So I got to see Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.  Now I know that there have been nothing but rave reviews about his visit.  I know that people have literally greeted him as if he was a rockstar… chanting ”Benedict” throughout the stadium just prior to him coming out in the Popemobile.  I know that there are a lot of people talking about the historical significance that his visit means.  I know that there are a lot of people who have suddenly felt a connection to the Pope, feel he has climbed out of the shadow of Pope John Paul II, and that he is a loving and holy man.  I am not one of those people. 

In fact, to be honest, I wanted to be.  I wanted to feel some sort of awe and reverence towards him.  I wanted to hear his words and feel the fountain of fiery faith reignite within my heart… the fire that was snuffed out almost 7 years ago.  I wanted to be able to say, ”Yes, I am a Catholic, who believes in one God, the Father, the Almight, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.” I wanted to be able to say it and mean it… instead of just saying it out of reflex from the years I spent as both an Altar Server and a Sacristan.  I wanted to feel… fixed.

Still, I didn’t.  I tried in the beginning… but it just devolved into another day at the office for me.  I felt no descent of the Spirit.  I felt no connection to this man in white.  I felt no desire to pray or sing in a non-reflexive manner.  I just wasn’t moved by any of it.

I think one of the things that sort of killed it for me was the merchandising.  Yes… they were selling t-shirts for $30 with the Pope‘s name on them, rosary beads blessed by the Pope for $20, and a small cross blessed by the Pope for $10.  He was treated like a rockstar… and sold merchandise like a rockstar.  They even had the official Pope Benedict XVI cookie for $3.50.

I questioned myself if in fact it was a sin to, for all intense purposes, eat the Pope.  Catholicism teaches you that the bread and wine turns into the body and blood of Jesus Christ during the transmutation at the beginning of the consecration.  So what about the cookie with the Pope‘s image on it?  Am I therefore now eating the Pope if the cookie was in his presence during the consecration?  More importantly… just how does the Pope taste?

There was only one true way to find out…