Pope Benedict XVI

As we Orthodox are fond of shouting at the ordination of a priest or elevation of a bishop: He is worthy!

This bodes very well.

It saddens me to read some out in the blogosphere and elsewhere, some men and women filled with such despair at Pope Benedict's election.

To those people I ask: Who do you follow? You complain that Pope Benedict will continue to enforce the "conservative" line with respect to homosexuality, the ordination of women, and the like.

Centuries ago, a bishop wrote that, just as he received the faith from the Fathers, so would he pass it down to his successors, neither omitting nor changing even one iota of the doctrines of our Lord. We come to the Church because we are sick. Alone we are sickly and pale and thin, trapped without any hope of relief in the desert of sin and iniquity.

Yet the cool waters of baptism refresh us. The very Body and Blood of Christ sustains us! In this new Ark we seek refuge from the world in creation. We leave behind the flesh and once again become the likeness and image of God. Satan's reign is ended, and in his place sits Christ the King, at the Right Hand of Our Father.

What wonder and joy! Shout it to the Heavens: Christ is Risen and we in Him!

But who, and what, keeps the sacraments that save us? Why, it is the Faith. Though God is our Father, He is not ours to define. Though this Faith is our Faith, it is also not ours to define.

Rather, it is ours to protect. Christ proclaimed the Faith to us, and we proclaim it while He is away.

Would we presume to change it? Before we do, for what reasons do we seek to change it? Because of conscience? Because our hearts tell us, for instance, that homosexuality is morally acceptable?

Remember, we turn to the Church because we are sick. All men have desires. All men feel lust, whether it is for men or women, or little boys or little girls. We offer our hearts to Christ for remission of sins and wisdom. We should not approach Christ with the confidence that our hearts speak the truth. How many men have been cast into folly because they honestly and sincerely believed that they were right?

Will you accept the Faith that the Fathers have handed down, the one first handed to them by Christ? Or will you preach a faith of your own devising?

Is your Faith eternal and unchanging, resisting the elements like a foundation of stone? Or is your faith ephemeral, the product of majorities and trends?

Andrew Sullivan has been loudest among those who despair. Yet, perhaps his words betray him: "As I sometimes tell people, I can say the creed at mass with very few reservations."

With very few reservations? Mr. Sullivan seems to be questioning the basic truth of his Church. If he cannot even say the Creed without reservation, then it does not surprise me that he cannot accept some of the other teachings his Church lays forth.

Forget leaving the Church because of homosexuality. It seems Mr. Sullivan should leave the Catholic Church because he cannot even speak the Creed with confidence?

Again, what faith do you preach?

I pray that Mr. Sullivan, and all those upset by the election of Pope Benedict, pray with true humility and reach out to the Church for help and its ministerial sacraments.

And may Pope Benedict XVI soon be Reconciled with his Orthodox brethren, in the True Faith of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.