As the Church buried Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI this past Thursday, it gives me a chance to offer my own reflection on his life.  One thing that he will be remembered for is his great mind.  He was one of the great Catholic thinkers and theologians of the twentieth century—right up there with the likes of Karl Rahner.  Did you know that he wrote over 60 works?  As with most great brainiacs, it’s a blessing and a curse to be so smart.  In his case, when he put in charge of the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican, in 1981, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he was immediately labeled “the German Rottweiler,” which was unfortunate because it projected a certain image which wasn’t true.  As a student in Rome in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I remember some classmates running into him in St. Peter’s Square, striking up a conversation with him, and being so surprised at how friendly he was—not necessarily in line with his nickname.  Also, I remember an image of him as Pope at a World Youth Day Conference sitting with young people.  As with many brainiacs, he looked awkward in that social setting.  He was content to sit there and not say a whole lot.  But the young people adopted him nevertheless.
 
In addition, his thoughts were so deep that I have found that very few people who like to label him and make comments about him have actually read his works.  Fr. Jerome, a Trappist monk at the Abbey of the Genesee in western New York, where I like to go on retreat, absolutely loves Pope Benedict and actually has devoted the time to reading and thinking about Pope Benedict’s thoughts.  He has said that Pope Benedict put into writing a lot of what Pope Francis is now trying to put in practice.  If people would take the time to read Benedict’s thoughts, they would be amazed.  I know that Pope Francis and Pope Benedict became very close, and while we’ll never know the extent to which the emeritus pope influenced Pope Francis, Pope Francis consulted regularly with him.
 
The Opening Prayer at Mass this past Monday, January 2, on the Feast of Saints Basil and Gregory Nazianzen, actually gives us good guidance on how to think about the relationship between Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis.  Both Saints Basil and Gregory Nazianzen were great thinkers in the early Church in the fourth century.  They lived at a time when the Church was trying to put into words who Jesus Christ really is.  The Council of Nicea in 325 came up with the Nicene Creed which we say at Sunday Mass, and the Council of Ephesus in 431 proclaimed Mary as “Mother of God.”  As the Opening Prayer says, “...by the example and teaching of the Bishops Saints Basil and Gregory, we pray, that in humility we may learn your truth and practice it faithfully in charity...”  To learn and to practice with charity are important; we need both.  I feel like in Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis we have both.  Benedict had the mind but not necessarily the engaging personality, and Francis doesn’t have the depth of thought but is more engaging.  I see it as a “both-and” not an “either-or”.  If you have the time, go to the Vatican’s website: www.vatican.va and look up some Pope Benedict’s writings and allow yourself to be amazed at the things that are actually there that you never knew about.