The Church has been around for
an awfully long time, 2,000 years. To give you some perspective, Martin Luther
began his movement only 500 or so years ago.
Yet, as old as the Church is, it’s never inappropriate to think the more
things change, the more things stay the same. We've seen that played out in
remarkable ways in the time since Pope Benedict's abdication announcement.
Two Humble Popes. When Pope Francis was elected, and ever since,
everyone's remarked about his sense of humility. Out on the balcony, Francis
asked everyone in the crowd, and those watching, to pray for him and to bless
him, and bowed his head to receive their blessings. The next day, he went and
picked up his bags and paid his bill at the hotel where he'd been staying,
taking a car from the equivalent of the Vatican motor pool. He has seemingly
eschewed the more formal attire of Benedict for the simple white cassock.
It seems people have forgotten
how many commentators remarked, correctly on Benedict's implicit humility shown
in his decision to leave the papal office. He showed that, at heart, he was
willing to listen to God's voice and allow that voice to lead him wherever God
willed. It was an expression of perfect submission to God's will that anyone
who could be open enough to see would understand.
Jesus said that the first would
be last and the last would be first. We've seen, in the last month or so, two
humble Christian men put that axiom into solid, easy to understand action for the
entire world to see, granted in very different ways, but still easily seen and
understood. They showed themselves to be
real teachers and bearers of Christ's message in doing so and we all should be
humbled by their example.
Still Able to Surprise. As I said above, the Church is 2,000 years
old, yet she's still able to surprise and cause the world to sit back and take
notice. Benedict's abdication was certainly a surprise, totally unexpected, yet
he was unafraid to break with Tradition and do what he believed to be the right
thing. His action showed the Church's (eternal) perspective on worldly affairs
and the right relationship between God and man. He didn't cling to power like
some CEO or world leader but willingly gave it all up when the time had
come.
Father Jorge, as Cardinal
Brogolio likes to be known, was about the last man anyone expected to elected
pope. He was older than people thought appropriate, he was doctrinally
conservative, which the left side of the aisle thought disqualified him, and he
had been passed over the last time around. By worldly standards, he didn't have
a chance. But the cardinals were listening, not to the worldly types on
Twitter, but to the Spirit which appears in the form of a dove and gave the
Church a great gift. Surprise!
On top of that, Cardinal
Brogolio made yet another break with Tradition and chose to be known as
Francis, a name never used before, signaling to the world that it was time to
renew and rebuild the Church, just when the world was beginning to write her
off as hopelessly out of date, unable to adapt to the new world order.
War Criminals? I find the reaction of those in the liberal media,
both Catholic and secular, to both popes remarkable alike. First, there was
ample evidence of dismay that the Church once again went with a pope who
happened to take her teachings seriously. In both cases, there was dismay and a
subtle tsk, tsking, at the display of reactionary spirit by a bunch of
doddering old men unable and unwilling to keep up with current trends in
society. They were demanding the Church
change to fit their human ideas, instead of doing things in the proper order
and seeking the Lord in true and humble repentance and conversion.
More seriously, unnamed, and
undocumented, sources popped up in both cases claiming that each man was guilty
of war crimes, maybe even atrocities. In Benedict's case, he was accused of
being a Nazi, in Francis' case, he's now accused of being a traitor during
Argentina's "dirty war" in the early 1980's. It seems the world is
ready to use any weapon, any charge, true or not to discredit anyone who would
lead the campaign against it. In both cases, of course, the effort will be
fruitless.
So, we have two popes, each man
very different from the other, leading by example and teaching what it means to
be humble, showing the world that the Church is still capable of surprise and
still able to withstand the worst sort of attacks the world can throw at her.
What was it Jesus said about the gates of Hell not prevailing against her?
We've seen the truth of that, in spades, over the last month or so.
