“REMEMBER not the events of the past, the things of long ago, consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:16). Aren’t these words that God spoke to the Israelites during their Babylonian exile relevant to our times now that we have a new pope?
I don’t know about you, but I am feeling and “perceiving” a new vigor that is happening in our Church. God is doing something “new” to us! Through the minds and hearts of the College of Cardinals, he has appointed a new Vicar of Christ for the whole world, one who speaks with authority not only from his wisdom and knowledge of the Word of God but also from authentic witnessing of his Christian faith in his humility, simplicity, and love for the poor.
“He paid his bill to pick up his luggages at the clerical residence,” the reports said immediately to illustrate his humility. “He didn’t take the limousine after he was elected pope, instead he joined his brother Cardinals to take the bus to go back to their Vatican residence,” the ubiquitous reports mentioned in newspapers, television and Facebook. Again, one is struck by the simplicity of the newly elected pope. “He would spend time with people living in the slums of Buenos Aires…He lived in an apartment and cooked his own meal,” the Argentinian papers reported. Then, a beautiful and humbling picture of the newly elected pope kissing the feet of an AIDS victim on a Holy Thursday liturgy is posted and shared on Facecook for the whole world to see. What a refreshing image of a humble and serving Church!
“Francis” is the name that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina took to start his leadership as Vicar of Christ. It is a name that echoes the humility, the poverty, the love for the poor and the vision of St. Francis of Assisi to rebuild and to reform the Church. It is also a name that brings to mind the zeal of St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary priest, in spreading the Catholic faith with his fellow Jesuits in Asia in the 1500s.
“Of course, I would have loved a Brazilian to win,” said a Brazilian woman at the footsteps of the Cathedral of São Paulo. Well, as this woman might have reflected, I believe that the election of Cardinal Borgoglio as pope is not so much a popularity contest as it is really the hand of God touching the minds and hearts of the Cardinals to select the new pontiff that befits the needs of the Church in these current times.
Early in the morning, Jesus brings a new day to the adulterous woman in the Gospel this Sunday. He gave her absolute forgiveness and told her not to sin anymore. This incident in the Gospel speaks also of the “newness” of life needed in the Catholic Church.
This newness involves not only reform in church leadership but also forgiveness on the part of the laity and the secular society toward irresponsible bishops and priests and the pedophile ones ( which is less than .01 percent of the massive pedophilia cases in the US). Without excusing the gravity of this sin and crime, I propose a new beginning for the whole faithful to enliven the Church with fresh fervor, zeal, wisdom, and commitment to serve.
In the light of the Gospel this Sunday, I also propose that the whole secular world sees this sex abuse and pedophilia problem as affecting not only the Catholic Church but also families, schools, other religions and secular institutions. I suggest that other institutions “who is without sin be the first to throw the stone” in regard to sexual abuse.
In his reflection, On Carrying a Scandal Biblically, renowned writer and speaker, Father Ron Rolheiser, sees the Catholic Church as accepting and carrying this burden of sin for all other segments of our society that might be guilty of the scandal of sex abuse. He also urges us all to do the heroic act of forgiveness: “Can you love those who hate you? Can you forgive those who won’t forgive you? Can you be gracious to those who curse you? That’s the real test of Christian orthodoxy. And it’s what is being asked for us in this scandal. Can we love, forgive, and be emphatic in a new way?”
May the leadership of Pope Francis bring newness…and forgiveness to each one of us, the Church and the whole world!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].