Statements

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You may recall that I mentioned on the occasion of the ordination of our new auxiliaries that someone early on in the papacy of Francis asked me what makes him tick. I said, as I believe even more now, the answer is simple. Francis not only believed but had a palpable experience of the Risen Lord; not only did he believe Jesus rose from the dead 2000 years ago, but he was deeply in touch with the reality that the Risen Lord is acting now and leading the Church. And so he saw that his task as the Successor of Peter was to be attuned to the Lord and manifest his presence in the world today.

The scriptures for this memorial are the ones the universal Church will hear on this Wednesday in the Octave of Easter. How providential they are. Peter with John makes it clear that he has nothing to bring to the sufferings of the world but Jesus. Francis as his Successor was true to that vision and mission.

Who is this Jesus, this Risen Lord? How do we recognize him in the Church’s ministry? The Gospel from Luke is informative.

Notice that first of all, Jesus does not interrupt the conversation of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus with his own message or reveal himself as risen from the dead. Rather, he listens to them. He wants to know the depth of their sorrow, their concerns. Francis reminded us that when we do that we act like Jesus. The church is true to her mission when she is both a teaching and a listening church. This pastoral approach begins by understanding that realities are greater than ideas, and as pastors we must be in touch with the lived experience of people’s everyday life. This means that pastoral theology is on an equal footing with all other branches of theology, dogma, scriptural studies, moral theology, ecclesiology, liturgical and spiritual theology. Pastoral theology is not derivative but must call all of these other branches to pay attention to the concrete reality of human life and human suffering in a much more substantial way if we are to be authentically faithful to the teachings of Christ.

The second thing we notice is that when Jesus does speak, he draws them into an encounter that interprets, that transforms their lives. He helps them see the bigger picture, calling them out of a self-absorbed approach to their lives. The opening line of the late pope’s magna carta says it so well “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.” Up to this point on their journey to Emmaus they were absorbed in their suffering and disappointment, but the encounter with Him changes them, to the point that they begin to care about Him. He looks as if he will go off on his way alone as night falls. They are sensitive to Him, stay with us, they did not just want Him to go away, they cared for Him – a remarkable transformation from their self-absorption. That is true conversion, not just having a change of mind, a cerebral acceptance of a particular teaching but one that makes us more human, move loving, less self-centered.

But the full conversion comes in the breaking of the bread, where they recognize Him. He vanishes just at that moment, because now they have all they need to take up the mission and return on the path they came, but return differently. They now are empowered to allow their lives to be broken and shared, celebrating this first Eucharist in the life of the Church in a way that defines what we do each time we gather around this altar. We call this Mass, ite missa est. What we do here sends us out to be broken for the life of the world.  Much ink is spent talking of the need for a “new evangelization”. But the emphasis cannot be about making evangelization new, a repackaging of it. No, we are the ones who need to be made new. We cannot talk about evangelization, of proclaiming the good news if our hearts are not left burning from this encounter with the Lord and filled with the joy to overflowing.

This is the Jesus who always walked alongside and even ahead of Francis. And now that Francis is no longer with us, he would want us to take up this same mission with a palpable sense that Jesus continues to abide with us and invites us to make Him present in the world, by being in touch with the realities of peoples’ lives, by drawing them into an encounter with Him that re-interprets and transforms their lives and to send them out on mission, taking the next step forward as individuals and as a church by sharing the joy of the Gospel with the world.

Francis, like Peter, offered the world the goodness and truth of the Risen Lord. This is his legacy, which we can be confident will continue, no matter what others may say, for in the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, he reminds us: Bonum diffusivum sui.  “Goodness always tends to spread.” And he continued. “Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has experienced a profound liberation becomes more sensitive to the needs of others. As it expands, goodness takes root and develops. If we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their good.” The Joy of the Gospel, 9.

May he rest in peace, AMEN