This past Sunday was a most joyous celebration in the life of the Church because Pope Paul VI was brought one step closer to sainthood. It was Blessed Paul VI who would bring about the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council which was begun by his predecessor Saint John XXIII. At his beatification ceremony Pope Francis stated: "(Through his) humility the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: before the advent of a secularized and hostile society, he could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom – and at times alone – to the helm of the barque of Peter, while never losing his joy and his trust in the Lord." We can see traces of where his joy and trust originate through the two mottos that he chose to sum up his ministry as the Successor to Saint Peter. "Cum Ipso in monte", "With Him on the mountain of the Lord", and secondly "In nomine Domini", "In the name of the Lord." These are statements which sum of the fact that if we desire to know and to spread love we must first join with God in prayer and we must in return allow our life to be an expression of that love that we encounter here with all those whom we meet.
The idea of "love" is a very misunderstood term in our modern day society. Our Gospel tells us that we must first love God and next love our neighbor, but what does this actually mean? Is this love that is to be shown to our neighbor mean that we must accept sinful actions as being healthy? No! Does this love mean that truth is not important because it might offend somebody? No! Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical letter, "Deus Caritas Est" "God is Love," says that whenever we fail to love our neighbor we also fail to love God and whenever we fail to love God we also fail to love our neighbor. Allowing a person to live in sin without being moved towards conversion could never be true love. Love is more then a lust for another person, love is more then living with a person outside of the commitment of marriage, love is more then using another person as an object to meet one's sexual gratification. Despite what we are told LOVE can be and is sacrificial; just look to the cross and you will see this love proclaimed to you.
I am sure that you have seen many reports concerning the Synod on the Family that recently took place in Rome. I myself have seen many articles which proclaim that this synod will usher in great change for the Church. They claim that this change will usher in new theology which changes the way that the Church understands marriage, the family, and even love. Yes this synod will bring about great change to the Church, not change to doctrine because that has been given to us by God and therefore it cannot be changed, but instead change that will lead souls to come and to encounter the love of Christ. This change will indeed be counter cultural because it will proclaim to a world that has a problem understanding love that love is something that is real and that it is an expression of God who is true love. The meaning of love cannot be truly expressed in a culture that so easily professes that marriage is not forever. Throwing away the Church's teaching concerning contraception would not bring a couple closer to Christ, but would instead separate them from a love that is mutual and self giving because this action, no matter what we think, is intrinsically evil. To pervert love would not lead souls to encounter God, but instead would lead them towards enslavement to sinful actions instead of challenging one to embrace the pains of conversion where we come to feel and encounter the great love of Christ's mercy.
One of Blessed Paul VI's great works was his encyclical letter "Humanae Vitae" "Of Human Life." Much like this Synod on the Family it was said that Humanae Vitae would finally change outdated Church doctrine, but instead what was revealed was a document the enforced the teachings of the Church, but more importantly then that it proclaimed the value of love to a world that has lost its grasp on what love really is. Love can never be seen as being abusive of another person. Love can never get in the way of our relationship with God. If what we believe to be "love" leads us away from our neighbor and away from God it cannot therefore be truly known as love. Humanae Vitae is a document that challenges the world to put away it selfishness and instead to return itself towards the true meaning of love.
And so this day may we allow Blessed Paul VI to intercede for us and for our families that we may truly be able to love in a way that is both mutual and self giving. To encounter this love may we be willing to take his two mottos upon ourself and thus go to the mountain of the Lord because it will be here alone where we will allow ourself to enter into silence and to truly begin to allow ourself to pray. From this relationship built up around God all of the actions that we do in this life will be carried out in the name of the Lord. When we sin we cannot claim that we are acting in the name of the Lord and we cannot claim that we have gone to the mountain of the Lord to be strengthened in our love for God and for our neighbor. Blessed Paul VI was filled with joy and trust because he was able to not only love God, but also his neighbor. May the love that we have for God truly become our strength that will assist us in encountering this same joy and trust that Blessed Paul VI expressed by his life.
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