God of Surprises

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For this reason, the Pope explained, Jesus defined them as an “evil generation”, inasmuch as “they did not understand that the law they protected and loved was a pedagogy toward Jesus Christ”. Indeed, “if the law does not lead to Jesus Christ, does not bring us close to Jesus Christ, it is dead”. And this is why Jesus scolds the members of that generation “for being closed, for being incapable of recognizing the signs of the times, for not being open to the God of surprises, for not being on a journey toward the Lord’s triumphant finale”, to the point “that when he explains it, they think it is blasphemy”. Pope Francis noted that the two readings “speak to us about about the disposition we should have in the presence of the word of God”; i.e., “docility”. “Docile to the word of God. The word of God is living. And therefore it comes and says what it wants to say: not what I expect it to say or what I hope it will say or what I want it to say”. The word of God “is free” and it comes as “a surprise, since our God is the God of surprises: he comes and always does new things. He is newness. The Gospel is newness. Revelation is newness”. This is a dangerous book. It will change you, if you let it, for it is all about the challenge of becoming another Christ. Buy it if you dare!

The Pontiff therefore invited those present to ask themselves these questions: “Am I docile to the word of God, or do I always do what I believe the word of God is? Or do I make the word of God pass through an alembic and in the end it is something quite other than what God wants?”. “If I do this,” the Pope warned, citing the Gospel, “I am like a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment”. “And the tear is made worse: if I do this, I become worse”. The second lot came out for the tribe of Simeon according to its clans. Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah. 2 It included: The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” PRAYER: Gracious God, when I think of your surprises, I have mixed feelings, to be honest. (And there’s really no point being anything other than honest with you, is there?) Part of me rejoices that you have plans for me beyond anything I have imagined. That same part of me is excited, ready, open. Yet, as the Holy Father explained, “adapting oneself to the word of God to be able to receive it” requires “an ascetic attitude”. He gave the example of an electric appliance. If it doesn’t work, one sometimes needs an adaptor. The same is true for us: we always need to adapt ourselves, to adjust ourselves to the newness of God’s word”. Essentially, he said, we need “to be open to new things”.The temple was important because it was the symbolic dwelling place of God. It was where God and humanity met. These surprising words of Jesus show us that he himself is the new temple. He is the dwelling place of God on earth. The Pontiff rested mainly on the passage of the Gospel according to Luke (11:29-32), in which Jesus harshly criticizes the crowd gathered to hear him, as “an evil generation” because “it seeks a sign”. According to the Bishop of Rome “it is evident that Jesus is speaking to the doctors of the law”, who, “many times in the Gospel”, ask him for “a sign”. Indeed, they “do not see many of Jesus’ signs”. But this is precisely why “Jesus scolds them” on various occasions: “You are incapable of seeing the signs of the times”, he tells them in the Gospel of Matthew, drawing upon the image of the fig tree: “as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; and you do not understand the signs of the times”. Theology of Work Project Online Materials by The High Calling are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

He made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple area. He said, ‘Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall’ (v.16, MSG). His disciples remembered the words, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’ (v.17). Jesus amazed everybody when he went into the temple courts and found people selling cattle, sheep and doves and others at tables exchanging money: ‘The loan sharks were also there in full strength’ (v.14, MSG).Recognising this helps us to be more realistic and less disappointed – and more forgiving in our relationships.