Archbishop Gomez Honors Benedict XVI, the Teacher of the Faith

By Archbishop Jos� H. Gomez
2/16/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Pope Benedict will be remembered as one of the Church's great teachers of the faith

Pope Benedict XVI has truly been a Holy Father to the family of God, his Catholic Church. His decision to resign is a beautiful, Christ-like act of humility and love for the Church. This is the act of a saint. This is the act of one who thinks not about himself but only about the will of God and the good of God's people. May we all be given the grace to be so humble and so selfless in our ministries and daily responsibilities.

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LOS ANGELES (The Tidings) - I was surprised, as I'm sure you all were, by the Pope's announcement that he would be stepping down from his office at the end of this month.

Pope Benedict XVI has truly been a Holy Father to the family of God, his Catholic Church. His decision to resign is a beautiful, Christ-like act of humility and love for the Church.

This is the act of a saint.

This is the act of one who thinks not about himself but only about the will of God and the good of God's people. May we all be given the grace to be so humble and so selfless in our ministries and daily responsibilities.

I received my Archbishop's pallium twice from Pope Benedict - first as Archbishop of San Antonio and then as Archbishop of Los Angeles. I will always be grateful that he appointed me to be your Archbishop.

Personally, I have always had great affection for this Pope. He is a beautiful man. I had the honor to spend time with him for more than a month this past October during the Synod of Bishops. I was amazed, as I always am, by his joyfulness, his sense of prayer, and his intelligence.

In my opinion, Pope Benedict is one of the wisest persons in our world today. I try to learn every day from his words and example. Just witnessing his ministry, reading his writings, is a beautiful lesson for all of us in how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

We see from his speeches, homilies and writings, that this Pope understands the world in a deep way - from economics, politics and world affairs to the spiritual and moral issues that face every individual.

Pope Benedict will be remembered as one of the Church's great teachers of the faith.

During his eight short years as Pope he has written Jesus of Nazareth, an important three-volume work on how to read the Gospels to find the true face of Christ. This may be one of the most important works of biblical theology in our time.

He has written encyclical letters on the virtues of love and hope and important works on the Word of God and the Eucharist. In his weekly public audience talks, the Pope has delivered a series of catecheses on the apostles and the teachings of St. Paul; on the Fathers and doctors of the Church; on the theologians and religious founders and reformers of the medieval Church; and on the teaching and witness of prayer found in the Old and New Testaments.

We can reflect upon and celebrate this Pope's legacy as we prepare for our annual Religious Education Congress, which will be held next week, Feb. 21-24 at the Anaheim Convention Center (www.recongress.org).
Education in the faith is my top pastoral priority for the Archdiocese. In order to truly live our faith, we need to know what we believe and why we believe it.

I am concerned about a kind of "cultural Catholicism." I'm concerned about people going to church on Sundays without really understanding why they are going or what they are doing. I'm concerned about people not really understanding the relationship between what we believe and how we should live.
Our faith is beautiful! There is richness to our Catholic faith that embraces all of life - from our private conversations with God in prayer to our participation in society.

For me, education in the faith does not mean knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Education in the faith means knowing Jesus Christ who comes, as the Gospel tells us, "to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God" (Luke 1: 77-78).

Our faith should make all the difference in our lives. And that should be the aim of all our religious education and catechesis - to change people's lives by bringing them into contact with the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of his Gospel.

Our religious education and catechesis should inspire a more intense practice of the faith. It should inspire people to want to know their faith better so that they can live it more fully - with greater love and devotion.

So let us ask God's blessing on our Religious Education Congress - and all those who are teachers of the faith. And let us pray for one another this week - and for our universal Church.

Let us thank God today for the love and witness of Pope Benedict XVI. Let us entrust him to our Blessed Mother Mary and pray that he will continue to have joy and peace and many more years for prayer and reflection.

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This article first appeared here in the Tidings, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Follow Archbishop Gomez at: www.facebook.com/ArchbishopGomez.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Archbishop Jos� H. Gomez, Pope Benedict XVI, teacher, man of faith, prayer, papacy, wisdom, humility

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

eithena
3 months ago
When i knew Papa was leaving it was like his death He.s Papa now i know its going to be ok because he going to be even stronger with his prayers Papa knows his limits and thats a true MAN we can.t see the wind but we know its there that will be Our Papa in prayer Thankyou Papa i to will pray for you God Bless you +Mama Mary protect you
John Bosco
3 months ago
While this is a great tribute to our beloved Pope, this writing brings the truth that he wanted to convey that we should live catholicisim in true and real manner with full knowledge which leads to the true love of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we get our salvation.

I lke this most:

"In order to truly live our faith, we need to know what we believe and why we believe it"
which is lacking today.

