Pope visiting America. Is the circus in town?

[setarcos]

Would you rather that he rode into town on a donkey, while ebullient cheering crowds threw palm branches in front of him and waved them in the air, shouting “hosanna! hosanna!”

?

They had Christ, not realizing what was to come. We have a crusified Christ and know what is coming.

 

[setarcos]

It’s not a circus, it’s an enthusiastic welcome from people who love him. The same kind of welcome can be seen when Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem:

[The disciples] brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem,** the whole city was stirred** and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

See my previous post

 

[setarcos]

I’ve been reading the comments on some of the news posts on facebook today. I have never seen such a bunch of clueless individuals criticizing something they obviously know nothing about. One more of these “Bible Christians” tells me that Catholics believe that the Pope is God and my head will explode and trust me that will be one heck of a mess.

I beg your indulgence. I’m not sure what your talking about or how it applies to my post but I sincerely wish all goes well with you and your families misfortune, by the grace of God.

 

[Elizium23]

They had Christ, not realizing what was to come. We have a crusified Christ and know what is coming.

Christ is crucified, indeed, he is also raised from the dead, and is coming again in glory. So just consider this a prefigurement of the joy with which we will welcome Christ Himself when we are caught up together with the resurrected dead, to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes 4:17-18).

 

[You]

They had Christ, not realizing what was to come. We have a crusified Christ and know what is coming.

Christ knew what was coming.

I used a wordsearch; ‘Cheerful’.

Corinthians 9:7
Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

James 5:13
Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he cheerful in mind? Let him sing.

 

[pete_29]

I beg your indulgence. I’m not sure what your talking about or how it applies to my post but I sincerely wish all goes well with you and your families misfortune, by the grace of God.

Sorry, I was just ranting. Thank you for thinking of us. God Bless

 

[7_Sorrows]

Sorry, I was just ranting. Thank you for thinking of us. God Bless

Praying for Rachel.

 

[pete_29]

Praying for Rachel.

Thank you! God Bless !

 

[Sarcelle]

Strictly from an impartial observer, and I wish not to be offensive to anyone, but why does the atmosphere surrounding the popes visit seem so circus like? So worldly?
I get the fact that he is the pope, and a well liked one at that, but in the world we live in, with all the suffering and evil, it seems so undignified to see giggling nuns, flushed teens, all the goofing around and jubilant people, all the ridiculous trinkets being sold, t-shirts, rosaries, balloons, pastries, and all with the popes face on them.
Have we forgotten he is Christ’s servant? Where is Christ in all this? Have we forgotten the pope holds his position because Christ was tortured and crucified? Have we forgotten our joy should not be for this world but the next? Any joy we express should be a somber joy, with the realization we live in a fallen world as sinners with hope for salvation.
Realizing, though we may be saved there are those who may not. Friends, family members, our neighbors perhaps?
Or are we merely playing roles like we did as children with our friends, forgetting this world and the life we lived in it will pass away and with it all we were and did while in it?

A somber joy? God save us from sour faced saints.

That sounds puritanical. Catholics aren’t Puritans. Exuberant joy does not necessarily mean forgetting the Pope is Christ’s servant.

 

[Joe_5859]

A somber joy? God save us from sour faced saints.

That sounds puritanical. Catholics aren’t Puritans. Exuberant joy does not necessarily mean forgetting the Pope is Christ’s servant.

That was the phrase that jumped out at me, too.

What does “somber joy” look like exactly?

I get what the OP is getting at, but I don’t think expressing happiness and joy is something that Christians should not do. In fact, quite the opposite. If Christians only ever look dour, how is that going to be attractive to others?

Yes, we know what is coming. Christ is risen! The gates of heaven are open! How is that not cause for celebration? If anything, we would be celebrating constantly if we truly understood the meaning of what Christ has won for us.

 

[Kay_Cee]

Where are all the crowds for Eucharistic Adoration?

 

[setarcos]

I’m really not sure where you get the idea that anything is circus-like or worldly. Unless you consider people being happy and celebrating being circus-like. I’m sure you’re fun at parties. In all seriousness though, why are you begrudging people who are excited to be able to meet the leader of their Church? Giggling, goofing around, and being jubilant are undignified actions now?

No Catholic forgets that we are here because of Jesus’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Every altar in a Catholic church puts literal spatial emphasis on the Crucifix, with Jesus on it, as a reminder of that very Sacrifice. I’ve yet to see a Protestant who wears a crucifix, and I’ve actually had them criticize me as a Catholic because we have full crucifixes in our churches. The statement I bolded makes me seriously concerned for your emotional well-being. It’s one thing to be solemn and reverent, but we were never called to be that way all the time. For all the bad we see in the world, God has given us many things to be thankful and joyful for as well. The world isn’t a pessimistic tide of negativity unless you choose to see it that way.

Sometimes I wonder if some Christians do exactly that. Not forget that is but subjugate the memory to present events. As for crucifixes and all manner of other gaudy representations of the ineffable expression of God’s love for us I haven’t the authority to judge. Personally I see such things as exactly what you say, an attempt at remembrance. I do wonder though why it would seem that one would be so concerned about being so spiritually empty inside as to have the need for such external gimmicks so as not to forget what it means to be a Christian? We then create the danger of making the representation itself a thing to be remembered. Taking on a “magical” life of its own. I know people who have felt “naked” without their crucifix and positively could not leave the house without first finding their rosary. As if God or Mary would abandon them in time of need without them. Man though, i am fully aware, needs something tangible to hold onto. We after all are born into the physical. It is therefore -in spite of what our God tells us, like we would listen anyway- only natural to seek comfort in the tangible. If only to represent the intangible. Mankind does love his magical little doodads. I however will be the last to criticize such things. I’ve neither the authority nor the positive affirmation of my opinions.
As for the statement you made bold, I understand how you might see “somber joy” as a contradiction and my general attitude pessimistic and perhaps even defeatist. I assure you it is not.
Joy has its place in my life. However, at a cost. Any joy I may feel at any one time comes only by the possibility of suppressing the constant oppressiveness of the miseries in the world. I can only eat a sumptuous meal in a warm, safe environment with my friends and family on a cold night for instance, by suppressing thoughts of every cold, hungry, homeless person I’m unable to help. I can only enjoy watching a game, cheering for my team every time they score, if I don’t think about the poor soul suffering from cancer in unbearable pain in the nearest hospital, who’s mothers only wish is for her child’s suffering to end and to be able to play again. For every joy we feel there are those in misery.
The world IS a constant tide of misery and only through our hope in Christ and suppression of the reality of our impotence of relieving the suffering in the world can we find any solace.
I chose the phrase “somber joy” because of the vulgar Latin, sumbumbrare, umbrare…to cast a shadow. For any joys we feel we must be vigilant to remember that behind those joys is a constant shadow of the miseries of mankind. And, as no joy is greater than the hope we have in Christ, no shadow is darker than the cost of that joy.
We are in a battle for our eternal souls and the souls of our loved ones. We are fighting the “good fight”. Should we celebrate before the war is won? Are we to “party” one moment because a pope has visited and the next be so serious when he speaks of the atrocities of abortion? As if the two were taking place on separate worlds?
It is true, the world loves a good party and if we are to be joyful in the world perhaps we have our reward already.
Somber joy indeed. At what cost comes our eternal joy in heaven? It comes at the cost of possibly FOREVER losing our son, or daughter, brother, sister, beloved friend, mother, or father. Perhaps our wife or husband. Never seeing them again should we be saved and they not. Or are we so arrogant as to believe that no one we love can go to hell? And while we may under go the ultimate in labotomized suppression of their memory so there will be no tears in heaven, we live for now in this world, with somber joy.
I’ll end with this “somber” quote…
“Do not suppose I came to bring peace to the world; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword;…”

 

[setarcos]

Christ knew what was coming.

I used a wordsearch; ‘Cheerful’.

Corinthians 9:7
Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

James 5:13
Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he cheerful in mind? Let him sing.

Yes Christ knew and he was far from cheerful about it.

 

[setarcos]

A somber joy? God save us from sour faced saints.

That sounds puritanical. Catholics aren’t Puritans. Exuberant joy does not necessarily mean forgetting the Pope is Christ’s servant.

I believe you misunderstand my meaning. Whatever the puritan’s may consider joyful which you may consider excessively strict does not mean I agree with their definition of joy or lack there of. I am or can be joyful. Though I place my joy in a certain context.
Putting aside those myths which inevitably build up around saints, i highly doubt there was ever a saint, who has not become completely disconnected from reality, who did not become “sour faced” upon facing their impending martyrdom. Unless they be some sort of masochist, a sin in itself I believe, or actually believe God is some sort of sadist delighting in the suffering of his saints. Indeed, if ever there was anyone I would expect to be more sour faced than others it would be a saint, knowing that much more about the costs of salvation.
Of course I may be mistaken about what you mean by that phrase.

 

[setarcos]

That was the phrase that jumped out at me, too.

What does “somber joy” look like exactly?

I get what the OP is getting at, but I don’t think expressing happiness and joy is something that Christians should not do. In fact, quite the opposite. If Christians only ever look dour, how is that going to be attractive to others?

Yes, we know what is coming. Christ is risen! The gates of heaven are open! How is that not cause for celebration? If anything, we would be celebrating constantly if we truly understood the meaning of what Christ has won for us.

Thank you so much for taking time to share your thoughts on this humble souls ruminations
I have painted a more detailed vision of “somber joy” in my previous reply should you deal it worthy of your time to read it . I welcome most humbly your opinion on the ideas set forth.
God bless your existence.