Posted on 02/12/2010 7:53:58 PM PST by James C. Bennett
The news that Pope John Paul II practised bodily mortification, which has caused a ripple of interest in the secular press, ought not to come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Catholic tradition.
The idea of a leather belt hanging in the wardrobe and the nights spent on the bare, cold floor may be piquant to the worldly mind, but the details as such are not important. Far more to the point is the spiritual lesson to be learned from the late pope.
John Paul II was for much of his reign a strong man, a powerful exponent of the Gospel, an athlete lionised by the media. Yet as his reign drew on, a different picture emerged: that of a man living with crippling illness.
At his final appearance in his office window he was unable to speak, yet then he was most eloquent; and as he lay dying, that was when perhaps his message was most clear.
His closing days vindicated his decision not to retire from the throne of Peter; for he was never a better shepherd and teacher than when he was visibly carrying the Cross.
The present revelation about bodily mortification is both salutary and useful, because it draws attention to a side of John Paul II that could easily be missed; amid the roaring crowds and the cries of "JP Two, we love you!" was man who was humble and convinced of his own personal sinfulness, his inadequacy before God.
But why should anyone deliberately choose to whip themselves? It is, on the face of it, a crazy thing to do. It is something, we can be sure, that the late pope did only with the permission of his confessor, and after careful consideration.
Many spiritual writers do not approve of bodily self-chastisement, but those who do allow it emphasise that its purpose is not simply to inflict pain on oneself. Pain is a physical evil, but the physical pain involved in this sort of penitential act is slight, or should be so, a token pain that awakes in the penitent a spiritual awareness.
Just making a random observation.
Of course not. What a beautiful person and leader. We don’t need to know every idiosyncracy a person has and how they sleep. Sometimes it’s too much information.
What "noble intention" is there is lacerating your skin until it bleeds?
Idiocy should not be applauded lest it breed more of the same.
My dad once used a leather belt on me but i didn’t notice any increase in my spiritual awareness though there was a definite increase in posterior pain. Yes, I did repent of my error and if it had been left up to me I would’ve skipped the belt part entirely.
Oh good. I was waiting for the Latin.
He never read Franny and Zooey. Jewish-Irish-American was light-years ahead of him.
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