The passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on New Years Eve Day, and his funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome last week, are occasions for reflecting upon our faith. Through both his life and his ministry, the retired pontiff contributed to the life of the Church in our age and to the entire world.

 

What was most striking about Pope Benedict was the humanity he exhibited and his faith that was unshakeable. And for those reasons it is good to recall his origins.

 

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in reflecting on his life, gave thanks for the role of his parents in teaching and modeling for him the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith. He said that their transmission of the faith was his source of strength as a young man when only a few years later his native Germany was convulsed and ultimately consumed by National Socialism — that is, Nazism. 

 

His experience at the heart of the Second World War, including the suffering that he saw and the absence of God at its heart, could not fail to impact the Holy Father. He referenced it frequently in interviews and reflections over the years.

 

At the same time, young Joseph Ratzinger quickly demonstrated the intellectual gifts combined with his faith that would mark the contributions that God would call him to make. His studious intelligence led him to the priesthood and to becoming a professor of theology. The classes he taught were known to be full, always providing a must-hear set of lectures. During those years Father Ratzinger deepened his love and interest in the Church, her teaching, the liturgy and sacred Scripture.

 

With this background he was called to serve as a peritus, an expert advisor, at Vatican II. He then became the Archbishop of Munich and was called to Rome by Pope St. John Paul II to serve as the Prefect of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

 

What this tells us about faith is that God has a plan and a calling for each of us as He did for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. We can easily see in retrospect the experiences and the gifts that were not meant for him alone, but to be shared with the Church. So it is with each of us.

 

But there was a fuller context for Joseph Ratzinger as well. In the Book of Numbers we are told that Moses, for all of his gifts and the task of leadership entrusted to him, was “very humble, more than anyone else on earth” (Num 12:3). Some translations called Moses the meekest of men. Those who knew or met Joseph Ratzinger know that he was also shy and retiring by nature. In addition, as he himself admitted, he was not given what he called the gift of administration. 

 

This made it a challenge and even a suffering for him to leave his beloved Germany and teaching for the greater service, leading him to be elected to the papacy. We might wonder if these factors did not enter heavily in his prayers, discernment and finally his humble decision to resign the papacy which he felt he could no longer adequately serve.

 

In his final spiritual testament released after his death, Pope Benedict urged all of us to “Stand firm in the faith! Do not let yourselves be confused!” It was the great goal of his life to demonstrate that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is the word of truth and salvation. As a result, all of our Catholic faith, the doctrine, the prayer, the liturgy are not simply humanly-contrived rules or practices. They are part of our personal encounter with Christ with whom we are invited to spend eternal life.

 

I am saddened to see some of the attacks being made upon Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his passing. He is typically accused of being a man of the past, not of the enlightened world of human progress in our time. But the many talks and books and encyclicals authored by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI tell a different story. They touch our hearts and our faith. They offer hope when this world has none without God. Through them seeds of faith have been planted that will serve to strengthen the Church in the years and centuries before her.

 

I pray for the repose of the soul of this great pope. And I thank God for the gift of his life, faith and service to the Church.