What
does it take to be "Great"? All the saints are great in holiness.
Some are greater than others with respect to their charisms, or gifts,
from God. But for a pope to be called "Great", what must he do? Our
saint of the day, Leo the Great, was called great because of his
abilities to strengthen the papacy. Leo was elected in 440, during the
decline of the Roman Empire in the West. The capital had been moved to
Constantinople; the Western Roman Emperor was weak; the army couldn't
defend the people from the invading barbarians; heresies were ravaging
the Church. Life was rough, to say the least.
In
steps Leo, who was an amazing administrator. He helped control the
heresies of Pelagianism, which says that we don't need God's grace to
choose good; Manicheism, which says that the body is evil; and
Monophysitism, which says that Jesus was more God than man. Each of
these is dangerous to the faith and our understanding of the
relationship we have with God. He also stopped Attila the Hun from
invading Rome and kept the barbarian Vandals from burning Rome when they
invaded.
So what can we learn from this great
pope? We each have charisms that allow us to spread the Good News in
our special way. We each have our occupations, our avocations, and our
relationships. Each person develops the skills to become good at those
jobs, hobbies, and relationships. We can turn those skills into
opportunities to share God's love, to serve God's people, to teach our
faith in God. Each of us is called to greatness in holiness. We can
also be "Great".
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