You know what they say about the best-laid plans...

For weeks now, I have been planning a resurrection (of sorts) for this blog during Lent this year.  I had (and still have, I suppose) grandiose plans of posting every day during Lent about something related to Catholic news, my own Lenten reading, and the like.  I was planning to make my bold foray back into the blogging world with an introductory post on Shrove Tuesday (tomorrow).

And then this morning's news hit.  So, here is a precursor to my Lenten blogging.

Following my initial period of disbelief (which lasted for the better part of the morning), I have been alternating about every half hour between being on the brink of tears and being supremely confident in the Divine Will.

Right now I am the former, so here are reasons why I am sad today, in no particular order:

• Not that there are "camps" or "teams" for our past two pontiffs, but in theological and liturgical matters, I am most assuredly a child of Benedict XVI.  I think that he has been a tremendous gift to the Church in so many ways -- his clear love for tradition (in all senses of the word), his loving ecumenical heart that burns to see all Christians reconciled with the Church, his leading by example in liturgical matters (which are nearest and dearest to my heart and probably will form the basis for a future post or three).  I know most people my age have a strong love for John Paul II because of when they grew up, but as a 2003 convert, I only knew the very end of his pontificate.  Almost eight of my almost ten years in the Church have been under Benedict, and he has influenced my own faith journey in so many ways.  
• He is my one and only Papa.  The pure self-sacrificing love that shows through in everything he does, that beaming smile that shows the face of Christ Himself -- I love this man so much that I cannot express it in words.  

• This is the closest I will get to any sort of speculation in this post, but I can't help but wonder if something is seriously wrong with his health.  He didn't even wait until after Easter to announce this and he only gave two and a half weeks' notice beforehand.  If indeed it is the case that his health is seriously deteriorating, this is the thing that makes me the saddest.

And yet, in the midst of my sorrow, I know that we have reasons to hope:

• After so much speculation that Benedict would only reign as pope for a short time and that he would not really have an impact on the Church (as a sort of "transitional" pope), he gave us almost eight years of theological brilliance and clear teaching on what it means to be authentically Catholic in the modern world.  He started the Church on the path to true liturgical renewal -- a renewal based on  continuity with tradition, not a break with the past.
• As the climax of his years of teaching on the Second Vatican Council, he began the Year of Faith in which we currently find ourselves.  He has made it abundantly clear that the true meaning of the Council is not to be found in the "Spirit of Vatican II" but in the documents promulgated by the Council.
• He has named more than half of the Cardinals of voting age who will meet very soon to elect his successor.  I think, by the working of the Holy Spirit, that we will be in excellent hands.
• Much as it feels like we are losing our Papa, he doesn't appear to be on death's door.  I pray that Josef Ratzinger will have many more years of serving the Church in his own way.

The comment I have seen most often today is that Benedict's resignation demonstrates his deep humility.  To quote one of my favorite bloggers, "he leaves as he came, with a humility that shocks the world."  And that's really what our Christian life is all about, isn't it?

I hope that we will all learn from this great man how to do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with our God -- and trust in our Lord Jesus that the gates of hell shall never prevail against our Mother Church.

On people who need to keep their mouths shut

It's that time of year, when I start writing more blog posts instead of studying for exams. Oh, what fun.

Anyway, there's been a lot that has happened recently that is worth noting, but I'd like to focus on something that just happened today. In an interview with Attitude, a gay magazine in the UK, Blair basically criticized the Pope and the Church for being "anti-gay" (which is far from the truth, regardless of how much gay rights activists want to smear the Church -- they might want to consider doing their research before embarking on crusades like these). In relevant part, Blair's interview reads:

"Look, there are many good and great things the Catholic Church does, and there are many fantastic things this pope stands for, but I think what is interesting is that if you went into any Catholic church, particularly a well-attended one, on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you'd be surprised at how liberal-minded people were."

.........

On many issues, I think the leaders of the Church and the Church will be in complete agreement. But I think on some of these issues, if you went and asked the congregation, I think you’d find that their faith is not to be found in those types of entrenched attitudes. If you asked "what makes you religious?" and "what does your faith mean to you?" they would immediately go into compassion, solidarity, relieving suffering. I would be really surprised if they went to "actually, it’s to do with believing homosexuality is wrong" or "it’s to do with believing this part of the ritual or doctrine should be done in this particular way".

