Before watching Pope Francis celebrate Midnight Mass, there were two times when I recall understanding a foreign speaker without knowing his language. Francis was the third.
Pazienza di Dio,
vicinanza di Dio,
tenerezza di Dio.
On this sixth day of Christmas, we continue to reflect on
Fr. Alfred Delp’s question, what difference it makes in our lives that Christ
is born.
The first was an Italian, like Francis. Velio was describing to us the work in his
alabaster studio in Volterra, where our students spent their summer. His whole body spoke, and his old eyes gave
off a light that made his words clear.
He became his words, and to see him was to know what he was saying.
The second was a priest, like Francis. In a side chapel that provided intimacy in
the cavernous Frankfurt Cathedral, the celebrant’s homily was about the Good
Shepherd.
He became his words, and to see him was to know what he was
saying.
“The Word of God”; that is what John calls Jesus in the
first chapter of his Gospel. There was a
point at which Francis illuminated that name without speaking it. Francis read from his text with bodily
gesture and eye contact, tempo and inflection, making the words come to
life. But at one point his eyes paused
on the congregation, and he looked intently at them, breaking the cadence of
his presentation. And his words that
were born in that silent pause “became flesh.”
Pazienza di Dio,
vicinanza di Dio,
tenerezza di Dio.
The patience of God,
the closeness of God,
the tenderness of God.
Francis became the
words – patient, close, and tender with us.
He became his words, and to see him was to know what he was
saying.
What difference did it make to Pope Francis that Jesus was born? He was changed
by the experience enough to become the words of truth that emerged from his
soul, filled to overflowing with awareness of God.
Incarnation. Words
becoming flesh. Velio, the German priest,
and Francis call me to the almost irresistible beauty of this incarnation. Almost.
I will need a lot of grace to pull it off myself, to be the words I’m
given, to change into God’s patience, and closeness, and tenderness.
Over the next three days we’ll spend time reflecting and
praying with those three words.
Meanwhile, here is a link to Francis’s Midnight Mass homily…inEnglish.
FreeLemonadeStand by John J. Daniels is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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