A few random thoughts and ponderings to start the week...
Since Pope Benedict’s announcement of his resignation, many people
have commented that this move is a sign of his deep humility…and they are
exactly right. He is stepping away from a powerful position, relinquishing control
of the most influential spiritual office on earth. Pope Benedict is not a
power-hungry megalomaniac – despite what many of his detractors would claim. He
is a humble man who loves the Church and wants what is best for her members, not
his own ego.
But I would be careful how we play up this aspect of his
resignation. Certainly it is a sign of humility. But we must also remember that his predecessor famously remained as pope through a
long and debilitating illness, and in the end had the fourth longest reign of
any pope in history. He did not give up the office of Peter; he did not resign
as Benedict has…but that does not mean that John Paul was any less humble. Pope John Paul II allowed his illness and his human frailty to be on display to the world as he
suffered in a very public way. That too requires a great amount of humility. But he showed us a different path than Benedict has chosen
So, both Benedict XVI and John Paul II showed us a way to
live out the virtue of humility, but each in his own way. No two popes will
choose to rule in exactly the same way, and no two pontificates will look
exactly the same. With these two great popes in immediate succession, it is
inevitable that comparisons will be made with the next pope. But the next Successor
to Peter deserves his own time to find his own way to live out this calling. I pray that we give him that space and that he lives up to that challenge.
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And now, just because I thought it was funny, and since Lent began last week...
