IMAGE: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Humility is needed in order to recognize the voice of God in others,
especially those who are perceived to be weak or subject to prejudice, a
Franciscan friar told Pope Francis and members of the Roman Curia during their
Lenten retreat.
God
not only speaks through Jesus, but also speaks to him through Peter, who recognizes
Christ as the Messiah “by revelation,” Franciscan Father Giulio Michelini said March 6, according to Vatican Radio.
“Do
I have the humility to listen to Peter? Do we have the humility to listen to
one another, paying attention to prejudices that we certainly have, but
attentive to receive that which God wants to say despite — perhaps — my closures?
Do I listen to the voice of others, perhaps weak, or do I only listen to my
voice?” he asked.
The
pope and top members of the Roman Curia attended their annual Lenten retreat
March 5-10 at the Pauline Fathers’ retreat center in Ariccia, 20 miles southeast of Rome.
Father
Michelini was chosen by Pope Francis to lead meditations on the Gospel of
Matthew’s description of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.
The
Franciscan delivered two meditations March 6, with the first reflecting on “Peter’s
confession and Jesus’ path toward Jerusalem.”
According
to Vatican Radio, Father Michelini called on the 74 people present for the retreat to reflect
on the criteria on which they base their discernment and whether “I place myself and my
personal benefit before the kingdom of God.”
To
listen and act upon God’s will, he said, Christians must have “courage to
go into the deep to follow Jesus Christ, taking into account that this involves
carrying the cross.”
Jesus,
he added, not only proclaimed the joy of the resurrection “but also
trial” when he said “If
anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me.”
In
the afternoon, Father Michelini delivered his second meditation, “Jesus’
last words and the beginning of the Passion.”
He
explained that the reading of Christ’s Passion reveals two distinct types of
logic: Jesus, an observant Jewish layman preparing to celebrate the Passover,
and the high priests, who are concerned with the outward appearance of the
feast but, at the same time, “prepare to murder an innocent man.”
The
question Christians must ask themselves, he said, is if they are “sacred
professionals resorting to compromise in order to save the facade, the
institution at the expense of individual rights.”
“This
is about an attitude that loses the right perspective, believing they are
serving God,” Father Michelini said.
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