In the last week the media has
been full of talk about the resignation of the Holy Father and the choice of
his successor.
In resigning Pope Benedict has given
us all a shock, as Cardinal Cipriani of Lima frankly expressed: this
unexpected resignation has overwhelmed me interiorly, it is a sorrow --
frankly, because of the enormous affection we have for the Pope, the decision
has astonished us and we accept it fully with much faith. Our shock was because our expectation is that
popes do not resign, they die in office. With a few notable exceptions, that is
the way it has been for two thousand years. Cardinal Cipriani reminds us, for one who must proclaim the truth, the Pope, it must be a road full
of turbulence in which he has come to a conclusion after much consideration. He
has come to the conclusion: I don't have the vigor to do it.[i]
On Wednesday, Pope Benedict said that he had felt the prayers and affection of
all the church since he announced his decision. If the news reports are
accurate, he was quite emotional when he spoke, indicating that he was not sure
how the Church, that is, all of us, would react to this news.
Unplanned happenings such as the
papal resignation can be used to focus our attention on our hopes and expectations.
The apostles planned to walk up the mountain with Jesus to spend the night in
prayer. What happened next was unplanned. The Transfiguration enabled them to
see clearly the way ahead. The apostles saw that Jesus followed in the line of
Moses and Elijah. The voice from the cloud reminded them that Jesus was the son
of God.
This was all a great shock for
Peter, James and John. They followed Jesus not knowing he was the son of God. When they found out, they wanted to hold that
moment of discovery, just like we want the exhilarating times of our lives
never to end. Peter wanted to build the tents so that they could all stay with
what they knew on the mountain top. However, we all know that we can’t live on
the mountain top, we have to come down to earth. Back down in the valley the
lives of the apostles were changed because they knew that Jesus was God, not
just a good bloke.
Unplanned happenings are of all
sorts, and our reaction to them can make a huge difference. Tonight we have
among us some young people who have just begun to prepare for their First
Reconciliation. Each one of you has felt that love of Jesus in your hearts and
you know that you are a child of God. You also know that we sin, it is usually
not planned, but we do it anyway.
Reconciliation is the way of coming close with God after sin. In the
Sacrament of Reconciliation we are really honest with God about our sins, and
God lifts us up and offers us forgiveness. After reconciliation we often feel
like the apostles on the mountain. We come to God to ask forgiveness when
something unexpected happens and we choose to do wrong. God’s response to us is
always what we expect, he always offers us forgiveness, which we are asked to
accept.
These young people will learn
about Reconciliation from their textbooks, but they will learn far more from
you and me about how to forgive, how to live, and how to encounter Jesus on the
mountain and recognise him as God.
A closing thought:
As for the next Pope, the advice
of the same Cardinal could extend to all of us: “I believe in the action of the Holy Spirit and hope that we cardinals
will be able to be men who listen to God, otherwise, we are of no use at all."
Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent Year C, OLQP Broome 24th Feb 2013
[i]
Juan Juis Cardinal Cipriani-Thorne, http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/cardinal-cipriani-i-hope-we-will-be-men-who-listen-to-god-or-we-are-of-no-use-at-all?utm_campaign=dailyhtml&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dispatch
No comments:
Post a Comment