Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday with a smile ...

So Lent begins ... the period where physical and material renunciations reflect an inner conversion of heart and mind. It a very fitting time for Benedict to announce his resignation. It caught everyone by surprise but then again, there's nothing to stop a papal resignation; there have been precedents. What I was surprised was the negative way people took it - one going as far as to say the year of the snake began badly, a poisonous snake year. Well my take on that is snakes shed skins in order to grow bigger. The snake remains the same though the skin is sloughed away. So too the papacy remains the same even if the pope changes. Benedict's choice was brave and intelligent and love-motivated. He knows he cannot continue his ministry with the same vigour and it will not be fair to the Church if an incapacitated pope stays in office while everything stagnates. His choice would ensure that the office continues to function optimally through the next decade. Smart man.

Israel is on red alert for a possible terrorist attack in Jerusalem. http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=303024   What a way to start Lent.