Peanuts and Crackerjack

Understanding the impact of popes and councils

10/11/2022

Jn 21:15-17 After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."

Today’s homily is going to be a little “inside baseball”. Have you ever heard that phrase, “inside baseball”? It refers to the intricacies and details of the game that the casual observer misses but is fascinating to people who really love and watch baseball. The casual onlooker who attends a baseball game only catches the homerun ball or sings “buy my some peanuts and crackerjack.”

But the real aficionados of baseball love to watch the singles and RBI’s, the stolen bases, and the designated hitter. Well, today’s homily is going to be a little “inside baseball” about the Catholic religion that may bore the casual observer of Christianity. But it may greatly interest those who deeply love their faith and their Church. So, good luck with this homily, especially if you’re only here for the “peanuts and crackerjack.”

Today, October 11, is the feast day of one of the most controversial popes of modern times, Pope St. John XXIII. He died in 1963, before I was born in 1969, but the changes he initiated have profoundly touched the lives of every Roman Catholic. Why? Well, because he called the great meeting of all the world’s bishops and the pope called the Second Vatican Council. That council made sweeping changes in the Church, that for those of us who grew up after Vatican II, did not seem so dramatic.

But for those who lived before Vatican II, that is, before 1962-65, the 4-year period of the council, it felt like a totally different Church. For example, before Vatican II, the Mass was in Latin all over the world, not in the local language. Priests wore long black robes called a cassock, and nuns wore veils. And all Catholic families had at least 8 to 10 children. But all that changed after Vatican II, and you have the modern Church in which we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) in today.

Now, the reason I say Pope St. John XXIII was so controversial is because some people lay the blame for everything that is wrong with the Church today at his feet. I have a friend in Rogers who always reminds me that the biggest mistake the Church made was having the Second Vatican Council. And there are many Catholic who agree.

They want to return to the way things were before the Council. They desire more Latin in the Mass, they want nuns to wear veils, or if they won’t the women wear veils themselves, and some Catholic families still have 8 to 10 kids. Of course, they love and respect the Second Vatican Council, but they would like to retrieve some of the reverence from before the Council, which have been lost afterwards in the wake of all the changes.

On the other hand, other Catholics feel the Second Vatican Council ushered in all that is right with the Catholic Church today. We came out of our Catholic ghettos and are engaging the world, and even being a leader on the world stage. One of John XXIII’s best-known encyclicals was “Pacem in terries” (Peace on Earth), and it was the first papal encyclical printed in its entirety in the New York Times. It was also the subject of a United Nations conference attended by over 2,000 statespersons and scholars.

No one can doubt that Pope St. John Paul II helped bring down communism in his home country of Poland and in Eastern Europe. But many do not know that “John” in “John Paul II” is in honor of Pope St. John XXIII. In other words, a lot of great things have happened in the Church and in the world thanks to Pope St. John XXIII, and the Second Vatican Council.

May I share with you how I look at Pope John and his Council, which is really all I can share with you? My faith is not placed on one pope or a given Church council, but on the words of Jesus in Jn 16:13, where our Lord promised his apostles and future bishops: “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” In other words, the real Head of the Church is Jesus Christ, and the real Soul of the Church is the Holy Spirit. Or, as I like to say, “The Holy Spirit is still driving the bus.”

So, whatever one pope or one council decides is only them sharing how the Holy Spirit is inspiring and guiding them. And then the next pope and the next council will share how the Spirit guides them “to all truth.” That is what has happened for the past 2,000 years, and what will happen in the next 2,000 years. My money is not on a particular pope or council, my money is on the Holy Spirit. And that is why I love the Church before Vatican II, and why I love the Church after Vatican II.

Okay, that is enough inside baseball for today. Let’s back to the peanuts and crackerjack. Because that is why we are all really here.

Praised be Jesus Christ!