

The emptiness that the son experiences is the result of the fact that he focuses only on the satisfaction of his own desires. In such a context, love is absent, and our lives unravel and become dissolute

We wish to focus on the process by which the prodigal son begins to emerge from the self-destructive cycle of sin in which he is immersed. The parable begins when the younger son asks for his share of the inheritance. A few days later he gathers up everything he has and leaves. This departure is an inevitable development. When I decide that I want to live my life in an absolutely autonomous way, then I soon cease to have a healthy relationship with those around me. So the younger son leaves and goes to a faraway place. It is important that the place be far away, because he wants to do exactly as he pleases; he wants to be the centre of his world. Here he begins to squander his inheritance. At home, the inheritance was defended and conserved by the father. Everything that we possess has its ultimate meaning in the context of love. In a context where love is absent, the life of the younger son begins to unravel. His existence becomes “dissolute”. The Greek term “dissolution” (translated as “debauchery” in the English version) has a fairly precise meaning. It signifies “one for whom there is no solution” or “one who does not have salvation”. The younger son has made himself the centre of his existence; he hungers for something but he cannot attain satisfaction because he only looks inside himself for the solution to his hunger. This unending quest for satisfaction leads him to spend everything. Loneliness is a bottomless pit into which we can pour everything we possess, but it will never be filled as long as the emphasis remains on ourselves.

Sin promises satisfaction but leaves us empty

The state of sin involves a loneliness that is insatiable. We become slaves in a “faraway country” where we are reduced to a state in which our only occupation is the “feeding of pigs.” In the Hebrew tradition the pig was considered to be an impure animal, something untouchable that belonged to the world of the indefinable. The prodigal son is thus reduced to a state where he is wholly occupied with attending to impure things. But even here his hunger is not satiated. He wishes to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs are eating, but no-one will offer him anything. This is exactly what evil does. It encourages us to take a wayward path, and then it leaves us high and dry. Sin holds out the promise of nutrition for us; it assures us that it will lead to satisfaction; but all it does is lead us into a slavery in which we cannot find the minimum genuine satisfaction or true sustenance. Sin takes us away from God and then leaves us with nothing.

If we live a life that is oriented to the satisfaction of our appetites, then we will find ourselves unhappy and alone

The prodigal son wishes to eat what the pigs are eating. Even his desires have been reduced to the point where he longs for the things that animals want. The human being thus sinks to the lowest level. But even at the level of being reduced to an animal he cannot attain satisfaction. The human being has a fundamental need for relationship, for association with someone who loves him. It is in the other that he ultimately finds his sustenance. The prodigal son, however, does not have anyone who will offer him even the minimum of nutrition. This image evokes many things that we see all around us today. The world is filled with unhappy people who have absolutized their own animal desires and find themselves in devastating isolation. They are reduced to a life of constant satiation of their basest appetites, their most depraved passions; a life in which they become more ever more isolated and lonely, and in which no-one gives them any authentic nutrition.

Salvation begins when we begin to rediscover our true and secret identity: that we are children of a providential father

At this point, the process of salvation begins for the prodigal son. The English version tells us that he “came to his senses.” This is a translation of a phrase which means that “he re-entered into himself”. What does this remarkable expression mean - “to enter into oneself”? From a state of pain and loneliness, he finally takes the right direction. Curiously, before he can return to his Father, he first has to return to himself. He has to “enter into himself” because he was previously living outside of himself, detached from the deepest truth about himself. He was pursuing an existence that was alien to what he really was. In this process of “returning to himself”, he realizes that he is not an animal, he does not eat like an animal, he is not a slave to be used by others for their ends, he is not a dissolute, a “man without salvation”. There is salvation for him. He remembers his father and his own dignity. He recalls the place where there is no shortage of the real nourishment that he needs, where there is a father who gives bread in abundance.

To embark on the road to salvation, the prodigal son must firstly enter into the most secret part of himself, his true self. His life of dissolution has not taken this true self away from him. In every human being there is a true self, the place where his secret identity lies. We must move towards this true self before we can begin our lives again. We must rediscover this hidden interior truth in which we begin to recall that we are sons and daughters, and not abandoned strangers; children of the father, and not swineherds; children of the father, and not lonely orphans. It is here that we have an intuition of our true dignity; it is from this point that salvation begins and we begin to journey towards the house of the father. Once we make the journey inside, then we begin to understand where we must go outside. At the beginning, this journey may be made for convenience, but it is convenience in the most profound sense – to seek genuine nutrition, something wholesome to eat. God takes us poor as we are, knowing that we move towards him only because we have been left with no other option. But then, gradually, he makes us worthy and gives us dignity, placing the best robe on our back, a ring on our finger, and prepares a feast in which we can truly be satisfied.