RBWords - Volume 26 - Number 2: February 2013
Something to Think About
One knows that “important” history is being made if one has the sense that in the future someone will ask, “Where were you when such-and-such happened?” Examples of this might include the assassination of John F. Kennedy or the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For Catholics, the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council could be included as well. Right now the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI is making worldwide news and bids well to be included as one of those “where were you?” events for Catholics, at least. I am writing this on February 27, 2013, and the resignation takes effect at 8PM (Rome time, of course) on February 28th.
Although there have been resignations from the papacy before (the historians and the media have made sure we know about them), the last one was in 1415 and took place in considerably different circumstances. Gregory XII was under pressure. Benedict XVI simply realized what generations of his predecessors did not. The good of the church requires a pope with the energy and health to do the job properly. He has shown grace, courage and generosity by his action. (Of course, those entranced by Vatican/Papal trivia breathlessly awaited the decisions about what titles he would have, where he would live, what he would wear. Now they know: Pontiff-emeritus [still His Holiness Benedict XVI ], in a convent within the Vatican walls, wearing a simple white cassock without the red shoes!”) In the medieval days, an official “food taster” might be part of the staff as well!!!!
The cardinals are gathering to decide the date of the conclave to elect a new pope. The media and bookies are discussing possible candidates to succeed to the job. The Vatican will make a bit of money off the special issue of “interregnum” stamps! All the top officials of the curial congregations will lose their jobs as of 8pm tomorrow and await the decision of the new pope about their future! So, there is apprehension as well as excitement about it all. Ceremony will follow ceremony in a vast pageant that will be broadcast, texted, twittered and tweeted instantly around the globe! I'm certainly not immune to the goings-on, with the exception of texting, twittering and tweeting! The old adage should be remembered, however, “He who enters the conclave a pope will come out as a cardinal.” Benedict XVI went in as an “odds-on” favorite. John Paul I and II were surprises! Let us pray! IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
“When, on 19 April almost eight years ago I accepted to take on the Petrine ministry, I had the firm certainty that has always accompanied me: this certainty for the life of the Church from the Word of God. At that moment, as I have already expressed many times, the words that resounded in my heart were: Lord, what do You ask of me? It is a great weight that You are placing on my shoulders but, if You ask it of me, I will cast my nets at your command, confident that You will guide me, even with all my weaknesses. And eight years later I can say that the Lord has guided me. He has been close to me. I have felt His presence every day. It has been a stretch of the Church's path that has had moments of joy and light, but also difficult moments. I felt like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the See of Galilee. The Lord has given us many days of sunshine and light breezes, days when the fishing was plentiful, but also times when the water was rough and the winds against us, just as throughout the whole history of the Church, when the Lord seemed to be sleeping. But I always knew that the Lord is in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, not ours, but is His. And the Lord will not let it sink. He is the one who steers her, of course also through those He has chosen because that is how He wanted it. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. And that is why my heart today is filled with gratitude to God, because He never left—the whole Church or me—without His consolation, His light, or His love.”