December 15^th 2019. Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11

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

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GOSPEL: Matthew 11, 2-11

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
"Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight, the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,
"What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out?  To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

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

Kieran’s summary . . . John the Baptist is perplexed. He had foretold a Messiah who would purify the earth and punish the wicked. Instead, Jesus heals the sick, raises the dead and preaches the Good News to the poor. Jesus has to send a message to John in prison to say that he will be blessed if he takes no offense at Jesus’ way of being the Messiah. All of us fall into the trap of thinking that what is needed is for each one of us to put everything in order, but Jesus teaches us that all that is important is that he be allowed to love us and save us. I need to stop thinking that I can enter the Kingdom of God by virtue of my own capacities! To enter the kingdom I must stop pretending that I can see, can hear, am clean and am fully alive. I must acknowledge my blindness, my deafness, my impurity and my inner death. I must turn to the Lord who alone can save me. I must allow his love to bring me back to life.

John the Baptist had foretold a Messiah who would bring justice, purify the earth and destroy the wicked. He does not understand why Jesus instead concentrates on helping the poor

The third Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of joy. The joy that the Lord brings is like the peace that he brings: a joy that is completely different to the joy of this world. The Gospel text, in fact, speaks of the perplexity of John the Baptist who, "having heard of the works of Christ, sent his disciples to ask him: ‘Are you the one who must come or must we wait for another?’" Why does he ask this question? John was expecting a Messiah who would harvest "his wheat in the barn" and burn "the straw with an unquenchable fire", a Messiah who would cleanse the world powerfully. John himself was austere, radical and serious. In fact, Jesus described him as the greatest of those born of women. There is no better man than he. But John was not ready for this strange Messiah, who gives sight to the blind, heals the lame, the deaf and lepers, revives the dead and comforts the poor.

True peace and true joy are not like the peace and joy of this earth. The kingdom that Jesus brings is probably different to the kingdom that we would like him to bring

John does not understand, and Jesus is forced to say, directly to him: "Blessed is he who finds no cause for scandal in me!" The word "scandal" is onomatopoeic and refers to bumping into an obstacle. John will find joy and bliss if he overcomes the obstacle. Which obstacle? That of his pre-conceptions. The joy that the Lord gives is different from what we expect. It is liberating and discards nothing, condemns nothing. This might have been a disappointment for John. For him, perhaps, the important thing was to put everything back in place, while for Jesus what matters is to save everything. We never fully learn this lesson. It is a trap that we constantly fall into. We get peace of mind to think that we can put everything in order, but true peace bears the stigmata! It does not erase the traces of chaos, but has learned to bear the marks. Eastern Christians call it "paschal peace". It is a peace that comes from death and has found the path of life in the midst of the absurd.

I cannot enter the Kingdom by virtue of my own capacities. In the Kingdom, it is the blind who see, the deaf who hear, the lepers who are cleansed. To enter the kingdom I must stop pretending that I see, hear, am clean and am alive. I must acknowledge my blindness, deafness, impurity and death and allow the Lord to love me back to life.

If, as Jesus says in the end, "the smallest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John", it means that a beautiful humanity is not what the kingdom of heaven is about. The kingdom of heaven is not attained with reason nor with feeling. Human intellect is wonderful and our art can be sublime. But the kingdom of heaven is more, much more than what we can attain with all our resources, our strength and our creativity. Not a single person on the strength of their own talents can enter the kingdom of heaven. But the blind see it, the lame enter it, the deaf hear it, it awakens the dead. It is a kingdom of the poor. This is not about justice, but something that surpasses justice. It is Love that redeems those who made a mistake, who gathers in one who would otherwise be thrown away, who comes to look for those who are of no use because He, the Lord, cannot be without them. Not even the most miserable person on earth is overlooked by this Love. To enter this kingdom of Love, one must be blind, lame, deaf, covered with leprosy, dead and poor. And this is how we are, as soon as we stop pretending to be something else and simply be ourselves: weak and fragile.

