Homily of the papal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalmessa, at the papal liturgy on Good Friday.
(He was also commissioned by Pope Francis to give the retreat to the American Bishops, and was made an honorary Cardinal at the last conclave)
THE FIRST BORN AMONG MANY BROTHERS
(ROMANS 8:29)
Others drink from other sources. For us, the wellspring of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From it, there arises, “for Christian thought and for the action of the Church, the primacy given to relationship, to the encounter with the sacred mystery of the other, to universal communion with the entire human family, as a vocation of all"
He gives an excellent summary of the use of the Greek word "brothers/sisters." Unlike English where the words are totally different. In Greek an adelphos is a brother, an adelphi is a sister, and the plural is the same word adelphoi. In other words in the plural you cannot tell if it refers to brothers, sisters, or siblings.
At times, the New Testament uses the term brother (adelphos) in its primitive, most common, meaning, that is, a sibling, someone who was born of the same father and the same mother.
Secondly, people who belong to the same nation or people are referred to as brothers. Paul said that he would be willing to become anathema – separated from Christ – if it would benefit his brothers, his “kindred according to the flesh,” the Israelites (see Rm 9:3).
In those contexts, as in other instances, brothers is a generic term that includes men and women, brothers and sisters.
The horizon of meaning widens to include every human person, just in virtue of being such. Brother, in this sense, is sometimes translated in the Bible as neighbor. “Whoever hates his brother …” (1 Jn 2:9) means “whoever hates his neighbor.” When Jesus says: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40), he intends to include every human person in need of help.
Besides all these nuances, the New Testament also uses the word brother to indicate a specific group of people. My brothers are Jesus’ disciples, those who welcome his teachings. “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? [...] Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Mt 12:48-50)
Francis sent him to preach the retreat to the American Bishop precisely because he wants them to lessen political polarization in the US. So the following may be considered to apply to them
Some practical consequences flow from this truth. We build fraternity in precisely the same way that we build peace, that is starting close by, with ourselves, not with great strategies and ambitious, abstract objectives. For us, that means universal fraternity starts with the Catholic Church. For once, I want to put to the side even the second circle, namely the fraternity that exists between all believers in Christ, that is ecumenism.
Fraternity among Catholics is wounded! Divisions between Churches have torn Christ’s tunic to shreds, and worse still, each shredded strip has been cut up into even smaller snippets. I speak of course of the human element of it, because no one will ever be able to tear the true tunic of Christ, his mystical body animated by the Holy Spirit. In God’s eyes, the Church is “one, holy, catholic and apostolic”, and will remain so until the end of the world. This, however, does not excuse our divisions, but makes them more guilty and must push us more forcefully to heal them.
What is the most common cause of he bitter divisions among Catholics? It is not dogma, nor is it the sacraments and ministries, none of the things that by God’s singular grace we fully and universally preserve. The divisions that polarize Catholics stem from political opinions that grow into ideologies after being given priority over religious and ecclesial considerations. In many parts of the world, these divisions are very real, even though they are not openly talked about or are disdainfully denied. This is sin in its primal meaning. The kingdom of this world becomes more important, in the person’s heart than the Kingdom of God.
I believe that we all need to make a serious examination of conscience in this regard and be converted. Fomenting division is the work par excellence of the one whose name is ‘diabolos’ that is, the divider, the enemy who sows weeds, as Jesus referred to him in the parable (see Mt 13:25).
We need to learn from Jesus’ example and the Gospel. He lived at a time of strong political polarization. Four parties existed: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the Zealots. Jesus did not side with any of them and energetically resisted attempts to be pulled towards one or the other. The earliest Christian community faithfully followed him in that choice, setting an example above all for pastors, who need to be shepherds of the entire flock, not only of part of it.
Pastors need to be the first to make a serious examination of conscience. They need to ask themselves where it is that they are leading their flocks – to their position or Jesus’.
Very good homily by Father Cantalmessa. And regarding the recent statistics about the church continuing to hemorrhage younger members, including among Hispanics (who have been taken for granted) I hope the PTB are paying attention. They need to take to heart the pope's recent encyclical, on which this homily is based. We need less politics and more brother and sisterhood.
ReplyDeleteI was particularly struck by this bit from the homily:
"What is the most common cause of he bitter divisions among Catholics? It is not dogma, nor is it the sacraments and ministries, none of the things that by God’s singular grace we fully and universally preserve. The divisions that polarize Catholics stem from political opinions that grow into ideologies after being given priority over religious and ecclesial considerations. In many parts of the world, these divisions are very real, even though they are not openly talked about or are disdainfully denied. This is sin in its primal meaning. The kingdom of this world becomes more important, in the person’s heart than the Kingdom of God."
This is just my personal view: the divisions among Catholics about dogma and sacraments are very real, and are considerably more important and worrisome than the sniping back and forth between the likes-Francis camp and the doesn't-like-Francis camp. I am thinking of the German-language bishops who are utilizing synodality to push the envelope on women's ordination, blessing of same-spouse weddings, and other issues. Even Francis seems not to be budging on these issues.
ReplyDeleteTo be sure, the energy around these issues is not coming from the bishops themselves - they are coming from (some of) the people whom the bishops are shepherding.
I think it is likely that the next pope will "revert to the mean", meaning he will be less open and sympathetic to progressive ideas and causes than Francis has been. What will happen then?
Jim, what you say may be true, but still doesn't negate the need for brotherhood and sisterhood, which is missing a lot.
DeleteI didn't see this homily as pro or con Francis camp as much as a call for attitude adjustment. I see the dogma and sacrament divisions centering mostly on things to do with sex. People aren't arguing about the articles of the Nicene creed, or the Eucharist or Baptism. Which isn't to say the sex arguments aren't real and important. But they tend to dominate the focus to the exclusion of all else.
