Ash Wednesday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons

The opening words of the second reading from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, ‘We are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us’ have a prophetic ring this Lent. Pope Benedicts resignation somehow touches those words and makes them a message of hope, humility and, as always with this Pope, teaching.

For Catholics this Lent will be a unique spiritual journey, not only because of the liturgical year and the traditions of Lent, but because Pope Benedict’s resignation is one of his gifts to the Church and something we all need to reflect upon. In some ways as commentators have already said, this is the decision of a spiritual and truly humble man, but it is also one of those surprises that often reveal the strong wind of the Spirit at work.

Firstly as Matthew’s Gospel suggests, in Lent we are asked to take on the mantle of Christ’s humility in word, prayer and action so that our true motives are known only to the Father who sees all things in secret. That is very much part of the Rule of Saint Benedict, the true humility of the person who attributes what is done well to God’s grace and support not one’s own endeavours.

Secondly it is a reminder that all ministry is for others not for oneself, our vocation is primarily to be a Christian. Any ministry even if it be the vocation of the ministry of deacon, priest or religious stems from that baptismal calling. In the case of the bishop, exercising oversight in the Church, this understanding of service is even more so, as Augustine wrote, I am a Christian with you, I am a Bishop for you. That is what Pope Benedict has done, reminding us that the office of the Bishop of Rome as with any Bishop is a ministry and not a personal vocation. In this way the Pope has opened out the ministry of Peter for the 21st century, removing one vestige of absolute power and as we will discover, changing the way that we perceive the papacy in the future.

Lastly we are all called to support and encourage one another as we change our lives. The prophet Joel reminds us that we are a people, a community bound to the Lord who wants us,a God who is full of’ tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent’.

In other words a God who wants the best for us. The Popes resignation points to that message deep in the heart of the Lenten experience of metanoia, conversion, all of us have a time for action and involvement in life, but we are also called, perhaps no more than when we are sick or growing old, to another ministry of prayer and a deeper, humbler wisdom based on insight and experience to be used for others perhaps in the more ‘secret’ way of simply being there for them!

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain.