The Church of Mercy (5 page)

When we recite the Creed, we say, “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” I don’t know if you have ever reflected on the meaning of the expression “the Church is apostolic.” Perhaps from time to time, coming to Rome, you have thought about the importance of the apostles Peter and Paul, who here gave their lives to bring and bear witness to the Gospel.

But it is even more. To profess that the Church is apostolic means to stress the constitutive bond that she has with the apostles, with that small group of twelve men whom Jesus one day called to himself; he called them by name, that they might remain with him and that he might send them out to preach (see Mark 3:13–19).
Apostle
, in fact, is a Greek word meaning “sent,” “dispatched.” An apostle is a person who has been given a mandate, sent to do something, and the apostles were chosen, called and sent out by Jesus to continue his work, that is, to pray—which is the primary job of an apostle—and, second, to proclaim the Gospel.

This is important, because when we think of the apostles, we might think that they were sent out only to proclaim the Gospel, to do many good deeds. However, a problem arose in the early times of the Church because of how much the apostles had to do, and that is why they instituted deacons, so that there would be more time for the apostles to pray and proclaim the Word of God. When we think of the successors of the apostles, the bishops—this includes the pope, for he too is a bishop—we must ask ourselves if this successor of the apostles prays first and then proclaims the Gospel: this is what it means to be an apostle, and this is what makes the Church apostolic. Every one of us, if we want to be apostles, as I shall explain now, must ask ourselves: Do I pray for the salvation of the world? Do I proclaim the Gospel? This is the Church apostolic! It is the constitutive bond that we have with the apostles.

Starting from this, I would like to focus briefly on the three meanings of the adjective
apostolic
as it is applied to the Church.

1. The Church is apostolic because she is
founded on the preaching and prayer of the apostles
, on the authority that was entrusted to them by Christ himself. St. Paul writes to the Christians of Ephesus: “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being a cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19–20); that is, he compares Christians to living stones that form an edifice that is the Church, and this edifice is founded on the apostles, who are like columns, and the cornerstone that carries it all is Jesus himself. Without Jesus the Church cannot exist! Jesus is the foundation of the Church—the foundation! The apostles lived with Jesus, they listened to his words, they shared his life; above all they were witnesses of his death and resurrection. Our faith, the Church that Christ willed, is not based on an idea; it is not based on a philosophy. It is based on Christ himself. And the Church is like a plant that over the long centuries has grown, has developed, has borne fruit, yet her roots are planted firmly in Christ and that fundamental experience of Christ which the apostles had, chosen and sent out by Jesus, reaching all the way to us. From this little plant to our day, this is how the Church has spread everywhere in the world.

2. But let us ask ourselves: How is it possible for us to be connected to that testimony? How could what the apostles’ experienced with Jesus, what they heard from him, reach us? This is the second meaning of the term
apostolic
. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church
states that the Church is apostolic because “with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church
keeps and hands on
the teaching, the ‘good deposit,’ the salutary words she has heard from the Apostles” (no. 857). Over the centuries, the Church conserves this precious treasure, which is sacred Scripture, doctrine, the sacraments, the ministry of pastors, so that we can be faithful to Christ and share in his very life. It is like a river coursing through history, developing, irrigating; but running water always comes from a source, and the source is Christ himself: he is the Risen One, he is the Living One, and his words never pass away, for he does not pass: he is alive, he is among us today, he hears us and we speak to him, and he listens; he is in our hearts. Jesus is with us today! This is the beauty of the Church: the presence of Jesus Christ among us. Do we ever think about how important this gift that Jesus gave us is, the gift of the Church, where we can meet him? Do we ever think about how it is precisely the Church on her journey through the centuries—despite the difficulties, the problems, the weaknesses, our sins—that transmits to us the authentic message of Christ? That she gives us the certainty that what we believe in is really what Christ communicated to us?

3. My final thought: the Church is apostolic because she
is sent to bring the Gospel to all the world
. She continues in history the mission that Jesus entrusted to the apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20). This is what Jesus told us to do! I insist on this missionary aspect, because Christ invites all to “go out” and encounter others; he sends us, he asks us to move in order to spread the joy of the Gospel! Once again let us ask ourselves: Are we missionaries by our words, and especially by our Christian life, by our witness? Or are we Christians closed in our hearts and in our churches—sacristy Christians? Are we Christians in name only, who live like pagans? We must ask ourselves these questions, which are not a rebuke. I ask myself as well: What kind of Christian am I? Is my witness true?

The Church’s roots are in the teaching of the apostles, the authentic witnesses of Christ, but she looks to the future, she has the firm consciousness of being sent—sent by Jesus—of being missionary, bearing the name of Jesus by her prayer, proclaiming it and testifying to it. A Church that is closed in on herself and in the past, a Church that only sees the little rules of behavior, of attitude, is a Church that betrays her own identity; a closed Church betrays her own identity! Then, let us rediscover today all the beauty and responsibility of being the Church apostolic! And remember this: the Church is apostolic because we pray—our first duty—and because we proclaim the Gospel by our life and by our words.

