{"id":4111,"date":"2008-04-08T00:55:31","date_gmt":"2008-04-08T05:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theanchoressonline.com\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/"},"modified":"2017-03-16T23:51:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T23:51:33","slug":"repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/","title":{"rendered":"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I\u2019d repost:<\/strong><\/p>\n

An email from a reader:I\u2019m asking this because I think you will answer me respectfully. The service today was beautiful but wasn\u2019t it too much? Jesus was buried in a simple shroud, and he was God. What we saw today bordered on idolatry. I have no problems with Catholics, I do believe you are Christians, but I think you are misguided on this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sigh. Really, I am NOT an apologist. I have no energy for it, and don\u2019t feel called to it as others do. But\u2026thank you for your question.<\/p>\n

A question from the email: I\u2019m asking this because I think you will answer me respectfully. The service today was beautiful but wasn\u2019t it too much? Jesus was buried in a simple shroud, and he was God. What we saw today bordered on idolatry. I have no problems with Catholics, I do believe you are Christians, but I think you are misguided on this.<\/p>\n

I am not sure it makes any sense at all to compare the burial of Pope John Paul II to the burial of Jesus.
\nJesus was buried in the manner of a wealthy man of his time \u2014 in a private cave hewn for that purpose and originally purchased by Joseph of Arimathea \u2014 so it could be argued that outside of pyramids and King\u2019s tombs, Jesus\u2019 burial arrangements (though rushed for Passover) were slightly better than average. He was wrapped in a shroud because that\u2019s what was done, and is still done in that part of the world.<\/p>\n

Currently, the average American citizen who has a wake, then a funeral service, flowers, an expensive casket, pall bearers with dignified bearing, readings, grieving and usually a supper to follow \u2013 a celebration of that person\u2019s life. All in all, a much more elaborate burial than Jesus, who was (is) God. Times and customs and cultures do have an effect on things. If a beloved family member of yours dies, are you going to limit his or her burial to a shroud and a howdy-do, because that\u2019s all Jesus got?
\nRemember, when Jesus was buried, his apostles didn\u2019t know he was God. They thought he was a prophet. They\u2019d thought maybe he was the messiah, but then, you know \u2013 things didn\u2019t work out as people epected; he was tortured and killed and his followers went into hiding. They didn\u2019t know what-and-whom they had, among them, until later. Had they known, there might have been quite a different send-off!<\/p>\n

The Holy Mass you saw broadcast to the world \u2014 beautifully sung, beautifully carried out, calling on the prayers of the great Cloud of Witnesses who have gone before us \u2014 was not exclusively for John Paul. Yes, it praised and worshiped God, and it commended His Holiness to heaven while celebrating his faithfulness, but the liturgy was meant in part, for us. We are not machines, but humans, and when something important happens, as the loss of a loved one, our hearts hunger for meaning, but also for beauty, which is another transcendent means to God.<\/p>\n

Millions traveled to Rome to prayerfully, lovingly see off a servant of Christ, and for their efforts, they saw beauty, they heard and felt beauty, they had the opportunity to pay their own tribute (\u201cSancto!\u201d) and, most importantly, they got to participate in the communion of faith, and to commune personally with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.<\/p>\n

The people kneeling on the cobblestone of St. Peter\u2019s Baslica were not kneeling for Pope John Paul II; they were kneeling while Communing with the Lord.<\/p>\n

Liturgy does not only instruct; it also entertains, by engaging mind, soul and senses in a way that we move forward with interest and curiosity, until it enables understanding to become transcendent. The writer Rumer Godden put it more succinctly: \u201cthe blessing of the liturgy,\u201d she wrote, \u201cis that it wipes out self.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you belong to an Evangelical church, you probably have musicians and singers at your service, and that music they provide is uplifting, it brings another dimension to worship. Just so with the liturgy, and with all of that pomp you found disturbing. Far from being idolatry in the name of Pope John Paul II, it was the vehicle used for the delivery of our uplifted hearts, to Christ. John Paul didn\u2019t care; he was already in heaven!<\/p>\n

