Posted on 04/13/2014 7:37:12 AM PDT by CharlesOConnell
A fine young man, a father of children and a professional, approached me at church: "What do you think of that Pope John-Paul? He's no good." Others also didn't like him. I put a magnetic sign on my car, it was met with sneers: 5 pictures of the Pope immediately after being shot, in 1/6th of the space, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood." – Hebrews 12:4
Yet I also didn't like Pope John Paul II, not in himself, but because of the cult of personality around him. I love Pope John Paul, yet I dislike hearing his name appended with "The Great", as if I am expected to join in perpetual enthusiasm about his person, regardless of how well I correspond to his message and mission.
I loved Cardinal Ratzinger, but didn't notice such a rabid welcome for him as Pope Benedict XVI, so I felt freer to attend to Him, even despite controversies like the Regensburg Lecture or various public relations disasters caused by those who sought to manage him. I was happy when his resignation finally thwarted the manipulations of those who were secretly working against him.
Now I have seen enough to ignore those who get all hot and bothered by Pope Francis upsetting the apple cart, instead concentrating on the message of the man himself. If it were all peaches and cream, so that my comfort weren't afflicted by Francis' message, what use would it all be?
Jesus remarked that "foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head". Matthew 8:20. His followers were ready for him to expel the Romans and restore the Davidic Kingdom. Yet he told them to go out without even taking any money.
Why should we only listen and respond to messages, and messengers, that we like? What use is it, how can Christ's message transform us, if we only hear what confirms us in what we're already doing?
What if God doesn’t lead me to care who the Pope is?
I converted during Pope John Paul II’s reign, and felt quite simpatico with both him and Benedict XVI at the helm of the Barque of Peter. I’m having a bit more trouble relating to the new incumbent, about whom I have mixed feelings, but whom I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt. I like some of the stuff he does and says, but I don’t like some of the loose talk, which can and obviously has been spun by liberals that want to change Church teaching. I am worried about his praise of Cardinal Kasper and about the upcoming Synod on the Family. I just hope Francis is orthodox at heart and will not allow change in Church teaching. (If you can’t rely on the Successor of Peter to defend the deposit of faith, including moral teachings, who can you trust?) On the other hand, if he really is orthodox in the end, he might perhaps be a genius if he truly is engaging in a cunning plan that gets liberals and skeptics and mushy middlers to actually engage with Christ and the Church in good faith. On most days I think he is orthodox at heart, but on dark days I sometimes wonder. Anyways, it’s in God’s hands, and Christ did promise to Peter that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church, so all one can do is pray and ride the storm.
Vanity?
This post is all about Charles O’Connell , not the pope.
You cannot blame the pope for the misbehavior of leftists.
What did the Preacher say?
You cannot blame the pope for the misbehavior of leftists.
What is a “Pope”?
Good question.
A Holy Papa.
oO-kay Rapscallion. Now that is has been established what "this post" was all about (I prefer to use the terms "reply" or "comment", myself) was there some further content, or would that have been too much like making a thread all about a particular freeper here?
Your personal likes and dislikes are NOT the measure of God.
An answer supplied was
Really. ?
Tagline.
Popes do not issue marching orders daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly. No person who is well-instructed in the Catholic Faith, and is sincerely practicing it, needs to follow the Pope’s doings and sayings. A Catholic is at liberty to like or dislike any Pope. If he dislikes a Pope, he should try to remain unaware of the day-to-day news about the Pope. The notion that all Catholics must “heed the call” of the Pope to conversion, or spiritual renewal or growth, etc., and must therefore read all of the Pope’s interviews and daily homilies, is silly. The call to all those good things is in Scripture and the constant teaching of the Church.
But that's what "we" (the world) much did, wasn't it? while many of those among the best of "us" couldn't stay awake long enough during the dark of the night, and later, when the price was to be paid, ran away and hid (ourselves).
Whatever. write it out in English, if you wish for me to be able to read it.
Protestant anti-Catholic bigots are not only bigots, but lazy bigots.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.