However one may feel about the Pope (or the Catholic church, for that matter), the Pope’s visit to the US is big news. I, for one, wanted his visit to go well. For many people around the world, the Pope represents Christianity (if not Jesus Christ, himself, . . . as do we all, technically, of course). Therefore, I’ve been following the visit with keen interest and wishing him the best. And it appears the visit was a success . . . woo hoo!

This past week I was teaching from the “prayer of Jesus for the church” in the 17th chapter of John. Here’s a part of what Jesus prays:

“My prayer . . . (is) for those who will believe in me . . . that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity.“

During my teaching, I mentioned the Pope’s visit and said something to the effect, “it is our Christian duty to the body of Christ to support and pray for Pope Benedict’s visit.” (I am a Baptist, by the way, so this may have taken a few of our folks by surprise.) Anyway, to do otherwise is to ignore this prayer for unity that Jesus prays for us.

Thanks, my brother. Way to go, Pope Benedict!