Article of the Month

Paul's Advice


     Two icons, the testimony of Job and Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgement, can restore our certainty in the personal encounter with the Lord. To each of us, the Pope offered the advice that Paul gives to the Christians of Thessalonia, to “comfort one another” and “to speak about the coming of the Lord”, which is all that counts. In addition, don’t waste time chatting in the sacristy. During morning Mass at Santa Marta on Tuesday, 1 September, Francis also suggested a series of questions for an examination of conscience on how we are living our lives as we await the Lord.
     The Holy Father began his meditation by examining a passage from the First Letter which “the Apostle Paul writes to the community of Thessalonia” (5:1-6, 9-11), taken from the liturgy of the day. The Pope noted that perhaps “this letter is the first that he writes”. He addresses it to “a somewhat troubled community”, one that is preoccupied about the “how and when” of the Lord’s return. Thus, in the passage offered the previous day, Francis said, St Paul is compelled to tell them not to “grieve as others do who have no hope”. Indeed, the community is asking: “What happens to the dead, where do the dead go?”. And even: “When will the Lord come?”. And some answer: “He is coming now! And since he is coming now, let us not work!”.
     Thus Paul, a “practical” man, addresses the Thessalonian Christians with strong words: “one who does not work does not eat”. Thus, the Pope stated, the Apostle “has to teach the path of peace” to this community. In the previous day’s Reading too, Paul admonishes them not to “grieve because the Lord will come and your dead are with him”. But he then says something more: “and so we shall always be with the Lord”. This affirmation, said Francis, “is a great comfort”. Indeed, it “is what awaits us, all of us”. What’s more, he added, “yesterday’s passage ended with advice: ‘Therefore comfort one another with these words’”.
     But “today too”, the Pope said, “the passage we read ends with the same teaching: comfort one another”. It is indeed “comfort that gives hope: the Lord will come, and he will come when he wants to come, when he sees that the time has come”. No one can say when it will be: Paul even writes that the Lord “will come like a thief in the night, as travail comes upon a woman with child: he comes!”. From this perspective “what must we do?”. Paul offers this advice: “Comfort one another, encourage one another”. In other words, he tells them to talk about it together. “But I ask you”, Francis continued, “do we talk about the fact that the Lord will come, that we will meet him?”. Or “do we talk about many things, even theology, matters of the Church, of priests, nuns, monsignors, all this?”. And he added, “is this hope our comfort?”.
     Paul’s advice is to comfort one another, encourage one another in community. On this question Francis proposed an examination of conscience: “in our communities, in our parishes, do we talk about the fact that we are awaiting the Lord who is coming, or do we chat about this, that or the other, to pass a bit of time and not become too bored? What is my comfort? Is it this hope? Am I certain that the Lord will come to find me and take me with him? Am I certain of this?”.
     Pope Francis then repeated the words of the Responsorial Psalm 27[26]: “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. And right away he asked another question: “Do you believe that you will see the Lord?”. To consider this Francis referred to the “beautiful ending of Chapter 19 of the Book of Job”, and explained that “Job suffers greatly”, yet “amid his pain, his wounds, his misunderstandings, the suffering of not understanding why this has happened to him, he says: I am certain, I know that my Redeemer lives; I know that God lives and I shall see him, that with my eyes I shall behold him”.
     This witness challenges each one of us. Thus the Pope proposed a direct reflection: “Do I believe this? Or is it better not to think? Do we think about something else, because this certainty that the Lord will come to find me, to take me with him.... This is our peace, this is our comfort, this is our hope”.
     “It’s true, he will come to judge”, Francis added. “And when we go to the Sistine Chapel, we see that beautiful scene of the Last Judgement: it’s true!”. But “let us also think that he will come to find me so that I may see him with my own eyes, embrace him and always be with him. This is the hope that the Apostle Peter tells us to explain to others to bear witness to hope by our life”. Thus, this is the true comfort: “I believe — this is true certainty — that I shall see the goodness of the Lord. This is why, the Pope continued, returning to Paul’s counsel, “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. And this is how we go forward”. After all, precisely “in the opening prayer of the Mass”, he recalled, “we asked the Lord to nurture the seedling that he planted in us, that seed of goodness, that seed of grace”.
     Francis followed the homily by asking “the Lord for the grace that the seed of hope which he planted in our heart may continue to grow until the final meeting with him”, that we may say: “I believe that I shall see the Lord”; “I know that the Lord lives”; “I know that the Lord shall come to find me”. This is “the horizon of our life”. Therefore, the Pontiff concluded, “let us ask the Lord for this grace and comfort one another with good works and good words, on this path”.

