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| Bishop Speaks | ||||
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| January 24, 2002 Edition | ||||
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Evangelization
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Capturing the spirit and wisdom of holy people is difficult, yet God in His wisdom provides us with saints -- holy men and women by whose example we can see very concretely how they responded to God's call to holiness. Blessed John XXIII is such a person.
Call to holiness
I must admit to some fascination, along with immense admiration and devotion, with Blessed John XXIII. He was known as the portly peasant pope, but he was in reality a man who knew well how to promote evangelization of the people, call the Church to see social justice as a constitutive element of the Gospel, teach us how to be generous stewards of creation through his writings and good example, and embody qualities of openness and vision.
He knew the Church had to move from a fortress-like mentality to a Church of warmth, welcome, and hospitality. He was able to do this without compromise to Church teaching and practice.
A Pope of hope
Let me share some thoughts with you that made this Pope of our time and history a man of vision, a man whose very countenance and joyful spirit announced hope to a world crushed by three wars and economic depression from the 1900s to the beginning of his pontificate in 1958.
Pope John XXIII, often called "good Pope John," suffered a death by cancer, wrote significant encyclicals on peace ("Pacem in Terris"), and on social justice ("Mater et Magistra").
In four and one-half years he turned four and one-half centuries around by turning the Church away from what I call a "fortress" mentality -- which was very necessary because of the attacks on the Church's authority at the time of the Protestant Reformation.
"Blessed John XXIII wished to convert the lingering fear and hostility among people to space for others -- into hospitality and welcome in Christ." |
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The courage for the Council
Pope John XXIII opened the Church from fortress to dialogue. He was a man of courage. The Church of 1950 years needed an ecumenical council; would he, at age 76, be courageous enough to call a worldwide council -- Vatican II?
The answer was yes. Pope John XXIII, elected by 49 cardinals in the fall of 1958, announced on January 25, 1959 -- the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul -- that he was calling an ecumenical council.
The news electrified the world, planting new hope in the hearts of the whole Christian world. Pope John XXIII wished to share his vision, open up the treasury of the Church's teaching, prayer, art, spirituality, scholarship, and biblical studies for the whole world to know in its fullness.
He was saying, "We want to reach out; we want to come to you; we want, in this time and moment of history, to recognize the goodness of people of all faiths and become one in Christ."
Blessed John XXIII wished to convert the lingering fear and hostility among people to space for others -- into hospitality and welcome in Christ. He wanted not to announce it from a fortress, but to offer it in an uncompromising way through dialogue.
Aggiornamento
"Aggiornamento" was his Vatican Council II word, a word that would allow new light, grace, and progress in Church life. It would help unfold the true, the beautiful, the pastoral, the liturgical, and in all, the compassion of the Church for the whole world to see.
Like any ecumenical council, there was some unhappy fallout here and there, but in the basics the Church unfolded for the world her goodness, her rich history and vitality.
By "fortress mentality of the Church" I mean this: as Church, we were the impenetrable rock, high on a mountain. "Come to us, we will show you our strength," we said. By "aggiornamento," by hospitable welcome the Church said, "We will come to you; we will dialogue with you on all levels."
Invited us to continue our growth
John XXIII was an evangelist -- he let the Gospel come alive. His age never dampened his enthusiasm, his love, his intense desire to bring new vision and hope to the Church and to the world.
Following his able 20th century predecessors Pius XII, Pius XI, Benedict XV, and Saint Pius X, he wrote powerfully about social justice and good stewardship. He invited all to convert hostile attitudes of suspicion and fear into honest dialogue with all the world.
Cardinal Dulles . . .
Some in our generation complain that the Church is "not up to the times," as though it had to be pursuing the latest theories and styles. As Cardinal Avery Dulles says, it would be better to ask whether the world of non-belief is still lagging far behind the revolutionary vision that Christ brought to our history.
The faith has not been given to the Church as a private possession, says Cardinal Dulles, but as a public trust to be passed on to others.
Cardinal Keeler . . .
As we do this, Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore reminds us, "the apologetics by some today rehashes presentations that no longer apply -- they are rigid, non-applicable, and belong to another age. We must seek ways of transmitting the great perennial and living tradition of the Church in new settings and under new circumstances."
I am personally asking the intercession of Blessed John XXIII, that he will intercede for us in our Diocese, so that we may be true advocates and promoters of evangelization, social justice, stewardship, and hospitality in 2002 and the many years ahead.
Devotion to Blessed John XXIII
When Pope John XXIII was beatified, our two theology seminarians, Jay Poster and Brian Wilk, from John XXIII Seminary in Boston, attended the ceremony in Rome with Monsignor Paul Swain. On his return, Monsignor Swain gave me an icon of Blessed John XXIII that I have in a prominent place in my residence.
I have developed a special devotion to Blessed John XXIII as part of my own response to God's call to holiness, and I recommend that you do the same.
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Bishop's Letter
Latin America and Home Missions Collection
Dear Friends in Christ:
The annual combined collection for Latin America and Home Missions will be taken the weekend of January 26 and 27. Building One Church in One America is the theme for this year's collection and the goal of the Catholic Bishops of the United States and those in other countries.
Your donations support grants to educate priests, religious and lay pastoral leaders, assist missionaries and pastoral workers, train catechists and youth ministers, enable the work of the Church among the poor in Central and Latin America and the Caribbean. Last year your generosity supported hurricane relief, the purchase of Bibles and education materials in local languages, pastoral work among abused women, and the preparation of Catholic school teachers, among many worthy programs.
Similar programs are supported in the United States through the Home Missions collection. Funds you donate are used in those dioceses in our own country, in the south, southwest and some urban areas, where local resources are insufficient to provide for the sacraments, religious education, and the maintenance of safe facilities for worship, evangelization and the gathering of the Catholic community.
Today two-thirds of our Church of over one billion people live in so-called third world countries. We are brothers and sisters in Christ not only within the United States but throughout the Americas, indeed the whole world. Please respond generously to this collection as we continue to work to build one Church in one America. Thank you for your usual generous response.
Grace, Mercy, and Peace,
Most Reverend William H. Bullock
Bishop of Madison
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