Wednesday with Pope Benedict XVI

Wednesday September 30, 2009

After breakfast at our NH Jolly Midas Hotel, Via Aurelia 800 Roma, 00165 Italia, we headed off on an all-day tour of the Vatican.  The first on the list was a once in a lifetime experience - an invitation-only audience with Pope Benedict XVI ! Video: http://youtu.be/sMqDAr5sLaw I am blessed in seeing in person in my lifetime to see Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II (when he visited Chicago and held a Mass at Grant Park) and Pope Benedict XVI.  They should be respected because they are the true successor of the Founder of Catholic Church - Jesus Christ.  The infallibility of the Pope is beyond question because just like the apostles before him, he was very much guided by the Holy Spirit.  When the Catholic faithful say in response, 'And with your spirit' it meant there's a breath of life.  To those who are very much disrespectful of the Pope and previous popes (they know who they are - the liberal activists, the progressives, Catholic and Vatican-haters) who despise the Catholic dogmas and tradition I can only say since today, Ash Wednesday, February 13, 2013, the beginning of Lent and 40-day journey with our Lord Jesus Christ is 'to be kind to unkind people.'  God has a way of turning things around.  Why be a Catholic?  Because it is ancient and authentic.  The real thing.  For me, it is an attestation that  Catholicism is the one and true religion.  However, this is freedom: To all criticizers of the Vatican, that is the Catholic faith, about its past and present sins should be reminded of 'to err is human, to forgive divine.' The Holy Bible, the eternal word of God, teaches us not to be holier-than-thou. Because there is no perfection in this world.  That the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Living God and Mother of the Church, always grant our personal requests and wishes when we pray the Rosary.  It never fails just like love never fails. 

I highly recommend this magnificent book by Father Robert Barron: A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF FAITH. I am very much a traditionalist when it comes to my Catholic faith.  I hope and pray the next elected pope by the Vatican Conclave of Cardinals at the Sistine Chapel will be conservative and traditional and remain true to the changes in the Second Vatican Council.  This is the most touching of all when Pope Benedict XVI (aka Cardinal Ratzinger) was just elected:
In April of 2005 the newly elected pope Benedict XVI came onto the front loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to bless the crowds.  Gathered around him on the adjoining balconies there appeared all the cardinals who had just chosen him.  The news camera caught remarkably pensive expression on the face of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.  When the cardinal returned home, reporters asked him what he was thinking about that moment.  Here is what he said: "I was gazing over toward the Circus Maximus, toward the Palatine Hill where the Roman Emperors once resided and reigned and looked down upon the persecution of Christians, and I thought, 'Where are their successors? Where is the successor of Caesar Augustus? Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius? And finally, who cares? But if you want to see the successor of Peter, he is right next to me, smiling and waving at the crowds."