Oh, Peggy…

Oh, you miss that old man…! You feel the presence of his absence. The souvenir shops know. They sell framed pictures and ceramic plates of the pope: John Paul. Is there no Benedict? There is. A photo of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger being embraced by . . . John Paul. It's now on my desk in New York. They have their hands on each other's shoulders and look in each other's eyes. A joyful image. They loved each other and were comrades.

When I was writing a book about John Paul, I'd ask those who'd met him or saw him go by: What did you think, or say? And they'd be startled and say, "I don't know, I was crying."

A maudlin memory?

John Paul made you burst into tears. Benedict makes you think. It is more pleasurable to weep, but at the moment, perhaps it is more important to think.

You think? Certainly there are many objective reasons to shed a tear today, but thinking…more important? Who'd a thunk it? John Paul II made me think as well as rain upon his page...after page...after page. Have you ever tried getting through one of his 100+-page encyclicals or apostolic letters? They'll make you cry. And there are lots of them. I seem to collect more than I read.

People gawk at my collection of John Paul II’s works published by the Pauline sisters. Well, I may be lying a little here, but I’ve heard:

“Wow. How much you’ve read…You must really know the mind of our Holy Father.”

In my mind, I simply laugh as I think upon the time when I fell asleep on page 10 of such and such encyclical and how page 15 of Centesimus Anno has a large amoeba-like oil stain embedded into it due to a slip of my butter knife, a convenient bookmark simply forgotten.

Don’t get me wrong. I love our Holy Father’s work. I’ve just had to change my approach to reading John Paul II on many occasions…like switching positions in bed, or arranging pillows on the couch. You just have to get comfortable.

John Paul was the perfect pope for the television age, "a man of images."

Benedict…is the perfect pope for the Internet age. He is a man of the word. You download the text of what he said, print it, ponder it.

Too true…I have an easier time reading Pope Benedict’s work. Well…sometimes. Have you tried reading Jesus of Nazareth? What a doozie. It’s no “easy read” by any means. Like pulling teeth, or hair, at times, having to return to cited sources or more elementary ones to gain a foothold on what the pope is saying. For me at least. John Paul II seems to just quote Vatican II, over and over again, so if you know that, you're set. Right? Perhaps that's a bit simplisitc.

However, Benedictine encyclicals are crisper, more succinct than John Paul II’s, in my opinion. Why is that? I've always enjoyed reading Ratzinger. Perhaps it’s my cut-to-the-chase nature: check...got it, got it...check.

Being a print-and-ponder type of layman, I appreciate Ratzinger’s style, his more-linear approach, as opposed to Wojtyla’s winding, circular didache, which certainly has its place.

While the printing part is quick, internet-like, pondering, on the other hand, leaves me rereading…and rereading some more…sometimes to the point of leaving the work on my night desk to collect dust as I ponder…pondering when I’ll actually finish reading and rereading the darn thing. This type of ambivalence is not appropriate for the sophisticated internet age. I need to get with it. Check.

John Paul was many things – theologian, canny anticommunist – but he was a showman, too. Woo woo, he teased the cheering children of America on his first trip. John Paul II, he loves you! Such a small thing, and yet somehow it broke your heart. The world then needed the liveliness of faith, its joy, its gaiety even.

I don’t know if showman is a compliment, especially in light of a recent Zenit piece. Woo Woo has never impressed me. While I certainly don't wish the souvenir shops any harm, I can't help but ask: is showmanship important in a pope? I wonder...what does the world need today from the Pope? Anything less than a liveliness of faith, etc.? Some would say there was too much “liveliness, joy, and gaiety" during John Paul II’s pontificate...You know what I mean?

What do you say? How have you taken to Pope Benedict's style since the twenty-plus-year reign of John Paul II ended? Sometimes it's hard to get used to the new. But I'm lovin' it.