"But Peter and the apostles said in reply, 'We must obey God rather than men.'" - Acts 5:29
Ahhh, yeah. It's been awhile. The first two months of this year have been both busy and beautiful on many fronts. I've been writing, but I've felt as if the posts I've been drafting haven't wanted to be finished. So, in the "drafts" folder they'll remain for now.
But, on this third Sunday of Lent, and four-ish days after the official retirement of Pope Benedict XVI, I feel a pressing need to break the silence of the blog.
The Holy Father decided to retire. Okay. The world has been buzzing about his decision since it was announced, and there have been all manner of rumors, plenty of gossip, and an abundance of armchair quarterbacking by, well, just about everyone close to home and far away.
And while there's always plenty of "stuff" that circulates in the media concerning the Church around the beginning of Lent every year, the Pope's decision to retire has increased the intensity said stuff's circulation. Why did he retire? What will the Church do now? Why is the Church so "behind the times" - and when will the Church conform to modern society and become "relevant"? Will the next Pope allow priests to marry? What about all those sex abuse scandals? Is the Catholic Church in crisis, or in danger of collapsing?
My honest reaction to these things: laughter.
I admit, I find all this stuff to be anywhere from mildly entertaining to downright hilarious. Occasionally, something pops up that I find legitimately offensive, but most of the time, I just end up shaking my head and laughing. Because the world... well, the world just doesn't get it - the world never has gotten it, and probably never will. So, let's unpack this a bit.
Why did the Pope retire?
In case you haven't read the story/gotten the memo/seen the news, he's 85 years old, and felt he had lost the physical strength required to shepherd the, ohhhhh 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. You know, like being the head of the Catholic Church is no big deal or anything.
Shortly after his retirement was announced, I read something - I think on Facebook - that summed it up rather nicely: Pope John Paul II exemplified for us the dignity of human life by his leadership through infirmity up to dying a holy death, Pope Benedict XVI exemplified for us Christian humility in knowing his limits and choosing to step down when he reached that limit. The world at large understands neither the dignity of human life, nor the virtue of humility.
If we see with the eyes of faith, it is clear that there is much we can learn from both of their examples.
What will the Church do now?
That one's easy, and pretty obvious. The cardinals will gather in conclave, and work that one out with the help of the Holy Spirit. Pray for them.
Why is the Church so "behind the times" - and when will the Church conform to modern society and become "relevant"?
This always makes me laugh. Yes, the Church has evolved over the last 2000 or so years, but her basic teachings and framework of doing things have not changed.
And let's face it: what most people are referring to when they make the charge that the Church is behind the times, has to do with the fact that they disagree with Church teachings regarding human sexuality, the dignity of human life, marriage, and family, and ordains men to a celibate priesthood. Because those things are all soooo 100+ years ago. Didn't dinosaurs roam the earth then, in the dark ages before abortion was legalized and when going on a third date didn't mean it was time to have sex with the person you were going out with?
And at the end of the day, just because the world thinks this makes the Church "behind the times," doesn't make the Church wrong about any of these things. And if you really think the Church isn't relevant in the world today, why is the Catholic Church at ~1.2 billion members and growing every year? The Catholic Church has outlasted every major empire in the last 2000 years - and most of those empires have tried to destroy her. Yep, I'm looking at you, Roman Empire! Looking at you, too, Nazi Germany! And you, Soviet Union! The saying goes that those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it - those who currently assault religious freedom and the dignity of human life would do well to learn from this history.
I find it difficult to believe that, if the Catholic Church does not belong to Christ, the Church could have survived all these things. No merely human institution could have. Yes, the Church on earth is run by humans who are flawed, and they make mistakes, and bad decisions, and commit all kinds of sin. And still, the Church remains, and grows. Were the Church not of Christ, the Church would have self-destructed in the face of its human administrators, let alone the face of adversity presented by persecution by various historical regimes. It is, as was said of the apostles and early Christians by the Pharisee Gamaliel in the book of Acts (5:38-39), "if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God."
History has borne out the prophetic truth of Gamaliel's words. Personally, I think I know which side I'd rather be on, even if it puts me "behind the times."
Okay. I think this is enough for the moment. I'll attack the rest of those questions I posed earlier in this post, but in the interest of keeping this post to a readable length, I'll wait until a bit later.
Don't worry. The Church won't disappear in the meantime. ;-)
+Peace and good.
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