What to think of the astonishing cross of light that appeared in the middle of the clouds during the funeral of Benedict XVI? For the theologian who was to become pope, recalls the writer Henri Quantin, "more than knowing whether or not a fact is recognized as a miracle, it is always a question of knowing whether God remains God".
The advantage with the dead, they say, is that they cannot contradict us. The downside, one might as well say, is that they can't endorse us. When they left writings, however, we can look for what confirms the ideas attributed to them post mortem or what sheds light on the events with which they are associated. So with Benedict XVI and the sign that some saw in the sky during his funeral. In the sky, so from the sky?
To see or not to see?
In Behold Who Is Our God , questioned about the reality of miracles, Joseph Ratzinger demonstrated his usual balance between the wing of faith and the wing of reason: “One must not fall into a superstitious conception of miracles, as if one could cause them at will. We must not make easy recipes out of them, ”he said at first. Confusion of the divine sign and Hollywood imagery, confusion of Christ and Gérard Majax (sorry to the younger generations who must not know who it is), confusion of the biblical rainbow and the outgoing lightning of Voldemort's wand, there is much to call for caution. The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, however, did not forget to warn against the opposite error, which would in principle reduce the field of divine action: “Nor should you want to know everything and dictate to God what he can do. No one can, in fact, alone decree the limits of the power of the Almighty. In short, Joseph Ratzinger revealed the two sides of a logic that always comes down to taking oneself for God: to see his signs everywhere without examination or to affirm categorically that one cannot see them anywhere.
Anyone who refuses to see everything that does not fit into his pre-established vision is very likely to no longer see anything at all.
Asked at the end of the same book about the renewal of Marian devotion, the future Benedict XVI followed exactly the same course: “Certainly, there are in all this many forms of pseudo-apparitions and false messages. We must therefore be very careful and not believe too easily that the supernatural is at work. Conversely, an authentically critical attitude should not make us impervious to reality. Anyone who refuses to see anything that does not fit into their pre-established vision is very likely to see nothing at all. Taking the example of Lourdes, Cardinal Ratzinger noted that the absolute refusal of the supernatural would have caused the incredible event to be missed: “You could at first believe that this little girl had created fantasies for herself. It had finally turned out that Mother Mary herself had really shown up. In short, whoever suspects illusion everywhere ends up losing the richness of reality itself.
Miracles and the Question of God
As a clear professor, Joseph Ratzinger reminded us above all that it is never the miracle alone that is at stake, but the image we have of God. In support of this development, he told an anecdote featuring two Protestant theologians. The first, Adolf von Harnack, very liberal, had been forced to welcome in Berlin a more traditional colleague, Adolf Schlatter, appointed there to counterbalance his influence. Against all odds, the two men collaborated smoothly. So Harnack thought he could declare one day, to underline their good understanding: “The only question which separates us is that of the miracle. To which Schlatter replied, "No, that's God's question!" The question of the miracle includes that of God. He who does not recognize miracles has another image of God. By reporting this answer, which delighted him, the future Benedict XVI showed that one should not get the wrong stake. More than knowing whether or not a fact is recognized as a miracle, it is always a question of “knowing whether God remains God”. Because only he who admits at least the possibility of the miracle believes in a God who can “in the way he wants and which is good for the world and when he wants, continue to reveal himself as Creator and Lord in the world”. It is therefore only in a double movement of prudence and openness to celestial signs that one can, it seems, wonder about Because only he who admits at least the possibility of the miracle believes in a God who can “in the way he wants and which is good for the world and when he wants, continue to reveal himself as Creator and Lord in the world”. It is therefore only in a double movement of prudence and openness to celestial signs that one can, it seems, wonder about Because only he who admits at least the possibility of the miracle believes in a God who can “in the way he wants and which is good for the world and when he wants, continue to reveal himself as Creator and Lord in the world”. It is therefore only in a double movement of prudence and openness to celestial signs that one can, it seems, wonder aboutthe astonishing cross of light that appeared in the middle of the clouds during the funeral of Benedict XVI .
“As an exhortation from Above”
As for knowing what the pope emeritus would have said if he had been able to speak, no one can obviously say. On the other hand, we can remember that he commented during his lifetime on another possible celestial sign of which he would have been the recipient.
As the old archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird, probably a lark, flew up from the high altar in the cathedral.
The scene also took place during a mass—a privileged moment, it is true, to unite heaven and earth—his ordination mass. In Ma vie, souvenirs 1927-1977, he describes the episode as follows: "When the old archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird, probably a lark, rose from the high altar in the cathedral and launched trills in a song of joy; for me it was like an exhortation from on high. »
Nothing spectacular here: no celestial rumble or flashy effect, but a sign that one is tempted to find all the more supernatural as nothing is done to give it the appearance. “Like an exhortation from on High”, says Joseph Ratzinger, and we admire the humility of this “like” which slips modest prudence into thanksgiving. No doubt someone who has never made himself "impermeable to reality" does not need more telling signs than a bird that sings as it flies up to the sky. This sign, at least, is approved by the one who tells it and seems to be the image of "the humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord". This does not prevent, of course, that God can send the signs that he wants and that there is always some presumption to decide on those who are supposed to resemble Him best.
