Bishop Erik Varden closed a weeklong retreat for the Roman Curia with meditations on the cross and hope.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV closed the Vatican\u2019s weeklong Lenten spiritual exercises Friday by thanking retreat preacher Bishop Erik Varden and urging those gathered to live out St. Paul\u2019s exhortation to \u201cbehave in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking at the conclusion of the retreat in the Pauline Chapel on Feb. 27, the pope said Varden\u2019s preaching helped the pope and members of the Roman Curia live \u201ca profound, spiritual\u201d experience at the beginning of Lent, starting Sunday with reflections on \u201cthe temptations\u201d and moving through themes including St. Bernard and monastic life.<\/p>\n
Leo said he found himself \u201cparticularly invited to reflect\u201d at certain moments, including Varden\u2019s recounting of St. Bernard\u2019s reaction to the election of Pope Eugene III: \u201cWhat have you done? May God have mercy on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope also recalled celebrating Mass in the same chapel last May 8 \u2014 the day of his election as pope \u2014 pointing to an inscription from St. Paul\u2019s Letter to the Philippians, \u201cFor to me life is Christ and death is gain,\u201d and said that gathering for prayer during the retreat was an important moment amid the many issues facing the Church.<\/p>\n
Leo noted several themes from the week, including a reference to St. John Henry Newman and \u201cThe Dream of Gerontius,\u201d which he said uses death and judgment as a prism for confronting fear of death and unworthiness before God. Returning to Philippians after Varden\u2019s final reflection on hope, the pope quoted Paul\u2019s call to live \u201cin a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ,\u201d describing it as the Word of God\u2019s invitation at the end of the retreat.<\/p>\n
He thanked Varden for his \u201cwisdom\u201d and witness, as well as the Office for Liturgical Celebrations and the choir, saying music aids prayer in a way words cannot.<\/p>\n
Earlier Friday, Varden delivered the retreat\u2019s final two talks \u2014 the 10th and 11th meditations \u2014 focusing on the cross, hope, and the Church\u2019s task of proclaiming Christ in the modern world.<\/p>\n
In the morning meditation, Varden drew on St. Bernard of Clairvaux\u2019s treatise \u201cOn Consideration,\u201d written for a fellow monk who later became Pope Eugene III. Bernard\u2019s \u201cconsideration,\u201d Varden said, involves seeking truth in contingent human affairs. Rather than proposing institutional fixes, Bernard urged the pope to surround himself with good collaborators marked by \u201cproven sanctity, ready obedience, and quiet patience,\u201d people \u201cinclined towards peace and desirous of unity\u201d and \u201cfarsighted in counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Varden said Bernard saw these qualities as perennial for Church leadership, adding that a prelate must be principled, holy, and austere \u2014 but also \u201cthe Bridegroom\u2019s friend,\u201d delighting to share that friendship with others.<\/p>\n
Varden also quoted St. Augustine\u2019s image of episcopal office as a burden: It is fearful, he said, only \u201cif we fail to notice who puts the burden on our shoulders,\u201d because it is a share in Christ\u2019s \u201csweet yoke,\u201d enabling pastors to discover that the cross entrusted to them \u201cis luminous and light,\u201d and that sharing it can be joyful.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon meditation, Varden turned to the Second Vatican Council and St. John XXIII\u2019s opening address, saying the council set the Church the task of proclaiming Christ \u201cclearly and compellingly\u201d as the answer to the age\u2019s urgent questions \u201cwithout compromising for a moment the sacred deposit of doctrine.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, he argued that Christian hope is not the same as optimism. \u201cTo have Christian hope is not necessarily to be an optimist,\u201d he said, describing hope as a determined choice for reality rather than wishful thinking. He pointed to the Passion as the place where God is \u201cat his most active\u201d and said the hope entrusted to Christians is ultimately rooted in resurrection and \u201ca new heaven\u201d and \u201ca new earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Varden warned against the temptation to market \u201ca happier Gospel\u201d in a culture that, he said, repurposes sacred spaces for entertainment while many young people voice a deep sense of being wounded. He said Christ\u2019s passion \u201clets us lament without rage,\u201d opening the way to compassion and to a recognition that wounds are not final.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe symbol of Christ\u2019s passion is not one we engender,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been given us. It interprets us, not we it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Varden concluded by returning to St. Bernard\u2019s preaching on the eve of Easter, presenting Christian life as a \u201ccontinuous Lent\u201d oriented toward Christ\u2019s victory over death \u2014 and toward a hope of glory that is already hidden within present trials.<\/p>\n
A Vatican statement said Varden\u2019s retreat conferences are expected to be published at the end of March as a book.<\/p>\n
This story\u00a0was first published\u00a0in\u00a0two parts\u00a0by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n