With 31 days until The Predicament turns 39, we thought we'd start a countdown of sorts. The goal? Take each day's readings and find a way to apply one of the passages to the life of Lino Rulli. And then, we have something VERY special waiting for Lino on October 26...and no, it won't require a restraining order. Yes, we would have done a 39-day countdown since he'll turn 39, but we're not paid for this, and as such, we show signs of laziness now and then. Enjoy!
Luke 9:18-22.
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Peter said in reply, "The Christ of God."
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised."
So many people have so many crazy thoughts on who Christ is. A good teacher, a great medium, or as Billy Joel said, some guy hanging on a cross in a church. And in this verse, the disciples give many ideas that even people had back then, when they could see him walking around.
Lino has mentioned on the show before that he wasn't sure if he'd be one of the ones who believed in Christ or joined in with the others to yell "Crucify him!" And it'd be easy to sit back and criticize Lino for that: "You host a Catholic radio show, you should be better and holier than that!" It's easy to hold others who are in the public eye up to a ridiculous standard, just so we can feel better about ourselves when they screw up and we get a few good laughs out of it. Picking on religious leaders is something people have done throughout the ages, and the criticism that Lino gets is no different.
But it's that honesty he has that makes him so endearing, and a lot more fun to listen to than most other radio hosts. He has enough respect for the audience to admit when he has failed. Lino isn't some high and mighty guy who looks down on us because of our sins. He doesn't cast stones when we fail (unless its his fan club that he goofs on for not updating this blog enough). He struggles with the same things we do, because he is a human being, albeit a kick-ass awesome one.
Lino has the stones to keep it honest on the radio. And that's why I've only missed two shows in the last two years (bragging I know). If more spiritual leaders could be as honest as Lino can be on the radio, I think The Church would be a much stronger place.
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