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Reflections on the recent papal visit
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
This is the
first opportunity I have had to share personal reflections in this
weekly column on the recent visit of our Holy Father. I did not
participate in the papal events that took place in New York.
Responsibilities here at home urged a return to Lafayette ASAP after the
Holy Father addressed the bishops and we celebrated Mass with him in
Nationals Park in Washington, but I was privileged to “see the Holy
Father,” as those who were present for the various papal events between
April 16 and 20 inevitably announce to all willing to share their
excitement.
Since I was a
small part of the picture, I did not get to see much of the picture, so
to speak. Security meant a great deal of time was spent in “rush and
wait” as we bishops were ushered in police-escorted convoys to and from
papal events. Nonetheless, from the little I was able to pick up on
television and through the print media, Benedict XVI seems to have taken
the country by storm, pre-empting the media and any agenda it might have
had even before he landed at Andrews AFB outside Washington, and
stepping out from under the shadow of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the
Prefect for the Congregation of the Faith (the “Vatican Rottweiler”
characterization) as well as the shadow of John Paul the Great.
In catching
up with my reading after my return from Washington, I took devilish
delight in a piece I found in the April 21 issue of Newsweek, written
before the Holy Father’s arrival, which proclaimed “why this pope
doesn’t connect.” The thrust of the article was that Benedict XVI has
done little to appeal to an American flock in need of serious spiritual
catharsis. To quote the article: “What American Catholics want now … is
to feel something, a catharsis, a connection to their tradition, a sense
that their leaders see and hear how difficult it can be to be a Catholic
in this imperfect and chaotic world. Benedict is not the man for the
job.” Excuse me!
From where I
stand, the Holy Father connected big time. From airport small talk to
conversations during receptions following the reception of the sacrament
of confirmation here in Northcentral Indiana, it seems to me the pope’s
visit allowed Americans to see the man we bishops have been privileged
to know from ad limina visits, a most personable, humble, brilliant man
who listens and empathizes while inviting those engaged with him to
focus on the deeper significance of faith in a world floundering for
meaning. As pope, his role is different from the one played as head of
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that “Rottweiler” bit.
Consensus after his April visit, even from some surprising quarters,
seems to be that he is playing his role as pastor of the Universal
Church exceptionally well. In three short years, he has set new dynamics
into motion (the Regensburg lecture) while inviting one and all (in the
words of George Weigel) to “look again at the basics of Catholic faith
and practice. They exist for a reason. They just may satisfy the hunger
of the human heart. Give them a chance.”
For me, at
least, it’s one thing to watch papal events on television and quite
another to be in the presence of the Holy Father. It’s something
difficult to describe, a unique moment one must experience. The emotions
take over. The heart beats faster. Tears fill the eyes. It is, no doubt,
what the Holy Father represents more than his person. He is, as I
explained in the three-part series on the papal visit that I did via
this column back in March, Peter, the one to whom Jesus said, “I declare
to you, you are ‘Rock’ and on this rock I will build my Church, and the
jaws of death shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). If as a
Catholic that leaves you unmoved, something is missing.
That white
cassock causes me to be proud that I am a Catholic. It connects me in a
remarkable way with the mission of Jesus Christ carried on, however
imperfectly, through the Church to which God has called me from the
midst of a world that is so caught up in self-gratification it fails to
see the big picture of what really counts and constantly urges the
watering-down of the truth of what our relationship with God and one
another should be. That white cassock is a billboard that has a
hope-filled and exciting message indelibly stamped upon it: “Eye has not
seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God
has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Unlike John
Paul II, who always insisted on greeting bishops individually, Benedict
XVI greeted us corporately. That’s OK. He greeted “me” in the crypt
church of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as we prayed
evening prayer (vespers) together. Never mind I was in the next to the
last row of the 300 bishops present.
After the
solemn celebration of evening prayer, the Holy Father addressed his
brother bishops at length and then took three questions. I look forward
to a printed copy of what was said. The pope’s German accent, and my
slight hearing impairment, made it difficult to grasp everything that
was said. That didn’t matter, however. I caught enough to know that the
Holy Father was both affirming and challenging, exactly what one would
expect.
The Mass at
Nationals Park was celebrated on a beautiful spring day amid great
anticipation on the part of more than 47,000 people, not counting those
without tickets who crowded the streets. It was the second time I have
been privileged to concelebrate Mass with Benedict XVI. Both have been
exceptional moments. On both occasions, I have been profoundly humbled,
pondering to myself how I ever ended up where I was and what I was
doing. It’s something I could never have anticipated when I was ordained
a priest, much less as a kid delivering papers in Anderson, Ind. The
Mass was a celebration of joy and faith that moved heart and soul,
topped off by Placido Domingo kneeling to kiss the Holy Father’s ring
and receiving his blessing after a magnificent rendition of Panis
Angelicus.
There had
been an opportunity to join others at the White House for the
president’s welcome given to the Holy Father on April 16. Acknowledging
that standing for any length of time in one spot would be a painful
experience for me, I turned that opportunity down. Given the fact that
approximately 13,000 people were part of the welcoming ceremony
(including Van and Margaret Smith from Muncie), I’m confident the Holy
Father didn’t notice my absence. I did not attend the Holy Father’s
meeting with Catholic educators at the Catholic University of America
either, although my superintendent of Catholic schools, Marie Williams,
and Ernie Mills, president of Saint Joseph’s College, were part of that
event.
There are
those who don’t understand Catholicism and all this “pope stuff,” of
course. In the mystery of God, faith is a gift. What a person sees and
appreciates when one looks at challenges and opportunities through the
lens of faith is vastly different from what one sees without that faith.
I thank God for that gift and the privilege that was mine to be a small
part of Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit and the opportunity it provided
the people of the United States to see the real Joseph Ratzinger and the
gifts he is bringing to a world thirsting for faith, hope and healing. |
