There is a clear suggestion of Peter’s primacy in the apostolic college. In fact it does not say: "First Peter, second Andrew, third James," as if it were just a question of a number in a series. Peter is named as first in a stronger sense, as leader of the others, their spokesman, the one who represents them. Jesus will specify later, also in Matthew’s Gospel, the meaning of "first" when he will say, "You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church."
But it is not on the primacy of Peter that I want to reflect on now but rather Jesus’ reason for choosing the 12 and sending them out. It is described thus: "Jesus, seeing the crowds, felt compassion for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus sees the crowds, he feels compassion for them: this is what moved him to choose the 12 and send them to preach, heal, liberate.
Here we have some valuable information. We see that the Church does not exist for herself, for her own end or her own salvation; she exists for others, for the world, for the people, above all for the afflicted and oppressed. The Second Vatican Council dedicated an entire document -- "Gaudium et Spes" -- to bringing to light this being "for the world" of the Church.
It begins with the famous words: "The joys and the hopes, the grief and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the grief and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts."
"Seeing the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd." The shepherds of today, from the Pope to the last village priest, appear to us in this light, as the deposit and continuation of the compassion of Christ. The late lamented Vietnamese Cardinal, François-Xavier Van Thuan, who spent 13 years in the communist prisons of his country, in a meditation before the Pope and the Roman Curia said: "I dream of a Church that is a ‘Holy Door’ that is always open, that embraces all, full of compassion, that understands the pain and suffering of humanity, a Church that protects, consoles and guides every nation to the Father who loves us."
After the Master’s departure, the Church must continue his mission in the world. Jesus says: "Come to me all who labor and burdened and I will give you rest." It is the most human face of the Church, that which reconciles souls and forgives them their many deficiencies and miseries. Padre Pio da Pietrelcina wanted to call the hospital that he founded at S. Giovanni Rotondo "House of Relief from Suffering": a beautiful name, and it applies to the whole Church. The whole Church must be a "house of relief from suffering." Unless we close our eyes in a sectarian way to the enormous charity and aid work that the Church does throughout the world for the most needy, we cannot help but see that she is indeed a house of relief from suffering.
To those of us who live in wealthy countries the crowds that we see about us do not appear to be "troubled and abandoned" as in Jesus’ time. But let us not deceive ourselves: Behind the carefree and opulent façade, beneath the roofs of our cities, there is often much weariness, solitude, confusion, and sometimes even desperation.
They do not even seem to be crowds "without shepherds," given that in every country so many fight to be shepherds of the people, that is, bosses, holders of power. But how many of them are disposed to put into practice the command of Jesus to freely give what they have been given freely?
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa is a Franciscan Capuchin Catholic Priest. Born in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, 22 July 1934, ordained priest in 1958. Divinity Doctor and Doctor in classical literature. In 1980 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II Preacher to the Papal Household in which capacity he still serves, preaching a weekly sermon in Advent and Lent.