The Angel and the Child
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     So that we are never left alone, God has put at each person’s side a guardian angel to support and protect us, to accompany us in life. It is up to us to perceive his presence, listening to his advice, with the docility of a child, in order to keep ourselves on the right path toward paradise. On Friday, 2 October, the Feast of the Guardian Angels, Francis dedicated his homily during Mass at Santa Marta to these “ambassadors of God”.
     The Pontiff drew inspiration for his reflection from the Eucharistic Prayer IV, because it contains “a phrase that makes us reflect”. In it, “we say to the Lord: ‘And when through disobedience [man] had lost your friendship, you did not abandon him”. And still, Francis said, “let us consider when Adam was expelled from paradise: the Lord did not say ‘make do as you can!’. He did not leave him to his own”.
     After all, said the Pope, referring to the First Reading from the Book of Exodus (23:20-23), God “has always sent us help: in this case we are talking about the help of the angels”. Indeed, the Bible passage reads: “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared”. So, the Lord “did not abandon” but “walked with his people. He walked with the man who had lost his friendship with Him: God’s heart is a father’s heart, and he never abandons his children”.
     The Pontiff remarked that “today the Liturgy makes us reflect on this, and also on a particular manner of fellowship, of the help that the Lord has given to all of us: guardian angels”. Each of us has one, he explained, “who accompanies us”. And, he added, “in prayer, at the beginning of Mass, we asked for the grace that in life’s journey we may be supported by their help so as to bask, with them, in heaven”.
     We are “actually supported by their help: the angels who walk with us”, the Pope reiterated, referring to the expression from Exodus: “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared”.
     Our guardian angel “is always with us and this is a reality: he is like an ambassador of God with us”. Again in the passage from the Book of Exodus, “the Lord counsels us: ‘Give heed to him”! Thus, “when we, for example, do something bad and think” we are alone, we have to remember that it isn’t so, because “he is there”. Here then, is the importance of “heeding his presence” and “hearkening to his voice, because he advises us”. This is why, “when we feel that inspiration, ‘Do this... this is better... you shouldn’t do this’”, the best thing to do is heed the advice and not rebel against your guardian angel.
     “My name is in him”, Francis continued. And “he advises us, accompanies us, walks with us in the name of God”. The Book of Exodus also points out the best attitude: “if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries”. But “what does this mean?”, the Pope asked. God’s response is clear: “I will be your protector, I will always defend you, guard you. ‘I!’, the Lord says, but because you have heeded the advice, the inspiration of the angel”.
     Sometimes, the Pontiff stated, we might think we can “hide many things”: it’s true, “we can hide them”. Yet “the Lord tells us that we can hide many terrible things, but in the end all will be known”. And, according to “the wisdom of the people”, the Pope said, “il diavolo fa le pentole, non i coperchi”, meaning “the devil makes the pots but not the lids”. In the end, however, “everything is known”; and “this angel, whom we all have”, is here “to give us counsel, to go along the path”. Thus “he is a friend, a friend that we don’t see, but that we hear; he is a friend who will be with us in heaven, in eternal joy”.
“     God sends us the angel”, Francis said, “to free us, to lead us away from fear, to lead us away from misfortune”. And “he asks only that we listen to him, respect him”. Thus, “only this: respect and listen”. And “this respecting and listening to this companion on the journey is called docility: a Christian must be docile to the Holy Spirit”, but “docility to the Holy Spirit begins with docility to the advice of this companion on the journey”.
     It is the “icon of the child” that Jesus chooses “when he wants to say how a Christian should be”. The day’s passage from Matthew (18:1-5, 10) reminds us: “Whoever humbles himself like this child” shall be greater in heaven. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven”.
     These words of Jesus, the Pope explained, mean “that the docility of this companion on the journey makes us like children: not arrogant; it makes us humble; it makes us small; not condescending like that proud or arrogant man. No, like a child!”. This is precisely “the docility that makes us great and leads us to heaven”.
     In closing his meditation, Francis asked the Lord for “the grace of this docility, of hearkening to the voice of this companion, of this ambassador of God who is beside us in his name”, so that we may be “supported by his help, always on the way”.
     And “also in this Mass, with which we praise the Lord”, he concluded, “let us remember how good the Lord is: after we lost his friendship he did not leave us to our own, he did not abandon us”, but “walked with us, with his people, and even today he gives us this companion on the journey”. Thus, “let us give thanks and praise to the Lord for this grace, and let us be attentive to this friend the Lord has given us”.

Credits:  These articles are from the Meditations of Pope Francis at the Vatican--Vatican.va--September/October 2015
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