The "Scandal" of Abdication

I have seen so many commenters in the past days who have praised the Pope for his decision to step down as reigning Pontiff, viewing it as sign of his humility, his realization that he cannot lead because of his age, even (on the more extreme end) that he is setting a precedent for future Popes to feel free to resign after a term of years.

I must say that I strongly object to these sentiments, as, contrary to the prevailing headlines, the Holy Father did not in fact "resign". What he said was:

"I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005..."

The Supreme Pontiff is not merely an employee, free to retire as he will. He is a monarch. He is the Supreme Head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vicar of Christ on Earth, endowed by God with the powers to bind and to loose those things pertaining to faith and morals, both on Earth and in Heaven.

What the Holy Father did was to abdicate, to renounce his claim to the throne. And this, perhaps rightly, can be perceived as scandalous.

Although Christ is the Eternal King, reigning gloriously in Heaven, the person seated on the Chair of Peter exercises the temporal rule over Christians universally in Christ's name. One does not abdicate lightly or for trivial reasons such as health or age, or any of the other reasons that have been touted as noble and good and right-- after all, he was chosen by God for the position that he holds.

For this reason, I can understand why many people have reacted to the news that the Holy Father is stepping down, not with praise, but rather with a sense of confusion, anger, and even betrayal-- I know for me personally, I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea that Benedict, a Pope so loved and who has done so much for the building up of the unity of the Church, is stepping down while leaving many projects largely unfinished.

There is a very poignant scene in the film, The King's Speech, which portrays Bertie (the future King George VI) just after his elder brother, Edward, renounces the throne. The scene shows Bertie's reaction to this turn of events, and you can tell that he has a sense of utter desolation, fear, abandonment, anger, an incapacity to handle what is to come-- all because of an act that was seen by many as selfish.

I think that this image, one full of uncertainty about the future, is perhaps an apt comparison to the feeling that many may have about the news of our Holy Father's abdication from the throne of Peter.

Edward VIII's reasons for abdicating the throne of the British Empire were most certainly not noble ones, and had an impact across the globe, especially in light of the rising Nazi powers at the time. However, the decision also paved the way for precisely the right leader at the right time to conquer the evil plight facing Europe.

Whether our beloved Holy Father truly made the right decision or not is something that we will never know-- that will remain between him and God. I do think, however, that if we have placed our trust in Pope Benedict during his pontificate up to this point, then we can at least give him the benefit of the doubt in this particular decision, which I am sure he did not make lightly.

For those who would praise his decision to abdicate, I would encourage you to celebrate the past and current leadership he has given, but not to celebrate his abdication as such-- I have no doubt that, though the Holy Father has deliberated long and has now made a firm decision, it is not one that has come without great personal suffering to him.

For those who are still at a loss at the nearly unprecedented action that Benedict has taken, I would encourage you to remember Christ, and use this as an opportunity to renew your faith in his promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church.

With that faith intact, we can remain in hope that Benedict's abdication was indeed the right decision; but regardless, to trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit to bring forth the next Pope, who will be the right man for the right time, and through the grace of the Office of Peter, be able to navigate the barque of the Church through the turbulent waters which undoubtedly lie ahead.

In this sense, we are not unlike the disciples, who hoped in the Messiah's kingship to free them from their bondage, only to be utterly disappointed by the scandal of the crucifixion and death of their Lord and Savior.

Perhaps different from the Disciples, we have the benefit in hindsight of knowing of the Resurrection. And so, though perhaps scandalous to some, hopefully this event in the life of the Church may be an opportunity for further growth, vitality, and renewal for the faithful members of the Church Militant, that we too will be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.

Oremus pro Pontifice!

A Homemade Advent, Part 2

Keeping Advent well has always been something of a challenge for me. I find it difficult to simply "live in the moment" of the season - maintaining a spirit of silence, of waiting, of prayerful penitence, not only because of the holiday hustle and bustle that invades stores, radio stations, internet, and even my inbox immediately after All Hallow's Eve, but also because the celebration of Christmas (in my life at least) requires a certain amount of planning and preparation: making baking plans, grocery lists, devising ways to celebrate the holiday creatively, etc., etc., etc.

