Bless you, Benedict!

I don't know why my post didn't post. I attempted it shortly before the 1:15 Mass, sending it by e-mail so I wouldn't have to carry my laptop to the basement DSL line and log in, etc. Well, so much for that.
Wait 'til I have a chance to tell my "what were you doing when you found out about the Pope" story.
Here is my rescued post:
Benedict: What’s in a Name?
I have to say it, Pope Benedict XV was one of my heroes. He never gets much press (ha! That’s going to change now!), but he was a good Pope, and I believe (I can’t check the history on this right now) he was also engaged as much as possible for the times in the peace process among nations. That is quite a big deal, considering the anti-clerical sentiment that was so strong in Europe at the time, and the anti-Catholic sentiment that was so strong among Americans as well. He didn’t give up. And there is the human factor, too. Think of it: Benedict (I think his given name was Giacomo della Chiesa, or “James of the Church”) was elected after an extremely charismatic and saintly Pope, St. Pius X. And he was elected “over” (if you will) the heir apparent, the equally charismatic Merry del Val (I hope I am spelling his last name properly). Seems that della Chiesa and del Val never really saw eye to eye on things, della Chiesa being somewhat more “progressive” (as such things were judged in 1914!). Anyway, the story is told that when the Cardinals made their first act of reverence toward the new Pope (and at the time, the gesture was kissing his foot), when del Val came forward, Benedict commented, in the words of Psalm 118, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Frankly, I think that took a lot of humility; he was the “dark horse,” the one no one dreamt would be elected. And without missing a beat, del Val completed the verse, “By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”
Today it seems as though the noble del Val has come to the Papal throne in Joseph Ratzinger. The media have begun to offer the first character sketches of our new Pope, whom, frankly, I have only ever really known from his theological works and his service in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and never as a person. The reports are that he is a mild and self-effacing man, and a good listener. I hope he will in turn be listened to, especially by those who may have been influenced by previous characterizations of him as some kind of ecclesiastical heavy.
He may very well be John Paul’s “Merry del Val” become Benedict. Something new is beginning. Give it a chance to reveal itself.
Long Live the Pope!