MARCH 3^rd 2013. THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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: 13:1-9

Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, 'Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.'

He told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, "Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?" "Sir," the man replied "leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down."'

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

In the Gospel, Jesus is challenged to explain the mystery of evil and suffering. Why did those Galileans die in such horrific circumstances in Jerusalem? Why was that particular group of people crushed by the tower of Siloam? Jesus responds by ruling out the explanation that many people would be tempted to entertain privately: namely, that these people were greater sinners than others! Instead, Jesus exhorts us to respond to this mystery on a level that goes beyond a purely rational or cerebral approach to the problem of suffering. The existence of evil and suffering does not call for a merely rational explanation; it calls, rather, for personal conversion. The bewildering events of this world should not simply drive us to seek an intellectual solution to the mystery; it should drive us to respond to evil and suffering with charity and love. The fact is that we are encircled by bewildering events and negative facts that demand radical inner conversion to the Lord. But we are like the fig tree in the parable that remains unproductive for years. The fig tree does not respond to its fertile environment, failing to bear fruit. We too fail to enter into dialogue with the events of our lives that ought to drive us towards conversion and relationship with God. We complain about the negative facts of our lives, looking for someone to blame, searching for reasons, lamenting the lack of “suitable” reasons. But these facts are calling for a response that is not on the level of reasons but on the level of the entire person. The full translation of Don Fabio’s reflection now follows . .  .

Jesus is challenged to explain the existence of suffering in the world

In the liturgy this Sunday, the Church courageously places before us the difficult and disturbing text at the beginning of Chapter Thirteen of Luke’s Gospel. Jesus is challenged to make sense of bewildering historical events in which the lives of the innocent are cruelly taken. Pilate had slaughtered some Galileans, causing their blood to be mixed with the very sacrifices that they had offered to the Lord. For a Jew, blood constitutes life, and to mix human blood with the blood of animals offered for sacrifice is a horrific way to die. Jesus himself mentions another incomprehensible tragedy: the collapse of the tower of Siloam on eighteen people. How are these terrible facts to be explained? One is a tragedy brought on by human hands: the action of a tyrant that leads to human suffering. The other is a catastrophic accident, and it is not clear who or what is responsible for the disaster.

Jesus challenges us to be converted in the face of these bewildering events

Jesus responds to these baffling questions by saying something that at first appears very strange: “Do you suppose that those Galileans that suffered were greater sinners than other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. But unless you convert, you will all perish as they did”. Jesus repeats the same sentiments with regard to those who died under the tower of Siloam. In other words, we all die in the same manner if we die without being converted. When we are confronted by tragedies of this sort, the correct response is not to look for scapegoats or reasons for these events, but to be converted. That is not to say that everyone who fails to be converted will die in a violent manner. What he is saying is that there is something that is more powerful, more important, and more urgent than any of these historical facts. When these events occur, what are we being challenged to do? To run? To hide? To find new and better ways of protecting ourselves? No! In order to live a dignified life that transcends all of these terrible events, it is essential that we enter into a process called conversion.

Conversion means to go beyond a rational approach to disasters such as these and instead respond to them in a relational way. It involves entering into relationship with God

Jesus mentions conversion twice in this passage, and then tells the parable of the fig tree. For three years the tree fails to bear fruit and risks being cut down, but the caretaker of the vineyard insists on nurturing it for one more year in an almost excessive way to see if it might finally bear fruit. What exactly is this conversion that Jesus insists we must engage in? Some people think of conversion as a change of one’s religion, but this sort of global and total conversion is a relatively rare event. In Latin, “conversion” means “to change direction”, whilst in Hebrew the verb means “to return to the original point of departure”. The best translation of the Hebrew term is precisely this: to return to the truth; to go back to the original and authentic starting point of everything. The Gospel of Luke was originally written in Greek, so we must also pay attention to the Greek significance of the term. The Greek word for conversion is metanoia, which means “to go beyond what I now think”. Nous for the Greeks was the rational centre of the person, and meta means to go beyond what I currently or habitually think and arrive at a new way of thinking. But what does conversion actually mean in practical terms? It means that I must continually return to the ultimate origin of everything. When I am confronted by facts that I cannot make sense of with my rational capacities, the fundamental thing is to go beyond merely thinking and return to the truth, return to God, and be changed within. The Church exists in a constant state of conversion. Some religious orders take vows of conversion; in other words they vow to live in a constant state of positive transformation. Life for all of us must involve constant change, assimilation. The marvellous thing about human nature is our capacity to live in a state of constant dialogue with our surroundings. We must enter into dialogue with the things that happen to us and allow ourselves to be changed.

