Time magazine's Person of the Year? That was a shocker . . . only because it is such a liberal magazine. There is so much good in the world, and our pope is a living example of how each of us should live our lives. This beautiful soul has shot "selfies" with young people; washed the feet of prisoners; and Huffington Post has stated, "Pope Francis is a good man for all religions." No wonder even atheists are listening . . . love, joy, respect . . . who wouldn't want to hear what he has to say! He asks questions of us, giving us much to ponder. This is one of my favorites:
"If God is like the merciful father in the parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32), what is God waiting for you to do in your life right now?"
When I read yesterdays Gospel (Luke 5:12-16), my mind went immediately to this picture of our beloved Pope Francis:
It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately. Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
In Anne a lay apostle's book Whispers From the Cross, she directs us to remember the importance of our Holy Father:
"People drowning out the voice of the Holy Father through rebellion and disagreement are pulling against God Himself. How can we advance without the power of unity? It cannot be done. Consider a herd of cattle and the effort to move them to another place. A unified forward momentum is necessary and all efforts at advancing the herd go to this objective, which is, keeping the cattle moving in the same direction. God wills renewal. We are charged with participating in this renewal. In order to do our part we must make sure that we fall in behind the Holy Father in a spirit of humility and unity. There will always be those claiming to be savvier than the Holy Father, or better informed, or more sophisticated. Often they do not say this outright but imply it with subtle reproaches that signal arrogance and superiority. It can be difficult to sift through these things when those who rebel possess great learning. Those of us lacking such study can find ourselves intimidated. But we should not be. We should feel confident in the leadership of our Pontiff and offer our simplicity and lack of sophistication to the Lord, who will honor our fidelity with dignity and holiness. When someone claims to be more ‘in the know’ than our Pope, we must be very alert indeed. There are those who will argue, “He is just a man and he does not always lay claim to infallibility.” To this I would respond “True. He, himself would say the same, but he is the only person chosen to lead as Pope at this time.” He is certainly more chosen than I am to lead the Church and this statement applies to every other person on earth."
"People drowning out the voice of the Holy Father through rebellion and disagreement are pulling against God Himself. How can we advance without the power of unity? It cannot be done. Consider a herd of cattle and the effort to move them to another place. A unified forward momentum is necessary and all efforts at advancing the herd go to this objective, which is, keeping the cattle moving in the same direction. God wills renewal. We are charged with participating in this renewal. In order to do our part we must make sure that we fall in behind the Holy Father in a spirit of humility and unity. There will always be those claiming to be savvier than the Holy Father, or better informed, or more sophisticated. Often they do not say this outright but imply it with subtle reproaches that signal arrogance and superiority. It can be difficult to sift through these things when those who rebel possess great learning. Those of us lacking such study can find ourselves intimidated. But we should not be. We should feel confident in the leadership of our Pontiff and offer our simplicity and lack of sophistication to the Lord, who will honor our fidelity with dignity and holiness. When someone claims to be more ‘in the know’ than our Pope, we must be very alert indeed. There are those who will argue, “He is just a man and he does not always lay claim to infallibility.” To this I would respond “True. He, himself would say the same, but he is the only person chosen to lead as Pope at this time.” He is certainly more chosen than I am to lead the Church and this statement applies to every other person on earth."
Lay apostles, Pope Francis has made a significant impact in our world, opening the eyes of even the media to the beauty of our Faith, and what being a Catholic should "look" like. Listen to what our Holy Father is saying . . . for he is leading us to our ultimate destination.
Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with not only Pope Francis, but all the good men who have preceded him as Your Vicar on earth.
God bless,
Bonnie
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