I know this last week has been a mix of greatly conflicting emotions in my own heart–the glorious joy of the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, and the heavy burden of sorrow at preparing to leave this parish family that I’ve come to love so dearly in my time here. But amidst all of these conflicting emotions, the Lord comes and draws near to all of us. I was so struck by the words of Pope Leo as he addressed the world from the balcony at St. Peter’s, saying:
Peace be with you all!
Dear brothers and sisters, these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for God’s flock. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world. Peace be with you!
It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.
Later, he said:
All of us are in God’s hands. So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another!
Let these words of wisdom and comfort from our Holy Father sink deeply into your heart. He recognizes, with all the change in the church and in the world, that one thing is constant: the Lord who accompanies His Church and holds the Church in His strong, yet gentle hands. I recognized that strong, yet gentle love radiating from Pope Leo as he stood on the balcony, looking out at the huge crowd greeting him in St. Peter’s square and knowing that the eyes of the world were on him. As the universal church moves into the care of a new pastor, Pope Leo XIV, and our parish moves toward that transition to the care of a new priest, Fr. Brian Beal, we look to the one Lord who ultimately cares for each of us and all of us together.
The readings give us that same focus. Jesus in the Gospel speaks these words from His Sacred Heart directly to your heart:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
Amidst all of the change that life brings, Christ reaches out to each of us, letting us know that He is near, that as His sheep, we are held securely in His arms, and the arms of the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The unchanging mission of the Church is to draw all people into that embrace of love from the Holy Trinity. That loving embrace gives us unconquerable strength for the trials of this life and draws us to the definitive embrace of love in Heaven, beyond all tears, suffering and pain. Listen to the inspired words of St. John in the Book of Revelation that we hear from today in the second reading, words which point to that ultimate embrace of love:
“The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
This all makes me think of a Western, of all things. I love the 2010 remake of the classic movie True Grit. This movie follows the story of a young girl named Mattie Ross, who is seeking revenge on the man who killed her father. She ends up enlisting the help of a Deputy U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn. As his colorful name suggests, this Marshal is a character. Definitely not a role model when it comes to personal life choices, but Rooster is dogged in his pursuit of justice. He and Mattie join forces to find the man who killed her father and bring him to justice.
The part in the movie that stands out to me is the end, where Mattie finds herself bitten by a snake and near death. In this perilous position, Rooster valiantly takes her in his arms and gallops through the night to get her to a doctor. When the horse is completely exhausted, Rooster continues to carry Mattie on foot until he collapses with her, steps away from civilization.
During the beautiful shots of Rooster galloping through the night with the ailing Mattie in his arms, we hear a soft piano melody. It is the instrumental version of the hymn, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. The words of this hymn are sung over the credits to the movie:
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms!
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms!
Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.
This is the awesome reality of the Church. Just like that cowboy straining through the night to bring a snake bitten child to safety and healing, so the Lord carries all of us in His arms, through the trials and tribulations with our wounds from sin to that ultimate place of healing. Our hearts can be at peace knowing that with all the change, the constants in the church remain the most important and powerful.
We often forget that those visible realities in the Church are at the service of the invisible realities. The same chalice and cup that Pope Leo now raises and I raise hold the same miraculous reality as every priest, bishop and pope of the Church has raised from the very beginning, in obedience to Jesus’ commandment. They hold Jesus’ precious Body and Blood; healing, strengthening and sustaining the Church invisibly but powerfully on Her pilgrimage to the homeland of Heaven. When we gather for Mass, regardless of which priest is celebrating, invisibly the Lord Jesus is at work through him, along with the participation of countless multitudes of angels and saints. Through all of us hand in hand and walking together, united throughout the world in the visible Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit is invisibly but powerfully at work in our Hearts, giving us abundant, overflowing grace to face each trial together with hope and even joy, just as the disciples did in the midst of heavy persecution in the early church. So let us focus our hearts and minds on those everlasting arms of Jesus and the Father which hold us tightly and kindle within us the fire of the Spirit as they draw us on toward our True Home.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you so much for carrying us together with your Beloved Son. Jesus, help us to trust in you and lean into your care. Holy Spirit, help us stay close to the Lord as we journey together in this time of change. We ask this through Christ, our risen Lord. Amen. +