The existence of evil is linked to the complete freewill that God has given us. It is not within our intellectual powers to make sense of how God can give us the freedom to commit such evil

The people go to Jesus and ask him to make intellectual sense of tragic events. His response is, “In the face of these events, be changed! Grow! When confronted by facts like these, turn radically to God!” If we seek to make sense of these events using only our powers of reason, then we find ourselves in difficulty. When disaster strikes, we find ourselves bewildered and dismayed. We cannot understand the reality of the freewill that God has given us, a freewill that is so complete that it even permits us to carry out evil. If we had the power, we would take everyone’s freedom away and make a perfect world in which no misdemeanours were possible. But such a world would be more like a videogame than reality. It would lack the substance and identity of the world that we know.

When disaster strikes, my response should not be “Why?” but “How can I respond?”

When confronted by the existence of suffering and evil, our rational faculties find themselves at the limit of their capabilities. Jesus exhorts us to respond to these facts with conversion. He tells us that we cannot make sense of them with our nous – the power of the mind – but with metanoia, the process of going beyond a purely cerebral way of dealing with things. This “going beyond” involves entering into relationship with God. If I am confronted by a tragic fact that I cannot make sense of, then instead of asking “What is the meaning of this disaster?” I must ask “How should I change in the face of this disaster?” An earthquake is a cataclysmic event that brings much human suffering. When an earthquake strikes, my priority must not be to ask how God has permitted such a thing to happen. Instead I must do whatever is in my power to love and help the victims of the disaster and in this way manifest the beauty and glory of God. In the face of these negative facts of history and nature, we must move closer to our neighbour and love him or her more radically. There is a strange correspondence between the realities of suffering and evil, and the acts of love which abound in the face of these negative realities.

Once again, if we ask the question, “Why do these terrible things happen in life?” then we are confronting our mental faculties with a question that they alone do not have the capacity to deal with. When clerics try to make sense of evil and suffering, they always end up saying things that do not convince anybody. Instead, we must respond to these facts with the totality of our persons, asking ourselves, “What is this terrible tragedy asking me to become? How should I change in response to this tragic event?”

The fig tree was unproductive for three years. We too are unproductive in the face of facts and events that should challenge us to convert

The story of the fig tree tells of this effort to nurture the tree one last time so that it might bear fruit. There is something over-the- top about this attempt to obtain a yield from a tree that hasn’t produced anything for three years. The owner wants to cut it down, but the caretaker insists on doing something that no-one in reality would do for a fig tree that has ceased to be productive. Jesus is giving us another opportunity, another year, another period of time to enter the process of transformation that is conversion. But if we have not understood what life itself is asking of us, then we are heading towards a loss, towards a “cutting down”, towards a squandering of the life that has been given to us. Life is wasted if we do not allow ourselves to be changed by the events that confront us. Many of us go through life looking for somebody or something to blame for the negative realities that confront us every day. If something disastrous happens, we demand to know who is responsible. But the correct behaviour in the face of negative events is to respond to them on a personal level, entering into relationship with God, allowing ourselves to be changed. If a grave event occurs, then the best of ourselves must emerge in response; we must begin to bear fruit in the very face of that event.

February 24^th 2013. SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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 9:28-36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah'. - He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, 'This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.' And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.

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

The story of the Transfiguration has three elements that are crucial for the daily life of the Christian. Our lives are full of confusion, egoism, banality and emptiness. The first thing we must do is extract ourselves from this chaos on a daily basis and “ascend Mount Tabor”. Secondly, in solitude with the Lord, we must contemplate the Scriptures (represented by Moses and Elijah), and in this way come to an awareness of the beauty of the face of Christ and the meaning of our lives. Thirdly, we must descend from this “mountain” and live out our mission in the world. This is the correct rhythm for an ordered Christian life. Sometimes we tend to think that it is sufficient to pray when trials present themselves. But we cannot confront the trials of life unless we are already ascending Tabor on a daily basis, contemplating the glory and beauty of the Lord. This permits us to descend daily, “enter Jerusalem”, and carry out our mission in the world (Don Fabio's translation now follows).

The story of the Transfiguration has three elements that are fundamental for the daily spiritual life of the Christian

The Second Sunday of Lent traditionally recounts the story of the Transfiguration, an event that assists us in our Lenten journey because it presents us with a glimpse of the glory that we are journeying towards. The passage is dense and has many elements that are worthy of reflection. We will focus on a reading of the text that has something fundamental to say for the daily spiritual life of every Christian. The passage can be thought of as being structured in three parts, even though Luke’s version of the story has a very concise statement of the third part. Firstly there is the ascent to the top of the mountain; secondly, something happens on the summit; and, thirdly, there is the descent. This is a paradigm of the spiritual life of the Christian. The Transfiguration precedes Jesus’ descent into Jerusalem and the fulfilment of his mission. Every Christian has a mission to fulfil and, in order to do so, must first do exactly as Jesus did in the story of the Transfiguration.

