Papal visit is a chance for healing
Jerry Johnston
Like Gene Wilder tossing darts in "Young Frankenstein," their questions flattened tires and killed cats, but completely missed the mark. What they needed to ask the pontiff was: What's wrong with us as a country? And how can we make things better?
So with Benedict XVI. Reporters are asking about the war in Iraq , about scandals, about Israel. Like Doctor Evil's son Scott, they "just don't get it."
The pope isn't here just to honor America with his presence.
While here he may rein in renegade Catholics, balance the books on the sex scandals and even cozy up to politicians.
But he's really here because he took a look at a big map of the world and, in thoughtful prayer, asked, "Where is God most needed in the world today?"
Then he put a red push-pin in the United States of America.
In short, America is very ill.
We need a doctor.
And the pope is the physician on call.
I think it's how all great religious leaders function. They look for places where the presence of God is desperately needed, then try to take him there.
It's why Billy Graham mounted crusades in the old capitals of Europe.
It's why Mother Teresa was in Calcutta and St. Patrick went to Ireland.
It's why Benedict XVI is with us now.
We shouldn't feel proud that the pope chose us for a visit. We should feel grateful that the doctor agreed to make a house call. And we should feel a bit chagrined that we let our spiritual health deteriorate to the point he needed to make the trip.
But spiritual questions are the ones that will never get asked: What spiritual ills plague our nation? How can faith help us through them? What do we need to do to find our spiritual footing?
Nobody asks, because nobody wants to know. Like the person who won't get their blood pressure taken because they're afraid to learn what it is, we'd just as soon not dwell on our ailments. We don't want to feel we need to make changes.
And unless we ask him, the pope can't help. We forget that his concerns are spiritual concerns, his solutions are spiritual solutions, and his motives for being here are spiritual. He fields dozens of questions, but never hears the questions he wants to answer.
Like the kid who won't take his medicine because of its taste, we'd rather suffer from the illness than deal with the discomfort of the cure. And in the meantime, the pope becomes just another celebrity who gets a few minutes on stage before slipping into the wings again.
We ask him about everything except ourselves.
Is that because we think his answer would be irrelevant?
Or because we fear, down inside, what it might be?
E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com
Recent comments
The Pope cozy up to politicans...I think NOT!
Budda | April 20, 2008 at 3:56 p.m.
Yaaawwn is exactly the point of the article. We never see ourselves...
Barry | April 20, 2008 at 1:51 p.m.
Yaaawn!
What is your point, Jerry?
Pretty lame...
Anonymous | April 19, 2008 at 12:27 p.m.
