Did you ever dissect anything when you were in high school biology class? I remember a worm, and a frog, and a fetal
pig. It did narrow my vocational
discernment by at least one degree – I knew I was not called to practice
medicine.
Suddenly I was reminded of that
episode as I was reading the coverage of the Cardinals gathering in Rome to bid
farewell to Benedict XVI (now the Roman
Pontiff Emeritus) and prepare to choose a successor to him, and to Saint
Peter. The deeper you plunge into the
biographies of these churchmen, the harder it becomes to remember that each is
just one member of a larger whole – the College of Cardinals, and, overall, the
Body of Christ: the Church.
It can be fascinating to focus one
person, one situation, one element of anything.
In almost any case, it can give some insight into the inner working of
whatever it is we are trying to understand.
But the danger is always there that focusing on the smaller components
or elements can lead one to lose sight of the larger whole. This is where the expression comes from that
someone cannot see the forest for the
trees.
Last week I wrote about Cardinal
Baum, who is just one member of the College of Cardinals. I was also priest secretary to Cardinal McCarrick. Cardinal Wuerl has been my archbishop for
almost seven years. Cardinal Dolan and Cardinal (Edwin) O’Brien were both my
rector while I was in seminary. Trust
me: they are ALL fascinating
people. You could listen to their
homilies, study their biographies, list weaknesses and mistakes along with
strengths and accomplishments. But even if
you were to come to some understanding of each or even every one of them, you
would still have yet to understand how they function as a whole.
The “whole” here is the Conclave
itself. Just over one hundred of these
Cardinals, fortified and informed by the experience of their encounters during
the General Congregations, discern among themselves who it is that is emerging
as the next Pope. It is more than just
information, opinion, or ideology. It is
something that none of them could do alone, or in any smaller group.
All that I can liken to this is
the Sacrament of Penance. That requires
two people, with two personalities. Both
need to have been Baptized; one needs to have been ordained Priest. Neither can
be omitted. Both have something to
say. Both must listen. What sins one is moved to recognize and
acknowledge; what direction, consolation, encouragement, and assignment the
other one gives – all this is the fruit of the moment, the mix, and the working
of Holy Spirit. And because of the
actions of the two, God acts. In all of
this, His mercy takes away guilt, and sin.
A description of the participants before, and after, no matter how
thorough, would not reveal what has occurred, or how.
The Conclave and the Confessional
are not dissimilar. Both are examples of
how the several members of the Body of Christ must unite in order for God’s
work to be accomplished. Both are more than one could ever comprehend simply by
dissecting them into their component
parts. The Word becomes flesh, indeed; but
since Jesus, not in just any one man’s flesh. His many members unite to form His body.
So you can have something of the
Conclave experience right here at home, without even a red hat to your
name. The Cardinals will have in the
Conclave with them two or three priests, chosen for their language abilities,
to hear their Confessions. When you are
ready for your life to be united into the Body of Christ by His mercy, remember: the Light is On for You.
Monsignor Smith