Firstly we must detach ourselves from the confusion of our lives, ascend the mountain, contemplate the Scriptures (represented by Moses and Elijah), and come to an awareness of the beauty of the face of Christ

Jesus ascends the mountain and brings with him only three disciples. There is a dimension of intimacy and privacy about the event. We too, in order to be able to complete our mission, must be taken apart and make an ascent of the sort described in the Gospel. An “ascent” is a transition from a non-redeemed state to a redeemed state, a transition from chaos to the beauty of the divine order, a transition from confusion to light. This Lent, as in every Lent, we need to make an ascent of this sort. In fact we need to make such an ascent every day of our lives. We must extract ourselves from the confusion of life and climb that mountain. In the modern world, there is a tendency to analyse ourselves endlessly. We are continually preoccupied with our health and our self-esteem. We ask why we have not fulfilled our potential. We lament the fact that we have not achieved the goals that society places in front of us. The ascent to the mountain is a journey away from these introspective fixations towards a relationship with the Lord. On Mount Tabor, the disciples saw the face of Jesus and discovered his beauty. This discovery of the beauty of Christ was made through an encounter that involved Moses and Elijah. Moses was the one who wrote the Law whilst Elijah was the most famous of the prophets. By means of this intimate encounter with the Scriptures, the providence of God, and the prophetic message of the Old Testament, the face of the Lord is transformed before our eyes! Through this ascent to the contemplation of the Scriptures, we finally see the beauty of God. Without this ascent, our daily lives are filled with banality and hopelessness. Our spirits are crushed by the greyness and drabness of an existence that is not oriented towards him. Everything around us has a dull uniformity and sameness. We see an endless series of facts but comprehend nothing of the truth that lies beneath them. When we ascend the mountain, we extract ourselves from the ordinary and are finally alone with Jesus. It is only then that we can begin to appreciate his beauty. This, in fact, is the exclamation of Peter. “How beautiful it is for us to be here!”

We must ascend Mount Tabor every day of our lives and gaze on the beauty of Christ

This is an experience that we have absolute need of: to place ourselves with the Lord in front of the Scriptures. Only then can we be freed from the quicksand of our own psychological fixations and egoistic preoccupations. The spirit moves within us and we realize that we have something beautiful before us. We are no longer a slave to the pressures and demands of the endless wheel of our lives that drives us around in circles. We feel a desire to remain where we are because we have discovered that “it is beautiful to be here.” It is interesting that Peter says “it is beautiful for us to be here,” even though it is the Lord who is beautiful. But it is beautiful to be with the Lord when we discover his beauty. The more the Lord reveals to me what he is truly like, the glory of his face, his hidden truth, then the more I am content to be with him. Every place becomes beautiful if I am with the Lord. The Gospel of Luke ends with a conversation between two dying men regarding paradise: “Truly I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise.” Paradise is pre-announced and foretasted through an experience of intimacy with the Lord Jesus. To be with the Lord is to be in paradise. The remarkable conversation between two men dying on their crosses emphasizes this fact. We enter the Kingdom of God when we are with the Lord Jesus. That is why it is essential to extract oneself from the things of this world and be in solitude. Every Christian must ascend Mount Tabor every day of their lives and be alone with Christ, contemplating the most profound meaning of their existence.

Descending from Mount Tabor: living out our mission in the world

We must ascend Mount Tabor daily, and then we must descend from the mountain and live our lives. Sometimes there is a tendency to search for the Lord afterwards, at the moment that life presents us with difficulties. But that is not how Jesus did things. The most frightening moment of his life was lived in Gethsemane with the same three disciples that he had taken up Mount Tabor. At the moment of crisis he went to the disciples who were sleeping and said “Stay awake and pray that you will not be led into temptation.” This is not some sort of abstract or vague recommendation to the disciples to pray. Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity, who has become incarnate and who is going through the most critical moment of his mission. His exhortation to prayer is something that is fundamental for all of us. To avoid falling into temptation, we must be faithful to prayer on a continuous basis. Prayer is not something that you must do merely at the moment of temptation. Rather, prayer must be regular and unremitting so that when trials come we are in a position to confront them.

            Life is a continual process of ascending Tabor, of experiencing the Transfiguration and then entering into mission, represented by Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We should not think that we can enter into the trials of life and then seek the Lord at the critical moment. God is good and will not abandon us if we do behave in this fashion, but the correct rhythm of Christian life involves firstly ascending Tabor and then going to Jerusalem. I must first discover who the Lord is for me and who I am for him, and then go and live out the mission that the Lord has entrusted to me.

