The Disguised

(...) And in that golden parlour
Of noble and serious ambience
To hear sing the fado
There is always a disguised
Mysterious character

But one night there was someone
Who said to him, by way of talk,
"Disguised, note well
That today there will be no one
Disguised in this room!"

And before the admiration of all
Discovered that the disguised
Was the King of Portugal
There was regal hand kissing
And then he sang the fado.

(lyrics by Joao Ferreira Rosa)

Life inside a golden cage
The curious story which this classic fado alludes to may never have happened in Portugal, but there is nothing stopping it from happening, and happening again, in any time or place. This is because it highlights an inescapable truth; it is said that the powerful in general -- kings, emperors, presidents or popes -- are the best-informed people, and in a way, this is true, but the opposite can also happen.

The information that reaches them is neither first-hand, second-hand nor third-hand; often the news has passed through several people and as "who tells a tale adds a detail", by the time it reaches the recipient, it is overly filtered and/or laden with connotations and interpretations that place it further and further from the truth and reality. Sometimes the information may not even reach the recipient because it was withheld by someone who, according to his criteria, deemed it irrelevant.

Often the concentric circles of people that surround a ruler, or someone important, are veritable walls that prevent him from having a clear and objective view of the world around him, and the problems he is called to solve. As an anecdote: someone used to define pontifical secrecy as what everyone knows except the pope.  

Frequently those who are considered powerful live inside a golden cage and have less freedom than the rest of us... One of those who traditionally lives inside a Golden Cage, with very limited freedom of movement, is the Pope. Contrary to this fact and in line with the Disguised, the Swiss Guard, in charge of Pope Francis’ security, confirms that he has "already ventured out at night, dressed like a regular priest, to meet with the homeless of Rome".

Mediators
God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

For a long time, "isolated" in heaven, God also had his circle of intermediators and messengers, who clouded God's messages to his people, with their own personality, prejudices and ideas. "Omnis traductor traditor" says a Latin proverb; a translator or interpreter is always a traitor, that's why God was unable to communicate fully with humanity.

At Christmas the invisible was made visible
The Bible tells us that God is spirit. Spirit is immaterial and therefore invisible and incommensurable to our senses. We are spatial-temporal beings, God lives in eternity, a Kingdom completely different from ours. We cannot see radio, television or cellphone waves, and we need suitable devices to capture them. Since God is spirit, only our spirit is prepared to capture him.

"Though he was in the form of God (...) emptied himself, (...) being found in human form" (Philippians 2:6-7). At a certain point in human history, God decided to strip off his divinity and dress up, or disguise himself, as a human being. "Tired" of sending messages, he decided to visit and live among us. From within our humanity, which he fully assumed, he showed us by his word, his behaviour and his deeds how man is and should live.

"He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him" (John 1:11). Jesus, God made man, was born in a manger in Bethlehem, grew up and was educated humbly in a village on the outskirt called Nazareth. He was trained as a carpenter, and was endowed with a nondescript physical appearance. According to our natural expectation, God should have come in glory and full of power, with thousands of angels flanking him on both sides. His voice should have sounded like a thunder. His face should have been brilliant like the sun.

This is why it was difficult for the people of that time to recognize him as God; they did not understand that God had to come in a humble way, to be our friend and our brother, to speak to us from within our human nature and condition. As we would naturally expect, one day he will come for the second time, in full glory as the King of kings, to judge and close the human history of which he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC

Advent a time of Hope

The word that Isaiah son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the Mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths;' (...). 

He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!" (Isaiah 2:1-5)

For us Christians, the year begins with Advent. In this new year that we are beginning to travel by meditating on the mystery of Christ, the only way, the truth and the life, optimism and hope are our best travel companions.

The motivator, guru, teacher and guide for this time is the prophet Isaiah, consecrated as the ex libris of Advent. He makes us dream of a better world, where instruments of war are transformed into instruments of peace; where natural enemies, like the wolf and the lamb, become friends.

Mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains – Is God the highest mountain in your life? What are your priorities? Do you love God with all your heart and all your mind? Do you love God more than everyone and everything else: family, friends, power, fame, honour, wealth, pleasure? If any of these realities is a priority in your life, then you will always be in conflict and rivalry with those who also have this reality as a priority. An example of this is the envy that King Saul had of David’s growing fame.

Those who have power, wealth, fame and pleasure as their main objective in life are unwilling to share any of these goods, because they live with the belief that they never have enough. Those who worship these goods isolate themselves and see others as potential enemies and rivals. They are like many dogs with one bone; the one who lacks power, fame, and wealth envies the one who has them and will do anything to get them; the one who has power, fame and wealth looks at others as a constant threat.

If instead of these idols you choose the primacy of God, who is Father and Creator of everything and everyone, you will discover that others are not rivals, but brothers and sisters, with whom you can share everything. In fact, things were made to be used, people to be loved. Those who use people and love things live contrary to the natural order.

When everyone loves God above all things, enmity and rivalry between people are extinguished because there is enough God for everyone. Why doesn’t anyone envy a saint? Because everyone can be a saint; holiness is available to everyone; the holiness of one does not deny or rival the holiness of another.

All the nations shall stream to it – Do all run to Jerusalem? Do you love God with your whole being or are you a divided person because some parts of your personality and character do not submit to you? Are you free and in control of yourself, or do you depend on people, habits and substances that exert power and control over you

Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord – The Temple Mount dominates the entire city of Jerusalem. Going to Jerusalem today is equivalent to going to Church to receive the sacraments. The sacraments instituted by Christ, and their practice by the faithful, have already proven over the length and breadth of 2000 years that they are indispensable for Christian life. If you have stopped going to church, where are you going now? To the football game? To the shopping centres?

That he may teach us his ways – If you do not read or listen to the Bible anymore, or do not make community with other Christians, or heed the counsels of the Church, who then is your teacher or guru? Where do you find guidance and help to live your life meaningfully? From the television, which presents the most ignoble programs during prime time? The hunger of the spirit is much more painful than the hunger of the body.

That we may walk in his paths – How can you walk in his ways if you do not know what they are? If you have no contact with God, nor with the Christian community, nor with the Word of God, how can you walk in his paths? "Whoever does not remember God lacks every good thing", says the people.

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks – Homo homini lupus, we are violent beings by nature, but we can transform our weapons of war -- swords, and spears -- into weapons of peace, ploughshares and pruning hooks. Lester Pearson, the first prime minister of Canada, used to say: "We prepare for war like precocious giants, and for peace like retarded pygmies”.  In fact, we seem more motivated and creative when preparing for war than when preparing for peace.

Microwaves, GPS and atomic energy are some of the many inventions and artifacts that were created for war and only much later found their peaceful application. If anyone can help us redirect our basic personality, it is St. Paul, who proclaimed Christ and his gospel everywhere, with the same vehemence and conviction with which he once denounced and persecuted the followers of Christ and his gospel.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC