The Primacy of Christ

Though it is true that this mission demands great generosity on our part, it would be wrong to see it as a heroic individual undertaking, for it is first and foremost the Lord's work, surpassing anything which we can see and understand. Jesus is the first and greatest evangelizer. [9] In every activity of evangelization, the primacy always belongs to God, who has called us to cooperate with him and who leads us on by by the power of his Spirit. The real newness is the newness which God himself mysteriously brings about and inspires, provokes, guides and accompanies in a thousand ways. The life of the Church should always reveal clearly that God takes the initiative, that he has loved us first (1 Jn 4:19) and that he alone gives the growth (1 Cor 3:7). This conviction enables us to maintain a spirit of joy in the midst of a task so demanding and challenging that it engages our entire life. God asks everything of us, yet at the same time he offers everything to us.

Though those who follow me on Facebook already know this, the past three days found me residing at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after I took yet another tumble this past Friday. This time, my doctor insisted that I go to the hospital and have some tests run to determine if I was experiencing and brain or heart issues that would cause me to lose consciousness. This fall, unlike the last one, resulted in one beautiful, black eye. I only hope that it has faded by Christmas Mass!

While I was in the hospital, I occupied my time with some reading via the internet. I was made particularly aware of the fact that so-called "traditional" Catholics are somewhat upset by some of the Holy Father's actions regarding several groups with which they identify. The foundation of some of these actions can be found in paragraph ten of his exhortation; namely, evangelization and mission in the Church have to be clearly about Jesus and not about us.

We caught a glimpse of this when, early in his pontificate, Pope Francis spoke about the fact that people had taken to chanting, "Francesco, Francesco," when he took the stage at his audiences. He asked people to stop doing this. (They didn't, and they haven't.) He asked them to chant "Gesu, Gesu," instead. It is clear that for Pope Francis, as was the case with his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Jesus claims primacy in his life. It should be, it must be the focus of our lives of evangelization as well.

This is not to say that we cannot pay attention to our own situation. I am also bemused by the fact that Pope Francis closes his Sunday "Angelus" appearance with the words, "Have a good lunch!" His first words as Pope to the crowds before St. Peter's were, "Good evening!" These little touches of humanity remind us that Pope Francis is a human being with human needs. However, when proclaiming the Gospel, it is also clear that it is all about Jesus and His Father and the Holy Spirit.

Let me add that I would expect that "traditional" Catholics would believe that the Holy Father is chosen by the Holy Spirit, that the cardinal electors of the conclave spend time discerning the will of the Spirit before casting their votes. If this is so, and I believe it firmly, this business of second-guessing his agenda and complaining about his decisions comes dangerously close to sinning against the will of the Holy Spirit. There are those who might describe me as not a "traditional" Catholic. I am firmly committed to the liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. My seminary training was founded on the dogmatic constitutions of that Council. Each successive pope of the last fifty years has acted out of his understanding of those documents and his understanding of the doctrines we hold dear. Although the Holy Father is the Bishop of Rome, the title that Pope Francis likes to use the most, he is also the Vicar of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our leader, the core of our faith, the reason for and the content of our evangelization. Everything else is, in the words of St. Paul to the Philippians, so much rubbish by comparison. When we as a Church truly embrace this notion, labels such as "conservative" or "liberal," "traditional" or "non-traditional," "right wing" or "left wing," will lose their meaning. The only label that matters is that we are "members of the Body of Christ."

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator