the basic message #E331
4/3/05
Could you find anyone in the world that isn't aware of Pope John Paul II's passing yesterday? At times like this, all people, not just Catholics, understand the huge role this man had in his 26 years as Pope. Over the coming week, you'll hear plenty about this dynamic servant of God, but I'd like to take a little different viewpoint on the subject. Is that a surprise?
I think the God "outfoxed" Fox. Just what does this mean? It's simple- Fox and other major news networks started following the final days of the Pope's life late last week. Is it any surprise that Terri Schiavo died Thursday morning, and then the massive coverage on the Pope began? It seemed as if the world had stopped over the past few weeks to observe the religious and legal wrangling over the Schiavo case, but as I opined last week, I think the general public will have a hard time remembering Schiavo's name a year from now. To understand this situation better, let's turn the calendar back to the first week in September, 1997.
I'm guessing that month won't mean much to many of you, but it will in just a moment. Within that week, a princess and a queen died, but the queen was cast into the shadows. Figured it out yet? Princess Diana died, if my information is correct, on the last day of August, 1997 and within the coming week Mother Teresa died. Anyone who has ever considered the life of Mother Teresa would likely agree with my assessment that this little lady was a true queen. A queen of mercy, a queen of compassion, and the queen of the downtrodden. But sadly, the little queen's life was eclipsed by the death of Princess Diana. I have no desire to portray Diana as a bad person, but in comparison to Mother Teresa, she couldn't hold a candle. Be that as it may, the public overwhelmingly devoted their time in watching the endless programs about Diana, scratching for any "scoop" about the mysteries surrounding her death. Would God let this happen again?
Quite frankly, I think God might have been testing us back in 1997, and we failed miserably. We embraced glamour and quickly forgot about servant-hood. We were mesmerized by physical beauty, yet ignored the best beauty of all, that which is inside an individual. I would imagine that God felt sorry for misguided mankind during those weeks 8 years ago, but have we even considered how we insulted the kingdom? I believe God took Terry Schiavo and the Pope in sequence to elevate the Pope to the status he deserved. If Schiavo had hung on a few days longer, God's servant might have taken a back seat to the circus that Fox and the others perpetrated. Which leads me back to my earlier comment: God outfoxed Fox.
As my wife and I watched the news late last week, it appeared the Pope would be leaving this world at any moment. Fox must have thought they had some good inside information since they started running "Pope near death" headlines Friday evening. It seems they decided to run continuous coverage from the Vatican, as well as from a "team" located in strategic areas relative to the story. I got the distinct impression that Fox fully expected the Pope to expire during prime-time Friday night. Have you ever noticed how totally stupid the "filler" interviews get whenever the network has nothing new to say? One Fox anchor questioned a Catholic official: "How do you think Catholics will be affected by the death of the Pope?" By the end of the evening, it was almost like they were looking at their watches, thinking, "when is this guy going to check out?"
God showed them all who's boss. He'd bring Karol home when we was darned good and ready, and that he took the Pope when America was sleeping was poetic justice. What's really sad is the hours and hours of primetime TV spent wasted on waiting for this great man to die. Before his body was even cold, the "in memory" shows came out of the woodwork. Would someone answer one simple question? Why must we wait for a person to be dead before we honor them? Why couldn't Fox and CNN run stories Thursday and Friday featuring the great things the Pope said and did? What would be the worst that could happen? He might live? Would that be an embarrassment?
God won't be trumped by Fox or anyone else. He calls the shots- yesterday, today and tomorrow. May you rest in peace, Karol. You deserve it.