I don't know about you but the news I woke up to on Monday
morning about Pope Benedict XVI retiring was quite the shock to me. It was
weird, I was experiencing a whole range of emotions. I was sad, upset,
concerned, disappointed and honestly just a little confused. I quickly turned
on the TV after I read on my Fox News app the breaking story and sent a text to
Fr. Adam asking what the heck was going on... his response "Already on
it!". My memory quickly took me back to almost 8 years ago when I was
still a student at Franciscan University and Pope Benedict was elected. As you
can imagine being on a very Catholic campus everyone was a buzz waiting for the
great news of a new Pope. Much of the student body gathered in the JC Williams
center hovering over the only TV that we all had access too. As we watched the
white smoke appear the whole campus burst out into applause and anticipation of
who was going to walk out! It was one of the most joyful memories I have as
Pope Benedict made his appearance. If I am not mistaken there were not many dry
eyes in the building. After the death of such a beautiful man as, Pope John
Paul II, that all loved and adored him many of us were worried that we would
not love this new Pope, but I believe we all took one look at him and feel
instantly in love.
I read a blog recently that I thought put this great action taken by Pope Benedict into perspective. Pope Benedict is NOT giving up due to the demands of the job, he is seeing the great need for a younger man to lead the Church as he continues to fight the spiritual battle that is at hand. This particular blogger wrote, "you don't retire to the monastery to relax, read and write. You retire to a monastery to take on a greater challenge, the spiritual war between good and evil." When I read this it made perfect sense. I have such great respect and love for Pope Benedict XVI. Let us continue to pray for his health and for the Church as we prepare for a new leader that the Holy Spirit will always guide and protect us!
I read a blog recently that I thought put this great action taken by Pope Benedict into perspective. Pope Benedict is NOT giving up due to the demands of the job, he is seeing the great need for a younger man to lead the Church as he continues to fight the spiritual battle that is at hand. This particular blogger wrote, "you don't retire to the monastery to relax, read and write. You retire to a monastery to take on a greater challenge, the spiritual war between good and evil." When I read this it made perfect sense. I have such great respect and love for Pope Benedict XVI. Let us continue to pray for his health and for the Church as we prepare for a new leader that the Holy Spirit will always guide and protect us!
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