Pope
Francis to new Cardinals: presiding flows from charity
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis presided over an ordinary Public Consistory for the
Creation of New Cardinals on Saturday morning, in St. Peter’s Basilica. 20 new members of the Clergy of Rome were created, the
Pope’s closest partners in mission. Addressing the membership of the College of
Cardinals gathered for the occasion, Pope Francis spoke of the nature of
ecclesial service, explaining that the higher one is in honor, the more perfect
and absolute must be his spirit and dedication to Christ and the upbuilding of
His Kingdom. “In the Church,” said Pope Francis, “all ‘presiding’ flows from
charity, must be exercised in charity, and is ordered towards charity.” Below,
please find the full text, in English, of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks.
*************************************
Dear
Brother Cardinals,
The
cardinalate is certainly an honour, but it is not honorific. This we
already know from its name – “cardinal” – from the word “cardo”, a hinge.
As such it is not a kind of accessory, a decoration, like an honorary
title. Rather, it is a pivot, a point of support and movement essential
for the life of the community. You are “hinges” and are “incardinated” in
the Church of Rome, which “presides over the entire assembly of charity” (Lumen
Gentium, 13; cf. IGN. ANT., Ad Rom., Prologue).
In
the Church, all “presiding” flows from charity, must be exercised in charity,
and is ordered towards charity. Here too the Church of Rome exercises an
exemplary role. Just as she presides in charity, so too each particular
Church is called, within its own sphere, to preside in charity.
For
this reason, I believe that the “hymn to charity” in Saint Paul’s first letter
to the Corinthians can be taken as a guiding theme for this celebration and for
your ministry, especially for those of you who today enter the College of
Cardinals. All of us, myself first and each of you with me, would do well
to let ourselves be guided by the inspired words of the apostle Paul,
especially in the passage where he lists the marks of charity. May our
Mother Mary help us to listen. She gave the world Jesus, charity
incarnate, who is “the more excellentWay” (cf. 1 Cor 12:31);
may she help us to receive this Word and always to advance on this Way.
May she assist us by her humility and maternal tenderness, because charity, as
God’s gift, grows wherever humility and tenderness are found.
Saint
Paul tells us that charity is, above all, “patient” and “kind”. The
greater our responsibility in serving the Church, the more our hearts must
expand according to the measure of the heart of Christ. “Patience” –
“forbearance” – is in some sense synonymous with catholicity. It means
being able to love without limits, but also to be faithful in particular
situations and with practical gestures. It means loving what is great
without neglecting what is small; loving the little things within the horizon
of the great things, since “non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo
divinum est”. To know how to love through acts of kindness.
“Kindness” – benevolence –means the firm and persevering intention to always
will the good of others, even those unfriendly to us.
The
Apostle goes on to say that charity “is not jealous or boastful, it is not
puffed up with pride”. This is surely a miracle of love, since we humans
– all of us, at every stage of our lives – are inclined to jealousy and pride,
since our nature is wounded by sin. Nor are Church dignitaries immune
from this temptation. But for this very reason, dear brothers, the divine
power of love, which transforms hearts, can be all the more evident in us, so
that it is no longer you who live, but rather Christ who lives in you.
And Jesus is love to the fullest.
Saint
Paul then tells us that charity “is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on
its own way”. These two characteristics show that those who abide in
charity are not self-centred. The self-centred inevitably become
disrespectful; very often they do not even notice this, since “respect” is
precisely the ability to acknowledge others, to acknowledge their dignity,
their condition, their needs. The self-centred person inevitably seeks
his own interests; he thinks this is normal, even necessary. Those
“interests” can even be cloaked in noble appearances, but underlying them all
is always “self-interest”. Charity, however, makes us draw back from the centre
in order to set ourselves in the real centre, which is Christ alone.
Then, and only then, can we be persons who are respectful and attentive to the
good of others.
Charity,
Saint Paul says, “is not irritable, it is not resentful”. Pastors close
to their people have plenty of opportunities to be irritable, to feel
anger. Perhaps we risk being all the more irritable in relationships with
our confreres, since in effect we have less excuses. Even here, charity,
and charity alone, frees us. It frees us from the risk of reacting
impulsively, of saying or doing the wrong thing; above all it frees us from the
mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smouldering anger which makes us brood
over wrongs we have received. No. This is unacceptable in a man of
the Church. Even if a momentary outburst is forgivable, this is not the
case with rancour. God save us from that!
Charity
– Saint Paul adds – “does not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the
right”. Those called to the service of governance in the Church need to
have a strong sense of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes
unacceptable, even those which might bring gain to himself or to the
Church. At the same time, he must “rejoice in the right”. What a
beautiful phrase! The man of God is someone captivated by truth, one who
encounters it fully in the word and flesh of Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible
source of our joy. May the people of God always see in us a firm
condemnation of injustice and joyful service to the truth.
Finally,
“love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things”. Here, in four words, is a spiritual and pastoral programme of
life. The love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
enables us to live like this, to be like this: as persons always ready to
forgive; always ready to trust, because we are full of faith in God; always
ready to inspire hope, because we ourselves are full of hope in God; persons
ready to bear patiently every situation and each of our brothers and sisters,
in union with Christ, who bore with love the burden of our sins.
Dear
brothers, this comes to us not from ourselves, but from God. God is love
and he accomplishes all this in us if only we prove docile to the working of
his Holy Spirit. This, then, is how we are to be: “incardinated” and
docile. The more we are “incardinated” in the Church of Rome, the more we
should become docile to the Spirit, so that charity can give form and meaning
to all that we are and all that we do. Incardinated in the Church which
presides in charity, docile to the Holy Spirit who pours into our hearts the
love of God (cf.Rom 5:5). Amen.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét