Tomorrow Pope Francis invites us to pray for the world. I’m joining this effort and maybe you will too. There is no hope that without divine intervention millions will perish in this pandemic. Can a mass prayer avert catastrophe? Is it worth trying? I think so. The pope will be praying at noon at the Vatican. That’s 6:00 AM EDT. You can follow the Pope on Twitter.
It’s been seven years
I was in my classroom seven years ago on this day. I was on my way to the faculty meeting in the high school library when I received a text from my son that let me know that we had a new pope elected in the Catholic Church. I’d been following the ballots of the college of cardinals. Just that morning on my way out the door to the school district I had checked the news and there was no announcement.
All of that changed for me and the world when we received word that Jose Maria Bergolio, a cardinal from Argentina had just been elected pope. I had never heard of him but a quick search of the internet revealed that he was a forward thinking person. He was in tune with liberation theology. He would take the church in new directions. Tears welled in my eyes when I heard this good news and later learned that he had taken the name Francis. In a twist of irony he was the first Jesuit to be named pope and he took the name of the popular saint who had been called on to rebuild the church 800 years before.
I just finished watching The Two Popes on Netflix. It’s a great movie and it wasn’t until I’d finished that I realized that today is the anniversary of that great event. I got to see Pope Francis in person when I visited Rome a couple of years ago along with a group of United States Veterans. It was a powerful experience that day to be sitting along with thousands of others in St. Peter’s Square and to hear the Holy Father speak and receive his blessing. It’s an experience I’ll remember forever. I took the picture above when the Pope passed near us in the square.Happy Anniversary Pope Francis!
No To An Economy of Exclusion
Thank you Pope Francis for the words of your exhortation, Evangelli Gaudium. You have spoken powerfully. In his own way this pope has touched the lives of millions of people around the world who have been praying for a prophetic voice. When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was selected as the successor to St. Peter few people realized the effect this humble man would have on not only the Catholic Church but the world in general. I remember the morning prior to his selection that I prayed that we could have a pope who spoke with a prophetic voice like John XXIII. My prayers have been more than answered. This is only part of his Apostolic Exhortation, but it’s been getting a lot of press because it challenges the status quo. Many times since March 13, 2013 I have thought, “Gaudium Magnum, Habemus Papam.” Thank you for answering our prayers, Holy Father!
53. Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.
Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “disposable” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the “exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.
54. In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.
Promoting justice by the testimony of their lives
Let them individually and collectively be in the forefront in promoting justice by the testimony of their human lives and their courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, they should make definite choices in harmony with their faith. — Secular Franciscan Rule, Article 15
I think of this often and in fact this principle has animated much of my life and led me to the Secular Franciscan Order thirteen years ago when I began my formation. I read a quote yesterday attributed to Pope Francis that was an invitation to just this sort of living.
“(Christ) is a true revolutionary and we are revolutionaries of this revolution, because we walk on the path of the greatest transformation in the history of mankind. A Christian, if he is not a revolutionary, in this time, he is not a Christian!” — Pope Francis
If we’re following Christ that means an interior transformation that calls us to the edge of society and to the marginalized and the poor.
Unscripted Pontiff
I was reading an article tonight at National Catholic Reporter about the perils of an un-scripted Pope. Apparently Pope Francis extemporaneous comments in his homilies have the Vatican scampering around doing what some might call damage control. I for one am glad we have a Pope who is not scripted. I don’t think Jesus was scripted and neither was St. Francis of Assisi. The politically inclined are often so afraid to express what’s really on their hearts that they miss opportunities to be helpful. Pope Francis has been a breath of fresh air and I hope he keeps up with these unscripted, from the heart homilies and interactions with the faithful. He’s been an answer to my prayers. We need a living breathing faith and practice of faith that mirrors life. Keep up the good work, Holy Father! Keep those who would contain and package you into a commodity at arms length.
The Primacy of Christ
The Pope’s homily which I have written about earlier today has come at a time when I have been reading a lot from writers within the Franciscan Intellectual tradition. When I read Pope Francis’ homily earlier today I was reminded of this “paper” that I read a number of years ago on the internet. Its author, Seamus Mulholland, OFM, is a Franciscan friar who authored this piece in 2001. The Incarnation in Franciscan Spirituality came along at a time after I had heard a talk by Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM at Mt. Irenaeus. I was intrigued by Fr. Lou’s talk about the Primacy of Christ. Though I had been raised a Roman Catholic and even attended Catholic primary and secondary schooling I don’t remember ever hearing about anything other than a sin-centered universe. The Incarnation in Franciscan spirituality is centered on love and not sin. Lately I’ve been reading a number of books by Ilia Delio, OSF who also references the approach of Scotus to soteriology. I love this quote from Seamus Mulholland’s article:
“God is love and that love is our redemption and redemption is not primarily being saved from sin, but is rather the gift of the possibility of openness to the experience of the divine Other in our life.” — Seamus Mulholland, OFM
Three good things
I found out that I have students who like to code. In fact one of my biggest challenges has been motivating a couple of youngsters who just couldn’t get enough of HTML programming today. The weather improved as the day went on and got to read the Pope’s homily for today. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by e early everything our new Pope has said and today he simply knocked it out of the park. If you haven’t read today’s homily I will provide lank here.
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/22/pope_at_mass:_culture_of_encounter_is_the_foundation_of_peace/en1-694445
of the Vatican Radio website