Meet The Pope

… at a papal liturgy.

"The halberds moved forwards and, suddenly, the Pope was before us. He himself made nothing of his entry, but, as one, we swayed towards him. Tears streamed down the cheeks of the Rottweiler nun, and, to my enormous surprise, down my own. Here was the living successor of St. Peter, the guardian of the spirit at the heart of all Rome’s gilded worldly treasures. Here was the Holy Father. When people clapped, I willingly joined in.

"Astounded at my reaction, I expected it to pass. It did not. During the entire lengthy Mass, with its mainly commonplace liturgy and dodgy singing, I remained moved in a way I did not find at all comfortable. I wanted my detachment back, but I couldn’t find it.

"And it did not end there. As it was Corpus Christi, when Mass was over, the Pope, holding aloft the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament, came slowly down the steps to get into an open-topped popemobile, a prie-dieu protected by a golden canopy settled on its flat-back. He was very close and looked very serious.

"Then Signora Wild Boar called out his name — ‘Benedetto!’ — and as he turned to acknowledge us, his face lightened and he smiled a smile of delighted sweetness before raising his arm to indicate that the Blessed Sacrament was more worthy of our attention. If Signora Wild Boar had not been quite so bristly, I’d have kissed her."

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(Nod to Ut Unum Sint for the link.)

The great thing about being Catholic is that love properly expressed for human beings leads us to the love of God. Non-Catholic Christians often complain about Catholic devotion to Mary and the saints, and this story of Pope Benedict is a perfect parable of the right understanding of Catholic devotion to Mary and the saints. Our love for fellow Christians, including love for our spiritual father in the faith, does not end with them; it is directed on to God himself and indeed magnifies the glory of God. The saints don’t jealously hoard our love for them. They acknowledge it, are delighted by it, and point us on to God.