Right off the bat, Tony Blair might want to think about his own views on things before he criticizes anyone else's. I was cautiously optimistic when Blair was first received into the Church, but I knew that he would have to change a lot of his stances on things, especially his well-known, long-standing support for abortion rights and homosexuality. Now, I see that my caution was well-founded, as it seems that Blair has no intention of renouncing his views in these areas. I must ask, Tony, if you weren't willing to accept the teachings of the Church and were probably just as happy being Anglican (a church in which your views were accepted and lauded), why did you convert?

In the excerpt above, Blair uses a dangerous argument, and one that is more and more common these days. He argues that since your average Catholic parish is more "liberal-minded" than the Pope and other Church leaders, Catholic doctrine and dogma should be liberalized to match the views of the majority. Fortunately for him, truth is not and has never been decided by a majority vote. Otherwise, the Church would have caved long ago to forces seeking her destruction. People use this argument to say that the Church should change her attitudes on a whole host of issues, including abortion, homosexuality, and contraception. The Church's stance on each of these "hot-button" issues has been temperately formed over many, many years, and it's a shame that the culture of "me" has made people think that they know better.

What the Church actually teaches about homosexuality is a hefty topic that deserves its own post, but for the sake of openness, I'll post two relevant sections of the Catechism here:

Chastity and homosexuality
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

It would be one thing if Blair were calling for increased "respect, compassion, and sensitivity," echoing the words of the Catechism. I don't think any Catholic would argue that we should not reach out with respect and compassion to homosexuals. But this isn't what he's saying, and it's incredibly damaging.

My advice for Tony Blair: take this opportunity as an exercise in humility. The Church's views on life and marriage have been formed by hundreds and thousands of years of observing and living the human experience (plus, y'know, her God-given authority). Try giving that experience some thought and respect -- and consider why you think you have the authority and experience to argue for change. Spend an hour (or four) in front of the Blessed Sacrament and surrender yourself to God's will. You might not like what you hear, but it might just help your soul.

Popestock 2008!

Yes, my friends, the day has almost arrived. Deo Gratias! Only a few short hours remain before the Holy Father touches down at Andrews Air Force Base for his first visit to American soil. I'm both happy and frustrated at the same time – happy that he is coming to the United States relatively soon after his elevation to the See of Peter, but frustrated at the timing. As I'm sure you are aware, I'm in the middle of the push toward exams here at the law school, which means there is no way I can get away to go up to D.C. To be fair, I've seen him in person already (at the Vatican in 2005…sorry, I'm still working on a better way to incorporate photos in to these posts), so I'm not that annoyed. But still, it's unfortunate.

There has been a lot of press recently about the pope's "approval ratings" among Americans. For the most part, the results are encouraging. According to CNN, 80% of people they surveyed had a favorable view of the pope. This is higher than I might have expected, and that is a good sign. However, there have been more telling opinions published in recent days that claim to have found deeper problems with the views of American Catholics. This article from Slate claims that the more "orthodox" members of the Church are displeased with Benedict's perceived moderation, and there is a veritable plethora of opinions from "progressive" Catholic sources pining for change in the Church and in the papacy. These people were the same ones who lamented Benedict's election in 2005 as the end of whatever hope they had of gaining ground on the issues of clerical celibacy, female priests, and the like. In short, the more progressive members of the Church argue that Benedict has already gone too far in cracking down on touchy subjects, while the conservative members argue that he has not gone far enough in such matters.

While I obviously lean toward the "orthodox" side of things, what people on both sides fail to realize is that the office of pope is unlike any other. His position as the pastoral leader of Christians all over the world is not the same as the one he had as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was Joseph Ratzinger's job there to be the watchdog of the Church, so to speak. It is the job of Benedict XVI to be the Vicar of Christ on Earth, and because he is such a gentle and insightful man, he realized from the very beginning that this was necessary.

All of this aside, I firmly believe that Benedict's trip across the pond will unite Catholics as well as people of all faith traditions. After all, how often does the spiritual leader of one-sixth of the world come knocking on your door?

I will, of course, be waiting with baited breath for all of the pope's public appearances (I'm especially curious to see his speech at the United Nations) and will likely comment more as his trip progresses.

Get excited, people!

APH