The Pope speaks to the Synod about the meaning of collegiality

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The meaning of collegiality, in this atmosphere of opening oneself to God and responding to his "knock", is "feeling" his presence to know how to go towards Him. This was the train of thought running throughout the meditation with which Benedict XVI this morning opened deliberations of the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His address was followed by a report of Cardinal Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice.

  In his meditation, the Pope underlined the significance of "brotherly correction", to be understood as a work of mercy. "None of us," he explained "sees himself and his shortcomings properly. And so it is an act of love, to complement one another, to help each other to see better, to correct ourselves. I think one of the purposes of collegiality is that of helping each other, even in the sense of the preceding imperative, to be aware of the gaps which we do not want to see – 'ab occultis meis munda me', says the Psalm – to help ourselves so that we may become open and may see these things".

Here is the text of the meditation of Benedict XVI (translated from Italian by AsiaNews):

Dear brothers, this text of today's Third Hour implies five imperatives and a promise. Let us seek to understand somewhat better what the Apostle wants to tell us by these words.

The first imperative is very common in the Letters of St Paul; in fact we could say it is practically the «cantus firmus» of his train of thought: «gaudate». In a life as tormented as his, a life full of persecution, hunger, suffering of all kinds, nonetheless the key word was always present: «gaudate».

The question arises here: is it possible to virtually command joy? Joy, we would say, comes or does not come, but it cannot be imposed as a duty. And here the most well-known text on joy in the Pauline letters comes to our aid, that of the «Domenica Gaudete», in the heart of the Advent Liturgy: «gaudete, iterum dico gaudete quia Dominus propest».

Here we hear the reason why Paul, in his sufferings, in all his tribulations, could not only tell others "gaudete": he could day it because joy was present in him. «Gaudete, Dominus enim prope est». If the loved one, love, the greatest gift of my life, is close to me, if I can be convinced that he who loves me is near me, even in times of tribulation, joy remains at the bottom of my heart, a joy greater than all sufferings.

The apostle could say «gaudete» because the Lord is near to each one of us. And thus this imperative is in reality an invitation to become aware of the presence of the Lord near to us. It is a sensitization to the presence of the Lord. The apostle wanted to make us attentive to this – hidden but very real – presence of Christ close to each one of us. The words of the Apocalypse are true for each one of us:

I am knocking at your door, listen to me, open to me. And so there is also an invitation to be sensitive to the presence of the Lord who is knocking at my door. Not to be deaf to Him, because the ears of our hearts are so full of so many noises of the world, that we cannot hear this silent presence knocking at our doors. Let us reflect, at the same time, about whether we are truly available to open the door of our heart; or perhaps our heart is full of many other things so there is no space for the Lord and for the moment, we do not have time for the Lord. And so, insensitive, deaf to his presence, full of other things, we do not hear the essential: He knocks at the door, he is close to us and hence true joy is close to us, that which is stronger than all the sadness in the world, in our life.

Let us pray, then in the context of this first imperative: Lord, make us aware of Your presence, help us to listen and not to be deaf to You, help us to have a free heart, open to You. The second imperative «perfecti estote», as it reads in the Latin text, seems to coincide with the words which sum up the Sermon on the Mount: «perfecti estote sicut Pater vester caelestis perfectus est».

These words invite us to be what we are: images of God, beings created in relationship with the Lord, a "mirror" in which the light of the Lord is reflected. Not to live Christianity according to the letter, not to listen to Sacred Scripture according to the letter, which is often difficult, historically debatable, but to go beyond the letter, the present reality, towards the Lord who talks to us and therefore to union with God. But if we look at the Greek text, we see another verb «catartizesthe», and this word would have us redo, repair an instrument, to restore it to its full use. The most frequent example for the apostles was to redo a fishermen's net which was no longer good, which had so many holes that it could no longer be used; redoing such a net so that it could be used again as a fishing net, restored to its perfection as an instrument for work. Another example: a musical string instrument has a torn string, so music cannot be played as it should. Thus, in this imperative, our soul appears as an apostolic net which often does not function well, because it is lacerated by our own intentions; or like a musical instrument which has, alas, a torn string, and therefore the music of God which should play from the bottom of our souls cannot sound well.  Repairing this instrument, knowing its lacerations, its destroyed parts, its negligence, how much it is neglected, and seeking its perfection and completion to serve that for which it was created by the Lord.

And so this imperative could also be an invitation for examination of the conscience, to see how my instrument is, how far it has been neglected and does not work anymore, to seek to restore its integrity. It is also an invitation to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which God himself remakes this instrument and gives us completeness, perfection and full use once again, until my soul resounds the praises of God.

Then «exortamini invicem». Brotherly correction is a work of mercy. None of us sees himself or his failings properly. And so it is an act of love, to complement one another, to help each other to see better, to correct each other. I think that one of the purposes of collegiality is precisely that of helping each other, in the sense of the preceding imperative, to be aware of the holes that we do not wish to see – 'ab occultis meis munda me', says the Psalm – to help ourselves so that we may become open and may see these things.

