Among the resonances that will expand across time from Benedict XVI’s intellect, character, holiness and humanity is the harmonious clarity he sustained between certainty and charity.

During the season of Advent, we celebrated the arrival of that new life which changed the world forever. But Christians don’t just wait impatiently, hovering like children anxious to tear open gifts on Christmas morn. An adult faith moves us to prepare the way of the Lord by deeper reflection, leading towards changing ourselves and our practices. Living through Advent, we open ourselves to the incarnational activity of God’s grace in the world today.  Nowhere is this change more necessary than in humanity’s treatment of God’s Creation, meaning all of nature and our relationships with other humans within it.

Few, if any, people in the 20th century thought as deeply about the nature of hope and eternal life as Pope Benedict XVI. Before being named Archbishop of Munich in 1978, Joseph Ratzinger published a theological tome on death, immortality, resurrection, the last judgment and the human destinies of Heaven, purgatory and hell. As Pope Benedict, he wrote an encyclical Spe Salvi (On Christian Hope) based on the belief that Christians know their lives are not empty, that they have an eternal destiny.

The passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Dec. 31, 2022 marks a sad close to a tumultuous year, and the end to his life-long commitment to the Catholic Church.

Most Canadians marked Christmas on Dec. 25, as did some Ukrainians. Others, like me, whether over there or here, still celebrate traditionally according to the Julian calendar, on Jan. 7. This year I will do so by candlelight, in solidarity with the many Ukrainians whose loved ones were murdered, whose cities are shattered, who do not have the taken-for-granted comforts of electricity, water and heating in the dead of winter, their very lives threatened daily by the recurring plague of Russian missile salvoes. 

Christmas is a time when loss is felt more acutely. But what of losses that we pretend are not? Of all the ideas our culture accepts as normal, divorce may not be the most pernicious. Pretending it is not a loss, pretending that divorce is empowering, just might be. 

Receiving the gift is the last stage of Advent becoming Christmas. Jesus arrives and we receive the One we have awaited. The seasons and feast days of church calendars exist not only to change the colours and routines of faith life, but also change the way we live our whole lives. We learn to practice waiting — in joyful hope — for Jesus to arrive. And this practice waiting and receiving is meant to help us get better at waiting and receiving in the rest of our lives too.

Undermining Congo

Your Dec. 2 article on catholicregister.org “Canadians can make a difference in Congo” makes Canadians aware of the plight of communities affected by mining operations, some by Canadian companies, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This week The Catholic Register publishes a rare guest editorial written by Lea Karen Kivi, author of Abuse in the Church: Healing the Body of Christ, who articulates concerns that we agree must be engaged regarding the effect of the adversarial legal system on clerical abuse cases. 

The weather had suddenly turned cold. What had promised to be a pleasant walk on the street had slowly but consistently chilled throughout the day until several layers of clothing were required to repel the harsh winter wind. It was certainly no evening for a man to be shuffling along George Street agonizingly slowly.