It was the first mission outside Judea. A village of Samaritans welcomes the Word and they are baptized. Simon, the magician, who had recently converted, is enthralled by deacon Philip’s prodigious feats. Full of admiration, he cannot part from him. Those prodigies were far greater than his own magic performances! But the real prodigy is the fire that Jesus came to bring into this world (Luke 12:48), fire of a love that knows how to give even to those who want to kill it (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60). The Spirit of God, free and sovereign, blows where and how She wants. Even on those who are not yet baptized (Cf. Acts 10:44-48). Peter and John are sent to pray so that the newly baptized may receive the Holy Spirit. The presence of the two Apostles wants to stress that the Spirit is one and unifying. Effused at Jerusalem, She spreads throughout the entire world, embracing every difference and creating communion in the Church and between the Churches.
When the apostles communicate the Spirit, Simon, the magician, is literally over the moon. He is ready to give Peter all his money in order to have to himself the power of communicating the Spirit. Religion often weds magic. It expects to have God at its beck and call. Simon wants to buy God with hard cash; pious people with good deeds. It is a blasphemy. It is as if God was not all and only love. His power is the powerlessness of whoever loves and makes himself small in order to hand himself over to all. Magic, instead – like much religiosity – deals with money and wants to put its hands on everything and everybody.
The episode of Simon, called the magician – he has the same name as Simon called Peter! – mirrors the constant danger of the Church: to impound God, manipulating Him at will, to the point of making Him “Gott mit uns” (“God with us”)! God is reduced to a projection and a warranty of our power mania. Even Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, unmasks in Himself the three temptations into which Israel used to fall (Exodus 16:2-9: the manna; Exodus 32: the golden calf; Exodus 17:1-7: lack of faith). Jesus fights them and overcomes them, from the River Jordan to the Cross (Luke 4:1-13; 23:35-39). We ourselves keep falling into these three temptations. The first two are the temptations of wealth and power. To possess things and people becomes an idol to which we sacrifice our life and that of our brethren. The third, the worst of all, appears with Simon, the magician: money is used in order to possess God Himself.
The Spirit of love, the life of both the Father and the Son, is gift. Love is either gratuitous or it is not! To buy God whether with money or good deeds is a sin that goes directly against His essence: it is dealing with God as with a prostitute. The first root of sin for the Church in Jerusalem was religious hypocrisy and trust in money(Acts 5:1ff), things that are of present-day relevance. But we cannot lie to the Spirit, serving both God and mammon (Luke 16:13). God gives everything and vivifies everything, money takes everything and eats up everything. The only “bank of the Holy Spirit” (a famous Italian bank) is Jesus’ Cross.
Here in Samaria, the peak of evil comes to the surface: the attempt to possess God Himself. It is instinctive of every religion to assume the attitude of the Pharisee in the temple, who boasts that God is in debt to him because of his good deeds (Luke 18:9ff). Luke writes on behalf of Theophilus so that his faith may not be perverted. It is easy to become like the elder brother who accepts neither his younger brother nor his father (Luke 15:1ff). Or like Peter who thinks that he himself is the one who loves and is going to give his life for Jesus. From the cross, he will understand the mystery: the Lord loves him gratuitously and offers His own life on his behalf, although he is a sinner and a disowner. Love cannot be bought or deserved: it would be “meretricious.” It can only be received gratuitously and gratuitously given back. The only condition in order to receive the gift is Mary’s poverty that makes us sing the Magnificat. © Popoli – www.popoli.info
