Regular readers know that I am a practicing Roman Catholic.
My opinion is that it will take a few years for the mud to settle out of the water and we will know who we got as a Pope. On the Thursday before Jesus was crucified St Peter himself didn't look all-that-hot but in the end he turned out OK.
In the very last verse of Matthew, Jesus assures us that he will be with us until the end of time. I expect the Pope to be "above" the furor and tumult of the distractions of the day. I expect him to think long-term and big-picture. Yes, I expect him to be engaged in the basic blocking-and-tackling of everyday life: Envy, Lust, Greed, Pride, Anger and so on. But I don't want him to have "opinions" on every faux outrage du jour.
Personally, one of the things I found grating about our last Pope was that he offered opinions on the economy even though he had a very simplistic understanding of how economies worked. His economic thinking was on the level of 18th century doctors who bled patients who were flushed or had a fever.
We don't need a "religious leader" who mindlessly parrots secular "influencers". They have their sphere of influence. The Pope has his. The Pope has the Bible. The Pope has Catholic Tradition. The Catholic has a very deep bench of men and women who spent their lives pondering redemption and salvation over the last few millennia.
153 fishes
John's Chapter 21 is the last chapter in the Gospel written by John. It is also the last chapter in the four books that make up the Gospel when they are compiled in the usual order (Matthew, Mark, Luke then John). John is the Apostle who was probably closest to Jesus. That makes John, Chapter 21 Jesus's "last words" to his church before leaving.
John as an author is notable for his highly developed, multilayered themes and his use of numbers (John is also the author of Revelations).
Chapter 21 starts with a humble vignette of the Apostles, at a loss for what to do immediately after Jesus's crucifixion. They decided to go fishing. They fished all night with zero success.
In the morning, as they are presumably rowing back into shore, they encounter a man on the beach who told them to lower their nets one more time. They comply and caught a huge number of large fish. Interestingly, they took the time to count the fish. Also interesting is that the nets, possibly made of cotton imported from the Indus valley, does not break.
Commenters claim that at the time of Jesus it was commonly believed that there were 153 "known" species of fish in the world. The use of that precise number, the experts claim, is one of the Biblical basis of the use of (lower-case) "c" catholic as an adjective to describe the Church. The message and salvation offered by Christ was not just for the Jews or the Jews and the Greeks. It was also for the Ethiopians (Africans), the people of the Orient (Babylonians, Persians, Indians, Chinese), for the Gauls and Goths and Saxons and Picts and all of the other, as-yet uncatalogued peoples of the world.
The detail of the net not breaking can be interpreted as Jesus not wanting a single nation to be un-evangelized. He doesn't offer any mulligans or hall-passes because it is difficult or there are challenges. We are not allowed to lose a single fish.
The three sheep
The final criteria that is likely to be used to judge Leo is also from John 21. Jesus, in very quick succession demands that Peter (the proto-Pope if you will) "Feed my lambs", "Tend my sheep" and "Feed my sheep".
"...lambs" are the youngest and most vulnerable. Don't expect the Church's defense of life to stop. Don't expect the Church to suddenly endorse genital mutilations and chemical castrations. There is still a lot of wreckage of clergy abuse of minors that needs to be addressed.
"Tend my sheep" suggests that Leo must staunchly defend the flock from outside threats like lions and tigers and bears. Or perhaps Secular Humanism, Islam, Totalitarianism and Communism.
"Feed my sheep" suggests that Leo has a mission to care for both the physical and spiritual needs of his flock. Sadly, this is where Francis was lacking as he appeared to endorse Socialism which has a very, very poor record of meeting the physical needs of people and has a rotten record of protecting their human rights. Instead, Francis could have used "shame" to call attention to conspicuous consumption.
Those are my off-the-cuff impressions. Pretty basic. Nothing very profound. Just basic blocking-and-tackling. But that is what wins the game.
An opinion of the Catholic Church has already been said:
ReplyDeleteBeware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:15
Satan is drawn to power like a moth to a candle.
DeleteThe Vatican has a problem with "the Deep State" having infiltrated their ranks.
