Reflections on the past day

~~Note for Ash Wednesday~~ 
My blogging will slow a bit during Lent 

(maybe one post a week?), and my commenting will as well. 

Here is a delightful true story that a friend wrote, 

if you need a little something to meditate on today: 

Some insight on what it means to be a sheep.

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It's been a long day spanning the whole spectrum of emotions, from the moment my daughter at college woke me up with a phone call (that is a scary thing… to get a call from your daughter before dawn!), to right now when I am about ready to drop into bed.

I have been talking with friends most of the day, both on the phone and on facebook, and I can tell you that we all were feeling shock at the announcement (the last time a pope resigned was 600 years ago!), sadness at losing a holy, gentle, brilliant, and faithful papa whom we love so much, and amusement at the reaction of the secular left wing media and populace. 

Because I am utterly exhausted, I'm just going to mention a few things that stuck out to me.

First, my favorite article today:

The Church? She will go on. Let us do so as well.

Sums it up for me!

Another good piece was from Princeton's Robert P. George (one of my heroes), who made me laugh from the title alone:

The Oracle Speaks

What the heck, let me reprint Professor George's whole post here:

Well, in case there was any doubt, we now have an ex cathedra announcement from the hierarchy of the New York Times: 

"At some point, the church will accept contraception and female and non-celibate priests. Could it be in the next papacy?" -- Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times 

Although I ought to be used to it by now, I still find the parochialism of liberal secular elites stunning. Their small-minded preoccupation with sex and gender is, in its way, amusing. A pope abdicates for the first time in centuries, and what immediately pops into the mind of Nicholas Kristof and his ilk?  Contraception, women's ordination, and celibacy.  Oy vey. 

Also amusing is his uncritical--indeed unthinking--embrace of Hegelian-Marxian certainty about the trajectory of history.  "At some point, the church will [embrace the ideology of the New York Times editorial board]. It just will, you see.  History is open to no other possibilities. It's a done deal.  Already determined.  Kristof was no doubt prevented only by the character limit on Twitter from saying "the correlation of forces . . . . "

And sadly, Kristof is too culturally illiterate to realize that there are already some non-celibate Catholic priests (as there always have been), and that such a discipline is distinct from doctrine. But why should a journalist be expected to know such easily attained facts? Knowledge of one's subject matter and fair reporting is so yesterday!

Best meme of all time (or pretty darned close) was made by JoAnna Wahlund, and I hope it goes viral on every one of your facebooks and blogs:

It just really doesn't get any better than that!

Well, before I go off on too many of a million possible tangents (we can do that in the comments), let me link to a few posts from the past to get us inspired and informed about the office of the papacy:

"…and the Papacy remains."

The Pope is not as powerful as you think

Pope Fact: Infallible does not mean sinless

Different types of infallibility 

(From when I did Doctrinal Quiz Shows!)

The election of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 was one of the most glorious, joy-filled days I have ever experienced. He is deeply loved by his flock, and he loves us back. He is gentle, loving, faithful, a towering intellect, a profound theologian, a holy priest of God. He is the Successor of Peter and the Vicar of Christ on earth. He is not just the pope of Catholics, he is the papa of the whole world. Every soul on earth has been put in his care, and he prays and works to shepherd each of us to our home in Heaven. We are so blessed. He will be sorely missed. But I am glad it is not our final good-bye.

And, let us begin now to pray for that man who will be our next Holy Father, for he is curious, anxious, and waiting just like the rest of us -- wondering on whose shoulders the awesome burden of the papacy will fall. He needs our prayers!

What a Lent this will be!

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Lenten rules refresher, here. (I will be cutting back on my blogging time for Lent, hoping to maximize spiritual fruit here in the Miller home!)

Also, one recent post of mine may have escaped your notice due to the pope's resignation, but there is an interesting discussion going on in the comments, here.