February 17th 2013. FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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 4:1-13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf'. But Jesus replied, 'Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone'. Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, 'I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.' But Jesus answered him, 'Scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone'

Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. 'If you are the Son of God,' he said to him 'throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: 'He will put his angels in charge of you to guard you,' and again, 'They will hold you up on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.'

But Jesus answered him, 'It has been said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.' Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.

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

This Gospel presents us with two visions of humanity, one presented by Satan and the other presented by Jesus. Lent is a journey away from an old way of being human, and towards a new way of being human. Satan’s model of humanity uses everything for the satisfaction of his own desires, tries to exercise dominion over everything, including relationships with others, and relentlessly pursues glory in the eyes of his peers. Jesus, by contrast, asserts that there is more to life than the satisfaction of desires. He refuses to bow before possessions, and asserts that the only thing he wishes to possess is his relationship with the Father. These two models of humanity are the ONLY two types possible. There is no middle ground between the new person proposed by Christ and the deceptive model of humanity proposed by Satan. This Lent we are asked to journey away from the deceptive vision of the human being and towards the new model of humanity held up by Jesus.

The Gospel presents us with two models of humanity – which will we choose?

With this Gospel we inaugurate the precious season of Lent, and begin preparing for Easter. The Gospel places before us two different models of humanity: one model comes from heaven, whilst the other is the model of humanity that Satan would have us adopt. Anthropologically speaking, no other types of humanity are possible. There is no middle ground between Christ and Satan. It is not possible to begin walking in the ways of the “new man”, whilst remaining entrapped in the nets and snares of the devil. This becomes more evident when we consider in detail the propositions of Satan and their rejection by Jesus. The propositions of Satan form the basis of a programme by which Satan would like to redesign humanity.

First temptation – to use everything in creation for the satisfaction of my desires

First of all, there is the suggestion that a person who is a child of God has the right to change the nature of created things in order to satisfy his own desires. He has the right to change the stones into bread. This kind of vision of humanity exalts the capacities of man to manipulate his environment for the good. And such manipulation of creation can lead to genuine development. But it can also become a process in which humanity focuses completely on an impoverished notion of “progress.”  Creation is manipulated in the service of illegitimate “rights” and “needs” of man. It is very tempting to be taken by this vision of a humanity that has power, the capacity to heal illness, to solve problems, and to transform everything to the advantage of humanity. But the impoverished nature of such a human being is revealed by Christ’s response to Satan, which we will consider later.

Second temptation – the desire to possess things in such a way that these things exist for me. This includes institutions like matrimony, which are expected to serve my needs

Satan’s second proposal for a vision of humanity is of a person who has dominion over all the kingdoms of earth. In his first proposal, Satan suggests that humanity has the right to use all things to one’s own advantage. Now he suggests that humanity should possess everything. Humanity should want, desire, seek, and pursue its own supremacy. Parents raise children nowadays with the attitude that they are the masters of everything. Children are taught to be possessive towards things. They are rarely encouraged to be charitable with what they have, or to have a spirit of detachment from those things. To some degree we ourselves have been raised in this way, and this is how the new generations are being raised, with the implicit assumption that everything, even relationships with others, must be at the service of our own egos. I am taught that objects and even other human beings are mine, and they exist as a function of my own being. Today this approach to things is being held up as if it were something virtuous. The human person with his exaggerated sense of autonomy is to have dominion over everything. Matrimony must be an institution that suits me, the workplace must be organised in a way that suits me. I must not be asked to renounce any of the things that I desire to possess and exercise dominion over.

Third temptation – affirmation and glory in the eyes of others

The third characteristic of the human being that Satan wishes to nurture is expressed in the Gospel of Luke in terms of the spectacle of throwing oneself down from the pinnacle of the Temple and being raised up by God’s angels. There is a desire in humanity for affirmation, for success in the eyes of others. Our children are socialised to assert themselves, to strive for extraordinary and notable things, to go to great lengths to make themselves beautiful.

Jesus’ response to the three temptations shows a model of humanity that is greater, nobler and stronger than the impoverished vision of humanity promoted by Satan

The three temptations then are the inclination to seek satisfaction from everything, the drive to possess everything, and the rush to be admired by everyone. These three tendencies are buried in us and can destroy our relationships, our workplaces and our lives. Lent is the journey away from this deceptive model of humanity towards a new way of being human. This “new man” is not some sort of inferior or underdeveloped version of humanity. The new human being, as revealed by Jesus, is much greater, stronger and nobler than the vision suggested by Satan.