December 8^th 2019. Second Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 3:1-12

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

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GOSPEL: Matthew 3, 1-12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel's hair
and had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

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

Kieran’s summary . . . During their sojourn of forty years in the desert, the people of the Israel learned that life was precarious and that they needed to place their trust in the Lord. When John the Baptist appears, it is in the desert and he is dressed in the manner of a pilgrim. He is challenging all of us to enter the desert, shed what we do not need and turn back to the Lord. What is the Advent of the Lord? It involves an axe and a fire coming into my life. There are many things in my life that must be shed. We must be ready to be pruned and to accept losses. Those who have major difficulties in discernment are those who are not willing to lose anything. The Lord is good and beautiful; therefore I must be ready to lose that which is not good and beautiful; I must be ready to shed that which is ambiguous in my life. We must be freed from the chaff that does not bear fruit, from branches that are stupid and useless. Advent is a time to praise God who wants to do something in my life that is good, beautiful and fruitful. Let us allow the Lord to do this. Our hearts must be ready to be freed from that which is useless. We cling to the chaff that leads nowhere. The Lord wishes constantly to purify us. The theme of purification is essential in the spiritual life. That which weighs us down must be discarded. Our Saviour wishes to draw us into a life that is simple, sober, agile and free; a life that cannot be lost. The Holy Spirit comes as fire and frees the Church from its delusions, wastes of time and deceptions. He frees Christians from that which is non-Christian and frees humanity from what is inhuman. We must ask the Lord to strike us in this wholesome way, even if it hurts. And it will hurt, because we are attached to small and useless things. John the Baptist comes, dressed as a pilgrim, to bring us all on pilgrimage, to bring us into the desert of purification, to bring us to the light to the kingdom of God.

John the Baptist calls us a brood of vipers, i.e., people who are born of the serpent. And it is true. Who else but the serpent has taught us that we can disregard the love of God and not have to suffer any negative consequences

Seeing many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him for baptism, John the Baptist told them: "Brood of vipers! Who made you believe you could escape the impending wrath?" What a character, John the Baptist! He addresses the religious leaders as being of the family of vipers, the most treacherous and poisonous snake. John tells them that they are of the viper breed, that is, born of a snake. What does he mean? He goes on: "Who made you believe you could escape the coming wrath?” What is this wrath and who is it that makes us think we can escape it? There are things that distance us from love and bring us closer to God’s wrath. There are acts that create disorder. In Scripture, the wrath of God is not a moment of divine nervousness, but a key to understanding what happens when good is rejected. When we reject the love and goodness of God, then reality becomes hostile towards us, as happens in the story of Adam and Eve of Genesis 3.

We have listened to the lies of the serpent and become deceptive and hypocritical. The Lord will take an axe to the root of the tree and cut away all that is foreign to salvation

In this story, the serpent himself told a lie which humanity believed: "You will not die at all!” (Gen 3: 4). We have learned not to fear sin, not to be afraid of the consequences of disordered acts. We have been taught that we can escape imminent wrath: lying is not a problem, not observing the rules is no big deal, wallowing in sensuality is ok.  We have been trained in the hypocritical art of compromise, of thinking that no bad consequences will come our way. But John the Baptist tells us that "the axe is placed at the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire". If only! If only this axe would come into our lives! It would tear away from us all that is not salvation, all that is foreign to love, incompatible with Heaven, alien to the good.

We have learned to get by. We present ourselves during Advent to John the Baptist with our heads sprinkled in ashes, but our pockets are full of disobedience and compromises. There is a saying in Italian, “When the feast day is over, the saint discovers that he has been tricked”. In other words, we celebrate these feasts, take advantage of them as an excuse to eat, drink and be merry, all the while paying lip-service to the saint in question, but when all is said and done we have just used that saint for our own selfish purposes. Advent has begun. When it is over, will it leave us exactly as it found us?  The readings tell us that something great and beautiful is coming, the one who "baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire", the one who puts the life of God in man! “Oh really?” we answer. “That’s interesting”. And then we return to our usual mediocrity. There is a great risk that this Advent will be of no use to us, that it will be the umpteenth pre-Christmas dinner liturgical act. Then Christmas will pass, and Lent, and Easter. the gift of the Spirit will come ... and we will always be the same half-Christians. I am not exaggerating. Read the words of John the Baptist: "He holds the shovel in his hand and will clean his threshing floor and gather his wheat in the barn, but he will burn the straw with an unquenchable fire." Let us ask for a grace: not to continue with this mediocrity anymore. Let us not be satisfied with this non-love we have inside. Let us cease being tortured by our ambiguity and compromises. A Psalm says: "Despise evil, you who love the Lord". May the Lord give us the gift of this “hatred” which is an interior ax: the desire to live well and to love, so that our hearts are purified.

December 1^st 2019. First Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 24:37-44

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

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GOSPEL: Matthew 24, 37-44

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left; of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.

‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

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

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Jesus mentions the flood at the time of Noah. The fact is that many floods are necessary in the life of each one of us. Many things need to be washed away at regular intervals so that the Lord can enter our lives more fully and we can make a new beginning. In our society today, we are obsessed by physical beauty, nutrition, wellbeing and self-referential “romantic” relationships. If my life is of this sort, then my own ego is the master of my house. Then, when the Son of Man comes, when a crisis occurs, I will have difficulty coping. I will be like the people at the time of Noah who are swept away by the impending disaster. Jesus says, “The Son of Man is coming like a thief at a time you do not expect”. But if I make Jesus the master of my house, then he will not come like a thief. No thief steals from his own house! I am called to renounce possessions, projects, and the tyranny of my own ego. I am called to permit Jesus to be the master of my life and my world. When Jesus is master, then I am always ready to interrupt my projects or activities, to change direction and rethink my plans, in order to follow the one and only master of my life.

Today, the world that needs to be washed away by the “flood” is our obsession with physical wellbeing, beauty and self-referential relationships

Noah must have seemed crazy to his neighbours - building a huge ship in the mountains! But this strange project became something that saved. In the Gospel, Jesus says that in "the days of Noah" people "ate and drank, took wives and took husbands". What is so strange about that? What should a normal person do? People eat and marry. The same anthropology is around today: bodily needs and affective satisfactions are the main theme. What else should people be concerned about? At the present time, our society is obsessed with the wellbeing of the body. We are fixated with physical beauty and nutrition. There is a huge emphasis on affective and sexual freedoms. Yet none of this had led to greater happiness! At the time of Noah "they noticed nothing until the flood came and swept away all away". Only Noah, the half idiot, was saved. Only he was aware of the impending disaster. What does it mean? That we have to build crazy boats instead of focussing on beauty, nutrition and romantic relationships? In a way, yes!

Too often, my ego is the master of my world. When divine providence knocks on my door, if a crisis happens, I go into meltdown. This is the Son of Man coming like a thief to wipe away the rubbish from my life. But if I make Jesus the master of my life, then he will not come like a thief, because he already owns my house!

The Lord is asking each of us to build a boat to save us from a different type of flood. It is necessary that every now and then the things that are non-essential in our lives are washed away. The Son of Man can be described as a thief who comes and wipes away everything, but he is a thief for some and not for others. When is Jesus not a thief? He is not a thief if we have allowed him to be the master of our lives! The problem is that very often my own ego is the master of my world. Then, when the Lord’s Providence and knocks on the door sends something serious my way, I am upset, impoverished and anguished.

When the Son of Man comes we must be ready to leave everything. This is a characteristic of someone who has allowed Jesus to be his only master: he is always ready to give up his own projects, his own possessions, his own activities, in order to follow what the Lord is setting before us.

We are not the true masters of anything, except our freedom to say "yes" or "no" to the Lord. If a person’s life is centered on his own ego, then everything in his life is “his” - “his” wife, “his possessions”. Such a person is not pleasant to be with. It is not easy to talk to such a person about Christ, who says: "This is my body given for you". Such talk will seem like the talk of the half-fool Noah. For St. Francis of Assisi, in fact, possession is the opposite of love. Whoever belongs to Christ has discovered that he himself is not the master of his own life. He allows the Lord to take him and use him, to call him away from his own projects and fixations, to make him change his life. When we belong to Christ, we know how important it is to be ready  to change direction, to know how to rethink our plans, to stop whatever we are doing. It is said that sometimes rigid perseverance can be diabolical. "Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect " We must be ready for what? To leave everything we have or are doing, keeping in mind who our real Master is.

November 24^th 2019. Feast of Christ the King

GOSPEL: Luke 23:35-43

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

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GOSPEL: Luke 23:35-43

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,
"He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God."
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
"If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."
Above him there was an inscription that read,
"This is the King of the Jews."
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
"Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us."
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
"Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal."
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

