All Kidding Aside
It was just a dumb joke, emailed to my longtime friend Paul, a lifelong parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church down the street from Wilshire. It was late February, 2013, Pope Benedict had just resigned, and I couldn’t resist: “So . . . the Catholic Church is giving up the Pope for Lent, huh?!”
You can almost hear the moans and the symbol crash. Paul didn’t respond, but he has a wonderful sense of humor so I know he took no offense. And I followed the joke with, “But all kidding aside, this is an amazing time for the church. I’ll be praying that the cardinals are wise in their deliberations.” And I meant that, because it was an amazing time, and the Catholic Church did need a great leader. In fact, I believe the whole world benefits from the Catholic Church having a great, Godly leader. And I believe they, and we, have benefited greatly in the selection of Pope Francis in March 2013.
But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I wonder if there’s not something beneficial to this idea of giving up a pope for lent. Not just a Catholic pope, but any person or thing that we’ve put on a pedestal in the name of religious leadership or spiritual advice. It could be a pastor, a teacher, a coach, a friend, a book, a philosophy, a lifestyle. It’s good to have mentors and role models, guidelines and principles, but if we get lazy and let someone else do our thinking or some system dictate our decisions, then we’ve lost the point of the spiritual life. Which is: It is my spiritual life and your spiritual life.
Christ’s ministry illuminated the value of our individual, spiritual life aside from the religious order and structure of the day. What’s more, the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to imbue each individual with a spiritual flame that is shaped by our unique personalities, talents and gifts.
While we can mingle our flame with others in community and worship, we should never hand our lamp over to someone else for keeping. A pope can help adjust the wick, but we are the lamp, and Christ is always the flame.