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The Pope Who was Actually a Bear
Crisis Magazine ^
| March 2, 2013
| Charlie McKinney
Posted on 03/02/2013 7:18:31 AM PST by NYer
![pope_benedict_xvi](http://www.crisismagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/pope_benedict_xvi-620x320.jpg)
In 1977, a frail, reluctant, 50-year-old college teacher was pressed by his confessor to accept appointment as Bishop of Munich. The job would take him from his beloved students and embroil him in ecclesial and political struggles for which he had little taste. Reluctantly, that good scholar, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, accepted the appointment.
Unnoticed by most people, on the coat of arms that he created for his service as bishop Fr. Ratzinger included a puzzling symbol: a bear with a pack on its back.
Just four years later, Pope John Paul II summoned Bishop Ratzinger to Rome. There, for a quarter of a century moreand now as Cardinal Ratzingerhe bore extraordinarily heavy burdens as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the second most important office in the Church.
In the final three paragraphs of the fascinating memoir he wrote while still Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Ratzinger explained the significance of the bear:
According to legend, on his way from Germany to Rome in the early 700s, St. Corbinians horse was torn to pieces by a bear. Corbinian reprimanded the bear, loaded onto it the pack the horse had been carrying, and made the bear haul that burden all the way to Rome. Only then did Corbinian release the bear.
![Bear](http://www.crisismagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Bear.jpg)
Then Cardinal Ratzinger quotes Psalm 22 (When my heart was bewildered, I was stupid and ignorant. I was like a dumb beast before You. I am always with You”). He tells us that in those very words, St. Augustine spoke of the burdens he carried once he became bishop:
A draft animal am I before You … for You.
And this is precisely how I abide with You.
How often, continues Cardinal Ratzinger, writing the last paragraphs of his
memoir …
did Augustine protest to heaven against all the trifles that continually blocked his path and kept him from the intellectual work he knew to be his deepest calling! But this is where the Psalm helps him avoid bitterness: “Yes, indeed, I am become a draft animal, a beast of burden, an oxand yet this is just the way in which I abide with You, serving You, just the way in which You keep me in your hand.”
And then, years before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger says:
The heavily laden bear that took the place of St. Corbinians horse, or rather donkeythe bear that became his donkey against its will: is this not an image of what I should do and of what I am?
His answer?
For the last eight years, hes placed it right before us, right there on his Papal Coat of Arms.
![Benedict_Coat_of_Arms](http://www.crisismagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Benedict_Coat_of_Arms.jpg)
The future Benedict XVI concludes his 1998 memoir with the following touching words that came suddenly to my mind yesterday as he stepped into the helicopter that took him from the Vatican:
It is said of St. Corbinian that, once in Rome, he again released the bear to its freedom. The legend is not concerned about whether it went up into the Abruzzi or returned to the Alps. In the meantime I have carried my load to Rome and have now been wandering the streets of the Eternal City for a long time. I do not know when I will be released, but one thing I do know. Augustines remark applies to me, too:
I am become your donkey, and in just this way I abide with you.
Less than 24 hours agoGod be praised!and after 36 years of carrying burdens he would never have chosen himself, our faithful bear was finally released, traveling neither into the nearby hills of Abruzzi nor back over his beloved Alps, but merely the short distance to Castel Gandolfo where he can pray and think and write, far from the increasingly shrill and reckless attacks that countless souls and organizations have unleashed against him and his beloved Church.
Have you ever seen the Pope or the Church assaulted so frequently, so viciously, and with such reckless disregard for what they actually believe and do?
Just two days ago in his final Wednesday audience, speaking of his eight years tenure, Pope Benedict admitted that sometimes he felt like St. Peter and the apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee.
The Lord gave us many days of sunshine and gentle breeze, days when fishing was plentiful. Then there were times when the waters were rough and there was a head wind, times when it seemed the Lord slept.
But I always knew that it was the Lords boat, not mine. Not ours.
He will not let it sink.
He leads it, and yes, does so through the men He chooses, because He wants it to be so. This was, and is, a certainty that nothing can tarnish.
Now, pursued by critics as cruel and as persistent as dogs after a bear, this good man chosen by God to lead us for a time has finally had the burdens lifted from his shoulders.
May the teeth of his critics cease to tear his soul,
may the sounds of their cries fade away!
This I pray, and pray genuinelyfor Benedict, but not for you and me.
Our time of battle is not done … nor even hardly begun.
