The Pope & Company - The Show Must Go On

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As the Catholic Church goes about selecting a new Pope, this lapsed Catholic wonders if the men who run the show really believe in the message.   I mean the old men with the dresses and funny hats, the ones in charge.  



Do they really believe that they can turn bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood?  That what looks to all like a tasteless wafer becomes the “true presence” of Jesus Christ?   “True food” and “true nourishment.”

Really?

They must know how ridiculous it all sounds.  And with their education, surely they know that in the early church there were no priests at all, nor was there a communion ceremony or wafer of any sort (yes, I know there was a meal, but it was a real one!)  As the Church grew, it built a complex and intellectually convoluted set of beliefs, usually culminating in a mystery when the story got too ridiculous for even the wiliest theologian. 

And then there is the notion that we needed to be saved anyway.   The Jews (whose Bible it was) didn’t believe in original sin.  Somehow the belief arose anyway, and also a belief that Jesus had to be sacrificed on the cross to atone for Adam’s sin – a sin that was then passed along to all of us as a birthright.

Do they really believe that a God who is “all good” nonetheless condemned all of mankind to hell because of the misdeeds of a single couple?  And that his son’s death on the cross made it better?

Still, this story took hold, and managed to create a lot of interesting art and music.  It also led to folks being burned at the stake for disagreeing over the details.  (No pain no gain?  Can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs?)

I suppose it’s a bit late to change.  For our aging and overdressed priests – they are like aging entertainers on a cruise ship.  They have been doing it so long that they can’t do anything else.  I mean really, quit the show and then what?  Flip burgers?

Still at some point the show will have to close.  I mean really, the expensive vestments, gold chalices and designer shoes cost a lot of money.  
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In the middle of the 1800s, cemeteries in the modern sense took shape, formed as parks and designed both as places for remembering the dead, and also as a means of recreation (meant in the broadest sense).  The fad is over.  People still visit but far less often, and out of duty not desire.  Perhaps in a few decades, our Catholic churches will feels as obsolete as the cemetery below.  It is still in use, but much of it feels neglected - even abandoned. 



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