Pope Francis meets with youth delegates to the upcoming Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and the Discernment of Vocation. The words he offered them are relevant to all of us, writes Paul Schratz. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
It’s the Lenten homestretch, and if you’re like most
Catholics, these 40 days of Lent have been both a blessing and a challenge.
We remember the progress we made avoiding chocolate or Facebook. We wince at all the spiritual reading we intended to do but didn’t. Like Jesus on his walk to Golgotha, we stumbled and looked for a Simon of Cyrene to help us.
In short, Lent is like life, condensed. We start out with good intentions, we struggle, we pray, we fall, and we get back up. We pray some more and wonder why God doesn’t take away the cause of our suffering or give us everything we ask for.
In a recent address, Pope Francis reminded us that living a Christian life is not easy. It means trusting that God is with us in his love – a love that’s far greater than any of us is capable of giving or receiving in this world.
“Christianity doesn't offer easy consolations, he said. “It's not a shortcut, but requires faith and a healthy moral life which rejects evil, selfishness, and corruption.”
If there’s anything working against Christianity today, it’s the shortcut mentality. We’re not interested in marathons, but sprints, preferably with performance-enhancing drugs. The Pope gets that. It’s why he reminds us we need to know our limits and know that we need God.
There’s an expression young people use that I only partly understand. “You do you.” It means look after yourself, do what’s good for you. In one sense, it’s an expression of support from one friend to another. But it can also suggest an individualistic approach to life, shutting oneself off from others … or the Other.
We can’t do it all ourselves, said Francis. We need to recognize “our fragility and our limits,” because when we’re overcome by anguish, anxiety, and fear, we often look for a way out through sin or addiction. The devil tempted Jesus in the desert and he tries to tempt us as well.
Francis met last week with youth in advance of the upcoming Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and the Discernment of Vocation. The words he offered are words we can all benefit from.
Francis cautioned them against shutting themselves off when they fail to find their “path of discernment.” He urged them to confide in those who possess wisdom, young or old – someone who “is not scared of anything, but who knows how to listen and has the God-given gift of saying the right thing at the right time.”
He gave them permission to ask tough questions in the upcoming synod “without anesthetizing” what they had to say. Strong questions, he said, have a way of “being played down in tone,” or asked in a “polite way.” Instead he urged the young attendees to “be courageous” and to “say the raw truth, to ask the raw questions.”
He also called on those in positions of pastoral authority to let youth express what they’re thinking or feeling, to listen to their blunt questions, and to talk with them “face to face” so they can share their thoughts and desires.
The Pope’s words to youth are relevant to us all. When we stumble or get lost in life, when we’re afraid or upset, we can be tempted to fall back on a “you do you” attitude. In Francis’ words, rather than give in to discouragement, we can offer our sufferings to God, who “helps us in the path of daily life. He takes us by the hand, but he never leaves us alone, never. Because of this we have joy.”
The Risen Lord comes to us in our times of trial, our darkest hours, offering his unconditional love and calling us to the path that Christianity offers. It is not an easy path, and it doesn’t promise instant miracles or immediate relief from our crosses.
What it does promise is an Easter Sunday after a Good Friday.