I spoke with both of my adult children on the telephone last night, about the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Neither of them has known any pope except John Paul II, so the new papacy is bound to seem a bit alien.
My daughter and son are both concerned about the new pope’s age. I know that to any young adult, 78 years old sounds fossilized. It’s difficult to realize that chronological age only matters in human terms, not in eternity. Catholics believe that Benedict XVI was chosen by God, so we must trust that he is the pope for a very good reason. Mankind is not privy to God’s plans. If one has “faith in the system,” one believes that we have the right pope for the right time in human history. There may be a very major crisis or grave world event that Pope Benedict XVI will need to lead us through.
It could be said that we are already immersed in such an era, with the now-famous “dictatorship of relativism” openly indicted by Benedict XVI the day before his election as pontiff. The conflict between Islam and other religions also foreshadows potential catastrophe in the world. If our new pope can shepherd us through these treacherous fields successfully, no matter the length of his papacy, he will have succeeded in his mission as Vicar of Christ on earth.
The monasteries founded by St. Benedict safeguarded the history of Christian and Western civilization as the world descended into centuries of the Dark Ages. Pope Benedict XVI, a lifelong scholar and theologian, fully realizes the significance of his chosen name in relation to the lost ways of our modern world.
The ground already stampeded by the MSM, aghast at the election of a strong, traditional Catholic to lead the Church, does not bear more trampling. Suffice it to say that the media elites are thoroughly dismayed and confounded by the joy that overwhelming numbers of Catholics have displayed in their new pontiff. Imagine, a Roman Catholic leader who believes in the rules of his religion! Can it be that he’s honestly unafraid of would-be Church reformers? And although MSM immediately trotted out the Hitler Youth story and photo, it hasn’t done much to dampen the enthusiasm of most rank-and-file Catholics. Even the ADL considers that episode a non-issue with Benedict XVI. If that was MSM’s best shot, it was a blank.
“He just doesn’t look like the pope,” was my daughter’s wistful comment, the lament of a young woman who knows only John Paul II. Well, perhaps he doesn’t, just yet. But give him a bit of time, kids. To borrow a phrase from your lexicon, I think Pope Benedict XVI will “rock your world” in the best of ways.
Think about it. He’s already lit the collective wick of the entire MSM and liberal relativists across the planet. Not bad for one full day’s work.
