RBWords - Volume 26 - Number 3: March 2013
Something to Think About
When I sent the February edition of RBWORDS, the church was all a-twitter [literally] over the seemingly sudden resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. It was quite a surprise! But the surprise element continued and produced Pope Francis I, who has not stopped surprising the traditionally-minded papal court at the Vatican with his departures from “protocol.” It looks as if he wants to disprove the old joke about the “seven last words of the church” - “We've never done it that way before!” These may well become the informal motto of his papacy! He is a Jesuit who has taken a Franciscan name and, as pope, is wearing the white color legendarily established when Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican, continued wearing the white Dominican habit after his election. We'll see if this tradition continues as well! Right now, all bets are off, especially since the media and bookies lost big time in their predictions, and Pope Francis continues to do things never done before!
The job of being Pope is a crusher. Francis had already sent in his letter of resignation from Buenos Aires because of his age! But John XXIII and Benedict XVI were both elderly and both have had a significant effect on the church – the first by calling the Second Vatican Council and the second by being the first pope to resign from office in more than 400 years. Pope Francis needs our prayers and the church needs the excitement he is generating! IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!
It Has Been Said
“The perfection of love is when we receive the gift of the other person as he or she is. They may not be quite what we had dreamed of. They may be less intelligent, less than we hoped. They will certainly one day be less beautiful. We dreamed of first-growth claret and what we got may just be old vinegar. If we can accept that gift with gratitude, then our love will be on the way to perfection.”
from SEVEN LAST WORDS by Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
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