First mass in Santa Marta after the summer break and the recent scandals of the Viganò dossier: “There are those who seek division and destruction, even within the family. Truth is humble and silent”.
"Silence and prayer". Before those who cause "scandal" and "divisions", before the "wild dogs" who seek war and not peace, nothing else is needed. Only silence and prayer. Pope Francis resumes the morning masses in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta after the summer break and after the controversy aroused by the publication of Monsignor Carlo Maria Viganò’s controversial "communiqué", in which the former nuncio to the USA asks for the resignation of the Pope.
Taking his cue from today’s Gospel of Luke - in which Jesus, returning to Nazareth, is received "with suspicion" - Bergoglio explains the attitude to adopt in all those situations of life in which "the father of lies, the accuser, the devil, acts to destroy the unity of a family, of a people". Whether it is through small "misunderstandings" or large "attacks", in any case, silence is needed to oppose them, the Pope affirms in his reflection reported in Vatican News. Silence like that of Jesus in the synagogue where everyone wanted to see with their own eyes the great works they had heard he was capable of in other lands. In front of the Messiah there were no "people", Francis says, but "a pack of wild dogs who wanted him out of the city. They were not thinking right, they were shouting. Jesus remained silent. They took him to the edge of the mountain to throw him down”.
The Gospel ends with these words: "but he passed through the midst of them and went away". "With his silence, Jesus triumphs over that wild pack and leaves. Because the time had not yet come. The same thing will happen on Good Friday: the people who on Palm Sunday had celebrated Jesus and had told him "Blessed are you, Son of David", said "Crucify him": they had changed. The devil had sown lies in their heart, and Jesus remained silent," Bergoglio comments.
Jesus used only "the word of God", as every time he "wants to overcome the devil". Precisely this humble attitude leaves room for the first "bridge-word", that is meant to construct a bridge but instead sows doubt immediately changing the atmosphere “from peace to war”, from “amazement to fury”. the Pope emphasizes. "With his silence Jesus triumphs over the wild dogs", triumphs over "the devil who had sown the lie". His behavior, crystallized in today's Gospel passage, thus helps to "reflect on the way of acting in daily life" when creating uncomfortable situations.
"Truth is humble, truth is silent, the truth is not noisy", the Pontiff emphasizes. Therefore, "with people who seek only scandal, who seek only division", the only way to go is that of "silence". "The silence that triumphs, but through the Cross... Even in families there are times when division occurs because of ”discussions about politics, sport, money, and it can happen that those families end up destroyed, in these discussions in which we see the presence of the devil, he is there and he wants to destroy ...".
Thus "silence": "say what you have to say and then keep silent". "It is not easy - Francis admits - what Jesus did; however, the dignity of the Christian is anchored in the power of God. With people who have no good will, with people who seek only scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction, even within families: silence. And prayer.
The Pope's prayer, at the conclusion of his first Mass in September, was "May the Lord give us the grace to discern when we should speak and when we should stay silent. This applies to every part of life: to work, at home, in society…. Thus we will be closer imitators of Jesus".
