Hope in the Time of Corona

An interview with Pope Francis by the editors of ten Jesuit magazines was published on June 14^th. Cindy Wooden of CNS reports:

A substantial portion of the pope's discussion with the Jesuit editors focused on signs of new life in the Catholic Church and signs of some people being stuck in the distant past.

• "The council that some pastors remember best is that of Trent" in the 1500s, the pope said, adding that he was not joking. "What I'm saying is not nonsense."
• "Restorationism has come to gag the (Second Vatican) Council," he said. "The number of groups of 'restorers' – for example, in the United States there are many – is significant" and shows how the teaching and reform of Vatican II "has not yet been accepted."

This is not the first time this month Pope Francis has made this observation. On June 1^st he said:

“[T]here is the fashion – in every age, but in this age in the Church’s life I consider it dangerous – that instead of drawing from the roots in order to move forward – meaning fine traditions – we “step back,” not going up or down, but backwards … Those people call themselves guardians of traditions, but of dead traditions. The true Catholic Christian and human tradition is what that fifth-century theologian [St. Vincent of Lerins] described as a constant growth: throughout history tradition grows, progresses …”[1]

Alas, we can’t step back or go backwards: time marches forward and with it the certainty of change that demands adaptation and growth. The “good old days” were really not as good as our amnesiac nostalgia would have us believe. And fantasies cannot be restored because they are just that – fantasies: impossible – or at the very best – improbable fruits of the imagination.

So what is this about? Jesus sounds harsh in last Sunday’s Gospel. Listen: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:62). It’s not that we as disciples cannot look to the past – we must, in order to draw forth it’s wisdom and to appropriate our Tradition with understanding. Rather, it is a caution for us to avoid the very restorationism and stepping back lamented by Pope Francis that prevents the unfolding of the Kingdom of God.
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