Pope Benedict's Gift of Communication

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses." (Acts 1:8)

Pope Benedict XVI has done it again. Since his eloquent and moving homily for the funeral mass of Pope John Paul II, the Holy Father has consistently succeeded in delivering messages to his audience that are at the same time deeply personal and authoritatively convincing. Take, for example, the following passage from his address during the WYD welcoming ceremony at Barangaroo yesterday afternoon:

"This evening I wish also to include those who are not present among us. I am thinking especially of the sick or mentally ill, young people in prison, those struggling on the margins of our societies, and those who for whatever reason feel alienated from the Church. To them I say: Jesus is close to you! Feel his healing embrace, his compassion and mercy!"

This personal style of communication has been one of the many surprising aspects of the pope's style (at least, to those not intimately familiar with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger prior to his election). This has been true not only with his oral pronouncements but with his writings as well. For this reason, I found his encyclical, Spe Salvi, quite readable. His concluding exposition on the Ave Maris Stella is nearly poetic. Below is a small sample, which I've reformatted as stanzas to underscore my point:

Human life is a journey.
Towards what destination?
How do we find the way?
Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy
A voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route.
The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives.
They are lights of hope.
Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light,
The sun that has risen above all the shadows of history.

This certainly provides an appropriate imagery to meditate upon during the pilgrimage to the Southern Cross Precinct for the vigil tomorrow evening!

In closing, I would like to share a link to a YouTube video of Andrew Lloyd Weber's haunting Pie Jesu which was beautifully sung at the twelfth of the Stations of the Cross this evening.