God and the Emperors
Simone Riva - ilsussidiario.net
The sower of the Gospel does not count the days that remain, nor does he pretend to change things. Instead, he waits patiently and marvels at what happens.
"This is the kingdom of God: like a man who sows seed on the ground; whether sleeping or waking, night or day, the seed sprouts and grows. How, he himself does not know" (Mark 4:26-27). Many times, I have tried to picture the face of this man casting the seed on the ground and his life.
I imagine him happy and free, not one who resents seeing the weeds grow, nor one who ticks off the days on the calendar, waiting for them to pass quickly so he can finally see the fruit of his sowing. Rather, he is one who enjoys the sunrises and sunsets, the breeze and the storm, the heat and the cold, the reflections of the sun on the rocks and the green of the leaves.
He reminds me of a character in the extraordinary movie The Stone Valley (1992). Set in 1850s Bohemia, it tells the story of a land surveyor sent by the government to a remote valley of fragile, gray limestone mountains.
There, an encounter takes place. One day, the surveyor is invited by the dean priest to lunch during a festival. There were many people and several priests, but his attention fell on an old priest who seemed like a fish out of water. Silent and shy, he was more intent on savoring the details than on following the speeches of the other guests.
There is one gesture, in particular, that strikes the observer. The old priest often makes a sly gesture with his hands to hide the precious linen cuffs that protrude from his old, unkempt cassock. This gesture encapsulates his whole story, and the movie tells it brilliantly.
The two become friends, not least because the priest lives right where the surveyor works to lay out his maps. Sitting on a riverbed, contemplating the play of sunlight on the stones, the priest is recognized by the surveyor, and thus begins a friendship that will last to the end.
I have always associated this priest with the face of the man who sows the seed on the ground. He waits and lives calmly because he knows what God is capable of, having experienced it himself. His whole life has found a home in a place abandoned by all, but where everything speaks to him. What a contrast to those who claim to change things with their ideas and initiatives.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, explains the term "Gospel" as follows: "In recent times, the word 'Gospel' has been translated as 'good news.' This sounds good, but it remains far below the order of magnitude intended by the word 'Gospel.' This word belongs to the language of the Roman emperors, who considered themselves masters of the world, its saviors and redeemers. Proclamations coming from the emperor were called 'gospels,' regardless of whether their content was particularly happy or pleasant.
What comes from the emperor was considered a message of salvation, not just news, but the transformation of the world for good. If the evangelists take up this word, so much so that from that moment on it becomes the term that defines the genre of their writings, it is because they want to say what the emperors, who make themselves out to be gods, falsely claim is really happening here: an authoritative message that is not just word but reality.
In today's linguistic theory, one would say that the gospel is an informative and operative discourse; it is not only communication but action, an effective force that enters the world to save and transform it.
Mark speaks of the 'Gospel of God': it is not emperors who can save the world, but God. And here, the Word of God is manifested, an effective Word; here, what the emperors only claim, without being able to fulfill, really happens. For here the true Lord of the world comes into action: the living God" (Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth).
There is always an "emperor" within us who claims to change reality by what he thinks or produces. This Sunday's Gospel, however, challenges us with the figure of the man who sows the seed. It seems to say that it is not your initiatives, your texts that you brandish as manifestos of some grand change, or your ideas used against others that change things.
The only real change can be seen in the faces of those who are surprised by what is born without their knowledge. All that is needed is the humility to recognize it and follow it.
Translation by the Editorial Team of EpochalChange.org
Unrevised translation by the author.