Now I would like to reflect on the Holy Spirit’s action in guiding the Church and each one of us to the Truth. Jesus himself told his disciples that the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13), since he himself is “the Spirit of Truth” (see John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13).

We are living in an age in which people are rather skeptical of truth. Benedict XVI has frequently spoken of relativism, that is, of the tendency to consider nothing definitive and to think that truth comes from consensus or from something we like. The question arises: Does
the
truth really exist? What is
the
truth? Can we know it? Can we find it? Here springs to my mind the question of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator, when Jesus reveals to him the deep meaning of his mission: “What is truth?” (John 18:37, 38). Pilate cannot understand that the truth is standing in front of him; he cannot see in Jesus the face of the truth that is the face of God. And yet Jesus is exactly this: the Truth that, in the fullness of time, “became flesh” (see John 1:1, 14) and came to dwell among us so that we might know it. The truth is not grasped as a thing; the truth is encountered. It is not a possession; it is an encounter with a Person.

But who can enable us to recognize that Jesus is the Word of Truth, the only begotten Son of God the Father? St. Paul teaches that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). It is the Holy Spirit himself, the gift of the risen Christ, who makes us recognize the Truth. Jesus describes him as the “Paraclete,” namely, “the one who comes to our aid,” who is beside us to sustain us on this journey of knowledge. And at the Last Supper, Jesus assures the disciples that the Holy Spirit will teach them all things and remind them of all he has said to them (see John 14:26).

So how does the Holy Spirit act in our life and in the life of the Church in order to guide us to the Truth? First of all, he recalls and impresses in the hearts of believers the words Jesus spoke and, through these very words, the law of God—as the prophets of the Old Testament had foretold—is engraved in our hearts and becomes within us a criterion for evaluation in decisions and for guidance in our daily actions; it becomes a principle to live by. Ezekiel’s great prophecy is brought about: “You shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you. . . . And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances” (Ezek. 36:25–27). Indeed, it is in our inmost depths that our actions come into being; it is the heart itself that must be converted to God, and the Holy Spirit transforms it when we open ourselves to him.

Then, as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit guides us “into all the truth” (John 16:13); not only does he guide us to the encounter with Jesus, the fullness of the Truth, but he also guides us “into” the Truth—that is, he makes us enter into an ever-deeper communion with Jesus, giving us knowledge of all the things of God. And we cannot achieve this by our own efforts. Unless God enlightens us from within, our Christian existence will be superficial. The Church’s tradition asserts that the Spirit of truth acts in our heart, inspiring that “sense of the faith” (
sensus fidei
) through which, as the Second Vatican Council states, the People of God, under the guidance of the magisterium, adheres unfailingly to the faith transmitted, penetrates it more deeply with the right judgment, and applies it more fully in life (see Dogmatic Constitution,
Lumen gentium
, no. 12). Let us try asking ourselves: Am I open to the action of the Holy Spirit? Do I pray to him to give me illumination, to make me more sensitive to God’s things? This is a prayer we must pray every day: “Holy Spirit, make my heart open to the word of God, make my heart open to goodness, make my heart open to the beauty of God every day.” I would like to ask everyone a question: how many of you pray every day to the Holy Spirit? There will not be many, but we must fulfill Jesus’ wish and pray every day to the Holy Spirit that he open our heart to Jesus.

Let us think of Mary, who “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19, 51). Acceptance of the words and truth of faith so that they may become life is brought about and increases under the action of the Holy Spirit. In this regard we must learn from Mary, we must relive her “yes,” her unreserved readiness to receive the Son of God in her life, which was transformed from that moment. Through the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son take up their abode with us: we live in God and of God. Yet is our life truly inspired by God? How many things do I put before God?

Dear brothers and sisters, we need to let ourselves be bathed in the light of the Holy Spirit so that he may lead us into the Truth of God, who is the one Lord of our life. In this Year of Faith let us ask ourselves whether we really have taken some steps to know Christ and the truth of faith better by reading and meditating on sacred Scripture, by studying the
Catechism
, and by receiving the sacraments regularly. However, let us ask ourselves at the same time what steps we are taking to ensure that faith governs the whole of our existence. We are not Christian “part-time,” only at certain moments, in certain circumstances, in certain decisions; no one can be Christian in this way. We are Christian all the time! Totally! May Christ’s truth, which the Holy Spirit teaches us and gives to us, always and totally affect our daily life. Let us call on him more often so that he may guide us on the path of disciples of Christ. Let us call on him every day. I am making this suggestion to you: let us invoke the Holy Spirit every day; in this way the Holy Spirit will bring us close to Jesus Christ.

