What makes an exemplary baseball player It is philosophical question that we could answer many ways We might cite ideals rules or expectations associated with the game We might reflect on issues of preference popularity or professionalism We could also look for an exemplar that embodies what i

“I only wish I had more to give,” an elderly Jesuit said at a community meeting a few days before he left for the infirmary. One can imagine Pope Benedict having the same sentiments during his last days in office. Joseph Ratzinger’s time as the Holy Father has come to an end; he is utterly spent. Yet he will always be heroic to me. I do not say this is in a saccharine manner, nor do I expect that everyone have the same impression. Few would have guessed that the little old man (I mean that with all respect and affection) elected eight years ago would live up to such a claim. He surely did not either, seeming to choose deliberately the name of a pope who had already faded into history but who had done what he could for peace in the last century. Upon assuming Peter’s chair, Pope Benedict XVI told us that we as God’s people would have to accept what Joseph Ratzinger knew he was all along: “a simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.” At the announcement of his stepping down, he requested “pardon” for his “defects.”