Peace Be With You
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Habemus Papam! We’ve just lived through one of the most interesting and exciting things that can happen in the ordinary life of the Catholic Church: the election of a new pope. The decline of a current pope, his death, the days of mourning and prayer, the preparation for the conclave, the conclave itself, the introduction of a new pope… these are the kinds of events that tend to capture the imagination of the whole world for a few weeks, even among those who ordinarily go whole months or years without even thinking of the Catholic Church. There’s just something about the idea of a new pope, a new man stepping into leadership of the largest international organization in the world that is exciting. It sparks a lot of curiosity, conversation, and reflection.
One of the reflections that the election of a new pope brings to mind is this idea of responsibility. In the run up to his election and in the days immediately before, it’s hard not to spend at least a little time thinking about what kind of responsibility the new pope will have and whether or not the man elected will be up to the task. Most people who watch the first moments of a new pope’s introduction to the world will find something to latch onto in that first impression. For me, it was the gravity of the situation as reflected in Pope Leo XIV’s face. He stepped out onto that balcony, saw the crowds, and just paused. He took it all in, the hint of tears in his eyes. It seemed to me that I was watching in real time as a human being realized his responsibility, faced the daunting task, and then worked up the courage to get to work, starting with a simple, yet lovely exhortation to his flock. It remains to be seen whether this American-turned-Peruvian-turned-Pope will live up to his responsibility, but our task is not to judge. It is, rather, to pray for him and to be attentive to the ways in which God works through him - or perhaps despite him, if necessary.
Yet, this idea of responsibility is the theme I propose to you for this month’s reflection. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Does the pope know what he’s doing? It’s hard to imagine anyone can fully grasp the entire scope of shepherding the universal church as Christ’s vicar. Rather than prompting scorn or derision or cynicism, however, we ought to take our lead from Christ the Good Shepherd who pleads mercy on those who are “in over their heads” so to speak. The papacy is a stark example of a task beyond the abilities of a single human being, but the truth is that all of us are in some way responsible for more than we realize.
While you and I cannot unilaterally make a decision that affects the intimate faith lives of over a billion people, we do in fact make decisions all the time that affect the spiritual lives of others. Indeed, even the most personal and hidden sins are corporate in their nature. I don’t mean “corporate” as in a business, but in that it affects the body of the Church. Jesus warns us that “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops” (Luke 12:2-3) By Baptism, all of us belong to each other. We’re stones in the temple of God, cells in the Body of Christ, brothers and sisters in the divine family. St. Paul tells us that “God has so constructed the body… that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy” (1 Cor 12:24-26).
This is a mystical reality, a supernatural and invisible one, but it is no less real than the love of husband and wife, which is also invisible but very real. How does personal and hidden sin affect others? We may never understand this as clearly as we understand biology or physics (though mystery remains there too), but by faith, we can grasp at some understanding of the economy of grace. Just as blood and oxygen and nutrients travel throughout the entire human body, so God’s grace flows through the entire Church. In the body, if you surround certain cells or parts with an impenetrable barrier, those parts will begin to die. So too will any of the parts that rely on that one. If you injure the shoulder, the rest of the arm is affected. In the mystical body of the Church, that interconnection is even more thorough. Every person can be a channel of grace for every other person. People who have encountered saints often relate the sense that their mere proximity was spiritually empowering to them. St. Therese of Lisieux is a patron saint of missionaries despite never doing actual mission work. This is because she understood how she could be a channel of grace for anyone and everyone by her prayers and cooperation with God’s will.
If a saint can win grace for people she’s never met, it stands to reason that a sinner can be a barrier to grace for people without even realizing it. At the very least, every sin we commit represents a moment in our lives when we fail to be a channel of grace for others. This mystery is certainly more involved than that single metaphor, but it points us in the right direction. Our sins can harm the rest of the Church just as our virtues and graces can benefit the rest of the Church. This is why I say we all bear more responsibility than we realize. Jesus knows this. He knows every single instance of sin and selfishness and how those moments hardened a sinner, weakened a struggling believer, or simply failed to offer grace to someone who would have benefitted from it.
It’s a daunting thing to consider that even our tiniest, most hidden sins can have effects rippling so far into the world. Like Pope Leo XIV looking out at the world and realizing just what he’s responsible for, we should have a healthy appreciation for how serious our spiritual lives are. Also like Pope Leo, we should not be crushed under this realization. It’s fitting that his first words were “Peace be with all of you!” Those were the first words of Jesus to his apostles after they abandoned him to die on the cross.
We should be daunted by the responsibility we bear for our own souls and the souls of everyone connected to us. We should also be encouraged that, as great a responsibility as that is, God’s grace and mercy and even greater! “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” We know not how our sins and laxity have hurt the Church, but God offers us forgiveness nonetheless! The right response to the realization that I am responsible for more than I realize is not crippling fear. Humility? Yes. Sobriety? Yes. A new seriousness about seeking holiness? Yes. But not fear. Not anxiety. Just as a pope remains a human being who enjoys the many facets of human life - food and friends and rest and all that belongs to earthly life - so we should remain open to all of that. We are interconnected, we are responsible for each other in profound and important ways. Yet, thanks be to God that Jesus Christ is even more responsible for us. He became one of us, died for us, and rose from the dead for precisely that reason. We may not always know what we’re doing, but we know that so long as we try to do it with, for, and in Jesus Christ our merciful savior, there will be peace.