Well, Happy Easter, everyone. There are a lot of things I could write about this week. I guess I can’t really ignore the top topic on the Catholic Church — Pope Francis has died and soon we will have a new pope.
Over the past 12 years, there has certainly been a wide variety of thoughts, feelings, and things said about the 266th pontiff.
I’ll sum them up in the most simplistic way possible — some people liked him and some people didn’t like him.
I don’t think anyone can argue with or dispute that.
Soonish, we will have a new pope.
Some people will like him. Some people will not like him.
Those, of course, are total guesses on my part. You have my permission to come at me following the 267th pontificate and get in my face if the next pope was not polarizing but was 100 percent loved or 100 percent not loved. Time will tell.
Some honest assessments
As of this writing, I don’t know when the next conclave will start.
I’ll only make one prediction. Imperfect men will choose an imperfect man to lead the Church.
This was true in 2013. It was true in 2005. It was true in 1978 and 1978. It was true in 1963, 1958, and so on.
It was partially true in the year 30-ish when a perfect man chose an imperfect Peter to “build my church” (Mt 16:18).
Every pope has fallen short of perfection. Every future pope will fall short of perfection.
That’s something we have to know and accept.
Does that give the Bishop of Rome full license to be as imperfect as possible under the guise of “we’re all sinners”? Of course not.
This is why we must always pray for the pope, whoever he is, with the full strength and grace of our imperfect prayer, but doing the best we can.
When bishops celebrate Mass, I’m always struck by the “me, your unworthy servant” line they say during the Eucharistic Prayer.
I would hope popes feel the same way about their conclave-given duty. Humility and love of Church could grow many fruits in that role.
There are literally betting odds over who the next pope will be but I think it would be folly to indulge in that.
Any Baptized man could be named pope. The year 1378 was the last time, however, that a non-cardinal was named to the office — Pope Urban VI.
Yes, I, your obedient servant editor could be chosen as the next pope. This will not happen, of course. I would be too tempted to choose the name Pope Lando II and have my mind in the clouds of Cloud City versus the Eternal City.
OK, cardinals, your task is simple. Pick the next imperfect unworthy servant to lead the Church. How hard could that be?
Our role as the Church
No matter how you felt about Pope Francis, we should all be joining together now both to pray for his soul and to pray for a good new pope.
As much as I could easily say “This is a challenging time for the Church,” I think it has always been that way to an extent.
The Church needs a strong leader to guide us through these times and not only bring us closer to Christ but bring the whole world closer to Christ.
There is always going to be disagreement on how that is best accomplished but we need it to be accomplished — with authenticity, reverence, and beauty.
There is so much the Church can offer the world through truth, love, and mercy.
There have been some great popes over the past 2,000 years. There have also been some not-great popes over the past 2,000 years. No, we’re not going to get into who is who now, but we are going to pray that our next pope is going to be the best pope ever.
If things are really going well, the pope after him will be even better, whenever that may be.
Aim high toward God
To again paraphrase Vince Lombardi, we will never reach perfection, but as we strive for it, we can reach excellence.
I don’t know how “perfect” the Church or a pope really can be but God-given greatness should always be a goal.
The Church offers something greater than any other person, organization, or entity could offer — the chance and promise of eternal life in Heaven with the Holy Trinity.
We have to do a lot to get that but it’s as simple as loving God and loving neighbor.
A good pope will inspire us and motivate us every day to do just that.
In this Jubilee Year of Hope, I have hope that number 267 will be a true gift from God that will bring many closer to a faith-filled and strong Church.
Thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.