About the German bishops pushing the envelope on synodality, Pope Francis was quoted as saying something like "We already have German Protestant churches, we don't need another one."
I have to be honest and admit I haven't read the encyclical referenced in the homily. But the homily seemed to be more focused on politics and ideology taking up too much bandwidth in the church, rather than church teaching on difficult subjects.
DeleteI think his point was that we can hardly preach about the human family of nations, or the Christian family of churches if we Catholics are becoming known for how much we dislike each other over our political views.
DeleteI used to think (perhaps hope) that these political motivated disputes where large confined to small minorities on both the right and left. However the PEW study I recently posted has convinced me that this political polarization has inflected many on the right and left.
I am not a fan of Biden; I would have much preferred Bernie. However I never thought I would, like many other Catholic Democrats, come to see Biden as a good Catholic largely because he goes to Mass regularly and appears a caring person, which are the things I think are important in Catholicism, rather than being a prolife Catholic focused on supporting Trump and packing the Supreme Court. Actually on a lot of social justice issues, I think Bernie is closer to Pope Francis than Biden is.
Jim, there may be differences in regards to teaching (the issues mentioned in Germany are not dogma), but in the US, the differences driving the divide, and, as Jack mentioned, driving the progressives out of the RCC and other conservative churches (not just Catholic, but evangelical also these days) are partly political. Many who have left indicate they have left because they see their churches as having become effectively branches of the Republican party. It seems that the Cardinal was alluding to those differences too.
DeleteThis resistance to GOP politics being supported by their church leaders is especially true of the young adults who have been asked. They are regularly asked by the few who care to listen to what they have to say - primarily pollsters, not the leaders of their churches..
Finally the sheer hypocrisy they see in churches is driving them out too.
But the Cardinal was referring specifically to the RCC and political ideology is obviously a factor in dividing the Catholic church in America.
As far as the teachings go, it seems the clergy continue to refuse to accept Newman's observation that the Holy Spirit speaks through the whole church and that the church clergy should heed the sensus fidelium. However, it turns a deaf ear to listening to the people who are the church. This is very clear when it comes to the issue of contraception which has been firmly rejected by the people in the pews, at least in the wealthier, more educated nations. Newman also noted that teachings that are not "received" by "the faithful" are may very well be wrong and should be re-examined. Doesn't happen in the real Catholic world though. The issue of treating women as fully equal to men in the church (including eligibility for all seven sacraments) is driving young women out of the RCC in droves - and their future children. The distorted teachings of complementarity are taught in conservative Protestant churches too and are a growing issue in the evangelical world these days too (see stories about Beth Moore resigning from the Baptists)as are gay rights.
Is there any hope that the clerical class will ever listen to the people who are the church?
Forgot to emphasize - women's rights and gay rights are political issues AND teaching issues in the churches. It's hard to separate the political and religious realms these days.
Delete“I think it is likely that the next pope will "revert to the mean", meaning he will be less open and sympathetic to progressive ideas and causes than Francis has been. What will happen then?”
ReplyDeleteThe pattern in choosing popes and bishops has been less looking for a mean between progressive and conservative ideas and values, and more looking for what is lacking in the last pope or bishop’s governance style. Pius XII was very intellectual, John XXIII was very pastoral. Paul VI was a mainstream man of the Curia who had managed a diocese before election; JPII was from way outside the Curia and very young for a pope. B16 was very intellectual and another man of the Curia but old; Francis is very pastoral and definitely way outside the Curia. In other words, all the choices are more about governance style than about substantive issues. Cardinals may not have a lot of experience in picking a pope but they have sure seen a lot of picking of bishops and thus have a good idea about what type of ecclesial management is needed in various situations.
The big question at the next conclave will likely be the future of the synod of bishops. The cardinals will likely decide that there is no hope of finding a pope who can control the curia, and that their best hope is in a Pope that governs the church through the synods rather than the curia.
Most popes have their admirers who will carry on their legacy whether that be of Pius XII, John XXIII, JP2, B16 or Francis. That is all to the good if they imitate their virtues; however it does not help if they try to make the church to the image and style of their hero as if he still governed.
John XXIII irrevocably changed the church through Vatican II. B16 likely has irrevocably altered the papacy because of his resignation. Francis likely has irrevocably altered our perception of the clergy through his constant critique of clericalism. Now few Popes, bishops, or priests have endorsed whole heartedly Francis critique of clericalism, and few are likely in the future. But for many of us laity Francis has spoken truth about many of the clergy and much of the clerical establishment . Cardinal Tobin mother said she wanted Francis as pope because she was fed up with most cardinals and bishops and wanted someone who lived closer to the common person.
Catholicism is a communion of saints, a lot of very diverse saints who often were difficult to get along with, and often had difficulties with each other. A unity (fraternity, sisterhood, family) of diversity is what we are all about. We are not like other social organizations, e.g. businesses, or governments, or universities. What keeps us together is the Holy Spirit in our love for one another. Hatred is the work of the devil. When the Orthodox at Vatican II were asked about the document on the church, they replied that they would have written a treatise on the Holy Spirit with an appendix on anthropology.
NCR article today that is relevant.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/msgr-john-tracy-ellis-selecting-bishops-us
I am for democratizing the process, but must recognize that in the RCC, if it's only priests who participate in the process, the results might be even worse than they were under JPII and Benedict.
The younger priests (under 50 or so) are mostly very conservative because most of them became priests due to their admiration of the two very conservative predecessors of Francis. It seems that the polarization is so great that relatively few progressive minded men are interested in becoming priests, so it becomes a bit of a hopeless task to create balance.