A Saintly Salmagundi

I'm confused. Seriously -- I'm not being combative here. We should look for God behind the appearance of flesh in the Pope in the same way we see God behind the appearance of bread in the Eucharist? Sounds uncomfortably close to saying the Pope is God in the same way that the Eucharist is in fact God.

Perhaps it would be helpful to think of the Pope as acting in persona Christi in a deep and unique way, in a way that transends the actions of the rest of the priesthood. Of course the Pope is not God, but the Pope is called by God to be conformed to Him, as His representative here on earth, in umm, a more perfect way. Does that help?

Kay, your explanation makes perfect sense (although the word "conformed" is confusing -- it's usually used to mean "make the same"). But Father Sibley's reflection seems to indicate that we should see beyond the appearances of the man chosen to be the Pope and see the reality of our Lord there. That's a pretty odd conception of the Papacy. I'm sure I'm just misunderstanding.

Of course, Father Sibley, if I remember right, also said that John XXIII might be the first in a line of anti-popes, so I wonder if his conception of the Papacy is somewhat different than mine.

The way I read this, and I am certainly not a theologian (!), Fr. Sibley says we "perceive our Lord to be present there" both for the Eucharist and the Pope. To perceive means to achieve understanding of or to become aware of. We perceive the reality of the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. We perceive the reality of the unique calling of the Pope to act as a vessel, as it were, for our Lord to work through him in a way unlike anyone else. So, we perceive the reality of our Lord IN the Pope, NOT that the Pope IS our Lord. There is a difference and I don't know if I can explain it any better than that. I will have to leave it to Fr. Sibley or someone else with a theology background.

Does anyone here think that God can make a square circle?

Does anyone here think that God can make a square circle?

Believing, or as you put it, "faith" has nothing to do with our Lord being present to us in the Eucharist. It's the TRUTH or it isn't. Our believing it, doesn't make it the TRUTH, just as someone not believing it, doesn't make it NOT TRUE. Jesus said it's His body and blood-so it is. He is TRUTH. Next, Our Holy Father is Christ's representative here on earth. The Pope is not Christ, so cannot be compared to the Eucharist. As in the time of Kings, one would hope that a spiritual annointing takes place in each one and that they surrender all matters of faith and morals to God's Will and not man's.

We're all made in the image and likeness of God, aren't we?

God cannot make a square circle because it is a self contradicting thing. If you want to read more go to Theology for Beginners - Frank Sheed Ch 3 The Infinite Spirit

If you veil your intellect you may as well believe in a square circle as believe that a piece of bread is god. There is no less a contradiction-and no less difficulty- in believing that the infinite can BE(not represent)a finite thing than believing that there can be a square circle.

In the end all acts of faith are intrinsically irrational- forget all that faith seeking understanding stuff. It's as impossible as the square circle.
Thomas