A Papal Reflection

Let's take this last Sunday with Benedict XVI as our Pope to learn a little more about the Papacy...

What does the Pope do?                                                                                                   
As Pope, his task as ‘chief of all the shepherds on earth’ is to defend our faith, teach us about our faith and help guide us to heaven, so that we can spend eternity with God, our heavenly Father. Pope comes from the Latin word “Papa” or father. We can truly look to the Pope as a father whose purpose is to guide all of us in faith and morals. Because the Pope’s job is so important; helping us to grow in holiness, we need to pray that he does his job well!

Where does he live and work?                                                                                  
The Pope lives and works in Vatican City, in Rome, Italy. On most Sundays he gives a special message and blessing to pilgrims who gather at St Peter’s Square, and to people throughout the whole world.

Has there always been a Pope?
Ever since the time of Jesus, there has been a Pope. It was Jesus who chose the first Pope, St Peter. Handing St. Peter the keys to heaven, Jesus said to him, “Your name is Peter, and on this Rock I shall build my Church. Feed my lambs.” (Matt 16:18-19, John 21: 15-17) Jesus new that the Church would need a leader after He ascended into heaven so He chose Peter and He sent the Holy Spirit to always guide him and any pope who came after him. From Pope St. Peter to Pope Benedict XVI there have been 265 popes. Pope Benedict XVI will officially retire on Thursday Feb. 28^th and until a new pope is elected, the papal position will be empty.

How is the Pope chosen today?                                                                                            
When a Pope dies or retires (which up until now is rare in history, since Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope to retire in 600 years), all the Cardinals come together in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to form the Papal Conclave. They are not allowed to speak to anyone outside the Conclave during the time they are gathered together to choose the next Pope: no telephone, no mobile, no internet, nothing! They pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance on who to choose.
The Cardinals cast their votes until there is a two thirds majority or if no cardinal has been elected by two-thirds majority after a certain number of ballots, the cardinals may agree by absolute majority (half + 1) to elect the Pope by an absolute majority instead of a two-thirds majority. When a new Pope has been chosen, and after he has accepted, “Habemus Papam” (we have a new Pope) is announced from the balcony of the Vatican. Out steps the new Pontiff for the whole world to see!

Taken and adapted from: http://kidsquizthepope.wordpress.com/facts-about-the-pope/

-Melinda Cannady

A Perfect Promise

I love how today’s first reading ends: “And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. / He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised” (Deuteronomy 26:18-19).  There are two sides of the coin—obey God, but more importantly, God loves you!!! Although the Lord asks for real sacrifice, He also promises so much more than we can even imagine. It is an incomprehensibly good deal—all of us for ALL of HIM!!!

It is not too much for Jesus to command his disciples in today’s Gospel, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Today, it is not too much for Jesus to command us, his disciples, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” He who has begun the work of grace in us has the power and the love—or rather is the Power and the Love—to complete the work of grace in us.

I hope you like this sonnet about God lifting up the lowly. I wrote it when I was a junior at Ave Maria University:

The Preposition of the Object

Love has raised up the lowly preposition,


And has secured it at the highest place,


To a lofty throne, in a fine condition,


O’er the other parts of speech at the base,

For what is “death” if ‘tis not for another—


An empty noun, a meaningless notion,


Or what is it “to suffer” but with a brother?


Love in life gives meaning to our motion.

With what, for what, in what does each thing act?


By whom does the conjunction join each thing?


By Him who loves as a matter of fact,


Who became a child yet remained the King.

And through whom do we receive such pure love?


‘Tis Christ God In-carnate, I’m thinking of.

About the Author

Hello, my name is Jacob Pride. I am a second year English graduate student at GSU. I enjoy reading and writing poetry.  After graduating from Ave Maria University, I went to one year of seminary at Mount St. Mary’s seminary. After that, I joined FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. There I met Caitlin Mulcahy, whom I’m marrying in May!!!

Keys to the Kingdom

In today’s Gospel, Jesus establishes the papacy; He gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom, making Peter the head of the Church and placing the spiritual guidance of this community of believers in his hands. Talk about responsibility! The spiritual guidance of the community of believers. Given to a man who, among other things, denied knowing Jesus – not once, but three times. Peter was just a normal guy, with plenty of faults and failures. And Jesus trusted him to act as the head of the Church… This should give us great hope! And confidence! It is so easy to be faced with a task and to think, “Why would someone have chosen me for this? Why not (insert some awesome friend’s name here)?” Do you think Peter wondered the same thing? Why Jesus chose him instead of James or John? But Jesus obviously saw something in Peter that maybe Peter did not see himself. He believed in Peter. Trusted him. And the same goes for you. The Lord is calling you to something. You specifically. And He trusts that you are the right person for the job! If He believes that, shouldn't that be enough for us?!

