Dear God
Letters to the Lord
7-10-23
As You know Lord, we humans have a saying "Is the Pope Catholic?" This is meant as a truism, however at times the Pope is just Catholic in Name Only (CINO).
Hence there is Francis, our current CINO Pope.
I just can't deal with him anymore God. People say if you are Catholic you have to follow what the Pope says unquestioning since You Lord installed him to his high seat. No, that isn’t so. If the Pope said to disregard the Ten Commandments and Jesus was just a rambling lunatic with a good marketing team, must we follow those teachings?
Obviously not.
So, our Protestant bretheran and all other religious/spiritual people would say "why have a Pope at all?" The answer is because Jesus told us to.
† And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. † (Matt. 16:18)
Yes, contrary to what many spiritual people say, Jesus did come down from heaven to start a Church. He said so, in clear language. He also appointed Peter as the first leader of the Church, with certain powers to bind and loose things on earth and in heaven. Peter was the first Pope. Every Pope since then has succeeded down the line from Peter. Jesus wanted a Pope because You Lord want a Pope to lead Your Church.
So here we are. Unfortunately popes are humans and with that you get egos and narcissism and stupidity and every other sin under the heavens. The whole history of the Church is replete with awful, terrible, sinful popes. Francis is nothing new.
But as Jesus said, the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church even if the gates of hell is leading the Church. So Lord why do you allow the gates of hell to lead the Church? Of course the answer is free will. You will allow all humans the freedom to do whatever we want, and the Church cardinals wanted the current Pope. But that doesn't mean you will allow Francis and his lunacy to destroy the Church. The Church will always stand, no matter what - Jesus said so, and Jesus is not a liar.
So what do we do when Catholics are led by a terrible CINO Pope? People say pray for the Pope. Okey Dokey. "Lord, I pray Pope Francis will stop being a CINO Pope. I pray that Francis will stop being an egotistical transhumanist. I pray that Francis will stop trying to destroy the Church. I pray that Francis will find eternal rest in whatever destiny is judged to be his after his death."
Lord, what I won't do is follow the teachings of this Pope that go against the teachings of Jesus. Francis may end up going to hell, but I won't follow him there.
My real prayer is that someday before I die Lord, you will nudge us humans, notwithstanding our free wills, to elect a great Pope, who follows the teachings of Jesus, is humble, contrite and an example to convert many people to believe in You and Jesus. As Jesus says in the Gospel for today † "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." †
For a Pope to do Your will Lord would be a miracle in my life.
Sincerely,
Napoleon
I am Catholic by marriage and have attended a Catholic church for almost 20 years - so I claim being Catholic even though I can't take communion (though my current priest has me considering formally converting). My mixed heritage is a blessing because I don't believe I have to follow the Pope in all he says and does! One thing from my past that I have thought a lot about over the past few years is something horribly sad that taught me a lesson about the fallibility, the humanness of our church leaders. My childhood pastor committed adultery and abandoned his wife and family; the woman he committed adultery with also left her family. It caused so much hurt and pain. Back then, I thought, how wrong. Now, I thank God for teaching me this lesson about humanness and sin and that even our religious leaders get it horribly wrong sometime, with their words and/or actions. Acts 5:29 I follow God and not man. The Pope is most definitely a man!
I have been reading "The Songs of Jesus," which is Tim Keller's take on all of the Psalms, with a prayer and an explanation. It is designed to be read over the course of the year. I didn't start in January so I read a few today. For May 3, it is Psalm 58:1-5
Keller goes on to tell us that corruption is not new, and that they often rule of out self-interest and to increase their power. This is the prayer he shared, which I share here because it touches on so many of the mini-conversations:
"Lord, put into authority honest, wise and generous leaders. And when I see those who are not so, do not let me fall into the error of thinking that I would be impervious to the temptations of power. Establish justice in our land. Amen"
And on to May 4 and Psalm 58:6-11. This is his prayer for that group of verses, which prayer really puts into words what I have been feeling (and what has been previously discussed in other posts on this blog):
"Lord, make me an agent of reconciliation, forgiving from the heart those who do wrong yet at the same time insisting on truth and responsibility. That is a life shaped by the cross, honoring both mercy and justice at the same time. Amen."