What began as a sense of duty became a personal pilgrimage for me in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York April 19 when I saw and heard the Holy Father speak to a handful of priests and religious. (A handful, in this case, meaning 3,000 priests representing the U.S. presbyterate.)
The words that Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily resound still in my soul:
"You, who have devoted your lives to bearing witness to the love of Christ and the building up of his Body, know from your daily contact with the world around us how tempting it is at time to give way to frustration, disappointment and even pessimism about the future. In a word, it is not always easy to see the light of the Spirit all about us, the splendor of the Risen Lord illuminating our lives and instilling renewed hope in his victory over the world."
I think Benedict is a realist pope. And an encouraging pope, even as he lamented that, "perhaps we have lost sight of [hope and life]: in a society where the Church seems legalistic and institutional to many people, our most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the experience of God's love."
At Yankee Stadium the next day, he spoke of "authority" and "obedience" --- words that, frankly, are not easy to speak nowadays. Such words represent a stumbling stone for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ --- "the way and the truth and the life" --- we come to see the fullest meaning, value and, indeed, beauty of those words.
The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Luke 17:33)."
At Dunwoodie Seminary, at the youth rally there where "American Idol" Kelly Clarkson sang the Ave Maria, the pope was also realistic when he told the seminarians that "there is no perfect [religious] community." But he nonetheless told his young listeners that they have a special place in his heart, that he prays for them daily.
Amidst the cheers and applause, and as much as he could raise his voice, he said, "Never forget that you are to carry on, with all the enthusiasm and joy that the Spirit has given you, a work that others have begun. Never forget that you are called to carry what others have begun, a legacy that one day you too will have to pass on to a new generation."
Benedict XVI didn't shrink from mentioning the problems that presently face the Church in the U.S. At every turn he mentioned the clergy child abuse scandal that has "caused so much suffering." But what others forgot to emphasize is Benedict's more often repeated pleas for human rights, especially for the unborn, the poor, the immigrant. Of the latter he decried the forced separation of families from their members: "Recognition of the unity of the human family, and attention to the innate dignity of every man and woman, today find renewed emphasis in the principle of the responsibility to protect."
As always after acknowledging the harshness of reality, the Holy Father offers hope: "Let us forgive the wrongs we have suffered and put aside all anger and contention… Let us be joyful witnesses of the transforming power of the Gospel!"
Another example of how this Pope can be real is found toward the end of Mass at St. Patrick's. Before the final blessing, as he waved his aides aside, he spoke spontaneously of how touched he was with the warm welcome he received especially on the day of his third anniversary as the successor to the Chair of Peter:
"At this moment I can only thank you for your love of the Church and Our Lord, and for the love which you show to the poor Successor of Saint Peter. I will try to do all that is possible to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the Church.
"And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for this time, in virtue of the Lord's grace, the Successor of Peter. It is also your prayers and your love which give me the certainty that the Lord will help me in this my ministry. I am therefore deeply grateful for your love and for your prayers."
These had been graced moments for me and to be with the Holy Father, even if only from a distance, although I got a few feet from him at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Grace, as my old seminary professor used to say, happens even as invisibly as the air, but grace happens.
Being in New York City with the Pope, grace happened, a shot in the arm, an affirmation of priesthood. In the words of St. Ambrose: "Ubi Petrus ibi Eclessia: Where Peter is, there is the Church." Father Alden Sison, ordained in 1987, is pastor of Our Lady of the Valley Church, Canoga Park. In July he will become pastor of St. Genevieve Church, Panorama City.
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