I was surprised to find this link come across my phone this morning on the way to work.

Surprised, and yet, as I think on it, it seems so characteristic of this Pope. Ever humble, ever listening, ever attentive to the promptings of grace in his heart. It is the sort of gesture that has been such a hallmark of his writings, and of his papacy.

God bless you, Pope Benedict XVI. Thank you for your nearly eight years of service in the chair of St. Peter, for bearing a load “so heavy that only humility could carry it” (to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis). Your witness has stirred my heart.