Viva il Papa!
In the Gospel, we hear Jesus proclaiming, “So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.” [Mt 16:18] But St Paul also mentions that, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” [1 Cor 3:11] At a quick surface glance of the two scripture verses above, it seems that St Peter and Jesus are almost synonymous, since they are both mentioned to be the foundation of the Christian community. Of course, none of us would equate St Peter to Christ, but in this blog entry we will try to reflect on the connection between Christ and St Peter and his successors in the context of the Church.
Today we celebrate the Anniversary of the Solemn Inauguration of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. My first and only encounter with the Holy Father was during World Youth Day in July 2008. Drowned in the sea of people from all over the world, I could only catch glimpses of the Holy Father at a distance. Every now and then the crowd would be cheering, “Benedetto!”
I remember thinking to myself: Do these people actually know who they were cheering for? Do they know the pope personally? Do they know who this Joseph Ratzinger from Germany is? How many of them actually know Cardinal Ratzinger’s portfolio in the Vatican before being elected as the pope?
The answer came to me one evening as I was staring at the moon. I was thinking that I could see the moon clearly that evening because it was shining brightly. But we also know that the moon doesn’t give out light –it merely reflects the light from the sun, which was nowhere to be seen at that time.
The World Youth Day crowd wasn’t cheering so much for Joseph Ratzinger but for Pope Benedict who is the representative of Christ on earth. Like the sun, we cannot see Christ physically here on earth, but we can see the Pope, who in himself is not at all significant if the light of Christ doesn’t shine on him. What matters in the end is not who Pope Benedict is but whom he represents. That is why the Pope is also referred to as the Vicar of Christ.
The Pope, together with the Church and the People of God whom he serves, are tangible signs of Christ’s presence here on earth. So let us allow the light of Christ shine into the world through all of us, for “no one lights a lamp to put it under a tub … [but] your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” [Mt 5:15-16]
Let us always remember our Holy Father in our prayers especially now that the Church is experiencing a very challenging time.
Long Live the Pope! God bless His Servant!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stay tuned for the next post by Br Alphonsus Dominic on 21st Apr 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment