Gathering the Nations

Gathering the Nations into the Peace of God's Kingdom

After months of waiting, our big week is finally here.

Pope Francis will be landing in Washington Tuesday afternoon.

Everyone wants to see him.

Some because they view him as a superstar celebrity.

Some because they recognize him as one of the top world leaders.

Some because they recognize him as a spiritual leader, the earthly head of Christ’s Church.

Jesus’ top representative---continuing the task of gathering the nations.

We have to pretty much shut down the city for security and crowd control.

So will New York and Philadelphia.

It’s quite unlike the quiet journey Jesus tries to take through Galilee in today’s Gospel.

Speaking of superstars, the title song from the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, asks Jesus:

Why’d you choose such a backward time, and such a strange land?

If you’d come today you could have reached a whole nation.

But Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.

Well here we are today; we may still be backward and strange.

But mass communication is now standing by to help Francis reach the whole nation.

And the whole world.

I was up at the Basilica Thursday night, a week before the papal Mass,

And the TV broadcast trucks with their giant periscoping transmitters are already in place.

Of course, Francis is also visiting other parts of the world in person.

And drawing even larger crowds than here.

                                                                            

Most of us Catholics are thrilled to see so many people embrace our Pope.

It gives us renewed hope for our Church and our values and our world.

If his charismatic personality can draw multitudes to the truth, that’s great.

But we know better than to rely too heavily on that.

We’ve all seen how quickly that kind of fame and attraction can disappear.

No doubt there’s an element of that in Francis’ popularity.

But there seems to be something greater here—something deep and genuine.

He has captured the attention of many who had turned away from the Church.

Members and non-members alike.

Many who felt the Church had become irrelevant, out of touch with the modern world.

Francis’ emphasis on mercy, help for the poor, and preservation of the earth has struck a chord.

Many are drawn by his willingness to hold discussions on difficult issues.
Like annulments and gay rights.

He’s creating high anxiety among those who are most strongly tied to tradition.

And high hopes for those who are eager for change—even radical change.

There will no doubt be some disappointments for both those groups.

But we should all gain from the discussion.

It could be a great learning opportunity for all of us.

Whether from within the Church or without.

Of course, there are many essential things that can’t be opened to change.

But if they’re questioned, the Church has an opportunity for education.

A chance to have an attentive audience listen to an explanation expressed in today’s context.

An opportunity for evangelization.

Some customs and positions and practices and attitudes are open to change.

And some changes might indeed be made.

Just last week we had significant procedural streamlining of the annulment process.

In an atmosphere of open discussion, many matters will be raised.
Appropriate and inappropriate.

Most discussions will lead to no change.

But the very act of discussion would give us those benefits of education and evangelization.

A chance to reaffirm and explain traditional positions in the context of today’s world.

The world has a short attention span.

So we should grab the opportunity to capitalize on our Pope’s current popularity.

We don’t want to promote just a papal popularity cult.

And neither does Francis.

He clearly knows his role is to draw followers not to himself but to Jesus.

To help guide the world to God.

He’s demonstrated the humility and service to others that Jesus calls for in today’s Gospel.

Over the years he has shown his strong affinity with the poor and the powerless.

Those represented by that child Jesus held out in his lesson for his apostles.

Urging that attitude of service, and that preference for the poor,

Are surely among the messages Francis will bring to us on this visit.

And no doubt he’ll talk about the ecology.

There’s a lot of speculation as to how strong his message might be.

And whether some of us might take offense.

We are, after all, a very wealthy people.

We may think we’re quite generous to the world’s poor, but are we really?

We’re probably the most powerful nation on earth.

Do we always use that power properly, wisely, fairly?

We’re also a very materialistic nation.

And we’re not always the best stewards of the earth’s natural resources.

On top of all that, we’re an extremely polarized nation.

With far too much animosity between the far right and the far left.

An outsider like Francis might have some constructive observations for us.

He might go so far as to set himself against our doings and reproach us for our transgressions.

If he does offer that kind of fraternal correction, let’s not find him obnoxious.

Let’s not argue that our country is the greatest and above reproach.

Let’s instead take a closer look at our country and at ourselves.

Surely we’ll see that there’s plenty of room for improvement.

                                                                      

And even if he does reproach a little, his main message will still be the Good News.

The Good News of God’s love and mercy.

Abundant, extravagant love and mercy for all of us and each of us.

Love and mercy that we can, in turn, reflect out.

Out to each other: the poor the powerless and our polar opposites.

And out to our planet.

25th Sunday Ordinary Time

Mk 9:30-37     Read this Scripture @usccb.org