Our German Shepherd

I admit when Cardinal Ratzinger was named Pope Benedict XVI, I wasn't jumping up and down for joy.  I LOVED Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict at first seemed more like a stern taskmaster than the loving shepherd that JP2 had been.

Still, as time went on and Ben16 was able to show himself as a strong leader who dealt sharply with abuses within the church, and lovingly with everyone -Catholic or not Catholic- building bridges where before there had been walls, I settled into a happy acceptance that love conquers all.

One of the most encouraging things he has ever said speaks directly to my heart as I struggle seemingly constantly with messes other people make and my own sin and sinful tendencies and my own fear and my own failings...

"My friends, May no adversity paralyse you.  Be afraid neither of the world nor of the future nor of your weaknesses.  The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that by your faith, His Name will continue to resound throughout the world..."

or this:

“If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.”

or this:

“Something I constantly notice is that unembarrassed joy has become rarer. Joy today is increasingly saddled with moral and ideological burdens, so to speak. When someone rejoices, he is afraid of offending against solidarity with the many people who suffer. I don't have any right to rejoice, people think, in a world where there is so much misery, so much injustice.

I can understand that. There is a moral attitude at work here. But this attitude is nonetheless wrong. The loss of joy does not make the world better - and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the impetus and courage to do good. Joy, then, does not break with solidarity. When it is the right kind of joy, when it is not egotistic, when it comes from the perception of the good, then it wants to communicate itself, and it gets passed on. In this connection, it always strikes me that in the poor neighborhoods of, say, South America, one sees many more laughing happy people than among us. Obviously, despite all their misery, they still have the perception of the good to which they cling and in which they can find encouragement and strength.

In this sense we have a new need for that primordial trust which ultimately only faith can give. That the world is basically good, that God is there and is good. That it is good to live and to be a human being. This results, then, in the courage to rejoice, which in turn becomes commitment to making sure that other people, too, can rejoice and receive good news.”


 and also, this:


"Truth is not determined by a majority vote."

Thank you, dear Ben16, for your lifetime given to showing love to us all.  Get some rest and may the rest of your life with us be filled with peace.