One man CAN change the world but he must kill his "self" and allow God to shine through him with fidelity. That kind of selflessness is rare.
Many who nominate themselves to be leaders in the church fall prey to what is described in Matt 23:5
I agree - our last Pope was too involved in world events and political agendas. The Pope is supposed to be concentrating on improving the RC church, not Global Warming. Allow God to take care of the broad strokes. Be an example of how to improve our relationship. I think many of us take that for granted. To pray for Gods help and patience when we make errors and try to make amends.
ReplyDeleteWhat really got me upset with the RC church was people at the pulpit being asked to pray for immigrants and ignoring the events affecting our own citizens. The US has a working LEGAL way to enter our country but you have to follow the rules like others did.
Very good commentary this morning. Your description of the fishes, and the instructions to St Peter are different than I have heard, and ring true to me.
ReplyDeleteI’m hoping, and praying, for Leo XIV to return focus to the church, and not the world, as you noted. There have been too many vague pronouncements, too much social & societal intrusions, too much straying from foundations for the last 12 years.
I was hoping for Card Sarah, or some other conservative, but at least Leo does not seem to be a raging liberal (yet).
Southern NH
Yep. Over on Gab they’re already talking about giving him the tar and feathers. It is far too soon.
ReplyDeleteI do not have much faith in Chicago politicians (and is not the Pope a politician to some extent?). Perhaps my doubts will prove groundless.
ReplyDeleteERJ - As Christian but not Catholic, I have watched this with interest. Agree we have to give the Pope a chance and that there is a lot to do just inside the church and I would welcome a Pope that just focused on those.
ReplyDeleteGreat sermon! They should have made you Pope Joe. --ken
ReplyDeleteMrs ERJ would disagree.
DeleteI'll with hold commentary because my coal miner daughter, born Dac.17, 1913, Mom, hated the Catholic Church with a passion. She gave me a some of her point of view, back in the '60's. The nicest thing she had to say was "They are the biggest money making operation in the world".
ReplyDeleteShe raised me in The Church of Christ. Here, humorously, being devil's advocate, "The ONLY true Church!" Though, I personally don't think ANYBODY has a monopoly on the truth, the Bible will get you through the, proverbial, jungle.
You could say I'm more than a little biased against the Catholic Church, not righteous folks who are Catholics, which I consider folks like you. Comparison: USA INC. is a Satanic organization, with many thousands of good people doing their best. The original United States of America was turned into a Satanic Corporation, sometime before the awful year of 1913 (Fed Reserve creation, income tax creation). It is no longer "of, by and for" the people of America (not to be confused with USA INC.).
Hope this isn't a consequential Fed posting. Now that we have Satanic AI assisted monitoring of the inner webs, ya never know. I'm not a pedo or suicidal, just old with a broken filter. If they want me, I'm a pretty soft target. I lean on the Lord a LOT in my old age.
Thank you, for your wonderful, educational, informative site.
My mother was born in 1931 and died in 2023. Her mother was born in 1893.
DeleteGrandma Alice was 100% Irish and hated the English with a white-hot passion. Ireland continued to export food throughout the Irish potato famine which peaked in 1849. The Irish have long memories. My mother also hated the English, especially the Billionaire (when they were uncommon) Royal Family.
If you subtract 1849 from 2023 and divide by 20 years (a "generation") you end up with 8.7 generations. That is a bit more than the Biblical curse of "...seven generations..." but not by much.
So I "get" the resentment of many against the Catholic church. It was one of the main drivers of the Reformation in 1517(ish). People left their estates to the Catholic church, hoping for favorable treatment on judgement day. The church was eternal, at least compared to mortal humans. They kept accumulating property when land was the main form of wealth.
The prospects of young men were strangled.
The greater economy was strangled.
The pent-up energy of the wealth inequities unwound and 40% of the German (Ground Zero for the Reformation) population died during the 30 Years War.
It is my perception that the Catholic Church learned from the experience and takes pains to not accumulate wealth. For instance, according to various charity rating websites, Catholic Relief Services is downgraded because they only keep 2 WEEKS of expenses in savings. That compares to Southern Poverty Law Center's seven YEARS of expenses in savings.