May 31, 2012 – Zechariah 13 – 14

Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.  This is the line that I was thinking about.  Christ mentions this idea.  I can’t quite remember in what context.  It may have been in the Garden when they came for Him. 

Right now the Catholic Church is dealing with a struggle that has something to do with the leadership in the Vatican and documents that leaked or something.  The story I read about it really gave no details about anything, just that certain documents caused a certain person to be in trouble and the Vatican was in trouble.  Because it was so vague, I didn’t think anything of it, just the media going after the Vatican again.  Then I saw a ticker on a news program that said the Pope was not going to resign.  Maybe new information has come to pass, but the first story didn’t even say what the documents were about and now some are seeking the Pope’s resignation.  Perhaps these are the same groups that wanted him arrested when he went to England.  It is hard to know what is actually happening from the stories we get. 

The Pope is the Earthly Shepherd for the Catholic Church.  If he is struck down, there may be many sheep that scatter, but to think that it would be the end of the Catholic Church would be a mistake.  Look back in history and you will see many Popes that were in far worse situations and martyred in extreme cases, and the Church lived on.  As much as we love the Pope and as much as people think going after him will destroy the Church, the Church is Christ mystical Body on Earth.  It is not something that can be destroyed.  His presence in the Church is guaranteed by Him when He says I will be with you until the End of Days.  Rough patches will occur and not unlike ourselves, are required to purify and cleanse something that has become unclean.  There are many that led and are leading the Church that over the past decades have not been the most orthodox or appeared to have Church teaching at their sole motivation.  A period of suffering is not necessarily a pleasant thing, but it may not be the worst thing either.