As preachers, we’ve been putting our ear to the heart of the Church, in listening to Pope Francis dream in print. He has led us back to the original spirit of the early Church…the synodal Church. His book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, has an epilogue. We’ll now take a look at his ‘last word.’ Sometimes a thinker gives us the summation of his/her thought in an Epilogue…!
Francis does not disappoint. He gives us two words, and they both identify us as ‘pilgrim.’ The two words are decenter and transcend. In giving us these final words, he distinguishes between someone going round and round in a labyrinth, and someone on a pilgrimage. The first can return to where one has started and remain the same. The pilgrim returns different. The pilgrim is changed.
To decenter means to intentionally shift from concentrating on myself to becoming more and more aware of everyone around me. In our time, this means resisting the narcissistic urge. Decentering shifts our attention to union…the bonding that is everywhere in my life.
To transcend means to refuse to give into the fixation on my powerlessness and failures. It means we refuse the luxury of despair. There is always some small thing I might do, some small thing I might give, if it be only a smile.
To decenter and transcend. These indeed might be my daily Advent project. I might feel I only have a stable-like shelter to offer, but it transcends sleeping in the barnyard in the cold. I might feel the only strength I have is a stubborn will. Then I will put it to use daily to decenter, and delight in each person who enters my personal space. Who knows? I might be entertaining an angel unawares…! Thank you, Francis, for opening your heart to us…for dreaming out loud in print…and showing us a shepherd’s heart.
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