Hello.
This past week has been a little bit nuts for me. It seems that everything all happened at once.
Be that as it may, I will keep this meditation short.
I opened one of my old notebooks and I have and found a sermon from Pope Francis which he gave in June of 2019. He was on his way back home from a trip to Romania. Here he is talking bout tradition.
Now, we know that traditions are important in our livers. As I have told others, “traditions are the lifeline we hold onto as we walk into the unknown of the future.” But, at one time or another we have to let go of the old traditions so that we or others may be able to create their own.
Pope Francis said, “Tradition is the guarantee of the future and not the container of the ashes.”
“Tradition is like roots (of a tree), which give us nutrition to grow. You will not become like the roots. You will flower, grow , give fruit. And the seeds become roots for other people.”
“The tradition of the church is always in movement. The tradition does not safeguard the ashes.”
I know that there are those who would like to go back to the “old ways” when Mass was in Latin, and one could be “entertained” by the songs the choir sing. But that is not what the Lord’s Supper is all about. And it would take too long to go into the theology of the liturgy today, but. . . maybe one day.
Anyway, we all have our family traditions, where the Christmas tree goes, where people sit at table, which night it “toco” night, and so on.
Let us treasure our traditions. Let us share them with others. But let us not allow them to hold us back from where God is calling us to.
Well, this turned out to be a little longer than I thought. Go figure.
Peace and All Good,
Fr. Vinnie, osf and the
Bros and Srs of the
Franciscan House of Prayer.