Farewell to Pope Benedict?

     I woke up to some bigger-than-usual news on my Facebook this morning. I’m sure you all know by know that Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation. So, unless something changes in the next couple of weeks, we will have a new pope. Extra prayers for the college of Cardinals certainly are in order. 

    Now, popes don’t usually resign, although it has a happened a few times. Just not in the last oh, six hundred years or so. Longer, if we are talking voluntary resignation. But with life expectancies being longer now and people living though things they used to die from, and living in a weaker body than they used to...well, I suppose it is reasonable for a Pope to resign if he feels he can no longer do his duty. Of course, now every one is talking about prophesies and anti-popes. Well, not EVERYONE, but the chatter is out there. Nothing new. If I were to take a minute to ride that bandwagon, I would call a Pope’s resignation the perfect and logical way for an anti-pope to take the Chair of Peter. I mean, that’s usually how it goes in the books...although generally there is an assassination attempt involved and everyone THINKS the real pope is dead, only he isn’t. Goodness! This could be the end of the world! It could be the start of the great tribulations! Aggghhhhaaaa!!!!!!!
Of course, it could be that life will continue as usual. Always hard to tell with these things.

Does it really matter? Seriously?

Yes and No.

    First the no. No, it doesn’t matter if it is the end of the world, because we need to be prepared for Judgement anyhow. For you or I, the end could come in two minutes and twelve seconds. Or not for another sixty years. Our souls should be in the state of grace regardless. I mean, we’re talking about a healthy relationship with God. Is there really a good reason to ever put that in jeopardy?
     And another thing. Truth doesn’t change. It doesn’t matter if it is good times or bad, Truth is True. Whether anyone believes it or not, it is still true. Practice may look easier or harder depending on the times, but Christ is ever faithful, and nothing can change that truth. So really, if we have our trust in God, it doesn’t matter if the times are good or bad.

    Now for the Yes. Yes, it does matter. Because if we are living in times of tribulation, or even the times at the end of the world, we are going to be challenged more. There will be more confusion. If we are looking at the end of the world, things are going to get really bad, because our purgatory will be on earth. The stakes are higher and the time shorter. Where we expect to find truth, we will find lies. That is the danger of the anti-pope, as it is of the anti-christ. Lies coming out of not only the mouths of high ranking Church officials (and dishonest media reports,) but out of the mouth of the man himself. So our main concern is to know the truth, or how can we can recognize the lies? Again, this ought to be a standard, regardless of whether we have a new pope or not. The truth does not and cannot change. That’s the really nice thing about truth. But if you don’t know the truth, it really doesn’t do you much good, does it. This is probably why Pope Benedict gave us this “Year of Faith.” We need to really wake up and work on strengthening our faith and our knowledge of the truth.

     I am very grateful for all Pope Benedict has done during his papacy, most especially for giving us back the Tridentine Mass. He will be missed. I am not going to assume that the next pope is the anti-pope. Nor am I going to panic that this is The End Of The World As We Know It - although I have had my suspicions since November.

    What I am going to do is pray. I pray for Pope Benedict. I pray for our Cardinals and for our next pope. I pray for Catholics everywhere, especially those facing persecution, not only for what they believe, but also just for believing that there is an absolute truth. I pray for those Catholics who DON’T believe, whether from choice or from poor instruction. You know, there is no such thing as “Catholic in name only.” Even an apostate is still Catholic, whether they like it or not. Not even excommunication can change that status. I pray for our political leaders, and I pray for those who persecute us. And for those searching for the truth.

God Bless,
              Rae

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