There are blessings that cannot be measured in the present moment, only with the passage of time, when we take perspective of things.
Having had two Popes for almost 10 years has been historic and unprecedented. Like all the mysteries of God, it has been a very great gift, an extraordinary gift from Divine Providence that was not by chance at a critical moment when the Church has needed two such solid human pillars to face enormous earthly and spiritual challenges.
God knows our needs better than anyone and never leaves us. Perhaps for this reason, he has allowed two pastors in harmony to guide the Church, one totally visible and close to many and the other invisible to many but essential to sustain what has been, is and will be fundamental in our faith.
Every day in my prayer of the holy Rosary, in the third mystery I have meditated and thanked God for the miracle that he has given us during these years by allowing the presence of two Popes, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who in his silence and prayer has supported to the Church and Pope Francis, who with his testimony of love and closeness to all testifies and gives life to the Gospel to make it closer and more accessible to all people of good will.
When Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in February 2013, many were the reactions and criticisms resulting from the incomprehension of an enormously large and deeply humble heart. Pope Benedict XVI was a man out of the ordinary, unfairly compared and sadly misunderstood. But he precisely taught us that this does not matter on the material plane when one is certain of Whom one is serving with one’s own life. Many times from silence and far from any reflector.
So I wrote in these pages “Benedict XVI: greatness in humility” to recognize the testimony of a man who gave us an enormous lesson in life and leadership. By acknowledging the reasons why he should withdraw from his ministry, the Pope demonstrated that this power to which the human being aspires so much (and boy does a Pope have it until his death “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19) went into the background because it was more important to always be faithful to his conscience and open the way for someone else to guide the Church when, due to his advanced age, he could no longer adequately carry out the entrusted ministry.
How important to listen to your words of encouragement when it seems that evil advances and wins all battles. How important to trust, as he did, in the power of God and above all, to know that, above all things, as he wrote so many times, “God is Love.” Let us not forget these wise and timely words that he leaves us to continue living with meaning and hope: “Certainly, the power of God works silently in this world, but it is the true and lasting power. Over and over again, the cause of God seems to to be in its agony. Yet time and time again it proves to be what truly endures and saves.”
His legacy is so great that it is difficult to quantify and dimension in a few lines everything that he leaves us. His three encyclicals “Deus caritas est” (God is love), on love and ecclesiastical charity; “Spe salvi” (Saved in hope), on Christian hope; and “Caritas in veritate” (Charity in the truth), of a social nature, are light in a world that tends to be overshadowed by so much bad news. However, the spirit of our beloved Pope Emeritus shines and will shine through his words and his legacy. I have no doubt that he will be blessed and proclaimed a Saint in the near future.
He leaves a message to young people that we must repeat and replicate with the passion that he did and without fear of loving and bearing witness to the Truth that gives meaning to our lives and will one day give meaning to our death. “Dear friends, let no adversity paralyze you. Do not be afraid of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live at this moment in history, so that thanks to your faith His Name continues to resound throughout the earth.”
I will always remember Pope Benedict XVI for the Hope he instilled in me, not only with his wonderful encyclical “Spe Salvi” but above all with his testimony of faith and unwavering life until the end. We share the certainty that “God’s light exists, that He has risen, that his light is stronger than any darkness; that the goodness of God is stronger than all the evil in this world.”
At the end of this great encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us: “The true stars of our lives are the people who have known how to live righteously. They are lights of hope. Jesus Christ is certainly the light par excellence, the sun that shines on all the darkness of history. But to reach Him we also need nearby lights, people who give light by reflecting the light of Christ, thus offering guidance for our journey.”
Thank you Holy Father, for having been a star in the lives of so many and for illuminating our journey during all these years. We will miss him but from now on, we trust that we have one more intercessor in heaven. Rest in Peace forever.
Armando Regil Velasco is Founding President of the Ágora AC Strategic Thinking Institute (IPEA).
Twitter: @armando_regil
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