Remembering John Paul I: “An Incomparable Catechist”
I wasn’t able to write anything on the actual anniversary of Pope John Paul I’s death, because I had be away from home. Only today have I found time to post again. In an online article from the September 29 issue of Il Corriere delle Alpi, the paper from Papa Luciani’s home diocese of Belluno, I read that at the Mass in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice on September 28, Cardinal Angelo Scola, Luciani’s successor in that see, hinted that he may be beatified soon; he is “in the light of canonical sanctity.” All the evidence is gathered, and very shortly the last testimonies on the miracle attributed to him will be sent to Rome.
Also on September 28, Pope Benedict XVI recalled John Paul I in his Angelus address at Castel Gandolfo. It is up only in Italian at the Vatican’s web site; I’m translating the whole text here. This Pope is very devoted to his predecessor; I am praying that he will soon be able to preside at his beatification.
Dear Brothers and sisters!
Today the liturgy proposes to us the Gospel parable of the two sons sent by their father to work in his vineyard. One of them immediately says yes, but then does not go; the other, on the other hand, refuses at the moment, but then, repenting, complies with his father’s wishes. With this parable, Jesus stresses his prediction for sinners who convert, and teaches us that it takes humility to welcome the gift of salvation. St. Paul too, in the passage from the letter to the Philippians that we are meditating on today, exhorts us to humility. “Do nothing out of rivalry or vainglory,” he writes, “but each of you, with all humility must consider others superior to yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). These are the same feeling that Christ had, when, stripping himself of his divine glory for love of us, became man and humbled himself to the point of dying on the cross (cf. Phil. 2:5-8). The verb used – ekenôsen – literally means that he “empties himself,” and clearly demonstrates the profound humility and infinite love of Jesus, the humble Servant par excellence.
Reflecting on these biblical themes, I thought immediately of Pope John Paul I, the thirtieth anniversary of whose death falls today. He chose the same episcopal motto as Charles Borromeo: Humilitas. A single word that synthesizes the essential of the Christian life and indicates the indispensable virtue of the one who is called to the service of authority in the Church. In one of the four general audiences held during his pontificate, he said, among other things, with that familiar tone that he was noted for: “I will limit myself to recommending a virtue so very dear to the Lord. He has said: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart” . . . Even if you have done great things, say: ‘We are useless servants.’ (Luke 17:10). On the contrary, the tendency in all of us is rather the opposite: to put ourselves on display.” (Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo I, p. 51-52). Humility can be considered his spiritual testament.
Thanks to this virtue, 33 days were enough for Papa Luciani to enter into people’s hearts. In his discourses he used examples drawn from the concrete events of life, from his family memories and from popular wisdom. His simplicity was a vehicle for a solid and rich teaching that, thanks to the gift of an exceptional memory and a vast culture, he embellished with numerous citations from ecclesiastical and secular writers. In this way he was an incomparable catechist, in the footsteps of St. Pius X, from his native region, his predecessor first in the chair of St. Mark and then on that of St. Peter. “We must feel little before God,” he said in that same audience. And he adds: “I am not ashamed to feel like a child before its mama; we believe in our mamas, I believe in the Lord, in what he has revealed to me.” (ibid., p. 49). These words show the depth of his faith. While we thank God for have given him to the Church and the world, let us treasure his example, committing ourselves to cultivating the same humility that made him capable of speaking to everyone, especially the little ones and the so-called distant ones. Let us invoke for this purpose Most Holy Mary, the humble servant of the Lord.