With prayers
John Bosco - Chennai, India.
jh
3 months ago
A beautiful, gentle appreciation of our remarkable Holy Father. Pope Benedict XVI is remarkable because of his surrender to God and faithful witness to His Love.
Kafantaris
3 months ago
What the Roman Catholic Church needs at this juncture is a Pope who is not only an outsider, but also from the minority. Yes, this will rattle the brittle bones of the ancient institution, but it will also purge it. Indeed, electing a minority Pope will renew our faith in Christ who Himself would have done no less.
michael
3 months ago
To the good archbishop of Los Angeles...you suggest that this decision to resign or to renounce and abdicate the throne of Peter was a saintly and humble act. Does your point mean that the decisions of Pope John Paul II, JP I, Paul VI, John XXIII, and so many others to die in office somehow unsaintly or prideful. Let's face it, this is a totally unprecedented and innovative act that will necessarily shake the very office of the pope for decades to come. Outside of scandal, schism, or total incompetence, no pope has simply retired. It never has happened and hopefully will never happen again. It is always good to remember that Peter, the first pope, was not present at the Passion of Christ, but was present in Rome for the Passion of the Church as he endured crucifixion upside down. Pope Benedict said that there were wolves that were seeking to devour him and the members of the flock. Did they force him out? I doubt they did but some are saying it. In the end, this decision weakens the papacy. Peter is a rock and rocks don't move...they remain in place.
Paul-Emile Leray
3 months ago
Christ-like, humility, love, act of a saint, will of God, grace, selfless, daily responsibilities, joyfulness, sense of prayer, intelligence ('intellectus'), beautiful lesson, understands, education ('educare', more than simply instruction), mercy, inspire, universal, peace, reflection (regular confession stimulates this and the more humble/honest the better); (God knows how to distribute ('share' is a better word) grace and also to which degrees of refinement in quality and also quantity of quality); so many key words in such a short accurate article.

There is no scandal present in the Pope's resignation, which is in reality only a transition to serve through different means towards the same ends. There is no reason to panic. The ship floats while moving ahead, as the servant pilots of the true ship serve in humility. And while tradition is tradition, enlightenment is enlightenment. Since any sane person would consider the Pope to be highly enlightened, it then follows that sometimes tradition (in the sense of the contextual norm) must be boldly kept in perspective while enlightened perspective penetrates with insightfulness what is necessary. I think JPII and Benedict XVI were both wonderful. What else is there to say other than "thank you"?

And as far as the media and journalists are concerned, let them bark and make all the noise they wish. Once again, as they say in Spain, if one listens to all the dogs barking one never makes it to the grocery store to get his food. Either way, dogs bark to real or perceived realities. But barking is an emotional expression, yet sometimes emotions slide down the slope of sentimentality. Therefore? If not balanced with reason, we risk becoming emoters and opiners barking at imagined illusions. (as journalists often do; along with politicians in their quest for power and control, forever painting the opponent as the bad guy even when doing the exact thing as the 'bad guy' after they have attained to power and control. If their party does it, then the PR slogans are spun spinning it is good based on new perspectives (suiting their own partisan political party ideologies). What journalists, the media, politicians have to say is precisely that; what journalists, the media, politicians have to say. Nothing more; nothing less.) When a dog barks, it is also just that; nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes it is meaningful, sometimes it is meaningless other than an outward emotional expression of real or perceived realities. If not true, then only falsely perceived illusions and therefore false.

The world is often lost with the Catholic Church. If we didn't have the Catholic Church? We'd be walking around in chain and balls enslaved to a handful of political tyrants. It's o.k. to criticize the Catholic Church, but first criticize a few thousand other realities in the world much worse and flawed than the leaders of the Church.

Politicians are masters at diverting attention whenever it is perceived to not suit their own political motives and ideologies. POUR VINEGAR on politicians, FIRST, not on our dear Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, bishops, priests. They sacrifice a lot, often with enormous amounts of suffering.

Politicians suffer a lot as well, but it is often for other reasons. They are also operating on a different realm of reality, inferior to the realm priests are operating on. Power, control, money, often not for truth but rather for political ideologies, are what often drive politicians to work hard. The motives matter.

And with Pope Benedict XVI, we see humility. We need a whole bunch of lay faithful Jesuits out there, so to speak, to keep assisting as best we can towards the greater good. (with a heavy dosage of the Dominicans; maybe a mixed up Dominican, Jesuit, and Franciscan might produce even more fruit growing from the bamboo in the desert! A blending of the best of all 3?) Perhaps the last few lines in parentheses ought to be discarded. Then again, as some say in France, there may be a grain of truth rooted in the foundation of truth to each farce. Perhaps, perhaps not.

At any rate, let us make peaceful war against conspiracy theories in this case, let us accept in a spirit of thankfulness the work and decision of Benedict XVI.

Paul-Emile Leray

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