Our beloved pope was remembered with love. He was dressed in fine robes (when we buried Grandma we put her in her best dress \u2013 what else?). His casket was incensed, because incense both reflects our Judaic heritage, it echos the psalmist: \u201clet our prayers rise like incense.\u201d The angel in Revelation dispenses cleansing incense pretty liberally, so God would seem to like it. Then, after the mass, his body was solemnly processed and lain to rest.
\nIt is all we would do for any of our loved ones, just on a scale calculated to uplift not just thirty or forty mourners, but a couple billion.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you were troubled by the crowds chanting \u201cSancto! Sancto,\u201d and that is what seemed idolatrous to you, but consider this: at my son\u2019s high school, one of the athletes died, tragically, of cancer. The funeral convoy drove past the school, and all of the students had assembled outside. They stood solemnly and then applauded and waved to the hearse and to his parents, shouting his name, his team number \u2013 they shouted \u201cwe miss him!\u201d and \u201cyour son was great!\u201d loud enough for the parents to hear it. Was that idolatry, or a simple, heartfelt last opportunity to praise a much-loved fellow?
\nIt\u2019s just a tribute. No one left St. Peter\u2019s having worshipped Karol Wojtyla, and no one left there unsure of who is the Savior of the world.<\/p>\n

But they did leave St. Peter\u2019s with full hearts, having had a chance to do what my son\u2019s classmates did for their fallen friend \u2014 to remember and pay a little tribute \u2014 and they got to do it surrounded by visual and aural beauty so that all of their senses participated in the worship of the Creator of so much that is still so mysterious to us all.
\nI\u2019m glad you wrote to me about your concerns, and I hope I helped put them to rest. If I haven\u2019t all I can say is, well, I am not that smart, and someone else may do better job of explaining it all. But, as John Paul himself said many times \u2013 do not be afraid! It may seem very strange to Christians with no traditions or rituals to fall back on. But don\u2019t be afraid to dip a big toe into the lake of liturgy. It doesn\u2019t burn, I promise!<\/p>\n

PS\u2026speaking only for myself, that funeral today made me long to hear more (or, ANY) Gregorian Chant at mass. I really hunger for it. Enough of the feel-good campfire-type songs, please!<\/p>\n

Related<\/strong>: The Holy Spirit Stirs, then Ravishes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I\u2019d repost: An email from a reader:I\u2019m asking this because I think you will answer me respectfully. The service today was beautiful but wasn\u2019t it too much? Jesus was buried in a simple shroud, and he was God. What we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,145,213,225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-john-paul-ii","category-questions-about-catholicism","category-saints"],"yoast_head":"\nRepost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I'd repost: An email from a reader:I'm asking this because I think you\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I'd repost: An email from a reader:I'm asking this because I think you\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Anchoress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-04-08T05:55:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-16T23:51:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/\",\"name\":\"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-04-08T05:55:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-16T23:51:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\"},\"description\":\"Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I'd repost: An email from a reader:I'm asking this because I think you\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\",\"name\":\"The Anchoress\",\"description\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?","description":"Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I'd repost: An email from a reader:I'm asking this because I think you","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?","og_description":"Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I'd repost: An email from a reader:I'm asking this because I think you","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/","og_site_name":"The Anchoress","article_published_time":"2008-04-08T05:55:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-16T23:51:33+00:00","author":"Elizabeth Scalia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Scalia","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/","name":"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-04-08T05:55:31+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-16T23:51:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b"},"description":"Since today is 3 years since the very affecting funeral of John Paul II, thought I'd repost: An email from a reader:I'm asking this because I think you","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/08\/repost-why-wasnt-jpii-buried-in-simple-shroud\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Repost: Why Wasn't JPII Buried in Simple Shroud?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/","name":"The Anchoress","description":"Elizabeth Scalia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b","name":"Elizabeth Scalia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Scalia"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}