LTACL: Opinions About the Pope? (Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J.)

Let me ask you this. You have many friends who are in 12-step programs. I bet you do. I certainly do. And they have some very funny sayings. One of the funny sayings among 12-stepers has to do with opinions. They say there are two qualities about opinions. Everyone's got one and they're all words right on tip of my tongue. Can't find it. You can look it up. My point is this. Some opinions are more valuable than others. And lots of people recently are making very vocal opinions about the Pope. Some of these are highly elected federal officials who aren't even Catholic. And some are former Catholics who have very prominent positions in media. And then there are some people who are Catholic and very well-intentioned. And they say things that aren't really helpful or clarifying either. And I think there is a better way to approach commenting about the Pope other than simply shooting your mouth off. Don't believe me? Stay with me. Got a story to tell. "Hi, I'm Jesu, Father Robert McTagher, your host every year, the Catholic current. Coming to you from the station of the Cross Catholic Media Network, let's take a closer look. Glad you're here." I was getting ready to make a video. It was going to be a short video. It was going to be succinct. It was going to be brief. And then all this stuff started breaking about different opinions about the Pope. It felt like I needed to intervene. Let's start with quoting Father Robert Hugh Benson. You may know him for his book, The Lord of the World. He also wrote an important book called The Dawn of All. And in that book, he said this, "It's the half-educated, as usual, who's the enemy. He always is. The wise man and the shepherds both knelt in Bethlehem. Yes, of course, those who are wise and those who have simple faith, they see, they understand. So from people who are wise and people who truly believe, I want to hear from them about a lot of things, including what they have to say about a Pope. And if you're not wise and you're not faithful, yeah, then not so much. That's on one side. On the other side are the people who are Catholic, who are faithful. Don't have a lot of wisdom or understanding. God bless them. And they rush to the microphone. They rush to the camera. They rush to the keyboard. And their motto is, "The man in white is always right." And that's not very Catholic. And these folks are known as Pope's planers, no matter what what a Pope says or does. It's always wonderful. It's right from the lips of God Almighty. And that's not the Catholic position. So I want to bring to mind a Dominican friar eventually became a bishop. His name was Melchior Cano. And he was a theologian at the Council of Trent, which some folks describe as best council ever. And he said this, Peter has no need of our lives or our flattery. Those who blindly and indiscriminately defend every decision of the Supreme Pontoff are the very ones who do most to undermine the authority of the Holy See. They destroy instead of strengthening its foundations. So no, to be a good Catholic doesn't mean nod and smiling and applauding anytime a Pope opens his mouth or picks up a pen. There's a more detailed account of that. This is not the time or the place for it. Now maybe you're like me and you're just frustrated. You're tired of people who are unwise. You're tired of people who are unfaithful. And you're tired of people who should really know better, running to their keyboard, their microphone or their camera. And saying things that really I don't think need to be said. I'm exasperated. You're exasperated. What do we do about that? Well, we turn to one of my heroes, the late great Cardinal P.A. once the Bishop of Patea. And this is from the last sermon he gave in 1880. He said this, sanctify yourselves in the time in which God has placed you. Deplore the evils and the disorders which God tolerates. Oppose to them the energy of your works and of your efforts, your whole life pure from errors, free from the evil works so that after the life here on earth, you will be one with the spirit of the Lord. So says Cardinal P.A. So what's the moral of the story? What do you do if you're trying to pray, you're trying to understand, you're trying to believe, you're trying to do what's right and you're just tired of people throwing banana peels in front of you? Well, it's not my job. It's not your job to correct absolutely everyone who was wrong. We are to know the truth, love of the truth, tell the truth, do the truth, express the truth in a way that people see as lovely and beautiful when we can, can always do that, but above all, a commitment to the truth. And let's just get through one day and then the next day and the next day, doing the right thing for the right reasons, the right way for the love of God and the love of neighbor and all those other opinions, commend them to God's mercy and then get on with life. Think on these things today, take them to prayer and talk about it with those you love. Go in peace and please do pray for me for I am a sinner. Good work like this depends on help from good listeners like you. Please do consider supporting us at thestationofthecross.com. Thank you.