Spring is time for cardinals. We have cardinals dining every morning at our backyard birdhouse.
And the baseball Cardinals have gathered in Florida for spring training - with St. Louis fans counting down to Opening Day.
And then there are the cardinals who have migrated to Rome. To elect a new pope. Knowing he will both symbolize and shape the largest religious institution in the world.
The cardinals clearly feel the weight of their decision in Rome. Some have been speaking out, expressing what kind of man they think the Church needs.
I was struck by what Cardinal Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C., had to say about the times in which we live. Yes, he was talking about what's needed in a 21st Century pope. But I thought he gave any of us who care about the cause of Christ in our generation something to think about.
He said, "Great secularism is pervading the Church and prevailing all around us, so it brings a sense of urgency that we need to be re-proposing the Gospel." (1)
Twenty centuries ago, Jesus described what the world will look like just before He returns. "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most (of His followers) will grow cold...and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthews 24:12, 14).
Creeping carelessness about sin and coldness toward Jesus for most of His people. But not all. Some will be on fire, sensing the two-minute warning on God's clock. And they will abandon the apathy of the age and go for broke to give everyone on this planet a chance at Jesus. The cold. And the bold.
Cardinal Wuerl contributed some additional insight on how relevant leadership will have to adapt. "He will need to be able to reach out through all the means of communication today, especially social communications, to be present all over the world" (2).
Rewind 2,000 years and hear God's ambassador Paul articulating a spiritual rescue strategy for all times. "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22).
By all possible means. To "be present all over the world." Facebook. YouTube. Google. Twitter. Amazon. Smartphones and mobile apps. Words that represent a worldwide revolution in communications. Instant access to whatever. Things to buy. Things to entertain. Things that will corrode a soul. Or - if we Jesus-followers hear the wake-up call - things that could help reach a soul.
There are 35 times the number of people here than there were when Jesus gave His final orders. To "go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" (Mark 16:15 - NLB). Seven billion humans on earth. Over 150,000 slipping into eternity every day.
We cannot trap the life-saving Gospel of Jesus inside church walls or comfortable methodologies. In today's cynical and tribalized world, the primary messenger of Jesus' Good News is the everyday believer, not their church. And the most effective means of reaching the most hearts are outside our box.
James Martin's description of what kind of leader the Catholic Church needs sums up the kind of leader I want to be for my Lord. Martin, the editor-at-large for America Magazine, said the next pope must be "someone who's holy (who) can effectively preach the gospel...Jesus used any and all media to communicate." He called for preaching "with an understanding of how people hear." (3)
I want to have the courage to go beyond the comfy Christian cocoon. To embrace "all possible means" for getting the message of the Cross to people in the places where they are, with the words they understand.
Lives are at stake. Eternities are at stake. And rescuing is never safe. Just ask Jesus.
(1) "Cardinal Wuerl Describes Spiritual Experience of Conclave;" Estefania Aguirre/CAN/EWTN News; National Catholic Register
March 10, 2013.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Quoted in "D. C. cardinal: New pope must be master of social media;" by Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times, Friday, February 22, 2013.