In a moving, personal
address Pope Benedict XVI delivered his final Wednesday general audience. For
those inclined to view Benedict with affection this address was a stirring
affirmation of that feeling. The Holy Father spoke with great candor about the
personal prayer journey he has had with God throughout his pontifcate,
reaffirming for me at least the depth of his spiritual journey and how that led
him even to this final step of faithful departure:
When,
almost eight years ago, on April 19th, [2005], I agreed to take on the Petrine
ministry, I held steadfast in this certainty, which has always accompanied me.
In that moment, as I have already stated several times, the words that
resounded in my heart were: “Lord, what do you ask of me? It a great weight
that You place on my shoulders, but, if You ask me, at your word I will throw
out the nets, sure that you will guide me” – and the Lord really has guided me.
He has been close to me: daily could I feel His presence. [These years] have
been a stretch of the Church’s pilgrim way, which has seen moments joy and light,
but also difficult moments. I have felt like St. Peter with the Apostles in the
boat on the Sea of Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and
gentle breeze, days in which the catch has been abundant; [then] there have
been times when the seas were rough and the wind against us, as in the whole
history of the Church it has ever been - and the Lord seemed to sleep.
Nevertheless, I always knew that the Lord is in the barque, that the barque of
the Church is not mine, not ours, but His - and He shall not let her sink. It
is He, who steers her: to be sure, he does so also through men of His choosing,
for He desired that it be so. This was and is a certainty that nothing can
tarnish. It is for this reason, that today my heart is filled with gratitude to
God, for never did He leave me or the Church without His consolation, His
light, His love.
I
appreciated the deep spirituality of the address and was particularly moved by
Benedict’s commitment to “carry everyone in prayer”:
I
feel I [ought to] carry everyone in prayer, in a present that is God’s, where I
recall every meeting, every voyage, every pastoral visit. I gather everyone and
every thing in prayerful recollection, in order to entrust them to the Lord: in
order that we might have full knowledge of His will, with every wisdom and
spiritual understanding, and in order that we might comport ourselves in a
manner that is worthy of Him, of His, bearing fruit in every good work (cf. Col
1:9-10).
The Pope’s touching
reference to the letters led to a profound affirmation of the mystery of the
Church:
I
also receive many letters from ordinary people who write to me simply from
their heart and let me feel their affection, which is born of our being
together in Christ Jesus, in the Church. These people do not write me as one
might write, for example, to a prince or a great figure one does not know. They
write as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, with the sense of very
affectionate family ties. Here, one can touch what the Church is – not an organization, not an association for
religious or humanitarian purposes, but a living body, a community of brothers
and sisters in the Body of Jesus Christ, who unites us all. To experience
the Church in this way and almost be able to touch with one’s hands the power
of His truth and His love, is a source of joy, in a time in which many speak of
its decline. (emphasis added)
To
those who have raised profound questions about the pope’s decision to resign,
even going so far as to wonder if he had “come down from the cross” by not
staying in office until death, the pope spoke forcefully and with the nerve
that has always marked his life:
Here allow me to return once again to April
19, 2005. The gravity of the decision was precisely in the fact that from that
moment on I was committed always and forever by the Lord. Always – he, who
assumes the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and
totally to everyone, to the whole Church. His life is, so to speak, totally
deprived of the private sphere…The “always” is also a “forever” - there is no
returning to private life. My decision to forgo the exercise of active
ministry, does not revoke this. I do not return to private life, to a life of
travel, meetings, receptions, conferences and so on. I do not abandon the cross, but remain in a new way near to the
Crucified Lord. I no longer wield the power of the office for the
government of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak,
within St. Peter’s bounds.
(emphasis added)
Benedict’s conclusion
reflects the universal hope of all Christians, Catholic or not, to live more
like our Lord:
God guides His Church, maintains her always,
and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith,
which is the only true vision of the way of the Church and the world. In our
heart, in the heart of each of you, let there be always the joyous certainty
that the Lord is near, that He does not abandon us, that He is near to us and
that He surrounds us with His love. Thank you!
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