Jesus points to a greater way of life than a life directed to the satisfaction of one’s needs

Jesus’ first response is, “Man does not live on bread alone.” Jesus is saying that what Satan has to offer is too little for him. All Satan offers is the satisfaction of one’s own needs, but there is much more to life than the constant satisfaction of myself. The fourth Chapter of John’s Gospel speaks of a bread that humanity has not known, which refers to the nutrition that comes from having a relationship with God. The Gospel of Matthew adds an extra phrase to the words recorded by Luke, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” To live on bread alone is too little for Jesus. Bread is a symbol of the one who provides me with sustenance. Jesus wants to live in relationship with this person and to be nurtured by his words. This is a far greater way of life than a life lived seeking satisfaction from the futile things of this world.

Jesus renounces worldly possessions so that he can possess a genuine relationship with God

In the second temptation, the attraction of possessing everything is held up as a goal. But in order to possess everything, I must bow down before something. I must turn those possessions into my one and only God. No one can possess anything if he does not pay the price. Jesus presents himself as the new Adam and says that there is only one person that he will bow before. He will not allow the illusory attraction of power and possessions to shatter his fundamental dignity. There is only one person who deserves to be worshipped by me. He is the one who loves me and who already possess everything. The possessions of this world have no lasting value whatsoever. As the Gospel of Matthew says, the treasures of this world are destroyed by rust and moth. But God is a treasure that cannot be lost. I must ask myself a basic question this Lent: Before what am I going to fall prostrate?  To what goal am I going to expend myself? To what will I devote myself? The only worthwhile possession that I must consume myself for is something that cannot be taken away from me; the possession of a relationship with God. When Jesus speaks of “worshipping” the Lord, he is speaking of the living out of an intimate relationship with God.

There is no need to pursue the vainglory of this world. If I follow the Lord he will bestow far greater joys on me

The final temptation concerns admiration and glory in the eyes of others. If I have a desperate need to be admired by others, then it is because I do not know myself. I am looking for affirmation from others. I am, as it were, seeking from others the right to exist. But there is no need to pursue my own glory in a way that creates antagonism with God. What is essential is that I enter into a proper relationship with God, and he will bestow on me far greater gifts than the vainglory that this world promises.

The model of the person that Jesus holds up to us is an impressive being.  It is a person who has a deep relationship with God, a person who is not a slave to his appetites, a person who is not a slave to the goods and possessions of this world, a person who knows how to follow God. This is the model of person that we must journey towards this Lent.

February 10^th. FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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                             Luke 5: 1-11

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.- He got into one of the boats-it was Simon's-and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch'. 'Master,' Simon replied 'we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.' And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man'. For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. But Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch'. Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

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

The Gospel tells how Peter worked all night and achieved nothing, but then, at the Lord’s command, caught a great haul of fish. Peter kneels before Jesus and says “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”. The real miracle in this story is not the catch of fish, but the encounter between Peter and Jesus in this moment when Peter recognizes his unworthiness to be called by Jesus. All of us are unworthy of God’s call, but we continue to convince ourselves that we have something to offer God that God needs and couldn’t manage without. We must recognize that God calls us and loves us despite our complete unworthiness. We need to place ourselves before God in a similar state as Peter did. Only then will we be able to put out into the deep water and achieve remarkable things with the Lord.

Jesus does not call us because we are worthy. He calls us because he loves us

When Peter discovers that he has caught more fish than he ever could have imagined, he kneels before Jesus and says, “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Of course, Peter is only telling Jesus something that Jesus already knew. This is how Luke in his Gospel describes the call of Peter. Peter seems to think that Jesus calls him because he doesn’t know what he is really like, and if he did know what Peter was really like, he never would have called him. But it is not the case that Jesus calls people because he doesn’t know what they’re like, and neither is it the case that Jesus only calls people who are “worthy” to be called. The fact is that Jesus knows exactly what we are like, and none of us are worthy to be called. The Lord does not call us because we deserve to be called; he calls us because he loves us. He calls us, he brings us with him, he gives us the sacraments, the Christian way of life, the gift of faith, the virtues, the proclamation of the Good News, and many other gifts. He bestows these riches on us because he loves us, not because we are free from sin. The human being has a dream of being autonomous, of standing on a par with God. It is difficult to stand before someone who knows exactly who you are, and to be accepted by that person even though you are completely unworthy. At the beginning of the liturgy, we publicly recall our unworthiness to celebrate the sacred mysteries. The only one who is “worthy” to enter into the celebration is the one who recalls his own poverty. It is only when Peter falls on his knees and confesses his poverty that he is in the right condition to be called. It is not the miraculous catch of fish that calls Peter to follow Jesus. The real miracle happens in the moment that Peter recognizes his own lowly state.

