Catholic Sensibility

Four years ago we picked up our little girl and brought her home to live with us. (She was little then.) Anita remarked that couples take much longer to court and decide to marry than we got to get to know Brittany. After checking a few online news services for photos from the Cassini fly-by of Titan, the Calder Cup Playoffs, and a possible new pope (in that order) I signed off, went shopping for bedroom furniture and kitchen sinks and countertops with Anita. She dropped me off at our two-in-one staff birthday celebration (youth minister and receptionist) where I heard the news, Habemus Papam! Our twenty-something youth minister seemed the most bummed out of those staff that were talking, but I find it hard to get either excited or discouraged with Pope Benedict. She was most curious. Ideology grows less and less relevant to me as I grow older. Pragmatism seems to have come to the fore. How can I pray better? How can I provide for my family? How can I serve my parish and facilitate their best possible celebration of liturgy? The pope will not have an impact on any of these three items, so the election of either a Latin American moderate or a theological European will not nudge my life's focus in any significant way. I also explained to my friend that real leaders are made and are most effective at the grass roots level. By the time you get to be pope (or bishop, most likely) your life is full of people who won't tell you when you're full of spit because they're so busy telling you who else is. The people who think Pope Benedict will come riding over the Palatine hill on a white horse leading the faithful minions of MaChurch will be sorely disappointed, I suspect. Our new pope strikes me as intelligent enough to know he's moved from the ranks of bureaucracy to the level of pastor. Effective pastors on the level of the Bishop of Rome get talented, intelligent, and qualified people to do the work. They know they can't be effective doing it all themselves. I know I've heard and read from dissatisfied Catholics ready to give up or bail out. My advice is: don't bother. The Church still needs you. Our new pope is intelligent enough to realize he also needs you. It's a big ship, and somebody's got to keep things running. Anyhow, anniversary day continued with a trip to two libraries, and then off to Brit's favorite restaurant where we all ate too much. Evening bath for the child (which took too long) followed by reading in bed. We sang the family anniversary song loudly in the car a few times and before night prayers. My short vacation will be over too soon: back to meetings and rehearsals tomorrow, same as last week, same as next year.