Today is the final day for Pope Benedict XVI. He'll spend the day saying good bye to his Cardinals, and then this evening, he will retire to the pope's retreat house. The Swiss guard will pack up and leave the Vatican and the See will become vacant until a new pope is elected. The pope has said that he will pledge unconditional reverence and obedience to his successor. This is the first time a pope has resigned/retired in over 600 years. Usually, popes stay in their position until they die. But Pope Benedict seems too tired and worn down to keep going. The New York Times quotes the pope yesterday as saying that his time as pope "was filled with 'light and joy' but also had its darker moments when 'the Lord seemed to be sleeping.'"
One of the most stressful things this pope has had to deal with has been scandal in the institution. Church scandals are certainly nothing new, but these days, everyone knows every detail about them, and some of the details are really, really horrible. People have become less likely to overlook the human fallibility of church leaders and are far less likely to give the institution the benefit of the doubt. We may think that this is a new and modern backlash against religion, but it is really nothing new. Here is what Paul wrote to the Romans about the temple and its leaders in his day. As you read it, you can just substitute the word "Christian" for "Jewish," and "Christians" for "Jews" to see how it applies to the church today.
If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.
There are plenty of people down on God because of what happens in the church. There are plenty of people down on God because of what Christians say and do. That's hard for Christians to hear, but it is the sad truth and will always be the truth. We're broken people who need a whole lot of help, just like everyone else. And the pope, like any other church leader these days, is living under the stress of a changing world and a changing church. The church as a corporate institution has become unsustainable on a whole lot of levels and resisting change only makes things worse.
I can't imagine the stress of being a pope - being trapped between the call of God, the outcry of the people and the demands of an extremely powerful institution. But this outgoing pope knows as well as I do that the Lord is not sleeping, even if on his tougher days it seemed like it. If things aren't working out for us in the church it's not because God is sleeping. It's because we are.
Today's Readings: Jer. 4:9-10,19-28; Rom. 2:12-24; John 5:19-29
Elsa is reading The Message translation this year.
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