As these words find themselves on this blog, "the" trip is beginning back at a Rome airport. Already today here in Washington last minute drills are beginning for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, the third Pope ever to visit our native land.
Interestingly, today's liturgy -- oh, yes, the ordinary things do continue to happen -- offer scripture readings that can easily afford us serious thoughts for a reflection.
As Jesus was walking around the temple area, at the Portico of Solomon, he encountered some Jewish people who challenged him: "If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." It was mid-winter as the Jewish people were celebrating the Dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was just a few months before Jesus would return for a final and painful visit on his mission. But he did not back away from the challenge. He answered plainly: "I told you and your do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me .... The Father and I are one." He could not be clearer. Yet, his words and his presence did not immediately change minds as we know from the "rest of the story."
Today how many, joyously and excitedly awaiting the Pope's arrival, fully understand who it is that is soon to land at Andrews Air Force Base in Suitland, Maryland? Arriving on our soil is a man, previously chosen by the College of Cardinals, hopefully guided by the Holy Spirit, who comes to teach, who hopes to give us a renewed hope in our Church and our faith. Surely he comes to an American Catholic Church that is so very different than the American Catholic Church Pope Paul VI encountered when he made the first Papal visit to the USA in the 1960s. Almost fifty years has brought simply "incredible" changes to our Church's reality in the USA.
Our Holy Father comes to be with us, mindful of our past fifty years and the changes, but also as someone who sees the divisions, the pains, the "faithful departed," mixed with many efforts at a renewal some would say is truly "outside the box" of our traditional faith while others would say is a genuine renewal of the Holy Spirit.
The challenge for us beginning in earnest this evening may well be our willingness, as a Catholic population, to accept the words of this Vicar, the representative of Jesus Christ. It is this "title," if you will, and what it signifies that we must examine in our own hearts. The Vicar of Christ: what does it mean? How does its meaning impact my life, your life?
These words from the Acts of the Apostles, again from today's liturgy, are interesting: "When he (Barnabas) arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart." As noted before in an earlier blog, accepting Pope Benedict XVI as the Vicar of Christ may be a most notable challenge in the next seventy-two hours!
[On a personal note, there was not reflection yesterday because I had to be in York, Pennsylvania with one of my brothers, the oldest of the younger brothers, Jack, who suffered a mild heart attack on Saturday evening. Yesterday, following an attempt at a catheterization, he learned that later today or tomorrow that he will undergo open heart surgery for a quadruple or quintuple bypass! And so the heart issues continue in my family that began with my mother's father. Jack will be the eighth person to encounter serious heart problems that brought four of the Fisher clan to sudden death. Please keep Jack in your prayers during the next few days.]
