May 7, 2012
In a previous post titled The Pope of Hope, I wrote about how the Holy Father connects well with young people and continually brings the message of life and hope in Christ.
Every pontificate has an overarching theme that responds to the need of the age and offers light in the darkness of the world. The theme of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate was “Be Not Afraid”. We have Christ, the Son of the living God with us now and through eternity. We have nothing to fear.
“Be Not Afraid” laid the foundation for the challenges the 21st century poses to all Christians. Now, as the world becomes more and more confrontational with Christianity and we in the West see our brothers and sisters in Christ martyred in the Middle East, Africa, India, and elsewhere, we may be tempted to blend in with the politically correct zeitgeist rather than speaking the truth with a clear, strong voice and risk endangering our lives. God gave us a new Pope and a new theme for our times as we face the powers of darkness anew under their many guises.
Pope Benedict XVI’s recurring theme is “Hope in God.” Hope springs forth from his writings and speeches. His second encyclical, Spes Salvi (In hope we were saved), speaks of the fundamental change Christianity brings to the way we live. During his recent trip to Mexico and Cuba he once again reiterated this theme.
In Mexico the Pope said on March 25:
When addressing the deeper dimension of personal and community life, human strategies will not suffice to save us. We must have recourse to the One who alone can give life in its fullness, because He is the essence of life and its author.
The Pope told President Felipe Calderon that the theological virtue of hope inspires Catholics to
transform the present structures and events that are less than satisfactory and seem immovable or insurmountable, while also helping those who do not see meaning or a future in life.
In Cuba on March 26 the Pope said to the crowd which included President Raul Castro:
When God is set aside, the world becomes an inhospitable place for man. Apart from God, we are alienated from ourselves and are hurled into the void. Obedience to God is what opens the doors of the world to the truth, to salvation. Redemption is always this process of the lifting up of the human will to full communion with the divine will.
Living as true Christians in this age of disobedience and self-will that spurns truth and embraces the narcissistic dictatorship of relativity requires remarkable charity. Most especially we must be concerned for the weak followers of Christ who have made easy compromises with the world and who may be living lives of quiet despair.
In her great concern for all who have embraced falsehood and abandoned their faith, Holy Mother Church gives us this ancient prayer for the liturgy of the Third Sunday after Easter (1962 liturgical books):
O God, Who dost show the light of Thy truth to the erring that they may return to the path of justice, grant that all who are distinguished by their profession of Christ may both reject all that is inimical to the name of Christian and follow eagerly what is fitting to it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
It’s easy to point to others, but can we not say that this prayer applies to each of us? We must always pray for one another to be the witnesses to the world that Christ has called us to be. Let us help one another to do our part to bring the truth of Christ, even to those who don’t want to hear it, in such a way that hearts will be softened to Him Who died for us. May we without hesitation be ambassadors of hope in God as our Holy Father is.
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R. Now and forever!
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