What Lugo Missed Out On, and a Few Others

Last week we all saw the news of Fernando Lugo’s removal by the Senate of Paraguay. As I watched the news I thought of something that goes a little beyond the merely political and earthly. I felt great sorrow, because I realized that this man missed out on something very great! by being unfaithful to his exclusive commitment to God, and by giving up the very high dignity of being a bishop in order to go into politics.

The only thing my mind kept repeating was “what Lugo missed out on.” Immediately a few others came to mind who, like him, have been unfaithful to God and to the commitment they freely chose to make to him, and who, to make matters worse, go around giving scandalous interviews on high-rated programs to say infamous things against priests and the Church to which they belonged.

Do you know what Lugo, and some (few, thank God) who go around causing scandal, missed out on? They missed the beauty of being faithful to their principles; the wonder of living devoted to a Church founded by Jesus Christ himself, who placed it in the hands of human beings, but which with the help of the Holy Spirit will last for ever and ever, because Jesus Christ himself promised it. They failed to understand that one must always give up something noble (perhaps political or material power, or human love) in order to taste fully Divine Love, that one Spouse who is Christ, to whom they once freely committed themselves and who (when one lives facing him and united to him through prayer and the sacraments) fulfills in an extraordinary way every human longing on earth.

What a pity that Lugo, and a few others out there, could not follow the example of so many holy priests and bishops who lived for His Church and for their faithful. In case you do not remember them, let me name just a few: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Vincent de Paul, the Curé of Ars, Saint Francis de Sales, Don Bosco, Padre Pio, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, John Paul II, among thousands upon thousands more.

What a pity that Lugo, and a few others out there, did not look at the example of their brother bishops and priests who are alive today and are an example to the whole world and to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. And they are the majority! Listen carefully: the scandalous ones are a minority, but they are the ones who always grab the television cameras and the headlines.

I suggest that those who run high-rated programs invite exemplary bishops or priests (well, maybe they won’t be able to come because they have too much work, that I can guarantee) so that people can see what the true Church is (the one that is faithful and works silently and tirelessly for others). They would do the world a great favor, because how wonderful it is to spread good examples so that many will follow them, and so that some who are on the wrong path will reconsider and straighten themselves out!

They could also interview several journalists or publishers who were radical atheists and who, through contact with exemplary priests or lay people, were converted and turned their lives around in a wonderful way. Among the best known are the famous Leonardo Mondadori and Vittorio Messori. A pity that the famous journalist Oriana Fallaci has died, because hers was another incredible turn toward Catholicism.

So Lugo did not know what he was missing, and neither do those who go through life trying to make a Church look bad that is Holy, that will endure for ever and ever, and that has countless examples of missionaries, nuns, priests, bishops and lay people who move anyone by the integrity of their lives and by their example of faithfulness and self-giving to God and to others.

As proof, I leave you Benedict XVI and our exemplary Venezuelan bishops, of whom we are prouder every day for their example of faithfulness and union with God, of unity among themselves and with their Head, the Pope, and for their example of self-giving and selfless service to their faithful.

Today I ask Catholics once again to pray a great deal for those who have not known how to be faithful, because they greatly need our prayers. And let us pray every day for all our priests, so that they may always be faithful to the commitment they once made, which, as the years go by, they know very well was the best decision of their lives and truly worth it!