1 Thessalonians 2 ~ Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ

Proverbs 20:24
A man's steps are from the Lord;
how then can man understand his way?

Benedict is much maligned, as more formal and austere than John Paul II; Benedict should have some more appreciation.

Isaiah 55:8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD

John 3:8
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.


Pope Benedict XVI has resigned yesterday, the first Pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII, in 1415. He stood down to end "The Western Schism", which threatened Roman Catholicism as two rivals declared themselves pope. The current Pope's namesake Benedict IX resigned in 1045. Only five Popes have resigned.

This Pope brought a mission to the Catholic Church. And he leaves because he believes the job requires someone younger and fully mobile. I cannot find the quote that caught my heart from Pope Benedict but I can paraphrase. Pope Benedict met with survivors of sexual abuse, at the hands of clergy, and he said something like this: "Jesus Christ Himself knew something of your suffering upon His Cross. He died for you. And He knows your pain."

According to John L. Allen, Jr., Pope Benedict "acquired a familiarity with the contours of the abuse problem virtually no other figure in the Catholic Church can claim" and "driven by that encounter with what he would later refer to as 'filth' in the Church, the Pope prior to being Pope seems to have undergone something of a 'conversion experience' throughout 2003–04. From that point forward, he and his staff seemed driven by a convert's zeal to clean up the mess". In his role as Head of the CFD, he "led important changes made in Church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offenses against children, the extension of child abuse offenses to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statute of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders." As the Head of the CDF, Ratzinger - Pope Benedict developed a reputation for handling these cases. According to Charles J. Scicluna, a former prosecutor handling sexual abuse cases, "Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases, also demonstrating great courage in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases."


Placing Jesus in the proper perspective, Pope Benedict shared this:
"The evangelization of the person and of human communities depends totally on this encounter with Jesus Christ."
- Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican City, November 13, 2007


Many people are encouraged with Pope Benedict's philosophy on the Joy of the Lord as our Strength:
"If Jesus has become your hope, communicate this to others with your joy and your spiritual, apostolic and social engagement. Let Christ dwell within you, and having placed all your faith and trust in Him, spread this hope around you. Make choices that demonstrate your faith."
- Pope Benedict XVI, Message for World Youth Day, February 22, 2009

“Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . . No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen.”
― Pope Benedict XVI



Not shaken by waves of life. Let 1 Thessolonians 2 stand for Pope Benedict's detractors saying he did not do enough for the media images of important Christian matters.


1 Thessalonians 2

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,[f] 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

Pope Benedict will retire to a cloistered monastery to have a life of prayer. Surely this is the Lord sending forth saying the Pope is a priest forever.

Psalm 110
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”

2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,
in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”

5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.

What is Lightning to the Lord our God?

Job 36:32
He covers his hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark.


St. Peter's Dome was struck by Lightning.

Job 37:4
After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.

Daniel 10:6
His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

Pope Benedict has followed in the words of Simon Peter, a fisher of men.

John 6:68
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Benedict has resigned, sighting the good of the Christian Kingdom.

1 Peter 2:17
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.




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