Those who have the source of novelty within themselves can do something new. A poet has the source of poetry within himself, and thus can be poetically creative at any moment. A political genius can surprise us with his creativity at any time of his life. A man with a charismatic spirit can stir up his charism, even when one would least expect it. The things that happen with extraordinarily gifted men are rooted in God himself, the novelty par excellence and the source of all novelty. In the history of Israel, divine novelty was not finished with the great event of the Exodus. Seven centuries later, God steers the events of history to create a new situation and make those who have been exiled to Babylon return to Jerusalem (first reading). Jesus’ attitude towards her must have been a joyful novelty for the poor woman caught while committing adultery and condemned to be stoned. "Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you." Jesus’ behavior must have been equally new for those who accused the woman: "Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her... When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest..." (Gospel). Who is this man who dares to put himself above Moses’ law? Finally, for us the concept of "Christian novelty" has a rather familiar ring to it. Paul, who has experienced it to the fullest, summarizes it as follows: knowing Christ (a knowledge which is the fruit of the experience of faith), experiencing the power of his Resurrection, sharing his suffering and dying his death, thus achieving resurrection from the dead (second reading). It may be said that the history of salvation is summed up in the history of God’s new interventions, always with a view to the salvation of his people.

P. Antonio Izqeuirdo, L.C., © Dicastery for the Clergy

From its very origin, Christianity has experienced a healthy tension between the past and the future, between the new and the old, between tradition and progress. The forms of Christian life that succeed in preserving both extremes of this tension will be authentic. Those which emphasize one of the two extremes, thus losing their balance, are moving in the wrong direction. Let us not be afraid of tradition in any way, but equally, let us not fear progress, or the novelty that God creates in every period of history. If the novelty is God’s novelty, then it always carries within it the possibility of going beyond what already exists. Tradition, if it is authentic, gives importance and soundness to new contributions. The Christian is "like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old" (Mt 13:52). Here are two examples of novelty in our time: inculturation and ecclesial movements. They are indeed new phenomena, but "they come from afar." To a certain extent, Saint Paul is the first champion of the inculturation of the Gospel, using Hellenic categories and the Hellenic mentality. There’s no doubt about the fact that every historical period has had to carry out this same sort of work, until the present day. A greater awareness of cultural pluralism existing today, and the challenge of enlightening ancestral cultures with the Gospel, give a new face to the present inculturation process. On the other hand, movements within the Church are equally rooted in the origins of Christianity. The sociological studies of the New Testament have shown that both Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christians were mostly wandering preachers, like contemporary popular philosophers. In the spirituality of many ecclesial movements, there is the intention to "go back to the source," "go back to the origins of Christianity." Yes, ecclesial movements are indeed a new sociological and canonical phenomenon in the Church, but their ancestors are to be found in the past. At the very center of Christianity is the audacity of grafting the new cuttings into the old stalk.

P. Antonio Izqeuirdo, L.C., © Dicastery for the Clergy