It is not what we have to offer God that is important. It is the gratuitous  love of God that is central

There is something absolutely essential here. In the Christian life, it is not our capabilities that are of central importance. In fact, our abilities can be a great obstacle to progress, because they make us think that we can be the protagonists of our own Christian vocation. It is the work of God that we are talking about, and this work must be accomplished by Him, not by us. In the encounter of Peter with Jesus, we see that there is something completely gratuitous involved. None of us are worthy of this encounter, so let us stop thinking that we can merit it! When we go to someone’s house, we bring a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates, because we don’t want to present ourselves empty-handed, unworthy of hospitality. But with God, let us stop trying to present ourselves as if we merited the encounter. We cannot give anything to God that he doesn’t already have. Let him take us poor as we are.

Let us put out into deep water with the Lord!

Where does love of God begin? Where does true obedience to God find its origin? In the experience of a love that is completely unmerited and gratuitous. It is Christ who loves us and accepts us just as we are. It is Christ who brings his works to fruition in us. How boring it can be to meet Christians who speak only about themselves, what they did, and what they didn’t do. As the Gospel of Matthew says, if something is a genuine work of God then it will give glory to Him. When people see our good works, they naturally give glory to Our Father in Heaven. During the Great Jubilee, Blessed John Paul II said, “Put out into the deep water! Open yourselves to the greatness of God!” In other words, do not let your lives be a thing of mediocrity. Broaden your heart, as the psalm says. Instead, all of us tend to spare ourselves to the utmost. We do the minimum, with the minimum risk to ourselves. We do not put out into the deep water, because we think we are incapable. But none of us are capable if we try to depend on our own abilities. Instead, let us put out into deep water with the Lord.

When we place ourselves humbly before God, he can take our insufficiencies and achieve great things

In the remarkable Gospel that is presented to us this Sunday, we see what can be achieved when we place ourselves humbly before God. Peter is asked to do something that doesn’t make any sense to him. He has worked all night and caught nothing. But upon Jesus word he tries again, and then he discovers that he is loved, poor though he may be. Peter has encountered someone who loves the insufficient, and who is capable of taking them out into the deep water and achieving great things. The Old Testament speaks of the Lord taking one who is miserable, raising him, and making him stand among princes. Let us all put out into deep water! You might reply, “I am afraid!” but this is only because you are looking at yourself. If you focus on yourself then you can’t help being afraid, but if you make God your focus then it is a different story.

February 3^rd 2013. FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 4:21-30

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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:                                Luke 4: 21-30
Jesus he began to speak in the synagogue, 'This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen'. And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.

They said, 'This is Joseph's son, surely?' But he replied, 'No doubt you will quote me the saying, "Physician, heal yourself" and tell me, "We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside"'.  And he went on, 'I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

'There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah's day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha's time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.'

When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

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

The public ministry of Jesus begins with a confrontation between the true identity of Jesus and the parochial identity he has in the eyes of his fellow Nazarenes. The same is true for all of us. The Lord wants us to shed our old identities and embark on a journey to discover the wonderful identity that we have in God’s eyes. We are far more than our earthly origins, our family histories and our childhood experiences! But how are we to discover this new and beautiful identity that God has for each of us? The Lord conserves our true identity in the secrecy of his heart, and only reveals it to us when we begin to walk in his ways. Do you wish to discover your true identity, the true meaning of your life? God will begin revealing it to you when you begin to follow him!

The public ministry of Jesus begins with controversy about his identity

In this scene, we are presented with the first event in the public life of Jesus as recounted by the Gospel of Luke. It involves a confrontation that is very much provoked by Jesus himself. As we saw in last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus went to Nazareth, took the scroll and read the text, and then declared that the Scriptures were being fulfilled in that very moment. There was a severe reaction to his words. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they said. We who are reading the Gospel are well aware that Jesus in NOT the son of Joseph, since Luke gives a detailed account of how Jesus is generated by God from the virginal womb of Mary. Why does the public ministry of Jesus begin with confrontation and controversy about the real identity of Jesus?

Radical following of the Lord requires changing our identity and rejection of the identity that we had previously

At the beginning of a new direction in life, there is always confrontation of this sort. John’s Gospel speaks of the conflict between that which is born of the flesh and that which is born of the spirit. It is not possible to follow God unless we are reborn, unless we move away from what we were and begin the journey of discovering our true identity. In the cases of some of the Apostles, Peter in particular, the encounter with Jesus leads to a change of name, a new identity, a new birth. In Jesus’ own case, the severance of links with his hometown represents a new beginning and direction in life. The story of salvation begins with Abraham, the man who had to leave his paternal home. This is a theme that one finds repeatedly in the Scriptures: the Lord wishes to do something new with us, something that does not depend on who we are, or on the things that we have done previously.

God conserves our true identity in secret, and only reveals it to us when we begin to walk in his ways

The conflict between Jesus and the people of Nazareth in the Gospel is dramatic, and Jesus says some harsh words about how Elijah and Elisha were sent to those who were not born in Israel. The fundamental lesson of the passage is that we must experience some sort of rupture in our lives if we are to enter into the things of God, a rupture with the things that spring from the flesh. This fact is reinforced when we consider that the Second Reading on Sunday is nothing less than St Paul’s great Hymn to Charity which speaks of the extraordinary characteristics of the love that has its origin in God. This is not to negate the flesh, or to deny the fact that we are merely creatures. But there is more to us than our earthly origins. On the 8^th of December, the Holy Father said that the human being can only be understood in the light of grace. My true identity can only be understood in the context of the free gift of love that God bears for me. Jesus breaks completely with the parochial identity that he has in the eyes of the Nazarenes. Just as Jesus unveils his secret identity before the Nazarenes, so too we must discover our secret identity, an identity that is determined by our relationship with God. Our identity is conserved by God and is not revealed until the moment that we begin to walk in his ways

Each of us has a beautiful identity that completely exceeds what other people know about us. God reveals that identity to us as we journey with him

The works of God in us, the true exercise of charity in us, are manifested only when we are reborn in God, and when we break with the identity that we have had since our infancy. The people of Nazareth react to Jesus’ assumption of a new identity, and they say, “We know exactly who you are! You were born here and we know your family!” But Jesus was not born there, and he is not the person that they think he is. In the same way, there is a truth about each one of us that is greater than people realize. There is a beautiful, luminous truth about all of us that is conserved in God, and that God will reveal to us. When God reveals it to us, we must assume that new identity and be changed. If we think of the lives of the saints, St Francis of Assisi for example, many of them left their paternal house and became something that was completely different and even unacceptable to the expectations of their fellow villagers. We too must cease to be obedient to the alliances established by this world. We must cease to be what other people expect and become what we truly are. Each one of us is on a journey of self-discovery in which God reveals our identity to us. It is only in the light of his grace that we begin to understand ourselves.

There is nothing more wonderful than to discover who we are in God’s eyes

A marriage will last only if the spouses leave their families, leave their previous identities, and enter into the graces of the sacrament. A priest is fully himself only if he is completely dedicated to God and has utterly abandoned the identity he had before receiving his vocation. Every Christian friendship is truly itself only if it has moved to a plane where conventional human expectations and role are abandoned. We cannot remain all of our lives as we were when we were children. People may continue to think that I am “the child of Joseph” but the truth is that I am something else of a completely unexpected sort. There is nothing more wonderful than to discover who we are in God’s eyes. There is nothing more wonderful than to be free of the invisible nets and cords that bind us, and to become new creatures altogether.

January 27^th. THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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 1:1-4; 4:14-21            
Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. 
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, 
to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, 
to set the downtrodden free, 
to proclaim the Lord's year of favour

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, 'This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen'

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

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Don Fabio holds up this Gospel as an archetype for those who struggle to appreciate the significance of the liturgy. In this week’s Gospel, we see Jesus himself in a liturgical setting, and he shows us how we should behave in a liturgical setting. The Sacred Scriptures are not something to be read in an abstract way. After Jesus reads the passage from the prophet Isaiah, he says, “Today, this text is being fulfilled as you listen to it.” Every week, when we hear the word of God proclaimed to us, we must believe that the word is being fulfilled right now in our lives. The job of the priest giving the homily is to build a bridge between the text and our lives today, so that we can see how the text is coming true in our daily doings. And our job, whenever we read or hear the Scriptures, is to contemplate how that Scripture reveals the true meaning of my life, right now, in this moment. We must never read Scripture for Scripture’s sake, but in order that Scripture might help us to read the significance of our lives.

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Luke gives his reasons for writing the Gospel

The Sunday liturgy is divided into three years A, B and C. This is year C, the year of Luke, and in this week’s reading Luke’s sets down his reasons for writing the Gospel. “Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events . . ., exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses . . ., I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that you may learn how well-founded is the teaching that you have received.”

