Sieve and winnowing

Today is the feast of the Holy Archangels!
Wishes for the name day for all those who bear the name, even to my second child: wishes darling!

Today I wanted to share with you a reflection that I was born the Gospel reading, or rather reading by adding two verses (Jn 1, 45-46) before the piece chosen by today's liturgy (Jn 1, 47-51).

1:45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 1:46 Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”
1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!” 1:50 Jesus said to him, “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 1:51 He continued, “I tell all of you the solemn truth – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”  (Gv 1,45-51)

Philip raves about the meeting with a person who has deeply affected him, and Nathanael responds with a prejudice. He does not yet know Jesus, but he has already judged on the basis of a mindset that makes him see the reality in a distorted way.

On the contrary, when Jesus meets him for the first time, despite not knowing him. appreciates him. Nathanael fact remains amazed!

In both cases there is an opinion, but completely different tools are used to get there.

Nathanael, using the sieve, lets go of the good that might be present in the person of Jesus and holds the negative, represented in his prejudice against the Nazarenes.

Jesus uses the winnowing, leaving fly away "chaff" of the defects of Nathaniel, and holding the "grain" that is, his potential for real man.

Jesus appreciates as Nathanael is an Israelite in whom is no guile. In reality, the prejudice arouses in him a false vision. But Jesus lets go of the negative opinion, retaining and enhancing the potential of authenticity that's in Nathanael.

If it's true, as psychological theories say, that the opinions of others affect us until we become to some extent as others see us, it's amazing to think that our God sees us always in our best chance.

An intense look that captures all our potentials for good and makes them possible, beyond our selfishness and our prejudices, beyond our own consciousness.