Monday, April 16, 2012

Happy Birthday Pope Benedict XVI

Today is April 16, 2012 and it is the 85th birthday of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.  I want to offer my congratulations and prayers to the Holy Father on his special day.

Pope Benedict XVI is an awesome man.  He is an intellectual and I am a fan of his books.  One can tell from his writings that he is indeed a professor.  He has a gift of presenting his thoughts, Church teachings and research so eloquently.  He does not water anything down and I love that.

Pope Benedict XVI is the Missionary Pope - the Professor Pope.  He loves to write and teach.  One can see this in his demeanor, tone and writing style.  Moreover, he has done a lot to bring closer to Rome our separated brethren (Eastern, Protestant, Traditionalists).  We have seen more fruits in Christian unity under Pope Benedict XVI than in prior centuries.

Not only has he engaged those Christians who separated themselves from Rome, but he has also engaged Atheists and Agnostics opening up dialog with them.  While polemicists such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens love to separate and spread hate; Pope Benedict does the opposite.  He stretches out the Olive Branch to the "Gentiles."  Reason and Faith are not enemies.  He shows the religious world that Faith has nothing to fear from Science because Science merely makes the glory of God in nature demonstrable to us all.  

Pope Benedict XVI has also engaged the Muslims truthfully and in charity.  He is a man of courage and zeal.  He is working hard on the New Evangelization which is working to re-Christianize Europe and the rest of the world.

He has spoken strongly and taken action against pedophiles, homosexuals and dissidents in the Catholic Church who have been causing much scandal.  He is restoring dignity to the rich Liturgies of the Roman Rite which has been toyed with since Vatican II by progressives hoping to create some "kumbaya" atmosphere in our prayer.

Pope Benedict XVI is the right Pope for the right time in my opinion.  May God continue to bless us with his presence, thoughts, words, pastoral leadership and spiritual guidance.


Happy Birthday Holy Father and May Our Lord guard over you and Our Lady keep you!  







2 comments:

  1. In response to the comment you left on my blog (jesusmustbestopped.blogspot.com):
    Your first sentence I will concede. But while it is true, as you say that Religion has stood the test of time, it is only because of religion's appealing nature, as well as the fact that their are a certain few who profit greatly from it. The bible was written by a bunch of old men 2000 years ago, and you're telling me that they could know what happened on Earth without any idea of the recent scientific developments of the last few years?
    Also, keep note of the fact that different cultures have different religions, unless a religion was imposed upon a people, just as a language might be. So when you say that religion has stood the test of change, that is not true when you get down to the specifics.Atheism meanwhile, is the lack of belief in anything. We use scientific evidence, but do not claim to have proof of anything, as we do not pretend to know everything as you do.
    How do we know their is no God you might ask? Well, the chances are one in a trillion. The existence of God is as likely as that of Santa Clause, no proof to back up either, but still, millions of people believe in them. The difference is, kids are willing to accept Santa Clause does not exist while their parents won't do the same thing for their own imaginary being.
    And maybe not being able to convince someone who is religious that God is not real has more to do with their stubbornness than anything! Thanks for commenting.

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    Replies
    1. I wouldn't call religion necessarily appealing. There are religions out there that are either too demanding, too easy, too intellectual or just too strange.

      People are religious because they see the fruits of it in their lives. No one wakes up, "oh gee, let me be a Christian today.." they experience something and that experience to them is proof that they are in the right place in life, so to speak.

      The Bible is God's Word that shows the Salvific plan from Adam to Christ in human language and experience. It is not meant to answer worldly things because what will scientific knowledge about the universe do to change people's morals?

      However, there are some things there that give a hint of recently discovered scientific ideas (earth as a sphere, the universe expanding, evolution in Genesis etc), but again that is not the purpose of Scripture.

      Yes each culture may have different religions, but if you take the time to place them all alongside each other you will see they all have a lot of common ideas. Religion has indeed stood the test of time. Many major religious still adhere to their ideas and tenets. Only those that separate from them and do their own thing are the ones who add to those original tenets.

      Atheism is not a lack of belief. The word comes from the Greek "a- Theos" which means "without god or gods" and is used in the negative in that it is a rejection of gods. The "a" means "without" for example:asexual or "without sex." This is also used in the word Agnostic which means "without knowledge" which is in turn translated as someone who doesn't think anything is knowable. So the word "Atheism" cannot mean lack of belief in anything. A word that would better fit your definition is "Apisteuo" which literally means, "lacking belief, without belief." So you're an Apisteo not an Atheist.

      Scientific evidence is fine and dandy, but it is not objective. Years pass and ideas thought to have been fact are then rewritten. Science is only useful as far as our understanding of anything allows it. Religion doesn't pretend to know everything. We just use abstract thought to think outside the box of nature.

      You say the chances are one in a trillion that there is no God, but how did you get these statistics? Santa Clause is different because we know of its origin in a Catholic saint. We know how secularism twisted the image of this saint.

      "Proof" is subjective. You can give your wife a rose and to you that means you love her. However, I might say "no, that is not proof. You need to give her a diamond. That gift will show true love." Who is right? You or me? Which is the real proof that you love her your rose or a diamond?

      If you want proof of God, you have to go to the source. You have to ask God to reveal Himself to you and He will. Spoiler alert: it can be in any way so you have to have a keen mind and heart. God doesn't take orders from man so He will do things on His terms while taking into account your limitations as a finite being.

      You say God is imaginary but that has no substance. What is your contrast for this? In order for you to make this claim you would have to know everything about everything. You would need to know about matter, space, time, dimensions. You would need to know for a fact that this universe is really all there is and there isn't a multiverse or other dimensions with other beings existing in other space/time continuum's.

      People who are really religious will not be convinced because they saw the fruits of their faith. It would be like someone telling you to divorce your wife who you love and adore. How can you? Who are they to tell you to dump her if you see her as the best thing in your life?

      Delete

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