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By Joseph Tulloch

In his second sermon for Lent 2023, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa discussed St Paul鈥檚 call for a personal relationship with Christ, and what it means for the role of lay people in the church鈥檚 evangelising mission. 

The Cardinal, a Franciscan friar, delivered his homily 鈥� which was based on several passages from Paul鈥檚 Letter to the Romans 鈥� on Friday to the Papal Household, including 杏MAP导航 Francis himself.

Ignoring God

Cantalamessa began by quoting Paul鈥檚 words that 鈥渢hey have no excuse: for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks.鈥�

Paul is thus saying, Cantalasmessa said, that 鈥渢he ultimate sin鈥� is a 鈥渞efusal to glorify and thank God.鈥� This seems strange to us, he noted: 鈥渘ot glorifying and thanking God doesn鈥檛 seem to us such a terrible and mortal sin.

In order to understand what Paul means, he explained, 鈥淲e need to understand what is hidden behind it: the refusal to recognize God as God, not giving him the consideration that is his due.鈥�

It is thus a matter 鈥渙f "ignoring" God, where ignoring does not mean so much 鈥渘ot knowing that he exists鈥� as 鈥渁cting as if he did not exist.鈥�

A personal relationship with Jesus

But how is this message of Paul鈥檚 relevant for us today?

Cantalamessa suggested that it lies not so much in his diagnosis of our situation as in his proposed solution. By stressing 鈥渢he redemption wrought by Christ Jesus鈥�, Paul is inviting us not to a moral renewal, not to return, as the Old Testament prophets urged, to the Law of Moses, but into a personal relationship with Jesus.

Sometimes, Cantalamessa said, this is a concept that Catholics are reluctant to embrace, preferring to speak of a 鈥渄octrinal鈥�, 鈥渟acramental鈥�, or 鈥渆cclesial鈥� relationship with Christ. During the past five centuries, he noted, Catholic spirituality and pastoral care have viewed any talk of a personal relationship with the divine 鈥渨ith suspicion.鈥�

This approach, he insisted, is completely misguided. Indeed, he emphasised, given that it can no longer be taken for granted, faith today must be understood primarily as a personal relationship, since "it is not absorbed as children within a family or school setting, but must be the fruit of personal decision.鈥�

The laity as evangelisers

In the final section of his homily, Cantalamessa turned to consider the question of how to kindle this 鈥渟park for the person of Jesus鈥� in the hearts of others.

鈥淚n the majority of cases that I have known in my life,鈥� he said, 鈥渁 life-changing discovery of Christ was brought about by meeting someone who had already experienced that grace, by participating in a gathering, by hearing a testimony.鈥�

This, he said, suggests an especially important role for laypeople, who 鈥渁re more inserted into the fabric of life in which those circumstances usually occur.鈥�

Laypeople who have "discovered what it means to know a living Jesus and are eager to share their discovery with others", Cantalamessa concluded, ought thus to become the primary agents of the Church's evangelising mission.