To Idolize What is Good

Note: These are more ramblings than organized/structured thought.

In my days off, or rather the days in which I have been job hunting, vocation searching, etc., I have been spending a great deal of time reading various books. On Saturday, I read the last pages of The Client as written by John Grisham. Then on Sunday afternoon, I picked up Bridge to Terabithia, a lovely story which I found quite easy to read and enjoy. I finished it last night, a mere seven hours after I had started. Before starting on The Client, I had already been reading Peggy Noonan's John Paul the Great. I had originally thought that I might read The Client and John Paul the Great simultaneously, but found the former to be more of a page turner and therefore, finished it before the latter.

I re-opened John Paul the Great this morning. Peggy Noonan wrote of her meetings with Pope John Paul II. As I read, I found myself crying happy tears and chuckling to myself over the antics of our former Pope, I recalled my own adventures in Rome and seeing Pope Benedict XVI for the first time in the Vatican. To someone of great importance, it might not have seemed of great consequence as it was just the Pope's regular Wednesday audience. But I will never forget that day. I was several rows back and the canopy under which the Pope would sit with all his cardinals looked so small off in the distance. We arrived at least two hours early and waited for what seemed to me an eternity. Then he came. And I could see him, I could see Pope Benedict XVI in his pope mobile, waving to the crowds and a beautiful smile on his face. And I melted inside. I literally teared up and became weak at the knees. I laughed as a little child would laugh with glee over the joys and excitements of Christmas time. In any other circumstances, I would have felt like a fool, but I couldn't help myself and I certainly did not care. In that moment, I forgot all my troubles and worldly cares (like the fact that I was exhausted from Professor Barber's most tiresome schedule). All that I saw or knew in that moment was a great leader, shaking hands with and waving to the vast masses of people who all felt the same way I did (or maybe not quite).

People find all sorts of idols in today's world. In fact, I am quite positive that since the beginning of time people have idolized other people, possessions, various worldly things that don't last. People cheer and shout (even scream) when a movie star or singer walks down the street, begging for an autograph, stretching across yellow tape, pushing through security just to touch a celebrity's thousand dollar coat. We worship/fantasize about such lofty lifestyles. What we don't realize is that we (you and I) are the same as Tom Cruise or Jennifer Lopez. We may not make as much money or be quite as famous, but we're the same. We're human, we make mistakes, we sin, we have relationships, we laugh, we cry, and sometimes we have bad days.

(I swear these two topics fit together perfectly in my head; I just need to find a way to connect them well enough to write down what I am trying to say.)

When I saw Pope Benedict for the first time, I went weak at the knees and I cried tears of gladness. It is not because I idolize him as God. I attribute my great joy to seeing and recognizing Benedict as a great man of God. He was chosen by the Holy Spirit to be the new Shepherd of our Church here on earth. He represents Jesus Christ to the world. Benedict is a great man because he is so close to Christ and bears so much responsibility for the wellbeing and spiritual health of the world. (He calls the shots.) I idolize Pope Benedict XVI, because I want to be like him. I idolize him as I would a role model. (Maybe "idolize" is not the right word.) I want to be holy as he is holy. On that day in Rome I saw a living saint. Don't we want to be like the saints?

I guess the point I am trying to make is that we idolize the wrong things. We idolize celebrities for their fame, their money, and their good looks. But Jesus put us on this earth and created us to know, love, and serve him. He gave us great shepherds like John Paul II and Benedict to guide us in these things and to grow in holiness. Alice von Hildebrand tells us that we should "pray for holy tears". I believe the tears that I cried in the Vatican Square were those of holy tears, tears which came from seeing and recognizing a living saint.