Mood:
happyNow Playing: Baroque Music
Topic: B16
“Man was not just thrown up into the world by some quirk of evolution. The underlying truth is that each person is meant to exist. Each person is God’s own idea. Within everything that just for the moment exist factually, a plan and an idea are at work, and this gives meaning to my search for my own ideal self and to my coexistence with the world and with the onward path of history.” - Pope Benedict XVI
Some quick observations on Pope Benedict’s trip to America:
What an inspiring week this has been for Roman Catholics and people of all faiths! Pope Benedict XVI’s (aka B16) visit to America has been simply wonderful. From President Bush meeting the Holy Father at the airport - an unprecedented departure from official protocol - to the 50,000+ people who crowded into Yankee Stadium to participate in a Sunday Mass led by the pope, never has a foreign dignitary been shown so much hospitality from the American people.
This wonderful outpouring of love and devotion gives me confidence for the future of the world, this nation and the Universal Church. Contrary to bleak assessment that modernity worships strictly at the altar of fame, fortune and sensuality, B16’s trip has demonstrated the existence of a vibrant culture that begs to differ. People, especially young people, have turned out by the tens of thousands to see a man that has eschewed such false values and has instead embraced a life of “chastity, poverty & obedience,” the very antithesis of “pop” culture. Remarkable.
Likewise, even the open sewer that is television has participated in this religious rival. Stations that wouldn’t give the time of day to faith-based programming of any substantive value have donated hours , much of it without commercial interruption, no less!, to the coverage of the many public events held over the last six days. Clergy – real clergy, not the Hollywood type – were given the limelight and encouraged to discuss matters of deep theological significance. Dominicans, Franciscans, Crosiers, Knights of Columbus, Knights of Malta, theologians, parish priests – all and more were on display. To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, this week the Church was visible in all its glory; as something spread out through time and space and rooted in eternity, resplendent as an army with banners unfurled. Pride may be a sin, but I confess to experiencing more than a little these past few days.
Isn’t it amazing how one good man grounded not in relativism but in absolute Truth can change everything?
Thank you for inspiring us, B16! God’s speed home!
