Christ Our Foundation

It is hardly imaginable for me to speak about anything else this week but the surprising announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will be resigning at the end of the month.  He literally gave his two weeks notice.  People have responded in wildly different ways, of course, but the key element in this news has been surprise.

No one was perhaps more surprised than Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria (see video below).  He was sitting in the consistory meeting of bishops where the pontiff first broke the news.  Arinze is a fascinating character.  Born in Nigeria, Arinze was converted to Christ from African tribal religion at the age of nine.  He entered the seminary at age 15.  He became a priest and later graduated summa cum laude with a doctorate in sacred theology from Rome.  At age 32, he became the youngest bishop ever ordained in the Catholic Church. 

Perhaps even more fascinating is that Arinze could very well be the next pope.  There are no guarantees with this sort of thing, yet many Vatican insiders suggest Arinze is a frontrunner.  No matter who appears in St. Peter’s Square as the next successor to St. Peter, I found Arinze’s reaction to Pope Benedict’s announcement to be among the most beautiful and grounded:

Some people may be so shaken [by the news of the pope’s resignation].  But my hope and prayer is that it will help many to become more mature in their faith.  Our faith is not on the pope.  It is on Christ who is the foundation of the Church.  Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  We all are servants.  We come and go.  Christ doesn’t come and go.  He stays.[1]

As we enter into the season of Lent, the ashes on our foreheads (today is Ash Wednesday) remind us that “dust you are and to dust you will return”(Gen 3:19).  Our lives are like grass, flourishing one day and gone the next (Ps 103:15-16).  Yet our common faith is not ultimately in priests or pastors, Young Life leaders or youth directors (however great they may be).  Cardinal Arinze reminds us that our foundation is not even the pope.  The hope that binds us all is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  In this we stand united.  In this the Good News is proclaimed.  In this God’s reign will endure forever.

The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:8,13

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[1]             Cardinal Arinze’s comments were taken from an interview conducted by Francis X. Rocca of the Catholic News Service on February 12, 2013.