In fact, just last year Benedict himself placed on your shoulders and mine a burden which we cannotand must notshirk.
Just over a year ago, Pope Benedict told our American bishops that in the face of hostile forces that threaten not just our Christian faith, but humanity itself, committed believers must never fall silent.
Catholics, he told them, must confront anti-Christian forcesthe very ones inflamed to harm him nowwith rational arguments in the public square to help shape the values that will shape the future.
Essential to this task, Benedict told our American bishops, is an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.
Thats you and me.
You and I have become St. Corbinians bear!
TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Ministry/Outreach
KEYWORDS: b16; benedictxvi; catholic; pope; popebenedict
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To: NYer
OK, now I understand the bear in his crest.
Who’s the olive complected fellow he glories?
21
posted on
03/02/2013 8:34:29 AM PST
by
null and void
(Gun confiscation enables tyranny. Don't enable tyranny.)
To: JoeDetweiler
So, it’s not Prester John, but from a related tradition, since it is known as “caput Ethiopicum or the Moor of Freising.”
Prester John was the storied Christian Emperor of Ethiopia, which remained a Christian nation, according to European tradition when contact was lost with Ethipia as well as actual history, amidst pagan and Muslim Africans. So this particular line of Moors could be Christian rather than Muslim.
22
posted on
03/02/2013 8:37:43 AM PST
by
Cicero
(Marcus Tullius)
To: null and void
Whos the olive complected fellow he glories? See post #10.
23
posted on
03/02/2013 8:45:18 AM PST
by
NYer
(“Beware the man of a single book.” - St. Thomas Aquinas)
To: NYer
Thank you, Charlie, for a eloquent, moving and insightful essay. You are blessed with the gift of communication.
24
posted on
03/02/2013 8:48:36 AM PST
by
RobbyS
(Christus rex.)
To: NYer
Compare to Saint Malachy’s Gloria olivæ...
25
posted on
03/02/2013 8:48:40 AM PST
by
null and void
(Gun confiscation enables tyranny. Don't enable tyranny.)
To: shaggy eel
Obama plans to bail out Italy ... says Americans have always loved Italy and NOW they can OWN it !!!
WASHINGTON, DC
Sources close to the White House have learned that Barack Obama is planning to run for the office of Pope when the College of Cardinals convenes to elect a successor to ailing Benedict XVI at the end of this month.
Calling on the promise of Equality for All, Obama is said to firmly believe that the time has come for a non-Catholic to occupy the Vatican ‘s highest office.
Foreseeing a looming citizenship issue he states that he has discovered an Italian birth certificate that proves he was born in Rome before he was born in Kenya and Hawaii .
Continuing, he concluded, “And there’s no way that a handful of cardinals could be more expensive to buy than 10 million voters in Michigan .”
Further questions should be directed to Obama’s Papal Campaign Manager, Abdul Azeem AliKhan.
26
posted on
03/02/2013 8:55:20 AM PST
by
null and void
(Gun confiscation enables tyranny. Don't enable tyranny.)
To: NYer
As a non-Catholic I was touched by the symbolism of the bear. I find it very humbling, as I daily fight the urge to go astray like a sheep! But very specially, I liked this part: [There were] times when it seemed the Lord slept.
But I always knew that it was the Lords boat, not mine. Not ours.
He will not let it sink. I understand he was referring to the Catholic church, but it sure applies to our lives also!
27
posted on
03/02/2013 9:12:29 AM PST
by
Former Fetus
(Saved by grace through faith)
To: NYer
28
posted on
03/02/2013 10:17:41 AM PST
by
353FMG
( I refuse to specify whether I am serious or sarcastic -- I respect FReepers too much.)
To: NYer
Thanks. A very good perspective on an incredibly humble servant of God.
29
posted on
03/02/2013 10:20:40 AM PST
by
Rashputin
(Jesus Christ doesn't evacuate His troops, He leads them to victory.)
To: NYer
Very much a bear! He was not afraid to get many things back to basics, removed clerics from their positions that they were not fulfilling, calling a spade a spade, inviting the LeFebryites back into the flock.
He was full of surprises and carried the load well.
30
posted on
03/02/2013 10:31:21 AM PST
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: NYer
31
posted on
03/02/2013 10:33:46 AM PST
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: greatvikingone
I can see Pope Benedict praying Psalm 22 a lot, though.
