“Good Pope John”

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Pope John XXIII, prayer, Second Vatican Council, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we honor Pope (now “Saint”) John XXIII, the humble man whose vision shocked the world of the 20th century with an aggiornamento (updating) that invigorated the Catholic Church in the modern world. His faith and integrity was grounded in his love and holiness. He was known to have lived by simple prayer and love for his Church, the world and people everywhere. Here is one of his simply stated pearls of wisdom.

Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less.

Good Pope John

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Gospel, Pope John XXIII, Saint John XXIII, Second Vatican Council, serve, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understand

Today we honor the life of the one remembered as “Good” Pope John, now called “Saint John XXIII.” Pope Francis made official in April of 2014 what Christians (and others) around the world knew for decades. Most vivid in my memory were the videos of the day in October of 1963 when the Second Vatican Council was inaugurated. Carried in procession in the midst of throngs of Catholics and others from the worldwide gathering, Pope John oozed humility and love. His head slightly bowed as he waved to those gathered, tears were in his eyes at the momentous beginning of what was to be a Council that rocked the world and changed the trajectory of the Roman Catholic Church for good.

Less than a year from that day, John XXIII died, leaving a final message of hope, not only for his beloved Church, but for the entire world. We would do well to reflect on it today and re-energize our efforts toward his vision.

Now more than ever, he said, certainly more than in past centuries, our intention is to serve people as such and not only Catholics.; to defend above all and everywhere the rights of the human person…It is not the Gospel that changes; it is we who begin to understand it better...The moment has arrived when we must recognize the signs of the times, seize the opportunity and look abroad. (June 3, 1963)

Listening for the Spirit

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Acts of the Apostles, Jesus, Peter, Pope John XXIII, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Each time the Church reads lectionary texts from the book entitled Acts of the Apostles I come to appreciate these followers of Jesus in a deeper way. One might call this book “The rest of the story” – when the followers of Christ became the major characters and needed to listen inwardly to God’s directives rather than having recourse to the physical presence of Jesus. Peter is especially interesting to me this year as he takes the leadership that Christ called him to at that famous catch of fish in the early morning of breakfast on the beach.

Today’s reading from chapter 11 (1-18) Is especially timely in our day, I think, as Peter related his vision which indicated acceptance of others whose ritual laws were different from his own. Listen to Peter’s words:

1. But a second time a voice from heaven answered, “What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.”
2. The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
3. If then, God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?

It must have taken a lot of courage for Peter to veer from what had always been his beliefs to consider those of others. It could only have been grace that allowed him to see more clearly and deeply what was needed. I think of Pope John XXIII, now a canonized saint of the Roman Catholic Church, who was similarly called in 1959 to announce the Second Vatican Council, a world-wide gathering of prelates and consultants to “update” the Church to deal with issues of the times. By the end of the Council that occurred each autumn season from 1962 to 1965, the participants had produced 16 foundational documents, five of which spoke directly to relationships with other religious groups – Christians and beyond. Different in scope but similar in intent, Peter and John XXIII changed the face and welcome of what had been to what might be for a better future.

We do not need to abandon our own beliefs in order to welcome others. We simply (or not so simply) need a clear eye and an open heart to hear the deep yearnings of people. If we listen carefully, we will likely find more to accept than to deny and a widening of understanding will benefit the whole.

May the Spirit of God be found in us and be spoken aloud for the good of the world!

Pope Saint John XXIII

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gratitude, holiness, humility, humor, Job, Pope John XXIII, saint, Second Vatican Council, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we celebrate Pope John XXIII, canonized (some would add “finally!”) by Pope Francis in 2014. The website franciscanmedia.org opens today’s reflection with a wonderful sentence: “A shy, retiring man with a wonderful sense of humor, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli became our beloved Pope St. John XXIII.” It is well known that he was elected by the College of Cardinals as a stop-gap pope to give them time to “get the politics ironed out for a more permanent candidate.” The Holy Spirit had other plans, however, as John XXIII rocked the Church by calling the Second Vatican Council, an aggiornamento (updating) that changed the face of Roman Catholicism for all time.

We remember Pope John for that cataclysmic event (1962-1965) as if he had never done anything in his life before, but here are a few of his credentials that should have alerted people to his fitness for the “job” of Pope even before the Council.

He was the eldest son of a farm family, simple and not interested in the limelight but rather proud of his down-to-earth roots. Having served as a stretcher bearer in World War I, he experienced war firsthand. After ordination to the priesthood he became a canon lawyer, secretary to his bishop, history teacher in the seminary and publisher of the diocesan newspaper in Rome. Subsequently, he was Italy’s national director for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith while also teaching in the seminary. He served as a papal diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey and France. During World War II he became acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders and with the help of Germany’s ambassador to Turkey, helped save an estimated 24,000 Jewish people. As a cardinal, he was the Patriarch of Venice and a residential bishop, finally being elected Pope in his 78th year. As pope, He worked with political and religious leaders around the world and was deeply involved in efforts to resolve the Cuban missile crisis. He enlarged the membership of the College of Cardinals, making it more international, and wrote important encyclical letters to the world, most famously about the Church: Mater et magistra (Mother and Teacher) and the world: Pacem in terris (Peace on Earth).

It could be said that all of those credentials, so wonderfully documented at www.franciscanmedia.org, are overshadowed by his holiness and humility. Although it is useless to quantify such qualities, we would do well to think on these things and pray in gratitude for this saintly friend of God who served his Church and the world so well.