Part Two: The Growth And Bloom Of The Jesse Tree

This year, we finally managed to add an Advent tradition, which has been a tremendous assistance for maintaining the prayerful attitude of the season: the Jesse Tree.

Our Jesse Tree project began around the same time as the Advent wreath adventure, and fortunately required similar base materials. With the wreath leftovers, I constructed (i.e. yarned together) a tree of sorts, "potted" it (with the aid of some newspaper), and since it was looking a wee bit bare, added some "foliage". It turned out to be a mixed species of a Jesse Tree (and my husband thought the flora should have been pruned back slightly), but I've found myself appreciating the tree's rather homely look.

Catholicculture.org has an excellent introduction and resource for creating a Jesse Tree, which is what I've used as a format for our ornaments. Since our little one isn't quite old enough to assist with the construction, and my husband is completely occupied with his studies at the moment, I've been the ornament factory. Each Sunday, I sit down to make the ornaments for the next week. Jesse Tree ornaments can be as simple or elaborate as one would like - and for this year, I've opted for sketching and simple water colors. On one side, I've drawn the symbol/image for the day (usually following the suggested ideas, but sometimes coming up with my own), and on the reverse the figure, accompanying Bible verse, and date (in the event that we may need to use them again in future years).

Each evening, we sit down to first read the selection from Scripture, and then Daddy and Baby hang the ornament. The readings for each day have taken us on a whistle-stop tour of salvation history, and then from this Saturday until Christmas will be based on the O Antiphons. The whole process is a daily, tangible reminder of Israel's anticipation of the Messiah, and I am fairly certain is something that is on its way to being a family tradition.

Here are a few photos of this year's Jesse Tree:

A Homemade Advent, Part 1

Advent seems to have come upon us quite quickly this year (as evidenced by the dearth of posts, we've found ourselves fairly preoccupied with the business of life this month), and it took the arrival of the first Sunday of Advent to spur me to some Advent planning for our little family.

The constraints (i.e. living abroad and being on a student budget) on any extravagant Advent and Christmas purchasing I might be tempted to contemplate, have paradoxically almost become conditions of freedom. In other words, these limitations have proven an opportunity for me to exercise a little bit of creativity and ingenuity, in contrast to the more prosaic exercise of simply buying something, as I embark on an adventure of a homemade Advent this year.

Part One: In Which The Advent Wreath Is Procured

I suppose "procured" isn't exactly the right verb in this instance - "constructed" might be more apt. In any event, this project was spurred on by my refusal to spend on anything I was fairly certain I could make myself. In consequence, the little one and I went out yesterday afternoon to gather our raw materials: dead, yet fairly pliable branches, an ample selection of pine boughs, abandoned pinecones, bright red berries, and some additional foliage for ornamentation.

The first step was to fashion a woven ring (of sorts) for the base. I had envisioned weaving my branches without needing to tie them together, but after the little one successfully demolished that attempt (while under the assumption that Mommy's project was obviously a frisbee), I resorted to a bit of brown yarn as fastening assistance.

The branches thus formed a base for weaving in the pine boughs. I started with the larger boughs at the bottom, and added judiciously as I worked upwards.

My next project was the procurement of candles. In this region of Austria, it seems to be traditional to use red candles rather than violet and rose for the Advent wreath, and thus the only Advent candle sets I could find in our local shops were red. While I contemplated simply "doing as the Romans do", I just couldn't manage to repudiate the years of my family tradition…so in the absence of any violet and rose candles for sale, I went white.

Well, not quite. I found some lovely white candles to use as a base, and then wound some violet and rose embroidery floss I happened to have on hand for the appropriate Advent colors. And what did I use for candleholders? Plastic schnapps glasses, obviously.

Below is the final result, finished with pinecones, berries, a bit of extra foliage, and a braided yarn bow, which will hopefully see us through this season of joyful anticipation. And though our little one is still a bit to small to manage blowing out the Advent candles after our daily prayers, he appreciates the candles, pinecones and berries!