Catechesis 7. To hope is not to know. Nicola Cusano

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

You have reached the end of your pilgrimage, but, like Jesus’ disciples, we must now learn to inhabit a new world. The Jubilee has made us pilgrims of hope precisely for this: everything must now be seen in the light of the resurrection of the Crucified One. It is in this hope that we have been saved! Our eyes, however, are not accustomed to this. Hence, before ascending to heaven, the Risen One began to educate our gaze. And he continues to do so today! In fact, things are not as they seem: love has won, even though we see many contrasts before our eyes and witness the clash between many opposites.

In an equally troubled age, in the fifteenth century, the Church had a Cardinal who is still little-known today. He was a great thinker and server of unity. His name was Nicholas and he came from Kues, in Germany: Nicholas of Cusa. He can teach us that to hope is also “to not know”. Indeed, as Saint Paul wrote, “For who hopes for what he sees?” (Rm  8:24). Nicholas of Cusa would not see the unity of the Church, riven by opposing currents and divided between East and West. He could not see peace in the world and among religions, in an age in which Christianity felt threatened from outside. However, as he travelled, as a diplomat of the Pope, he prayed and he thought. This is why his writings are filled with light.

Many of his contemporaries lived in fear; others armed themselves, as they prepared new crusades. From a young age instead, Nicholas chose to associate with those who had hope, those who explored new disciplines, those who reread the classics and returned to the sources. He believed in humanity. He understood that there are opposites to be held together, that God is a mystery in which what is in tension finds unity. Nicholas knew that he did not know, and so he understood reality increasingly better. What a great gift for the Church! What a call to renewal of the heart! Here are his teachings: make space, hold opposites together, hope for what is not yet seen.

Nicholas of Cusa spoke of a “learned ignorance”, a sign of intelligence. The protagonist of some of his writings is a curious figure: the idiot. He is a simple person, who had not studied, and he asks scholars basic questions that challenge their certainties. This is also true in the Church today. How many questions challenge our teaching! Questions from young people, questions from the poor, questions from women, questions from those who have been silenced or condemned because they are different from the majority. We are in a blessed time: so many questions! The Church becomes an expert in humanity if she walks with humanity and has the echo of its questions in her heart.

Dear brothers and sisters, to hope is to not  know. We do not already have the answers to all the questions. We do, however, have Jesus. We follow Jesus and thus hope for what we do not yet see. We become a people in which opposites are brought together in unity. Like explorers, we enter into the new world of the Risen One. Jesus goes before us. We learn, taking one step after another. It is a journey not only of the Church, but of all humanity. A journey of hope.

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Summary of Catechesis:

As pilgrims of hope, we must view our troubled times in the light of the resurrection. Nicholas of Cusa, a cardinal from the fifteenth century, also lived during a turbulent era that involved serious spiritual divisions.  Despite the tensions, Nicholas hoped for what he could not see and trusted that God could find unity. We too can learn from Nicholas of Cusa. When we do not know the answers let us remember the Risen One and ask him to lead us, step by step, on the journey of hope.

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Greeting:

I extend a warm welcome this morning to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those coming from England and the United States of America.  A special greeting to those taking part in the International Federation of Catholic Universities. In praying that you may experience an increase in the virtue of hope during this Jubilee Year, I invoke upon all of you, and upon all your families, the joy and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you all!

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Osservatore Romano