Pancake Perfection!

Pause for Thought

From Father Christopher Jamison, Benedictine Monk.

The resignation of Pope Benedict16 has taken everybody by surprise but let’s pause for a moment to consider what lessons this news has for us all. Above all, Pope Benedict’s resignation is about letting go. There is a contrast here with the previous Pope, John Paul 2. He was seriously ill during his last days and yet he kept appearing in public in his wheelchair as if to say: people who are sick are valuable too, the terminally ill are part of our world, don’t hide them away. Pope Benedict, by contrast, has given his witness by letting go of the reins of power, a lesson in humility and courage. He has faced up to the reality of his situation, knowing that he could live for many more years but be unable to do the job properly. For people to face up to their own weakness requires humility and that’s the first letting go that Pope Benedict has shown us; the humility of not covering up his frailty. Having recognised his own frailty, the Pope has then seen what is best for other people and for the Church, to resign and let somebody else take over. That letting go requires courage, not gung ho courage but discrete courage, a courage that sees what is best for others and then does it. The words of St Paul describe the process of the Pope’s resignation beautifully: ‘I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.’ (Acts 20:24) Pope Benedict has accomplished the ministry he received from the Lord and now he lays it down, a lesson in letting go for all of us.