This is a precious record of the motivation behind the writing of a Gospel. The Gospel was written for a person, Theophilus, who in reality represents all of us, because we are all recipients of the Good News. And the Gospel is intended to demonstrate to us the soundness of the teaching that we have received. This is an interesting point. The Gospel comes after Theophilus receives the teaching about Christ. Theophilus does not first encounter Christ through reading the Gospel. Rather his first encounter is with the Church, which imparts to him the teaching about Christ. Sometimes we give too much importance to the scriptural accounts as if they were the origin of our faith. The origins of faith are rooted in the Church, and in the events which the disciples of Christ (who constitute the Church) experienced. Then the events are written down in an ordered way so that they make sense. Not everything is written down, only that which is relevant to the faith of the one who listens to the account. There is no need to write down secondary details of the life of Jesus. The Gospel text then is produced by the Church. It is not that the Church is a product of the text. St Augustine makes the same point: “Even if all the Bibles in existence were destroyed, it would not be the end of the world, because Christians would still exist.” Christians are the Scriptures incarnated. They are what bring life to the word of God, and in the end this is what counts. Theophilus needs to have a prior experience of this living encounter with the Church. Then, the written Gospel becomes his school, setting the relevant events of the life of Christ in order, with the purpose of educating him.

The first part of the reading for Sunday tells us why Luke wrote the Gospel. The second part tells us how we should approach this or any Gospel

The first part of the Gospel tells us why the Gospel was written and the general purpose it must serve in the life of Theophilus.  The second part of the Gospel gives us a concrete illustration of how the written word must be made relevant to our daily lives. What an amazing text for those of us who struggle to appreciate the significance of the liturgy! We see Jesus taking part in a liturgy; we see how he considers we should behave in a liturgical setting; and we are given a concrete illustration of how we should treat the word of God. Jesus goes into the Synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath as was his custom. He takes the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and reads the extraordinary text about the man sent to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the downtrodden and announce the year of the Lord’s favour. He then takes the scroll, puts it back in its place, and sits down. These detailed descriptions emphasize that here we are in a ritual setting. The fact that Jesus sits down recalls the fact that teaching in those days was always done while seated. Jesus sat down before giving the Sermon on the Mount, and he does the same here. The eyes of everyone are fixed on him and he begins to give his teaching. Of course, the Gospel text does not give us a full account of his teaching on this occasion. All that is recorded are the words, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” The homiletic technique of the Jews was to make connections between the text just proclaimed with some other text. Jesus, instead, goes straight to the point, beginning with the word Today. “Today this text is fulfilled.” The purpose of a homily, Jesus is telling us, is to make the text relevant today, to demonstrate how this text is referring to our situation as it is in this very moment. This is the fundamental purpose of a homily: to make words that were written two or three thousand years ago speak to my life as it is right now. The Psalm says “Your word Lord is a lamp for my path and a light for my steps.” The text that Jesus proclaims in the synagogue regarding liberation is referring to my liberation today. Many preachers analyse texts abstractly, seeking values or abstract meanings that are a temporal, “universal,” valid for all time. But Jesus wishes us to read the Scriptures concretely, applying them to things that are happening in my life right now. If the word of God is to be a “light for my steps” then I must not try to turn it into an abstract object of study. No-one lights a lamp so that they can contemplate the light itself; they light a lamp so that it will shed light on concrete things that need to be seen for practical purposes. Scripture is a light, but what counts are our steps, our lives, our situations today. Luke puts the events of Jesus life in order so that we might have faith and live it today. As Luke says, the account helps us to appreciate the teaching the Church has already given us; it helps us recognize the soundness of the teaching of the Church and aids us in following it.

We must read Scripture not for Scripture’s sake, but for the sake of reading our lives

Homilies are necessary because they make a bridge between the text and today. I need the body of Christ, which is the Church, to help me to make concrete that which I hear in the proclamation of the Scriptures. The Holy Father gives us an extraordinary example of how to illuminate our daily lives by confronting them in a clear and simple manner with the sacred Scriptures. None of us can hope to walk forward unless we have this light for our steps. We must read Scripture, not for Scripture’s sake, but in order to read life itself. By confronting our daily lives with Scripture we come to an understanding of ourselves, our problems, our joys, and the continual workings of the grace of God within us.

To apply Scripture to my daily life, I must look with the understanding, not just with the eyes, as if life could be reduced to just a series of fleeting events

Jesus gives us yet another clue as to how we should approach the sacred texts. “Today the text that you have listened to is being fulfilled.” The congregation is fixing Jesus with their eyes. They are looking for something visible, but Jesus reminds them that it is what is heard that is more important. The true meaning of things is perceived by the hearing, not by the eyes. It is not enough for me to see the things that are happening in my life. I need to understand their meaning. In this sense I must look with my “ears”, with my inner capacity for understanding. The proclamation of Scripture enters my ears and arrives at my heart, revealing to me the action of God in my day to day struggles. It is critical that we attain a perspective on our lives in the light of the word of God. What an amazing thing that this Gospel reveals to us! My life must be contemplated in an interior way. It is not just a series of events. Scripture can help us to uncover the true secret and meaning of our lives, and this goes far beyond what the eyes can see,