Keep Your Eyes on Christ

Page 1

Living Hope H

one day at a time

Keep Your Eyes on Christ!

"The Lord is calling me 'out to the mountain' to devote more time to prayer and meditation, but this does not mean I'm abandoning the Church." --Pope Benedict XVI, in his final Sunday Angelus address as Pope. I remember the last World Youth Day led by Pope John Paul II in 2002, in Toronto, Canada. I was standing in the immense sea of young adults at the end of the final Mass. At the close of World Youth Day, it was customary for John Paul to announce where the next World Youth Day was being held by saying, “I will see you at the next World Youth Day in…” A wave of sadness swept over me when he didn’t say those words. He simply announced where it would be. Silently he told us that he would not be there. I remember also the first World Youth Day led by Pope Benedict XVI almost 8 years ago in his native Germany, 2005. The eyes of the world were on the new Pontiff. Perhaps unconsciously we were wondering how he would “perform” after what we had experienced with the leadership of John Paul II. I remember almost getting the goose bumps as I watched on TV the Vigil held at Marienfield the night before the Final Mass. After exposing the Blessed Sacrament for adoration, Benedict slipped away quietly, leaving all eyes on Jesus in the Eucharist, gazing on the mystery of his self-giving and limitless love by which we have been filled with eternal joy. He helped the young people there and all of us live the theme of the World Youth Day: “We have come to worship Him.” (Mt 2:2). The message was clear and it still is. All eyes on Christ! Now, this Lent, 2013, Benedict is repeating that lesson. In his last Angelus message he spoke about the mystery of the Transfiguration of the Lord on the mountain, that call into the mystical retreat on Mount Tabor. He said: "During Lent, let us learn to give the right time to prayer, both personal and community prayer, which breathes air into our spiritual life. However, praying does not mean isolating oneself from the world and its contradictions, as St. Peter would have liked to have done on Mount Tabor, but prayer leads us back to the path, to action."


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.