Question 2.37

2.37 The ceremony in which Benedict XVI created you a cardinal must have been a great moment.

On November 20, 2010, God crowned many trials and sacrifices. Indeed, I really cared about one thing: I wanted the Holy Ghost Fathers of my childhood to be present in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the day of my elevation to the cardinalatial dignity. God caused many fine fruits to mature in my life, but the Holy Ghost Fathers witnessed the first breath of God on my heart. At a time when I had no merit, God always put his trust in me. Similarly, although I am far from having succeeded in everything that the Church might have expected of me, the different popes, from Paul VI on, have always given me important responsibilities. Although we are the product of a human heritage, more profoundly we are the work of God in the first place.

The honors that the Church may bestow on some of her sons are first of all a grace of God so that faith, hope, and charity might be more radiant. The temptation of worldliness is a plague. There is no human promotion in the Church, but merely an imitation of the Son of God. The good fortunes of ecclesiastical offices are just petty deceptive tinsel. Francis often correctly recalls the worldliness of Satan.

Even today, when I enjoy privileges due to my position, I strive to remain in union with God through profound mental prayer. If we refer everything back to God, there will be plenty of humility. The honor given to a cardinal can only be for the glory of God. Nothing will ever be too fine for Him.