Miserere Nobis

[See UPDATE at the end of this post]

So Pope Francis comes to America for the first time. How do we welcome him?

President Obama arranges for him to be greeted by Gene Robinson, the first gay Episcopal bishop in the U.S., Mateo Williamson, the transgender head of the LGBT "Catholic" group Dignity USA, Sister Simone Campbell, a pro-choice dissenting nun as well as "married lesbian Catholics" (and of course Joe Biden).

While he is here he visits the UN, where Shakira sings "Imagine" for him (you know, "imagine there's no heaven" because the world would rock if we eliminated religion).

Even during mass, at Madison Square Garden, the lector is "Mo Rocca", an "openly gay Catholic." I have to believe that Cardinal Dolan knew who was serving at mass.

The there are those who put themselves above the Pope in matters of the faith and morals, who mock him for what he didn't do enough of (as if the "left" don't already know he is for family and life - their very choice of guests shows that they know that).

Betrayed from within and without, we slap him in the face at every turn, and what does he do? He smiles and looks past it. You may think he's a fool, and maybe he is, but I think he's trying to live out the Gospel as best he can.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem!

UPDATE: So, because it seems people are misunderstanding this I thought I'd add some clarification.

1. I did not say gays are offensive. What I mean is that constantly bombarding Pope Francis with people who claim to be Catholic but do not believe what Catholics believe is in essence mocking him. To use an analogy, suppose Richard Dawkins was coming to America to a conference on evolution, and the welcoming committee was stacked with people who claimed to be scientists too, but believe in young-earth creationism. Then he was serenaded by someone singing about how evolution is responsible for all the evil in the world. I hope you can see that such a thing would be clearly designed to offend or mock Mr. Dawkins. So too, I think the choice of guests and song were intended to mock Pope Francis.

2. Before criticizing Pope Francis for missing opportunities to tell Congress et. al. how bad they are doing, think about the parable of the prodigal son. Or consider when Jesus calls Levi. It's not very effective to tell people how bad they are unless they already understand you love them. I think Pope Francis' evangelization style is to do just that. Tell people God loves you, and we love you too and want you to be happy. It doesn't matter what you've done, it doesn't matter whether you agree with us or not. We love you and will care for you. Loving someone doesn't mean you agree with them, or that you think they are going down the right path, it means you recognize their dignity as a person made in the image and likeness of God.

3. From an interview with Pope Francis on the plane ride home:

When the plane leaves after a visit, I see the faces of so many people. I get the urge to pray for them and say to the Lord, 'I came here to do something, to do good, perhaps I have done wrong, forgive me but protect all those people who saw me, who thought of what I said, who heard me, even those who have criticized me, all of them,' that is what I feel. Excuse me, it’s a bit personal…you can’t say that in the newspapers.

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Defending Benedict

We all love Pope Francis, me included. But the way the media is fawning on him I can't help but think of the events of holy week. The crowds fawned over Jesus on Palm Sunday as He entered Jerusalem. Luke 19:36-38:

As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”

I'm not attempting to deify our new Pope, rather I'm thinking of the fickleness of the crowds. Those who were praising Jesus as the Messiah on Palm Sunday quickly discovered that He wasn't going to do the things they wanted or expected Him to do. And when He turned out not to be the "change" they "hoped" for, the crowds turned on Him. Luke 23:16-23:

Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him.”
But all together they shouted out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us.”(Now Barabbas had been imprisoned for a rebellion that had taken place in the city and for murder.)
Again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Pilate addressed them a third time, “What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him.”
With loud shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed.

It doesn't take a prophet to predict that it won't be long before the media discovers that Pope Francis is not the Pope they want him to be (aka anti-Catholic) and they will call for his "crucifixion".

So we all love Pope Francis, me included. But nobody will every replace Pope Benedict XVI's place in my heart. Why do I have such an affinity for Benedict? I don't know. Perhaps it's because he was the first Pope elected after I started caring about those things. Perhaps it's because of my German background. Perhaps it's because, like him, I am a somewhat shy, bookish man who loves learning.

And so it hurts all the more when I hear people using Pope Francis to bash Pope Benedict XVI. And much of it is coming from Catholics. I keep hearing how we finally have a Pope who cares for the poor instead of the "trappings of office". Let's see what Benedict XVI said on the subject.

From Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) section 20:

Love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local community to the particular Church and to the Church universal in its entirety.

And of course he wrote another encyclical, Caritas in Veritate entirely on creating economic policies that favor the poor. Then there is the observation that Pope Benedict XVI loved the "trappings of office" so much that he renounced them entirely.

But what exactly do people mean by the "trappings of office"? As far as I can tell from what gets mentioned, it is mostly clothing. The red shoes and the mozetta are mentioned. What is the purpose of dressing in those things? I remember a long stretch in my faith journey where I believed that wearing a suit and tie to mass was just pageantry and hypocrisy. Jesus doesn't want us to be show offs. Look at the widow in Luke 21. Jesus always criticizes the Pharisees for wearing fine clothes.

But Jesus doesn't praise the widow for having nothing, but for giving everything. The Pharisees he doesn't criticize for wearing fine clothing but for calling attention to their piousness while not being truly pious. We are supposed to use our finest in worship. From John 12:

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”

So when someone wears a suit and tie to mass (or a mozetta and red shoes) we have to ask, "is this person doing it because they want us to believe they are pious when they are not, or are they doing this out of respect for God?" If we call them hypocrites, is it not we who are acting high and mighty? Aren't we the ones who are being "holier than thou" because we say that we dress "rightly" and they don't?

If we presume to know what is in their hearts, than indeed we are the ones who are hypocrites. Is there something about Pope Benedict XVI that would indicate that he was doing these things out of pride, rather than out of respect for his responsibilities and love of God? No? Then judge not, lest ye be judged.

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Is the Pope Catholic?

To all the main stream media folks who are either shocked or amazed that the Pope is not going to change Catholic teaching, I offer the title of this blog post. To my Catholic friends who are worried that Pope Francis will not support the traditional Latin mass, I offer the title of this blog post. To my Catholic friends who are relieved that Pope Francis will not be concerned with the trappings of office "like the last one", I offer the title of this blog post.

And like many of you I am looking forward to Joe Biden's meeting with the Pope. I hope it will be a good experience for Mr. Biden. And if you don't know what I mean by that, I offer you the title of this blog post, or you can start reading Catholic reporting instead of the main stream media misinformation.

And by the way, the Pope is Catholic, but...

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