‘Christ the Redeemer’

In the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the gaze of the Christ the Redeemer statue on the peak of the 700-meter-high Corcovado mountain, the Catholic Church’s 28th World Youth Days (WYD) will unfold this Tuesday, July 23 to Sunday, July 28.

The Art Deco piece, 30 meters tall with arms stretching 28 meters wide is already a familiar image to WYD delegates. Styled in Brazil flag-inspired shades of yellow, green and blue, it appears in the event’s logo, which organizers unveiled in February 2012.

I looked yesterday at photographs of the reinforced concrete-and-soapstone monument and deemed it a perfect key to meditating on the WYD theme taken from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew 28:19—”Go and make disciples of all peoples.”

The theme is part of the Great Commission that in Saint Matthew’s account formed Jesus’ parting words to his followers.

According to the Evangelist (Matthew 28:16-20), days after Jesus rose from the dead, 11 disciples (not counting the late Judas Iscariot) went to a mountain in Galilee that He designated as their meeting place.

“When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

The Church normally proclaims this Gospel in Masses around the end of the Easter Season to celebrate Jesus’ Ascension into heaven and the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.

The reading in the context of WYD 2013 strikes me as a summons to a fresh encounter with our risen Savior. As I ponder it, I picture myself sitting in the shadow of the colossal Christ the Redeemer. It dominates the bright, blue expanse of the sky above me. It stands as the centerpiece of the surrounding land and seascape, and in the stillness, the ears of my heart hear choir monks intone the opening verses of the Easter weeknight psalm: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High and abides in the shade of the Almighty says to the Lord: ‘My refuge, my stronghold, my God in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2).

“The asp and the basilisk you will trample under foot, you will tread on the lion and the dragon” (Psalm 91:13). This is King David’s prophecy of the One who would conquer sin and death, lyrics that inspired icons fashioned in stone, ivory or gold leaf in the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods, when the bishop Arius asserted that Jesus was not divine. My mind’s eye shifts to this icon of “Christ Treading on the Beasts.”

These days and the days of the Arian heresy are not too different. Jesus to the Arians was a minor God. Jesus to today’s secularists and skeptics is nothing more than a mythologized Jewish philosopher if not an anachronistic fictional character. In the time of Arius, faithful artists fought back, intimating in reliefs and mosaics that divinity must be inherent in One who slew sin and death, the flesh, the world and the Evil one—realities that the asp, basilisk, lion and dragon symbolized.

These days, the Church points out to the faithful, especially to young people Corcovado’s pinnacle, where Heitor da Silva Costa and Paul Landowski’s Christ the Redeemer kindles our faith in Jesus, the God-man once crucified, killed and buried; the God-man who rose on Easter Sunday.

The same Jesus greets everyone who hears, “Shalom (Peace)!” He is ready to enfold everyone in his merciful arms, from Brazilians railing against corruption in the streets of Rio de Janeiro to youths struggling to overcome drug addiction in rehabilitation centers in Cebu. Christ the Redeemer’s hands beckon all who believe in him to make disciples of all nations by working, relying on his constant help to free them from the beasts of doubt, despair, hatred and cynicism.

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The Catholic Church is granting plenary and partial indulgences to those who will participate in the WYD outside Rio de Janeiro. Let me quote from the decree that the Apostolic Penitentiary issued on July 9:

“Those faithful who are legitimately prevented may obtain the Plenary Indulgence as long as, having fulfilled the usual conditions — spiritual, sacramental and of prayer — with the intention of filial submission to the Roman Pontiff, they participate in spirit in the sacred functions on the specific days, and as long as they follow these same rites and devotional practices via television and radio or, always with the proper devotion, through the new means of social communication.”

“The Partial Indulgence is granted to those faithful, wherever they may be during the above-mentioned meeting, every time, at least with a contrite heart, that they raise fervent prayers to God, concluding with the official World Youth Day Prayer, and devout invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Brazil, under her title of ‘Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao Aparecida,’ as well as to the other Patrons and Intercessors of this same meeting so that they encourage the young people to be strengthened in the faith and to lead a holy life.”

For more details, please visit www.vatican.va and click the link to “WYD RIO 2013.”