Just a Man, But a Good One
As I began writing this, tens of thousands had waited hours in a huge square for a chance to spend a moment before the casket and body of Pope Francis. The outpouring of love and support caught the Vatican a bit flat-footed and they had to significantly expand the hours for visitation to accommodate the crowds. By the time you read this, the funeral will have happened and the conclave to choose a successor will have been called.
Francis, an Argentinian Jesuit born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, reimagined the papacy to better reflect how he saw Jesus directing his people in the modern age. This energized many and infuriated others. Even a casual glance at opinions about the man show how much his decisions exposed deep progressive/traditionalist divisions among Catholics - like just about any church around today.
And not being a Catholic, my understanding is from way out in the bleachers, but Francis seemed like a good man with a large heart who cared for those he came across. While we disagree on many theological issues, I see in Francis, from his own words, a person of faith trying like all of us to live out what he believed where he found himself.
Here are just a few quotes I mined that kind of make me wish I had paid more attention to him. These revolve around the ideas of compassion.
"The Lord never tires of forgiving."
"A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just."
"Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity."
"Let us care for one another and let us be loving custodians of creation."
"Kindness is firm and persevering intention to always will the good of others, even the unfriendly."
"We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace."
"We will never be disillusioned or lose our way if we are guided by God."
"We all have the duty to do good."
"Having doubts and fears is not a sin... The sin is to allow these fears to determine our responses, to limit our choices, to compromise respect and generosity, to feed hostility and rejection."
A shepherd should smell like his sheep.
Practically, Francis probably had more opportunity to put these thoughts into practice when he was just Jorge in the parish and not Pope in the palace, but he set the intention for all believers to go with him, deeper into our integration of what we say we believe with how we live. Several of these quotes show his heart, regardless of which brand of faith any of us ascribe to.
This week, let’s take just three of these and tease them out a bit.
"A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just."
This echoes Hosea 6:6 where God says he desires from his people mercy, not sacrifice. Mercy overlooks offenses as it seeks ways of healing that defy contemporary logic. Mercy holds back from retaliation when one is wronged. It can be contagious. So, mercy does hold the potential for change that Francis says/hopes will come: Your corner of the world a tiny bit less cold and a smidge more just.
The question that flows from this is both simple and challenging: Just who in my world needs mercy from me, and what will I have to lay aside in order to help someone else?
"We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace."
This quote sounds a bit like Matthew 25 where Jesus talks of the final judgment and folks divided based on how they treated the “least of these” around us much of the time. The hope-less youth and the help-less elderly, not to mention all of the “others” we can so easily dismiss. It takes work to be open to the future and to spread love rather than stay stuck in our ways and defend turf, especially when doing those good things feels like swimming upstream in today’s culture.
What I wonder with this quote from Francis sounds like: Who has God placed in my path who needs to be seen and heard and included, and am I willing to move in close?
"Having doubts and fears is not a sin... The sin is to allow these fears to determine our responses, to limit our choices, to compromise respect and generosity, to feed hostility and rejection."
After the resurrection, Thomas wasn’t present when Jesus showed up the first time to his disciples, and he declared he needed proof to believe. When Thomas did finally see Jesus, his doubt and fear wasn’t condemned, but welcomed as Jesus came close, wanting Thomas to never have doubt determine his destiny. Life is often hard and God can appear mysterious, so fear and doubt stand as natural by-products of all we don’t understand and cannot make sense of. But, fear and doubt are not sins. I agree with Francis that when we let them steer our lives away from trust, lashing out or rejecting others will follow like rain out of leaden clouds.
My question from this probes deep: How much of how I live is shadowed by doubt or fear and what changes can I make to break free and live free?
So, Francis now rests in a somewhat small church in Rome that he often frequented to pray. Another will take his place and the traditions Catholics hold dear will continue. While not a Catholic, I can and do honor a man who, by all accounts, strove to live his faith in ways that honored God and served people. I could do worse to do likewise.
Looking back on the list of quotes, there’s one more for all of us to carry in our pocket: We all have the duty to do good. Not a bad gate to have my everyday choices pass through, and a reminder that opportunities abound to do just that.
Thanks, God, for your man Jorge and the legacy he left.
Music is good
And two lame jokes…
John goes to see his supervisor in the front office.
"Boss," he says, "we're doing some heavy house-cleaning at home tomorrow, and my wife needs me to help with the attic and the garage, moving and hauling stuff."
"We're short-handed, John," the boss replies. "I can't give you the day off."
"Thanks, boss," says John, "I knew I could count on you!"
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I read a story about a study that tied male obesity to a virus.
One evening my brother came home exhausted from a long day at work.
"Did you see that article?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm not going in to work tomorrow. I'm calling in fat."