The Pope, Lent, and Mission

Hello again, from hot and humid Comayagua! Hope all of you in the north eastern part of the States are fairing alright with all that snow!

Well, we were all shocked to find out about the Pope´s resignation on Monday. My first reaction was sadness. Benedict is my Pope! I lived in Rome with him for a year, attending all the events of the Church with him, witnessing him stand in the heat of the sun for more than 3 hours during Palm Sunday Mass, cheering for him in Spain during World Youth Day, even climbed scaffolding to see him on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Some of the other students of the Emmanuel School of Mission and I even got to sing happy birthday to him (remember that guys?!)! It´s so strange that he won´t be our Papa anymore.

And yet, getting to watch him in Rome, reading his writings, and seeing the type of man he is, I´m sure that this decision comes from God. Pope Benedict is a man of deep prayer and humility, a person who seeks out God´s will, no matter how difficult it will be, and no matter how many people will oppose him for following it. Knowing this then, we can rest at peace, knowing that this decision is from the Holy Spirit, and that God will provide the guidance and wisdom for choosing a knew Pastor for our Holy Roman Catholic Church. How exciting! Who knows where our next Pope could be from? United States???.........we shall see! Let us pray for Pope Benedict and his decision, and for our next Pope. God knows he´ll need it!

And somehow or other, so soon after Christmas, we find ourselves in Lent!! How that exactly happened, I´m not completely sure…but here we are! After thinking a lot about what I can do and what I can give up this Lent to come closer to God, something kept returning to my mind over and over again – if it doesn’t help you to love, then it´s not worth it. I know someone who tried to live on bread and water for all 40 days of Lent. They succeeded, but they also succeeded in being quite impatient and aggressive with others, due to the constant rumbling of their belly! So we can reflect on that thought this Lent: is this helping me to be a more loving person? If it´s not, let´s toss it out and search for something to give up that gets in our way of loving!

Just one more quick reflection on mission in general. I had to read Pope John Paul II´s encyclical Redemptoris Missio in order to prepare myself for this mission. I´ve been reflecting lately on the following passages:

           

¨The mission demands holy missionaries. Let us remember the missionary enthusiasm of the first Christian communities. Despite difficulties, the Gospel quickly reached the ends of the earth. And this was the religion of a man who died on a cross! Underlying it all was the holiness of the first Christians……The missionary is a witness to the experience of God, and of the inner joy that comes from faith. In a world tormented and oppressed by so many problems, a world tempted to pessimism, the one who proclaims the Good News must be a person who has found true hope in Christ.¨

Well, JPII is definitely calling me out here! Thanks a lot buddy……No but seriously, it really makes me think – what does my life say to others? Does my life say, even without words, that I love God? Does it speak of that ¨inner joy that comes from faith¨? As we are all called to be missionaries, we can all reflect on this question. What does our life say? Does it express our deepest beliefs about life and love? If not, what can we do concretely in our every day life to make that happen more and more?

Sorry for giving out homework this week! But it´s Lent, right! I´ve gotta punish you somehow!! Kidding, kidding! We´ve already established, Lent is about love!

I hope you have marvelous week! You are all in my prayers. Peace of Christ!

Eric