We all have moments that define our lives. For many of us, one of those moments may have occurred just a few days ago when Pope Leo XIV appeared for the first time on the balcony above St. Peter’s Square. The world had seen the white smoke from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel and flocked to St Peter’s Square or their digital devices eager to finally hear the words:
Habemus papam.
I remember where I was the moment Saint John Paul II was elected. And Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis after him. Do you?
I think I will remember forever, the first words of Leo XIV as he proclaimed to the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
Peace be with all of you!
Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, reach your families. To every person, wherever they are, to every people, to the whole earth—peace be with you!
This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a peace that is disarmed and a peace that is disarming, humble, and persevering, that comes from God, God who loves us all unconditionally.
But I also remember other moments that will never leave me. The last time my mom told me she loved me before her death. My 25th anniversary of religious profession when such gratitude washed over me I felt my heart would break. The moment when my breath was taken away at the National Eucharistic Congress, kneeling on the cement floor in Lucas Oil Stadium with 50,000 other people, suddenly so deeply aware of Jesus Christ standing among us there, his gaze penetrating our souls, offering mercy as he gathered us in love.
Over the past few days in the convent, we Sisters have been remembering and sharing together where we were and what we were doing when Pope Leo XIV and past popes were elected. But we have also been calling to mind and sharing the other “moments that will never leave us.”
These moments range from a long conversation in the book center with a young man desperately seeking the truth about what happens after death, to a quiet moment of prayer the night before perpetual profession of vows as a Daughter of St. Paul. From the phone call that told of the death of a loved one, to learning that a nephew born after a long and difficult labor was here and was healthy. Hearing a Sister give a talk and being filled with joy, pride, and gratitude at the way she was leading people to God. Remaining a few extra moments in silence in the chapel and being flooded with the certainty of God’s presence. Moments of trial, moments of tears, moments of peace, and moments of profound joy.
What I have learned is that every moment is an epiphany for someone who lives in the Church as a pilgrim of hope. Every moment is a renewal brought about by the Holy Spirit in the heart of someone who, with eyes opened and ears attuned, looks for God’s movement in every event of their lives. Every moment is God-breaking-through for someone who truly believes—that is, truly stakes their life—on the love of Jesus Christ who says, “I will not lose anything of what the Father gave me” (Jn 6:39).
This is the amazing grace of our Church and the amazing reality of our faith, that he will never lose us, he will never leave us, and the epiphanies of every moment prove this to us.
As Pope Leo XIV assured us all when we “met” each other for the first time:
So, without fear, united, hand in hand with God and with one another, let us go forward. We are disciples of Christ, and Christ precedes us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as the bridge in order to be reached by God and by his love. Help us, all of you, one for another, to build bridges with dialogue, with encounter, uniting together to be one people, always in peace.
Let us walk together “toward that homeland that God has prepared for us.”
Image Credit: INFOWeather1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
