By Alison Bradish
Photo Credit Dani Halvorson
An impressive procession of priests, deacons and one of our seminarians from the Archdiocese of Regina made their way to the altar at Holy Rosary Cathedral March 10th for Mass with Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, the Papal Nuncio to Canada.
As the priests, deacons and seminarian gathered behind the altar, Archbishop Bonazzi was accompanied by Regina Archbishop Don Bolen and retired Archbishop of Winnipeg Rev. James Weisgerber. Nearly 250 people sat in the pews before them.
In his opening remarks Archbishop Bonazzi said he was bringing greetings, friendship and blessings from Pope Francis. The Nuncio spoke about his admiration for Archbishop Don Bolen and encouraged the faithful to pray for their Archbishop and the church in Regina.
The Gospel read was Matthew 23:1-12. Archbishop Bonazzi focused on the verse, “You have but one teacher,” during his homily.
He spoke about the desire in each of us to be something great and how this greatness comes from drawing near to Jesus. It is Jesus, said the Nuncio, who teaches us to draw near to Him and to be servants, and friends, taking an interest in the needs of our brothers and sisters. “The vision proper to the Gospel is to make our lives a gift to others,” he said.
Archbishop Bonazzi said he wanted to stress the importance of Jesus proclaiming we have but one teacher.
“Often we forget this. We are in search for answers,” said the Archbishop.
He shared the story of a young woman who in her search of God wanted to study philosophy. When she did not make it into the program she wanted, she heard a voice tell her, “I will be your teacher.”
“This is what Jesus’ tells each of us. We need a relationship that gives Jesus the possibility to speak to us,” he said.
We have one father and we have one teacher, said Archbishop Bonazzi. He said Jesus teaches us everything about God because he is God and he teaches us everything about who we are because he was man.
In our everyday relationships we need to be in dialogue with Jesus, he said. We need to think about what his attitude would be in this context or how he would approach certain situations. “Jesus is our primary relationship,” he said acknowledging the impact of how our lives are affected by Jesus as our teacher.
“For any disciple the first relationship is with the teacher and the first questions we much ask is, ‘Do I meet with Jesus, do I speak with Jesus?” he said.
Archbishop Bonazzi said this relationship could be taken back to Genesis, where it says a man will leave his mother and father and cling to his wife. He said we must cling to Jesus.
“What is important is that we do not have divided hearts. We cannot be with Jesus and the world,” he said.
“Either we have the spirit of Jesus or the spirit of the world,” he continued.
He encouraged those listening to ask God for the grace to discover the privilege we have in Jesus as our teacher. He said Jesus the teacher speaks through those he has established as teachers, in particular the bishops, noting how this applies to our Pope, who appoints our bishops and reminds us of when Jesus says, “whoever rejects you rejects me”.
“It is very simple and very concrete. When I listen to the Bishop, I listen to Jesus. Pope Francis is the first of the Bishops,” said Archbishop Bonazzi.
He went on to speak of lent as a time of healing, a time we can stand before the crucifix and say “Jesus you love me. Transform me.”
He described Lent as a time where we go from acknowledging we are dust and making the passage to new life. “We bring our fragile humanity to the humanity of Jesus,” referring to the path of God’s forgiveness in the sacrament of penance where he said God renews us from inside and purifies our life.
“Let us allow ourselves to stand up and walk and discover the joy of how God raises us from our ashes,” concluded Archbishop Bonazzi.
After Mass there was a reception where attendees lined up to share a few words with the Papal Nuncio and receive his blessing.
Alison Bradish lives in Moose Jaw with her husband and two children. They attend St. Joseph’s Parish. She earned Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the University of Regina. She is naturally curious about local and world events. She writes from her home where she strives to bloom where she is planted. She often feels pulled to the topics of religion, education and politics.
