Blessed limits

Christelle Javary

Pope Francis' message for World Peace Day, January 1, 2024, was quite surprising. Instead of a long list of places where war is raging, he called for the establishment of international regulations for… artificial intelligence (AI)! Without denying the benefits and progress that technological development can bring, the Pope expressed concern about the risks and abuses that could result from the misuse of AI: restrictions on human freedom and dignity, discrimination, unequal treatment of citizens, manipulation, the rise of a surveillance society, rampant individualism, and so on. While technological progress can be intoxicating, the Pope reminded humanity that it is limited… and that this is good news! “Indeed,” he said, “human beings, mortal by definition, thinking they can overcome all limits thanks to technology, risk, in their obsession with controlling everything, losing control of themselves; in the pursuit of absolute freedom, falling into the spiral of a technological dictatorship.” Recognizing and accepting one's limitations as a creature is an essential condition for humankind to attain, or better yet, embrace fulfillment as a gift.

With Jesus, inhabiting our limits

Lady Wisdom would applaud wholeheartedly, she who, in the first reading for this Sunday, invites us to abandon our carelessness. This isn't about the tendency to lose one's keys or forget an appointment, but rather the risk of losing sight of the meaning of our lives and forgetting that God is waiting for us there. Fortunately, Wisdom has compassion for us and it is she who comes to meet us. Far from lecturing us or heaping reproaches upon us, she invites us to a delightful banquet where a mysterious wine flows, a wine that bestows wisdom—whereas earthly wine tends to cloud it.

“To welcome fullness as a gift,” in the beautiful words of Pope Francis, is what Jesus invites us to do as he presents himself as the living bread. By becoming incarnate, he came to share, without pretense, the limitations of the human condition: born of a woman, he needed to eat and drink, he experienced fatigue, he knew suffering, and he even passed through death. Yet, by giving us his flesh to eat, he wants to expand and transfigure our limitations to lead us into eternal life, the very life of God. The pride of believing ourselves limitless is an illusion and a dead end. The humble love of our creaturely condition is the path that opens us to the destiny of eternity that our loving Creator desires for us. Will we know how to make the right choice?

Magnificat