Every healthy living organism goes through change. That is true for plants, for animals, for the human body. What is living cannot be stagnant.
Part of that change is the progress to conclusion of life, toward death itself. Those plants wither and die. Animals are consumed by other animals. The human body finally succumbs to age and God’s call to judgment.
Between birth or germination, and death, there is growth. There is the joy of new life and the strength and glory of maturity. And finally, there is the weakness that proclaims that the end is near.
I write this because the Church Herself is a human society animated by the Spirit of Jesus that will not fail us through the ages. But the Church is also a living body that goes through aspects of the same life and death of every living organism. As a Church, we have experienced the complete cycle of life in recent months.
Looking back, we were given the privilege and the example of accompanying Pope Francis in his final months. We recall his vigor as the Successor of Peter and the servant of Jesus and the Church, especially when he began his service in 2013. That vigor made his final months, as he was pushed in a wheelchair, handing his texts to assistants to be read, and with final visits with the faithful in St. Peter’s Basilica, to be a lesson in humility and the acceptance of the cross.
That lesson has become all the more impactful with the election of Pope Leo XIV. From the sadness of death as we lost our shepherd, we have experienced of the joy and gratitude as the guidance of Jesus and the Holy Spirit raised up a new Successor of St. Peter.
In this new pope, we have already been given a sense of calm and serenity. His image projects love for the Church and a command of his new situation for which no one could be fully ready or prepared. He is the witness to the faith for the Church in every part of the world. Every joy of the universal Church along with every problem comes either to his desk or to his prayers.
We have already seen him walking quickly and confidently into and out of meetings as Pope Francis had not been able to do for some time. He gives the faithful a sense of strength and of purpose. He conveys that image of the renewal of the Body of Christ after the death it shared with Pope Francis.
First messages are very important. In his first Sunday Regina Coeli message, Pope Leo commented, “And to young people, I say: “Do not be afraid! Accept the invitation of the Church and of Christ the Lord!”
The pope wants to encourage Catholic young people. And speaking to them, the new Holy Father could have given that same message to every member of the Church. To each of us he extended both the consolation and the challenge of faith.
We are constantly tempted to give in to fear. Fear that the world is too strong. Fear that God is distracted or doesn’t really care. Fear that a life of prayer, of sacrifice, of forgiveness is to accept only weakness and oppression.
Instead, in the moment of new life for the Church, Pope Leo calls us to trust Christ. And we are also called to trust the Church and our Catholic faith.
The new Holy Father is from Illinois. He merits our special prayers because we share this part of the world with him. But we draw from him the courage to trust. He is part of the new life for us in the Church that is renewed in every age because Jesus is always with us.
