More thoughts on Pope John Paul the Great

While I wait for some code to build I thought I'd say a few things...

Had trouble sleeping last night, again. Woke up in the very early morning and had trouble getting back to sleep so I thought I'd try my usual drug, the telly. It seems like the TV is so mind numbing that it knocks me out again on a regular basis. I usually put something inane and useless on like a sitcom from my youth or one of the late night tv shows that is a rebroadcast. I close my eyes and listen to it and amazingly enough I am usually gone before the first commercial comes on. Or at least I can't remember the first commercial. And this is after a lot of tossing and turning. My conclusion is that television is a powerful narcotic but praise the Lord it really works well.

But last night something like 50% of the channels had the Pope's funeral on. I was impressed by his casket. Understand that this was the most powerful person in that Roman Catholic community with an incredible amount of power and he is in a simple wooden box. Humble to the end. I believe that is why he was so loved by the Church. I've heard about his will. Again, simplicity at it's finest. No material possesions and please burn my personal notes. Amen. I think that if I were him I would have had too many possesions to list. In fact, I have that problem now. So, may God Bless him for showing us all true humility. I thank the Lord for his inspiring example.

On to other thoughts. I have seeing the news and reading articles on line that claim that Americans in general and Catholic Americans want a more liberal Pope, a man that will ordain women and claim that artificial birth control, abortion, and pre-marital sex is OK, and that Priests should be allowed to marry. And I started worrying even though it is beyond my control and Christ himself said that evil will not prevail againt his Church and that I shouldn't worry. You see, I've been an American my whole life and I've watched the press shape the political reality of our wonderful country. And so I worried that the press might actually have the power to change the Church.

Non-Catholic Americans (and non-Catholics every where else) have no business worrying about who the Pope is just like Europeans have no business worrying about who the next President of the USA is. It's not there place to comment, it's not their leader. And so I don't care what "Americans" think about who the next Pope ought to be and I don't think the College of Cardinals care either.

So we're left with American Roman Catholics who think that the Church needs to be more "liberal" and in step with modern times. I argue that these so called Roman Catholics are not informed about their Faith and are not really Catholic. I heard once that someone who agrees with the Church and the Holy See 99% of the time isn't 99% Roman Catholic but that they are 100% Protestant. Amen. If you claim to be Roman Catholic then you need to accept and believe what the Church teaches. And the Church teaches the Truth. The Truth is unchanging and doesn't change for the convenience of people. Sorry folks, but the Truth from 33 AD is the same as the Truth 2005 AD.

And so I pray for a new Shepherd, a Shepherd that will lead us and teach us for the greater Glory of God and not for his own political gain. I've stopped worrying about it, that is for God. And I know that no matter what happens or who is chosen I will follow the new Pontiff as a Catholic gentleman and that somehow it all fits into God's Grand Plan even if I can't figure out how.

Amen, and may God Bless and Keep you.