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

Kieran’s summary . . . For the Feast of Christ the King, the Church presents us with the account of Jesus hanging on the cross. This prompts us to ask: what kind of king can this be, nailed to a piece of wood? The people in the Gospel scene are asking the same question in different ways! First of all the religious leaders demand that he save himself. Religion seeks a Messiah, seeks salvation, but the kind of salvation they are looking for here is an earthly kind of salvation: health, wellbeing, worldly success. Then the soldiers assail Jesus. They are looking for a king with political power. They want him to show his power by coming down off the cross. Then the “bad” thief begins to insult Jesus. He wants a Christ who will bring an end to his suffering. He represents all of suffering humanity who cannot understand the absence of God and cries out for assistance here and now. It is essential to note that Jesus does not reply to any of these. Finally the “good” thief turns to Jesus. He admits his guilt and acknowledges Jesus as a king, asking to be remembered when the Lord would come into his kingdom. Unlike all the others, he does not ask to be taken down off the cross! Now, finally, Jesus replies! “This day you will be with me in Paradise”. The good thief entered into a relationship with Jesus. So long as we are with Jesus we are in paradise. Now we see the power of Christ! Now we experience true salvation! We are saved when we enter into relationship with Jesus and remain with him. That is paradise.

The “religious” leaders demand that Jesus bring the sort of salvation that the world wants: health, wellbeing, worldly success. The soldiers demand that Jesus manifest his political power: come down from the cross and defeat your enemies! Jesus refuses to reply to either.

To celebrate the universal kingship of Jesus, the Church presents us with a paradoxical Gospel, the one in which Jesus is crucified! On the cross there is an epitaph: "King of the Jews". Is this, then, the throne of the King of the universe? In the passage Sunday, Jesus is insulted in various ways. The religious leaders tell him: "He saved others! Let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the chosen one”. They do not deny the miracles of Jesus. Rather, they testify that Jesus indeed saved others. But it is not enough for them. What they are demanding is a religion that provides well-being, health and eliminates suffering. This is how a "chosen one" should behave! But Jesus gives no answer to these taunts. The soldiers, for their part, represent the power of Rome. The verbal insults that they aim at Jesus, in fact, are all about power: "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!" Show us that you are a king! Behave like a powerful man! What kind of king are you? Jesus gives no response to those who taunt him from a “religious” perspective and those who taunt him from a political perspective.

The crucified criminal represents suffering humanity who cries out to God for salvation but who is not changed in the process

Then one of the crucified criminals intervenes. He represents suffering humanity, hanging with Christ on the cross, with all of its problems and bitterness. "Aren't you the Christ?" he says. It should be noted that this thief, like the religious leaders, testifies that Jesus is the Messiah! He continues: "Save yourself and us!" Come on, act as Messiah! Take us out of this situation! What this poor man is asking for is very understandable. All of us, in moments of difficulty, cry out to heaven saying: "Do something for us! Why don't you help us? What kind of God are you if you don't save me?" Jesus does not respond to this man either.

By contrast, the good thief does not ask to be taken down from the cross. He acknowledges his own guilt and he confesses that Jesus is King. The only thing he asks for is that Jesus remember him.

Finally, the other evildoer enters the picture, and reproaches his companion: "Have you no fear of God, you who are condemned to the same fate? We were condemned justly, because we get what we deserve for our actions; but he did nothing wrong". This man is aware of at least two things: firstly he knows that he has done grave wrong, and secondly that he is in the presence of an innocent man who does not deserve to be there. But then he says a lot more: "Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom". So he acknowledges that Jesus, this man crucified beside him, is really a King! The soldiers asked Jesus to show his power by coming down; the religious leaders asked him to effect the kind of salvation that they wanted; but this poor criminal does not ask to be taken from the cross. Instead he says: "Remember me in your Kingdom". If you don’t forget me, then that will be enough. He asks for nothing else.

Now Jesus finally replies! Now we see his power! If we are with Jesus then we are on the road to paradise, regardless of present suffering. This is the power of the Christ

Now Christ finally speaks. It is important to note that he did not reply to any of his other interlocutors, but only to this thief.  But what a curious answer! "In truth I tell you: today you will be with me in paradise". What the thief had really asked for was a place in his heart, for a relationship with him. Being with Jesus means entering paradise. Today. If we are with Jesus then we are already in heaven. Today together on the cross, today together in paradise. The point is being with Christ. For this self-confessed criminal, the darkness becomes a tunnel with a light at the end. Suffering is still there, but there is also light. Now he knows where he is going because he knows who he is going with. In fact, St Paul says, "If we die with him, we will also live with him; if we persevere, we will also reign with him" (2 Tm 2,11). The real issue is being with him. With Jesus, the cross becomes the door of paradise. This is where his true power lies!

