This is a Page 1 commentary from OR that I failed to translate promptly.
The audacity of God and
the opposition of the enemy
by Robert Imbelli
Translated from
the 6/16 issue of
In 2001, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, John Paul II published a magnificent reflection on the experience of the Church which had just celebrated the Great Jubilee of 2000.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20010106_novo-millennio-ineunte_en.html
But the Apostolic Letter
Novo millennio ineunte (At the beginning of a new millennium) was not simply a looking back with gratitude but a looking ahead with hope. In an original and incisive way, it placed the person of Jesus at the center of the Church's gratitude and hope.
Chapter III was entitled "Starting afresh from Christ" and declares bluntly: "We are certainly not seduced by the naive expectation that, faced with the great challenges of our time, we shall find some magic formula. No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person, and the assurance which he gives us: I am with you!" (29).
An urgent imperative came with this joyous conviction. John Paul II insisted that "all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness", and calls on all the People of God to 'rediscover the programmatic value' of
Lumen gentium, Chapter 5, dedicated to a universal call to holiness.
This task does not concern only some in the Church, but everyone who has been baptized into the new life of Jesus.
Nine years later, on another great feast of the Lord, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Benedict XVI gave a homily that repeated in many ways his predecessor's exhortations.
Although it was clearly about the gift of the priesthood, since the Church was ending the Year for Priests, it concerned the entire people of God.
Very appropriately on the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Pontiff once again cited a text from the New Testament with which he has a special affinity: John's description of the pierced side of Christ, from which blood and water gushed forth (cfr Jn 19,34),
Benedict, along with the Fathers of the Church, maintains that this image represents the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, source of new life for the Church.
The Pope said, in words recalling
Novo millennio ineunte: "Every Christian and every priest, should, like Christ, become a spring that communicates life to others. We must give the water of life to a thirsting world".
In the nine years between John Paul II's letter and Benedict XVI's homily, there have been numberless testimonials of holiness and dedication on the part of lay Christians and priests.
Unfortunately, there was also the revelation of terrible abuses committed by
[a relative few of] those who were called to be ministers of the Gospel. It is no comfort that in the past few decades, an epidemic of abuse has erupted in all of society. The Church is called by the Lord to be a light in the world, not to add to its shsadows.
For this reason, Pope Benedict's homily offers a perspective of fundamental importance and calls on the Church to exercise a more profound discernment.
Although it is certainly important to examine the psychological and sociological conditions that promoted and allowed sexual abuse of minors, it is imperative to recognize that other factors are at work.
In his text, Benedict XVI celebrates joyously the 'audacity' of God, who wants to be present in the world through human mediation [priests]. Nonetheless, he also warns vigorously against the ferocious opposition of 'the enemy' against everything that is holy.
[The novel element of Benedict's homily is the open reference to 'the enemy', i.e., the devil, which is among the other concepts Benedict has revived from traditional Catholic teaching: like purgatory, confession, penitence, sin itself - concepts that had come to be forgotten, neglected, or ignored, and practically never mentioned, in the post-Vatican Catholic world.]
The Gospels describe the start of the public ministry of Jesus as having been tormented by the temptations of Satan. It is as though the devil had been present at the Baptism of the Lord and perceived the threat from the Holy One who had been sent to combat the kingdom of Satan.
What he failed to do with Jesus, he continues to try against Christians. The enemy is, in fact, literally anti-Christ, opposed to everything that has to do with the Lord. And he responds to the 'audacity' of Christ by attacking that which is closest to Jesus's heart: the innocence of children and the sacredness of the Eucharist.
In the face of the enemy's opposition, the Church must recommit herself to the Paschal way of the Lord, which is always a way of love in truth:
caritas in veritate. As the Pope said in the homily: "It is not love to tolerate behavior that is unworthy of the priest's life".
Among the steps promised by Pope Benedict to avoid more abuses is the need to undertake a more attentive discernment of attitudes towards the priestly vocation and to offer better support in facing the present challenges to the priestly ministry.
In this regard,
Novo millennio ineunte offers valuable ideas on the "ctructures of communion' in the Church. These structures are necessary precisely in order to offer vehicles for expressing that spirituality of communion which is the life of the Church.
Indeed, John Paul II wrote: "The new century will have to see us more than ever intent on valuing and developing the forums and structures which, in accordance with the Second Vatican Council's major directives, serve to ensure and safeguard
communio" (44).
To this end, a generous commitment to consultation and dialog is fundamental. Spiritual discernment, which is the task of legitimate authorities, is not threatened but improved by commitment to serious consultation.
Here, John Paul II refers to the Rule of Benedict (which is dear to the heart of Benedict XVI): "We need to make our own the ancient pastoral wisdom which, without prejudice to their authority, encouraged Pastors to listen more widely to the entire People of God. Significant is Saint Benedict's reminder to the Abbot of a monastery, inviting him to consult even the youngest members of the community: 'By the Lord's inspiration, it is often a younger person who knows what is best'(Regula, iii,3)" (Novo millennio ineunte, n. 45).
The enemy of mankind is
dia-bolos, who hates asnd rips apart communion. The Eucharist is
sym-bolos: the great sacrament of communion which creates the Church
sempre amanda et purificanda (always loving and purifying).
[Also semper riformanda, in the more traditional formulation.]