Gregory the Great offers us invaluable lessons in living the Christian life. He models for us morality, service, prayer, among other attributes. This blogcast explores “The Reluctant Pope" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Don McCrabb and read by Jonathan Harrison.
Gregory the Great offers us invaluable lessons in living the Christian life. He models for us morality, service, prayer, among other attributes. This blogcast explores “The Reluctant Pope" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Don McCrabb and read by Jonathan Harrison.
Do you have a favorite saint? As Catholics we enjoy the “communion of saints,” a treasure trove of ancestors in the faith, who “intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 956). They learned from Jesus, were perfected through their love for him, and offer their wisdom to us and our struggles to God. One of my favorite saints is Gregory the Great (540-604).
I was 44 when I met St. Gregory. I was preparing to teach an introduction to pastoral ministry class to seminarians. At the time, psychology and sociology shaped pastoral care. St. Gregory offered an accessible, faithful, and practical approach. My students loved him.
St. Gregory was born into a wealthy family in Rome. By his early 30’s, he was Prefect of Rome – like a city manager – responsible for roads, aqueducts, and safety. After his father died, he resigned his position, gave away his vast estates, converted his family home into a monastery (Saint Andrew’s), and became a monk. Eventually, the Pope called him into service, made him his personal envoy to Emperor Tiberius, and then returned to Rome to be Abbot. In 590, after a terrible flood, the pope died, and the people elected Gregory to be pope. He resisted and appealed to the emperor who denied his request. He was consecrated pope on September 3, 590.
St. Gregory has been, and continues to be, a blessing to me. Here are five lessons I learned from St. Gregory.
Scripture: St. Gregory treasured the time monastic life gave him with scripture. It was the foundation of his prayer, shaped his teaching, and inspired his preaching and writings. His secretary said that a dove would land on his shoulder, he would stop, listen carefully, and then dictate his homily. St. Gregory is often depicted with a dove near his ear to represent that he was docile to the Holy Spirit. He is the patron saint of teachers.
Prayer: Catholics cultivate a personal and communal prayer life. St. Gregory drew inspiration from the lives of others. He was the first to write a biography of St. Benedict. He complained that his papal responsibilities took away from his prayer time. St. Gregory reformed the liturgy, adding the Our Father before communion. While he did not create Gregorian Chant, he was the first monk elected pope, and, with 15 other popes named Gregory, was a source of inspiration to other popes. He is also the patron saint for musicians.
Morality: St. Gregory would not separate spirituality from morality. Indeed, the moral life is the personal and practical spirituality of the Christian. Our actions – to do good and to avoid evil – is how we live out our relationship with God. St. Gregory’s greatest work is the Morals in Job. Its actual title is An Extensive Consideration of Moral Questions and is six volumes. His moral sense extended to the papacy being the first pope to refer to his role as the “servant of the servants of God.”
Care for the Person: St. Gregory was aware of the struggles of moral life. He believed it was the responsibility of bishops and pastors to provide pastoral care for the faithful – to accompany them through their moral decision making. Consequently, he wrote Pastoral Care to give pastors a practical way to respond based on the type of person they engage: introverts differently than extraverts, aggressive differently than the docile.
Mission: When St. Gregory returned to Rome to become Abbot, he encountered youth from England which awakened a desire to leave Rome and be a missionary in Britain. He responded to that call by sending Augustine and some other monks from his abbey to England. He encouraged them to give a Christian meaning to some of the shrines and rituals of the people. The Church took root in England and Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
St. Gregory lived during turbulent times. We live during turbulent times. St. Gregory rooted himself in scripture and scripture infused his personal prayer and celebration of the Eucharist, his approach to the moral life, his care for others, and his passion for mission. Perhaps these merits drawn from his life can do the same for us.
St. Gregory, pray for us!
Author:
Don McCrabb, D. Min., a pastoral theologian, is the former Executive Director of the United States Catholic Mission Association.
Resources:
Listen to On Mission: The Papacy
Read the Ad Infinitum blog
Learn about St. Gregory the Great