November 17th 2019. Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Luke 21:5-19

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

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GOSPEL: Luke 21:5-19

When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All these things you are staring at now-the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed’. And they put to him this question: ‘Master,’ they said ‘when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?’

‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand”. Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

‘But before all this happens, men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.’

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

Kieran’s summary . . . Sunday’s Gospel highlights the fact that the things of this earth are not eternal. In response to our anxiety about the finitude of this world, many false messiahs will come, Jesus tells us in this passage. People seek out the false messiahs of pleasure, possessions, entertainment, health, wellbeing, big ambitious projects. All of these things are efforts to exorcize our feelings of emptiness. The advice that the Lord gives us in this Gospel is not to follow any of these false solutions. These solutions make things in this world into absolutes, but such earthly things can never be ultimate. Then Jesus tells us that we must expect to be rejected by others in this world. If everyone thinks well of me and applauds me, then it is clear that I am no prophet! If we are open and honest about the emptiness and vainglory of this world, then we can expect the world to reject us! We must expect tribulation in the world because our priorities lie elsewhere. Where does a Christian normally manifest his Christianity? Upon the cross. True generosity is demonstrated in the midst of famine. Peacefulness is manifested best when a person is subjected to violence. Peacefulness at times of peace may be nothing more than wellbeing. Difficult situations are opportunities for great and sincere witness. At the end of the passage, Jesus tells us that we must not prepare our defence when we are handed over for persecution because he himself will give us his eloquence and wisdom. What is the point here? The point is that it is in our relationship with Jesus that things find their joy, meaning, peace. It is in relationship with Jesus that things go beyond tribulation, and endure beyond death, This world ends, and may bring about our end in a violent way, but if we are in the hands of God then we attain true freedom from these things that are passing.

Everything in this world will come to an end. Our ultimate destination is beyond these earthly things.

“Be careful not to be deceived”, says Jesus to his disciples, while he announces that history is heading towards a dramatic climax. In fact, we can be misled when we hear that "the time will come when not a stone will be left on a stone". The first misunderstanding is to think that this concerns only the moment of the end of the world. Not so: everything we see will come to an end. All things must end, and this is not some kind of injustice: rather it is to be expected given what we know of the world and of salvation. Our final destination is not in this world; our goal is ahead.

All the tribulations we experience can become the road to salvation if we remain with Christ

But it is easy for us to be deceived about the end things. Jesus says: "When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, because these things must happen first, but it is not the end immediately." And when is the end? That is not the issue. "By your perseverance you will save your life." Salvation, this is the goal. And human history is the story of salvation. Whatever happens - earthquakes, famines, pestilences, persecutions and betrayals – they are never what they seem. If we remain on the side of Christ, these events are nothing more than the prelude to one of his works. They become, by faith, the road to salvation.

We were not born for comfort or pleasure, but for love, and love involves sacrifice and the cross. That is why tribulations are necessary if we are to live the life of love.

Of course, it is natural to be perplexed and it is completely normal to ask oneself: but why must this be the way? Why is it necessary to go through these tribulations? If we were born for comfort, for fulfilment, for the pleasure of understanding everything and possessing everything we desire, all these discourses would be absurd. But we are born for love, and that is another thing altogether. The cross of Christ is not an accident along the way, but the true face of God. In order for God to reveal himself as a Father of mercy, His blessed Son had to show the nature of their mercy and reveal himself as our Lord, suffering for love in his own body all the evil that man can produce. But this was not the end. It was the road to Heaven. Don Tonino Bello said that the cross is only a temporary location. The end of things, from Christ onwards, is not pain. The tribulation of the world is, to be precise, a labour pain, a giving birth.

We seek salvation without pain, but we cannot grow without the growing pains; we cannot give birth without the pains of labour. If I seek God without the cross then I risk finding a cross without God.

We often deceive ourselves by seeking a salvation that involves no pain, but there is no birth without blood. There is no new life without the loss of the old one. "Many in fact will come in my name saying, ‘It is I’, or ‘The time is near’. Don't follow them!" The comfortable messianic promises are all traps. A young person does not become an adult without going through a purification, a marriage does not become authentic without going through tribulation, a friendship does not become real without forgiveness. It takes these things to recognize what is valid and what can be trusted. If I seek God without the cross then I run the risk finding a cross without God. This Gospel passage leads us to authentic life, a life that is beautiful precisely because it is not simple, a life that is nourished by authentic challenges. This life experiences salvation over and over again, between consolations and tribulations.