Psalms 22
|
1 |
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? |
2 |
O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer; and by night, but find no rest. |
3 |
Yet thou art holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. |
4 |
In thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. |
5 |
To thee they cried, and were saved; in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed. |
6 |
But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and despised by the people. |
7 |
All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads; |
8 |
"He committed his cause to the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!" |
9 |
Yet thou art he who took me from the womb; thou didst keep me safe upon my mother's breasts. |
10 |
Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God. |
11 |
Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. |
12 |
Many bulls encompass me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; |
13 |
they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. |
14 |
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast; |
15 |
my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; thou dost lay me in the dust of death. |
16 |
Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet -- |
17 |
I can count all my bones -- they stare and gloat over me; |
18 |
they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots. |
19 |
But thou, O LORD, be not far off! O thou my help, hasten to my aid! |
20 |
Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! |
21 |
Save me from the mouth of the lion, my afflicted soul from the horns of the wild oxen! |
22 |
I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee: |
23 |
You who fear the LORD, praise him! all you sons of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel! |
24 |
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and he has not hid his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. |
25 |
From thee comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. |
26 |
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live for ever! |
27 |
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. |
28 |
For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. |
29 |
Yea, to him shall all the proud of the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and he who cannot keep himself alive. |
30 |
Posterity shall serve him; men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation, |
31 |
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, that he has wrought it. |
32
posted on
03/02/2013 10:48:32 AM PST
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: greatvikingone
Psalms 73
1 |
Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. |
2 |
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped. |
3 |
For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. |
4 |
For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek. |
5 |
They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men. |
6 |
Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. |
7 |
Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies. |
8 |
They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. |
9 |
They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. |
10 |
Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them. |
11 |
And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?" |
12 |
Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. |
13 |
All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. |
14 |
For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning. |
15 |
If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children. |
16 |
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, |
17 |
until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. |
18 |
Truly thou dost set them in slippery places; thou dost make them fall to ruin. |
19 |
How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! |
20 |
They are like a dream when one awakes, on awaking you despise their phantoms. |
21 |
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, |
22 |
I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee. |
23 |
Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand. |
24 |
Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory. |
25 |
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee. |
26 |
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. |
27 |
For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish; thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee. |
28 |
But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works. |
|
33
posted on
03/02/2013 10:51:45 AM PST
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: Leo Carpathian
34
posted on
03/02/2013 10:58:33 AM PST
by
Biggirl
("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
To: Former Fetus
As a non-Catholic I was touched by the symbolism of the bear. I find it very humbling, as I daily fight the urge to go astray like a sheep! The role of the pontiff is precisely that of a shepherd, leading the flock to Jesus Christ. He is ever watchful for wolves, lest they try to mislead the flock. Like our Lord, he keeps watch night and day.
I liked this part: [There were] times when it seemed the Lord slept.
But I always knew that it was the Lords boat, not mine. Not ours.
He will not let it sink.
An excellent analogy directed at those who fear the loss of their shepherd. He goes on to provide a prayer that is surely intended for you!
I adore you, my God, I love you with all my heart. I thank You for having created me, for having made me a Christian.
Benedict XVI does not limit his prayers only to catholics. He prays for you each day, as well. He is a man of great internal strength yet enormous humility. The papacy is a job only one person truly seeks - him who would destroy the church. The task of the cardinals is to find the one who has modeled his life on Christ and, like Benedict XVI and JPII, can carry the barque forward through troubled waters. The church is under siege from without and within. Please join your prayers with ours as we ask our Lord to send His Holy Spirit to guide the cardinals in selecting their successor.
Prior to his departure, Pope Benedict met with those cardinals who had already arrived. He said: Among you, among the College of Cardinals, there is also the future Pope, to whom, here today, I already promise my unconditional reverence and obedience. That is true humility!
35
posted on
03/02/2013 11:16:25 AM PST
by
NYer
(“Beware the man of a single book.” - St. Thomas Aquinas)
To: NYer
36
posted on
03/02/2013 12:12:41 PM PST
by
onyx
(FREE REPUBLIC IS HERE TO STAY! DONATE MONTHLY! IF YOU WANT ON SARAH PALIN''S PING LIST, LET ME KNOW)
To: NYer
I did go to the site of the “Survior” game and it is very interesting indeed.
37
posted on
03/02/2013 2:45:04 PM PST
by
Biggirl
("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
To: NYer
God Bless and be with the Cardinals.
38
posted on
03/02/2013 2:46:06 PM PST
by
Biggirl
("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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