Paying attention to popes

The Pope resigning has a lot of impact on someone like me who can't stand admitting that something is beyond my capability. And now that Benedict XVI has resigned, I realize that I should have been listening more closely to what he's taught by his words and actions over the past eight years. I only recently read one of his encyclicals - the one on the love of God - and was struck by how it meets the reader where she or he is. Somewhere along the way, the concept of God actually loving me had gotten buried under my preoccupations with worry, rules, and general worldliness. The words of the encyclical were a powerful reminder.

John Paul II became pope before I was born, so to me he "was" the pope in the same way that DC is the capital. I still haven't really gotten used to the fact that he is not the pope, or that the pope is not he, and this might be why I had not been as "tuned in" to Pope Benedict as I should have. As part of an effort to do better, the girls and I visited the "Adopt a Cardinal" website.

The website suggests praying to Holy Spirit before clicking "Enter" and getting your cardinal. I did it but did not think it was possible for us to get a cardinal that would have any personal meaning for me. The cardinal it gave us was Stanislaw Dziwisz. I was so surprised - I did "know" him, but I hadn't realized he was a cardinal.

Since he died, I've had more and more of a devotion to Blessed John Paul II. No matter how badly things are going or much I am failing, I'm always comfortable praying to him. I know in my mind that none of the saints will hate or shun me, but sometimes I don't feel that way, which makes it harder to pray. John Paul II, though, is so real to me, and I have seen how he treats each person with love, even - so I tell myself - people that are worse than me. Now that he has died, he is still one of the strongest supports for my faith and one of the most helpful reminders of God's mercy.

Getting back to Cardinal Dziwisz..........because of this devotion, I ordered a book about Pope John Paul II written by the monsignor who had been his secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz. So for me, the computer randomly selecting Cardinal Dziwisz was a message of love from one of my favorite "Blesseds" and a reminder to give both the new pope and the Pope Emeritus my full attention.