It is not only the women at the tomb who were surprised. In our days the Church has been surprised by the Holy Spirit.

In a post titled “The Spirituality of Surprises” the blog Dating God catalogs how the church has been surprised by election of its new Pope  and some of the the surprises this Pope has sprung. Kerry Weber  also speaks of how a pope of surprises resonates with the Catholic Church. But her key point seems to be

“Pope Francis defies expectations and can’t be categorized easily. He reminds us that people are more complicated than we at first imagine. He reminds us to look more carefully, more respectfully at one another, to search out these depths. Pope Francis challenges both “sides” of the Church, … he challenges the very idea that the Church has “sides” at all.

“The surprising choice of Pope Francis is not a win for one part of the Church, but already a victory for the Universal Church. As we reexamine where the Church is headed, we must not only look to Church leaders, but those of us in the pews must reexamine our own role in it as well”

The reflection concludes “our Church also can be one of surprises. This, itself, really should not be a surprise, especially as we approach the Easter season: It is hard to believe that anyone has ever been as shocked as the women who discovered Christ’s empty tomb.This papal election reminds all of us to be open to the God of surprises. It reminds us to listen, to be humble, to allow grace to work within us, and to trust that the Holy Spirit works within the Church, even — and, perhaps especially — during moments when we least expect it.