About what do you speak most?

t doThis evening I attended a gathering of Quincy University alumni which was very enjoyable. It was a good opportunity to see a few parishioners who are alumni, as well as people newly associated with the University.

I owe much of my intellectual and spiritual formation to the Franciscan Friars who were present during my studies there. Through my study of history I was taught to think critically and analytically, and through my study of philosophy and theology I was very well prepared to enter the seminary. For all that Quincy University has done for me, I shall be ever grateful and I shall seek to repay it in time. Who knows? Perhaps, God willing, I shall one day there (that is one of my dreams [I seem to have a lot of those, but if you’re going to dream you might as well dream big]).

But this isn’t the point of this post.

After the “official” portion of the evening concluded I found myself engaged in conversation with several people about Pope Benedict XVI and my take of him. Frequent readers of this blog – and hearers of my homilies – will of course know of my deep and profound love of the Holy Father, not only of the office but especially of this particular man who is Pope.

There are some who perhaps devoted to Pope Blessed John XVIII or the Servant of God Pope John Paul II. While I respect each of these greatly, I am devoted to Pope Benedict XVI, whom I am confident will one day be numbered among the Saints of God.

I’ve tried before to describe the reasons why I have such deep affection for Pope Benedict. I’m not sure that I can even describe what this affection toward the Holy Father is, let alone the reasons for it, but I shall try (without, of course, trying to elevate myself to his stature).

When I see Pope Benedict XVI I see a man very much like myself. I think it fair to say that the affection I feel toward the Holy Father is the love of a son.

He is a man quite at home amongst his books and amongst a few close friends. He is a retiring man who prefers to work “behind the scenes.” He is quiet, humble and sincere. He is a man who knows the greatness of the task set before him and his own unworthiness of it. He is a devoted teacher who sets out to demonstrate not his own ideas or innovations but the truth, nothing more and nothing less. He is a man who knows himself and who will not be swayed with the blowing of a new wind. He is a man who doesn’t smile a great deal, but when he does it is genuine and lights the room.

With Pope Benedict, what you see is what you get. There is no pretense, no arrogance. He is a simple man who has accepted the will of the Lord for his life, a man who has resigned himself to the fact that he cannot return to his home.

As I’ve said before, at the heart of Pope Benedict XVI lies the heart of a poet, a poet who loves Christ Jesus above all else and has devoted his life and service to him.

These are only some of the reasons why I have such a deep affection for this man.

When I see Pope Benedict XVI I really do see a father. I see a man very much like myself and with whom I can relate. Everything that I have heard him say and that he has written (that I have read) I agree with completely (something I’m not sure I can say about another author). Everything he says resonates within me.

There is something about Pope Benedict that reaches straight to my heart, calling me to imitate him as he imitates Christ. The only other person to whom I feel such a bond of the spirit is St. Francis of Assisi. I simply am drawn to him and through him I am encounter Jesus Christ.