Naturally, this great work of mercy, helping one another so that each may truly find his integrity and his purpose as God's instrument, calls for much humility and love. Only if it comes from a humble heart which does not impose itself on another, does not consider itself better than the other, but merely as a humble instrument for mutual support.

Only if this profound and true humility is felt, if these words come from shared love, from collegial affection in which we desire together to serve God, can we help each other with a great act of love in this way. Even here, the Greek text adds an undertone: the Greek word is «paracaleisthe»; it is the same root from which the word «Paracletos, paraclesis», the consoler, comes. Not only to correct, but to console, to share the suffering of the other, to help him in difficulties. And this too seems to me to be a great act of true collegial affection. In the many difficult situations which arise today in our pastoral ministry, some may find themselves really feeling somewhat desperate, and they do not see how they can move ahead. At this time, such a person needs consolation, someone to be with him in his interior solitude, and to fulfill the work of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler – he who gives courage – to support each other, helped by the Holy Spirit himself who is the great Paraclete, the Consoler, our Advocate who helps us. Hence it is an invitation to do «ad invicem» the work of the Holy Spirit Paraclete ourselves.

«Idem sapite»: we heard behind the Latin word, the word «sapor», «sapore»: Have the same taste for things, have the same fundamental vision of reality with all the differences which are not only legitimate but necessary; have «eundem sapore», have the same sensibility. The Greek text says «froneite», the same thing. That is, be essentially of one mind. How can we, in essence, have a shared mind to help us guide the Holy Church together, if not by sharing the faith which was not invented by anyone of us, but which is the faith of the Church, the common foundation which carries us, on which we rest and work?

This then is an invitation to immerse ourselves once again in this shared way of thinking, in this faith which goes before us. «Non respicias peccata nostra sed fidem Ecclesiae tuae»: it is the faith of the Church which the Lord seeks in us and which is also the forgiveness of sins. Having this shared faith. We can, we must live this faith, each one in his originality, but always knowing that this faith goes before us. And we must communicate the shared faith to all others.  This element brings us to the last imperative, which gives us profound peace among us.

And at this point, we can think also about «touto froneite», about another text of the Letter to Philippians, where the apostle tells us, at the start of his great hymn about the Lord: have the same feelings as Christ, enter into «fronesis», in «fronein», in the mind of Christ. Thus we can have the faith of the Church together, because with this faith, we enter into the thoughts, the feelings of the Lord. Thinking together with Christ.

This is the ultimate depth reached in this advice of the apostle: thinking with the mind of Christ. And we can do it by reading the Holy Scripture in which the thoughts of Christ are the Word, they talk to us. In this sense, we must do the «Lectio Divina», listening to the thoughts of Christ in the Scriptures, learning to think with Christ, to think the thoughts of Christ and thus to have the sentiments of Christ, to be able to give to others too the thoughts and sentiments of Christ.

And so the last imperative, «pacem habete et eireneuete», is virtually a summary of the four imperatives which came before, being in union with God who is our peace, with Christ who told us: «pacem dabo vobis». We are in interior peace because being in the mind of Christ unites our being. The difficulties, the contrasts of our soul come together, united to the original, to that of which we are images with the mind of Christ. Thus interior peace is born and only if we are founded on profound interior peace, can we be people of peace even in the world, for others.

Here the question arises: is this promise conditioned by imperatives? That is, will this God of peace be with us only in as much as we can realize these imperatives? What is the relation between the imperative and the promise?

I would say it is bilateral, that is, the promise comes before the imperatives and makes them possible, and it follows the realization of the same imperatives. That is, before everything we do ourselves, the God of love and peace has opened himself to us, he is with us. In the revelation started in the Old Testament, God came to meet us with his love, with his peace.

And finally in the Incarnation, he made himself God with us, Emmanuel, and this God of peace is with us, who became flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood.

He is man with us and embraces all the human being. And in the crucifixion and the descent into hell, he became one with us completely; he goes before us with his love, embracing first of all our behavior. And this is the great consolation. God goes before us. He has already done everything. He has given us peace and forgiveness and love. He is with us. It is only because he is with us, because in Baptism we received his grace, in Confirmation the Holy Spirit, in the Sacrament of Ordination we received his mission, that we can now proceed, cooperating with his presence which goes before us. All these actions of ours which the five imperatives tackle amount to a co-operation, a collaboration with the God of peace who is with us. However on the other hand, it is valid to the extent that we truly enter into this presence he gave us, into this gift already present in our being. His presence, his being with us, grows naturally.

Let us pray to the Lord that he may teach us to collaborate with his grace which precedes us and to remain always truly with us. Amen!

• POPE
• VATICAN
• SYNOD
• COLLEGIALITY
• BROTHERLY
• CORRECTION