The Body That Heals Itself (Continued)

(during the previous entry, my computer suddenly shut down and would not allow me to continue working in any capacity.  I had to simply turn it off and now am continuing the previous blog.)

As with the human body, there has always been the church we see and the parts we don't see -- the parts animated by the Holy Spirit and working to heal the Body of Christ against all illness and corruption.  With the first encyclical from Pope Francis, I see "rivers of living water" flowing out to heal the church and to bring it to a new stage of life.  Of course, I cannot quote much from this long document, but I can quote enough in a few days to give readers a sense of where the church is heading under the leadership of this new pope:

 

The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.  Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, and loneliness.  With Christ, joy is constantly born anew.  [Note:  already, his opening sound much like the writings of the early church fathers, like Ignatius of Antioch, Ireneaus, etc.]  In this Exhortation, I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church's journey in years to come....

 

I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them....The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk....Our Christian joy drinks of the wellspring of his brimming heart....

 

There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter.  I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty.  Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures...

 

Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Thanks solely to this encounter --or renewed encounter--with God's love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption.  We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being.

 

Encyclicals are not widely read by Catholics, unfortunately, but they hold some of the best teachings of the church in different ages.  In this new century, I would suggest that every serious Catholic ponder the words of Pope Francis as he leads the church in new directions of health and healing.