Today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter – during which we celebrate the papacy and St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome. This Feast day is particularly relevant right now in light of Pope Benedict’s decision to resign. There are many beautiful things about the Church, and one of them comes in very handy now – the Church’s hierarchy. Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom to Peter, and Pope Benedict is the successor  (at the end of a long, unbroken line of successors) who currently holds the office that Jesus established with Peter. It is comforting to know that the Church has a process for times like this – the College of Cardinals will gather to elect a new Bishop of Rome (the Pope). And we trust in the wisdom of the Church that the College of Cardinals under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will elect a successor to take Benedict’s place and to continue to guide our community of believers. And we of course pray for this successor...for strength, for peace, for the grace necessary to hold this office. As well as for Pope Benedict – for his health, intentions, and in thanksgiving for his great service to the Church thus far.

Now, back to what the Lord is calling you to… Here’s some food for thought from Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman: "God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons…" The Lord has a task for you. And He trusts you. What is He calling you to? 

-Katie DiFato

Fruits and Stuff

          “Vegetables? Yea I like’em, but fruits?! Bleh!” #Thingsjesusneversaid. Jesus liked fruits. To him they were the perfect metaphor for the good stuff. St. Paul says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.” When talking about knowing the difference between a false prophet and true prophet, Christ was all like, “Bro you’ll know them by the fruits that they produce.” He said (paraphrasing) that grapes are not picked from thorn bushes and good fruit does not grow on bad trees, but hold on to that thought for a sec.

The purpose of Lent is to ready ourselves to renew our baptismal promises. We walk around the “desert” for forty days, denying ourselves pleasures, praying to God, and giving our time and our talents to others for their benefit, because Christ-likeness is the goal we all race towards. Prayer and fasting are great, but I think almsgiving is overlooked in college. Traditionally it's giving money or time to the poor--even more traditionally farmed produce--although as college student most of us are about a farm short of free wheat. But, almsgiving is more than giving out cashcrops. We  can give away time and lend our talents. The important factor in almsgiving is the word “giving,” and in that word lies the nature of our existence.

Created in the image of the God, we were made to give. The infinite exchange of love between the Father and the Son, both of whom give themselves and receive each other completely in love, begets the Holy Spirit. Marriage images this in that a husband and wife mirror that exchange of love in the giving of themselves and beget a child. We all are called to give and not just in marriage. Remember the story about talents? A man given five talents from his master, returned double what he was given, and rather than the master replying, “Bro sit down, chill with me,” the master gives him another talent to do double. Why? Because our joy consists in giving as the faithful man had done.

 As far as talents go, if you can do it, then it is a talent. Listening is an action that not everyone can perform, but for those who can, they can use it to comfort the distressed. And as for fruits? Well, what good would fruits be if only trees ate them? They wouldn’t be. In Mark, Jesus heals a blind man in two stages. After he moisturizes the mans eyes with his spit, he asked “What do you see?” and the blind man replied, “I see men like trees walking.” We are like trees. Some will resemble Christ who is the tree of life bearing all good fruit and some will be as barren as the cursed fig tree. But the point is that our fruit is not for us but for everyone else, and people enjoy our fruit through the time and talents that we give. The question is do people feel joy when you help them? Or gentleness when you offer advice? Or justice when you defend them? Or faithfulness when they are counting on you? If the blind man saw you, what fruit would he see? Would he desire it?

--Dominic Price

About the Author

Katie DiFato is in her third year as a FOCUS missionary at Georgia Southern. Originally from New York, and having lived in Maryland for 15 years (graduated from the University of Maryland – go Terps!), she loves the south!!!

About the Author

My name is Dominic Price and I’m a senior communications major and I hope my career leads me into Theology. I enjoy soccer and basketball. The only important thing to know is that I lead bible studies on Tuesday (contact me at dp01446@georgiasouthern.edu if you want to come) and when I’m bored I read the Bad Catholic Blog.