杏MAP导航

By Devin Watkins

鈥淭each us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.鈥�

This passage from Psalm 90:12 formed the heart of Cardinal Cantalamessa鈥檚 Advent Sermon delivered on Friday.

He began his reflections with an Italian poet鈥檚 10-word poem written during the First World War, but which also expresses humanity鈥檚 experience of the Covid-19 pandemic: 鈥淲e are like the leaves on the trees in autumn.鈥�

The Cardinal said the world鈥檚 current predicament led him to focus his Advent sermons on the certainty of faith in the face of the frailty of human life.

Lessons for life

Death, he noted, can be spoken of in two different ways: either in light of Christ鈥檚 salvific death and resurrection, or in the light of wisdom.

Both have something to teach humanity. The first鈥攖he kerygma鈥攕hows us that death is not a wall delineating the end of existence but a 鈥渂ridge to eternal life鈥�.

The latter鈥攁 sapiential or wisdom-focused perspective鈥攁llows us to draw lessons for living a good life from the human experience of death.

Recall our own death

Cardinal Cantalamessa focused his first Advent reflection on the wisdom perspective, which the Trappist monks recall with the eternal maxim 鈥�Memento mori,鈥� or 鈥淩emember that you shall die.鈥�

The Wisdom books of the Old Testament, as well as the Gospels, provided ample reflections on the theme of human mortality, which was picked up in the tradition of the Church, especially by the Desert Fathers.

The Imitation of Christ, noted Cardinal Cantalamessa, also contains the admonition: 鈥淚n the morning assume you will not get to the evening. Once the evening has come, dare not rely on the following morning.鈥�

Rather than being a morbid fascination, he added, contemplating our mortality should lead us to 鈥渇aith in eternal life.鈥�

Pandemic-assisted reflections

The newly-created Franciscan Cardinal went on to invite his hearers to learn at 鈥渢he school of Sister Death,鈥� which holds some lessons amid the pandemic.

鈥淭he current calamity has come to remind us how little depends on human will when it comes to 鈥榩lanning鈥� and determining the future鈥�,鈥� he said.

Death, he recalled, kills 鈥渁ll differences and forms of injustice that exist amongst men.鈥�

It also encourages us to live well, preventing us from getting attached to things or setting our heart only on our 鈥渆arthly dwelling.鈥�

Fear of eternal death

Cardinal Cantalamessa pointed out that death played an important role in evangelizing Europe many centuries ago, and could again be helpful in re-evangelizing it.

He added that one modern psychologist holds that the refusal or negation of death is at the root of every human action.

The Cardinal said the goal was not simply to restore humanity鈥檚 fear of death, since Jesus came to 鈥渇ree those who, through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life鈥� (Heb 2:15).

But, he said, 鈥渙ne needs to have experienced that fear to be freed from it. Jesus came to teach the fear of eternal death to those who knew none other than the fear of bodily death.鈥�

Offering our life in the Eucharist

In conclusion, Cardinal Cantalamessa recalled that Jesus Himself preempted His own death with the institution of the Eucharist.

Participating in the Eucharist, he said, is how we can 鈥渃elebrate our own death, and offer it up, day by day, to the Father.鈥�

鈥淲hat greater use can one think of making of life,鈥� he asked, 鈥渢han giving it, out of love, to the Creator who, out of love, gave it to us?鈥