Monday of the Twenty-FifthWeek in Ordinary Time
The chandelier of the cross
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.” Lk 8,16-18
We try to understand in depth the messianic message which lurks in the today’s three verses. They hold the secret to grasp the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth and to enter into the heart of the gospel. “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (Jn 1,9) announces the gospel of John and all the passage today is pervaded by the certainty that this light, which peeps a little and hides a little, eventually will win. “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a chandelier so that those who enter may see the light” says Jesus today. Why, then, the truth about the mystery of the life seems to be hiding in the heart of the parables? And what is the chandelier on which the light must shine? The person who answers to these questions has grasped the meaning of the gospel. It seems, however, that the attitude of the public life of Jesus is entirely an escape to show his light and that of his word, so much so that to Peter, James and John who saw the radiance in advance on the Tabor “he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone” (Mk 9,9). The fact is that the “messianic secret” and his glory will be fully manifest to the world when Jesus will be raised on the chandelier of the cross. The cross is the chandelier of Jesus, and that truth was deeply understood by the centurion, when he exclaimed: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mk 15,39). We meditate on this mystery of love and of donation during the Passion week: until then we are called to enter into the truth by meditating on the teachings and parables of the gospel. The truth is deliberately hidden thereby, like the seed in the ground waiting to die because the creation of a new ear takes place.
If we will listen calmly and with faith, we will discover the light of the truth which is hidden under the veil of the parables in an always increasing mode. However, those who will not listen with patience to this, will also lose the little faith and truth which they already had:”Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away”.