Our Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, began his pontificate saying that he was a humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord. Two days ago he finished this papal ministry saying he will now be an obedient pilgrim. Perhaps you have already read about these analogies that Benedict used because the media has been writing a lot about them. Rewriting them here it's worth it for these two images, the one of the worker and the other one of the pilgrim, are beautiful messages that reveal the essence of the petrine ministry and of the Christian discipleship in general. In recognizing his papacy mainly as a service and in seeing himself as both a mortal creature and a follower of Christ, Benedict has been a humble Pope. The clearest sign of his humility, nonetheless, is his resignation from a privileged position. We just had a Pope who was never attached to the power and the honors of the papal seat but who was interested only in serving at any cost, even paying the price of changing a long history. How unusual, but at the same time how meek, will it always remain in history Benedict's promise to be completely obedient to his successor while he continues to be a pilgrim walking in this world.
What our pontiff emeritus has done, however, is absolutely nothing compared to Christ's Incarnation, something Benedict XVI himself would totally agree with. The greatness of Jesus' coming into the world is best described by St. Paul's christological hymn in his letter to the Philippians. In this passage, the Apostle of the gentiles, already in this hymn's first verses, describes the perfect glory of Jesus Christ "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even to death in a cross" (Phil 2:6-8). Christ is our perfect model who out of love has always had the initiative in everything that leads human persons to communion with the Father. We, human persons, may do many admirable things but these great human actions are but a tiny resemblance of the Glory of Christ's saving power and life-giving action. Yes, the pope was obedient to the Father to the point of resigning but Jesus Christ was obedient to the point of dying for us and dying for us on a cross!
I am convinced, in any case, that Christ was the main inspiration for the Pope emeritus' historical resignation. Personally, despite the infinite difference, his decision reminds me of the loving God who became a poor human person out of love for all of us. Now, in his Glory, Jesus Christ helps us to follow him all the time with his loving guidance and warm presence. Through Him and in Him, we continue to grow in the image and likeness of the Son of God, the King of Glory.
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