On Pentecost Day we contemplate and relive in the liturgy the outpouring of the Holy Spirit sent by the risen Christ upon his Church, an event of grace that filled the Upper Room in Jerusalem and then spread throughout the world.

But what happened on that day, so distant from us and yet so close as to touch the very depths of our hearts? Luke gives us the answer in the passage of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–11). The evangelist brings us back to Jerusalem, to the Upper Room, where the apostles were gathered. The first element that draws our attention is the sound that suddenly came from heaven “like the rush of a violent wind” and filled the house; then the “tongues as of fire” that divided and came to rest on each of the apostles. Sound and tongues of fire: these are clear, concrete signs that touch the apostles not only from without but also within, deep in their minds and hearts. As a result, “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit,” who unleashed his irresistible power with amazing consequences: they all “began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” A completely unexpected scene opens up before our eyes: a great crowd gathers, astonished because each one heard the apostles speaking in their own language. They all experience something new, something which had never happened before: “We hear them, each of us, speaking our own language.” And what is it that they are speaking about? “God’s deeds of power.”

In the light of this passage from Acts, I would like to reflect on three words linked to the working of the Holy Spirit:
newness
,
harmony
, and
mission
.

1. 
Newness
always makes us a bit fearful, because we feel more secure if we have everything under control, if we are the ones who build, program, and plan our lives in accordance with our own ideas, our own comfort, and our own preferences. This is also the case when it comes to God. Often we follow him, we accept him, but only up to a certain point. It is hard to abandon ourselves to him with complete trust, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the soul and guide of our lives in our every decision. We fear that God may force us to strike out on new paths and leave behind our all too narrow, closed, and selfish horizons in order to become open to his own. Yet throughout the history of salvation, whenever God reveals himself, he brings newness—God always brings newness—and demands our complete trust: Noah, mocked by all, builds an ark and is saved; Abram leaves his land with only a promise in hand; Moses stands up to the might of Pharaoh and leads his people to freedom; the apostles, huddled fearfully in the Upper Room, go forth with courage to proclaim the Gospel. This is not a question of novelty for novelty’s sake, the search for something new to relieve our boredom, as is so often the case in our own day. The newness that God brings into our life is something that actually brings fulfillment, that gives true joy, true serenity, because God loves us and desires only our good. Let us ask ourselves today: are we open to “God’s surprises”? Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths that God’s newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures that have lost their capacity for openness to what is new? We would do well to ask ourselves these questions all through the day.

2. A second thought: the Holy Spirit would appear to create disorder in the Church, because he brings the diversity of charisms and gifts; yet all this, by his working, is a great source of wealth, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity, which does not mean uniformity, but that leads everything back to
harmony
. In the Church, it is the Holy Spirit who creates harmony. One of the Fathers of the Church has an expression I love: the Holy Spirit himself is harmony—
Ipse harmonia est
. He is indeed harmony. Only the Spirit can awaken diversity, plurality, and multiplicity while at the same time building unity. Here too, when we are the ones who try to create diversity and close ourselves up in what makes us different and other, we bring division. When we are the ones who want to build unity in accordance with our human plans, we end up creating uniformity, standardization. But if instead we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit, richness, variety, and diversity never become a source of conflict, because he impels us to experience variety within the communion of the Church. Our journeying together in the Church, under the guidance of her pastors who possess a special charism and ministry, is a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit. Having a sense of the Church is something fundamental for every Christian, every community, and every movement. It is the Church that brings Christ to me, and me to Christ; parallel journeys are very dangerous! When we venture beyond (
proagon
) the Church’s teaching and community—the apostle John tells us in his second letter—and do not remain in them, we are not one with the God of Jesus Christ (see 2 John 9). So let us ask ourselves: Am I open to the harmony of the Holy Spirit, overcoming every form of exclusivity? Do I let myself be guided by him, living in the Church and with the Church?

3. A final point. The older theologians used to say that the soul is a kind of sailboat, the Holy Spirit is the wind that fills its sails and drives it forward, and the gusts of wind are the gifts of the Spirit. Lacking his impulse and his grace, we do not go forward. The Holy Spirit draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us from the threat of a Church that is Gnostic and self-referential, closed in on herself. He impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith, the encounter with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the soul of
mission
. The events that took place in Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago are not something far removed from us; they are events that affect us and become a lived experience in each of us. The Pentecost of the Upper Room in Jerusalem is the beginning, a beginning that endures. The Holy Spirit is the supreme gift of the risen Christ to his apostles, yet he wants that gift to reach everyone. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to remain with you forever” (John 14:16). It is the Paraclete Spirit, the “Comforter,” who grants us the courage to take to the streets of the world, bringing the Gospel! The Holy Spirit makes us look to the horizon and drives us to the very outskirts of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ. Let us ask ourselves: do we tend to stay closed in on ourselves, on our group, or do we let the Holy Spirit open us to mission? Today let us remember these three words:
newness, harmony,
and
mission
.