Vatican II at 50 - Who will it be?

Many of us are journeying through Lent with “the Little Black Book.”  These books, also published during Easter and Advent/Christmas, offer reflections on the liturgical seasons and scriptures.  The books were created by the late Bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, Kenneth Untener.   I met Bishop Untener a number of years ago during a workshop on the RCIA in Saginaw.  A man in plain clothes walked up to me, offered his hand and said “Hi, I’m Ken.”  Only later in the evening did I discover that he was the Bishop of the Diocese.   At that moment, he became larger than the Diocesan Bishop.  He was one of us.   Untener’s episcopate was marked by egalitarianism in the Church, good liturgy and a concern for the poor.  He practiced what he preached.   After he was consecrated as Bishop, he sold the bishop’s mansion, living in parish rectories for various periods at a time.

The same kind of warmth and easygoing personality marked Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Roncalli, who convened the Second Vatican Council.  Unlike most previous popes who came from noble families, Roncalli was born into a family of sharecroppers.   His smile, jovial nature and propensity for spontaneity made him very popular.  He was one of us. 

Both Roncalli and Untener were loved by the people they served not because of the offices they held, but because of the humans they had become.   They were in touch with their own humanity, imbued with the presence of God, driven by the Spirit rather than their own ego, and in touch with the world around them.  They embodied the kind of Church most Catholics long for, one that is inclusive, alive and relevant.    As the Cardinals gather in Rome to elect the next pope, let us pray that the one chosen embodies first and foremost the person of Jesus.  He too was one of us.  Amen!