Friday, April 11, 2008

Archbishop Pietro Sambi: Simply Listen to Pope Benedict

Watching Raymond Arroyo on EWTN's the World Over Live tonight, I was rather moved by the words of Archbishop Pietro Sambi - the Papal Nuncio here in the US as questions came back asking if the pope would talk about [fill in the blank].

Abp Sambi's response was,

"the most important thing is not to worry what the Holy Father will talk about, but to listen to him


He went on to say, "He is a great thinker....catch all of his speeches".

Of course, if you work like me, you won't be able to watch or listen to Catholic television and radio. But, these speeches will be available online, I'm sure. I'll try to provide links as best I can.



LISTEN TO HIM!

After some pondering about what Abp Sambi said, I began to think about how, when we really turn in our faith, we want the Holy Father to come down on this, and come down on that.

I think the Archbishop has a point. His Holiness is not coming here to talk about what we want him to talk about. He is not coming to talk about the things that we feel are important.

He is coming as Peter on Earth and we must have faith that the topics he chooses to talk on are guided by the Holy Spirit. Pope Benedict XVI is coming to teach and we ought to silence ourselves interiorly so that we may listen and learn.

Above all, we need to stop concerning ourselves with "all those other people" we think the Pope should address and apply his words to ourselves. Each of us should come away more enlightened in order to bring others to Christ. It won't happen by "those other folks" hitting over the head.

Perhaps we should study his example and approach to talking about tough issues. You won't find him making digs at others who aren't on the same page. That would violate charity.


Listen, watch, learn and apply!

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