In an editorial written on the Pope’s final day in Lebanon, a leading Vatican spokesman drew attention to the connection between the Pontiff’s initial homily in May and his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon: the theme of disappearing so that Christ may remain.
Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, also offered his own commentary on that theme:
To “disappear so that Christ may remain” does not mean withdrawing into inwardness, building closed communities of the “perfect,” or chasing dreams of power and greatness based on numbers while forgetting God’s logic, which is shown in littleness. To “disappear so that Christ may remain” means becoming instruments—despite our limitations—of that boundless love of God that embraces every human heart without distinction, bending down to the least, the oppressed, and those who suffer. This is what the young people of Lebanon bore witness to before the Successor of Peter, who came to encourage them.