In his first sermon for Lent 2021, the Preacher of the Papal Household, the newly created Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Chap., Provides an overview of the season and reflects on Jesus’ call to repentance.
By Vatican News staff reporter
Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, who was created cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory on November 28, 2020, gave the first sermon for Lent 2021 in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican. The theme for this year’s post reflections is “Who do you say I am?”, Taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew.
For his introductory sermon, the Preacher of the Papal House offered an overview of the Lent season, focusing on the passage “Repent and believe in the gospel!”
Three moments of conversion
Repentance or conversion, said Cardinal Cantalamessa, is mentioned in “three different moments and contexts” in the New Testament, which correspond to different moments in our own lives.
The first is based on the words spoken by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry: “Repent and believe in the gospel!” This does not primarily have a moral meaning, according to Cardinal Cantalamessa, but consists primarily in having faith, in believing, in changing the way we see our relationship with God.
The second call to conversion in the New Testament comes when Jesus invites His disciples to “return and become like children.” Here, “Jesus proposes a genuine revolution,” calling us – and us – “to move the center away from you and refocus on Christ.” Becoming like children, said Cardinal Cantalamessa, means going back to the time when we truly met Jesus.
Finally, in the book of Revelation, Jesus calls those who are neither hot nor cold to be “serious… And to repent.” “The focus here,” said Cardinal Cantalamessa, is the transformation from being mediocre and warm to being fervent. This is not our own work, he insisted, but rather the work of the Holy Spirit.
From being warm to being fervent
Cardinal Cantalamessa recalled the experience of the disciples when they were filled with the Spirit at the first Pentecost. The Church Fathers described this experience as “sober drunkenness” —the disciples were not drunk with wine, as people imagined, but instead, after receiving the Holy Spirit, were intoxicated.
“How can we take this ideal of sober drunkenness and embody it in the current situation in history and in the Church?” Cardinal Cantalamessa asked. Beyond the usual means of the Eucharist and the Scriptures, the Cardinal, quoting St. Ambrose, indicates a third “extraordinary” means, which is not institutional, but involves “reliving the experience of the apostles on the day of Pentecost.”
One way this is happening, he said, is in the so-called “Baptism in the Spirit,” which presupposes a renewal with a fresh awareness not only of Baptism and Confirmation, but of the whole Christian life. “The most important fruit is the discovery of what it means to have a ‘personal relationship’ with the risen and living Jesus.”
Cardinal Cantalamessa stressed the importance of “a true conversion from being lukewarm to fervent, inviting his listeners to pray for Mary’s intercession for this grace.
You can read the full text of Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa’s Sermon on his website.