{"id":28869,"date":"2026-02-10T18:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T02:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=28869"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:30:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T02:30:44","slug":"the-message-of-the-rector-major-coherence-the-first-act-of-charity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/02\/10\/the-message-of-the-rector-major-coherence-the-first-act-of-charity\/","title":{"rendered":"THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR: Coherence \u2013 The First Act of Charity"},"content":{"rendered":"

(ANS \u2013 Rome)\u00a0\u2013 A passage from the Gospel of Luke, 11:37-41, recounts how Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, accepts an invitation to dine with a Pharisee. We witness a dialogue that represents a confrontation between two visions of religiosity: the formal one, centered on rules about rituals, and the one of the heart, proposed by Jesus.<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message of the Rector Major Fr. Fabio Attard, SDB<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the question put to Jesus about why he doesn\u2019t observe the traditional ritual actions, the Pharisee is invited to go beyond outward actions and to verify whether the outward appearance truly corresponds to what is in his heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus accepts the invitation without conditions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the Pharisee, we too can invite Jesus to our table. His response is astonishing: Jesus always accepts, without imposing any conditions. He doesn\u2019t demand that our house be in order, nor does he require any guarantee that we\u2019re coherent. \u201cHe went and sat down at the table<\/em>.\u201d With this disarming simplicity, Jesus enters the life of the Pharisee, already knowing what he\u2019ll find, aware of the contradictions, the shadows, and the duplicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first liberating message in this passage. Jesus doesn\u2019t wait for us to \u201chave it all together\u201d before coming to us; he comes to help us put things in place. We don\u2019t have to hide who we truly are to be worthy of his presence; on the contrary, it is precisely our incompleteness that causes us to need an encounter with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A presence that brings clarity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beware: while Jesus accepts without imposing conditions, his presence is never neutral or \u201cinnocuous.\u201d Jesus enters and brings light. The Pharisee perhaps expected an obliging guest, someone to show off, to present to his acquaintances: \u201cLook! Jesus is coming to my house.\u201d Instead, he finds himself exposed, yet without being humiliated or embarrassed. Jesus\u2019 presence casts light on the contradictions, bringing into the open what we\u2019d prefer to keep hidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not an attack; it\u2019s more like turning on a light in a room: the light doesn\u2019t create the dust that\u2019s there, but it makes it visible. Similarly, Jesus doesn\u2019t reveal our defects, but gently and gradually helps us to see them for what they are. In short, his presence is an invitation to bring clarity to our lives: to examine with honesty where we\u2019re authentic and where we hide behind masks, where there\u2019s coherence and where there\u2019s a disconnect between what we appear to be and who we truly are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond appearances: the call to personal coherence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you\u2019re full of greed and wickedness<\/em>.\u201d Jesus doesn\u2019t condemn outward practices in themselves \u2013 the ablutions, the public prayers, the observance of rituals \u2013 but he sheds light on that subtle and terrible division between the external and the internal, the duplicity of those who care for their image while neglecting their heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a temptation that spans all time. How much energy we spend building a flattering image on social media and in professional life! Even in our most intimate relationships, we filter, we select, we show only what makes us look good. Instead, Jesus calls for coherence at a very personal level, even before the public level. It\u2019s not about what others see, but about who we truly are when no one\u2019s looking. It\u2019s there, in the intimacy of the heart, that our authenticity is put on the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A vision without shadows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFools! Didn\u2019t the one who made the outside also make the inside<\/em>?\u201d There\u2019s a profound human and spiritual insight here: the human being is one. We\u2019re not divided into airtight compartments \u2013 the public and private spheres, the body and the spirit, the exterior and the interior. We can\u2019t keep areas of our lives hidden in the shadows, thinking that they won\u2019t contaminate the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus’ invitation is to see clearly, without shadows, a life in which there are no hidden corners where we cultivate vices, selfishness, or duplicity. It\u2019s about inner transparency, where everything is brought into the light of the conscience and of grace. This doesn\u2019t mean instant perfection, but radical honesty: recognizing our weaknesses, calling them by name, and neither justifying nor hiding them. This is the first step towards healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almsgiving as a gift of oneself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive what\u2019s inside as alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you<\/em>.\u201d Here lies the culmination of Jesus\u2019 message. True purification doesn\u2019t come from external rituals, but from giving what\u2019s within. Coherence has the power to be a bearer of goodness. The word \u201calms\u201d in Greek has its roots in the words \u201cmercy\u201d and \u201ccompassion.\u201d It\u2019s not just a matter of giving money, but of giving ourselves, our time, our attention, our presence, our vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we live this inner unity, when there\u2019s no longer a division between who we are and who we appear to be, then from this unity emanates true charity and authentic mercy; it\u2019s a genuine gift, not calculated, not a means to a personal end. We don\u2019t give to appear generous, but because generosity has become who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young people\u2019s thirst for adults who are authentic and coherent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This message resonates particularly strongly today, especially for the younger generations. Young people live immersed in a culture where everything has a price and everything\u2019s calculated in terms of return and utility. Identities are fragmented among a thousand profiles, masks, and social roles; relationships are mediated, filtered, and often anonymous or superficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, young people have a desperate thirst for authentic adults: people who practice what they preach, who don\u2019t have one face for the public and another for their private life, and who don\u2019t lie for convenience\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must never forget that young people don’t look for adults who claim to be perfect; they reject them as fake. They look for adults who are authentic: capable of acknowledging their own weaknesses, of being consistent in the small things of everyday life, of keeping their promises, and of having an inner life that\u2019s visible. The greatest service we can render to the new generations is not to give them moral advice or rules of conduct, but to bear witness to an authentic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timeless invitation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pharisee invited Jesus once. But the text reveals to us that Jesus is always available to be invited, even today, as he was two thousand years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question for each of us is: are we willing to welcome him, knowing that his presence will confront us with the truth about ourselves? Are we ready to let him shed light on our shadow areas? And then, after having welcomed this light, are we willing to live authentically, taking off our masks, and giving to others not what turns to our benefit, but rather \u201cwhat\u2019s within us\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world thirsting for truth, being authentic is not a spiritual luxury; it is the first act of charity that we can perform. Especially toward those, like young people, who have the right to see that it\u2019s possible to live without duplicity, that integrity isn\u2019t a utopia, and that coherence between the inner and the outer self is the path to true freedom.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(ANS \u2013 Rome)\u00a0\u2013 A passage from the Gospel of Luke, 11:37-41, recounts how Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, accepts an invitation to dine with a Pharisee. We witness a dialogue that represents a confrontation between two visions of religiosity: the formal one, centered on rules about rituals, and the one of the heart, proposed by Jesus. Message of the Rector Major Fr. Fabio Attard, … Continuar leyendo THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR: Coherence \u2013 The First Act of Charity<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":28876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[782003447,516714022],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rector-major","category-salesian-world-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-02-10-rector-major-jesus-pharisee-feature.jpg?fit=1600%2C875&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-7vD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28869"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28877,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28869\/revisions\/28877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}