Recall people you’ve met who demonstrated to you true humility and detachment from power. How have they inspired you today? - Daily Reflections April 20, 2015

LIKE THE FACE OF AN ANGEL

 

I haven’t seen an angel. I wouldn’t know how to describe the face of one. But I have seen angelic individuals whose faces radiated something heavenly. You know you are looking at one when you see one. You just know you are in the presence of someone whose eyes are not so much focused on the here and the now, as on the beyond and on God.

       I saw this more than two years ago in the person of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. I was in awe (and in tears!) as I watched the live TV coverage of his departure from the papal apartments as he boarded the helicopter that brought him to Castel Gandolfo before he officially ended his Petrine ministry. I was touched by his serenity, his marked air of detachment and spirit of humility. He was, to use the words of Luke in reference to Stephen, “filled with grace and power,” as he freely took leave of his august office for the good of the Church. His eloquent example and powerful lesson on detachment and humility inspired us.

       I saw a similar scene 12 years ago when my older sister was in the final stages of an aggressive cancer — a disease she swore to fight earlier on but which, in the end, she accepted with serenity, resignation and faith. While we gathered around her hospital bed, she awoke from coma, gave us a momentary glance of love and acceptance, waved her good hand towards heaven, and breathed her last peacefully. At that point, she seemed to be “filled with grace and power” from above.

       In my more than 30 years as a priest, there were many instances when God gifted me with the overwhelming presence of angelic figures. Full of life and enthusiasm while healthy and strong on earth, they, too, were “filled with grace and power” as they went home to the Father, like Stephen was. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Recall people you’ve met who demonstrated to you true humility and detachment from power. How have they inspired you today?

 

Teach me true detachment, Lord, from the things of this world, especially power and riches.