The unmistakable flavor of the Gospel
in the bracing words of Benedict XVI
Translated from
23/02/2012
It has been a whole concert presented with his unique elegance, but above all with that disarming humility which exudes the Gospel from all sides.
And so it is that even as the deep-throats and the deep-cover moles broadcast their cacophony, amplified by mean-spirited interests in the media, Peter continued to follow his Teacher imperturbably, as many of his predecessors had done through the ages.
We had looked forward to Benedict's interventions during the Consistory, and with reason. In these almost seven years of his Pontificate, he has shown us increasingly that he can convert every crisis, every apparent situation of imminent disaster, into an occasion for carrying out his mission more effectively, in the Church and with the outside world.
He started the day before his cardinals arrived in Rome for the consistory, at his annual meeting with the seminarians of Rome, 'his seminarians', as Bishop of Rome.
And in that 'familial' atmosphere, almost a confidential one, he launched the first thrust in commenting on the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, in which he had praised the 'faith of Rome, heralded throughout the world'.
"Today, too," Benedict XVI noted, "much is being said about the Church of Rome, many things, but we hope that they will also talk about her faith, of the exemplary faith of the Church. Let us ask God that we may act in such a way that people will not talk about other things but the faith of the Church of Rome". Touche!
Afterwards, speaking extemporaneously all the time, he spoke to the future priests about the non-conformism which should characterize Christians, which allows them to love and truly serve in the world. Non-conformism, for instance, in the face of the power of dominant opinion and its inexhaustible charlatanry.
But the
piece de resistance was to come at the allocution he made during the consistory to create the new cardinals. He spoke of the logic of power and the selfishness that can infiltrate even men of the Church.
The logic that made the mother of the sons of Zebedee ask that her sons sit directly to the right and left of Jesus, the same logic that angered the other Apostles over the possibility that they would be ranked less.
How little things have changed! But Benedict XVI converted what could have been a bitter reproach to a paternal attitude that is caring and constructive: "Dominion and power, selfishness and altruism, possession and gift, interest and free giving - these profoundly contrary logics confront each other in every time and place. But there is no doubt about the way chosen by Jesus. And he did not limit himself to indicate it only by words to his disciples then and now - he lived them in his own flesh.
The men in red ought to have felt these words like a major goad, although, in fact, they are addressed to all of us. "Your mission in the Church in the world is always and only 'in Christ', that you respond to his logic not to that of the world, that you may be enlightened by faith and inspired by the love that comes to us through the glorious Cross of the Lord".
Therefore there is no other strategy, other means of governance, other wisdom, than the chalice of the Lord, even if, as Cardinal Dolan jested, once in a while we wish we could do without it.
It is impressive how Benedict XVI teaches, how he corrects, how he governs - this man that some in the media have described these days as tired and isolated, maybe even at the limit of his powers, flirting with the idea of a phantasmagorical resignation.
Some disoriented correspondent entitled his report saying that 'Vatileaks' have weakened the Pope and unleashed a movement for the papal succession. He would have a better career writing pamphlets a la Dan Brown.
One thing is certain: The figure of Peter the fisherman has always emerged from pain and difficulty, the man who thrice professed his love for Jesus as he had once thrice denied him, at the helm of the Barque of the Church.
As the poet T.S. Eliot wrote, the has much to "topple, build or restore"...
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/02/2012 04:28]