Tag Archives: pope leo

Choosing Active Love over Indifference

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True confession… Sunday’s Feast in the Catholoc tradition (Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe) is not my favorite. My relationship with Jesus is more as teacher, brother and friend than ruler. I resist the King and Lord imagery.

And yet when I reflect on this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 25:35-43) what I experience is not the world’s image of a King. It is the crucifixion.  The paradox of the paschal mystery.

Jesus is on the cross, fully human in his suffering, being jeered by the rulers, guards, and onlookers. Yes the inscription on the cross names as a king but that is all. He is not treated as King of the Universe.

So why does the church have us reflect on this passage on this particular feast? What can we learn? We might recognize some of the attitudes of the world to the suffering of our day.

Reflecting on this passage, Pope Francis said:

“All these onlookers share a refrain that the text repeats three times: “If you are a king, then save yourself!” (cf. vv. 35, 37, 39). Save yourself! That is how they insult him; they challenge him! It is precisely the opposite of what Jesus is doing: he thinks not of saving himself, but of saving them. Yet those insulting words – “save yourself!” – are contagious; they spread from the leaders to the soldiers and then to the people; the ripple of evil reaches almost everyone there. Think about it: evil is contagious. Like an infectious disease, we catch it immediately. All those people talk about Jesus, but not for a second do they empathize with him. They stand apart and talk.

Such is the lethal infection of indifference. “This has nothing to do with me.” Indifference to Jesus, indifference to the sick, the poor, the destitute of the land.”

Evil and indifference are contagious. But so is goodness. And goodness can come from the most unexpected places.

I think we are meant to reflect on the man on the next cross, often referred to as the good thief. What can we learn from this, one of the last encounters of Jesus? Again, from Pope Francis:

“Yet there is another path: that of goodness. Amid all those onlookers, one person does get involved: the good thief. The others mock the Lord, but he turns to him and calls him by name: “Jesus”. That is all he asks of the Lord. A fine prayer that each of us can recite daily as a path to holiness. “Jesus, remember me!” Many jeer at Jesus, but he confesses his faults to Jesus. Many shout: “Save yourself!”, but he begs: “Jesus, remember me” (v. 42). In this way, a criminal becomes the first saint: he draws near to Jesus for an instant and the Lord keeps him at his side forever. The Gospel speaks of the good thief for our benefit: to invite us to overcome evil by refusing to remain as onlookers. Please, indifference is worse than evildoing.”

Indifference is worse than evildoing.

When he first walked out on the balcony of St. Peter’s, Pope Leo said:

“God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail!”

Evil will not prevail when we choose the way of Christ, when we resist the globalization of indifference, when we see the suffering Christ in our brother and sister and respond with love.

Let’s end this reflection with what Pope Leo said next that first day of his pontificate:

“All of us are in God’s hands.  So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another other!   We are followers of Christ.  Christ goes before us.  The world needs his light.  Humanity needs him as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love.  Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace.”

May we bring the light and love of Christ into our world, through active listening and loving response.

A lesson from creation by Pope Leo

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A reflection from Pope Leo on the readings for 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time:

“Ecclesiastes, invites us …  to come to terms with the experience of our limitations and the fleeting nature of all things that pass away (cf. Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23). On a similar note, the Responsorial Psalm presents us with the image of “the grass that is renewed… in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers” (Ps 90:5-6). These are two strong reminders which may be a bit shocking, but which should not frighten us as if they were “taboo” issues to be avoided. The fragility they speak of is, in fact, part of the marvel of creation.

Think of the image of grass: is not a field of flowers beautiful? Of course, it is delicate, made up of small, vulnerable stems, prone to drying out, to being bent and broken. Yet at the same time these flowers are immediately replaced by others that sprout up after them, generously nourished and fertilized by the first ones as they decay on the ground. This is how the field survives: through constant regeneration. Even during the cold months of winter, when everything seems silent, its energy stirs beneath the ground, preparing to blossom into a thousand colors when spring comes.

We too, dear friends, are made this way, we are made for this. We are not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love. This is why we continually aspire to something “more” that no created reality can give us; we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy.”