One of my favorite things is meeting new people. Being that
I attend a relatively large university, I meet new people all the time and have
lots of random conversations. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re in the middle
of the Bible Belt or because I, for whatever reason, elicit the question from
these people, but people often ask where I go to church or what religion I am.
Of course, I never shy away from responding that I am Catholic and/or that I
attend the Catholic Church on our campus. It is a rare occasion that I
encounter fellow Catholics in these conversations. However, almost all of the
non-Catholics who I encounter have a similar response: “I love Pope Francis!”
or “That Pope Francis…he’s really something, isn’t he? I love him!”
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| Who couldn't love this joyful man of God? |
Just coming into his second year of his papacy, Pope Francis
has gained celebrity status among non-Catholics, perhaps surpassing that of
most other popes of our time (minus JPII in some circles, but that’s beside the
point). I find it somewhat ironic/comical that non-Catholics are so in love
with the man who is the face of the Catholic Church, regardless of their
opinions on our faith itself! Oftentimes when people mention this, I have
started asking them what makes them
love him as they do, out of mere curiosity. Some of the most common answers I
get include, but are not limited to, his love for the Gospel message, his
humility (that’s a BIG one), and how he’s changing the Catholic Church.
I agree with all of these things, but not necessarily in the
context in which these people say it. Pope Francis is definitely all about the
Gospel. His first apostolic exhortation was entitled Evangelii
Gaudium, or, The Joy of the Gospel, if that tells you anything. (More on
that in a sec…) I would venture to say that he is also a humble man, being that
he strives to live a less ornate life than previous popes have. I also think
that he is striving to change the church, but not in the way that everyone else
thinks he is. Doctrinally, Pope Francis has not
made any changes, nor does he plan to (despite what secular media claims).
However, he is striving to show us Catholics how to fully embrace the beauty of
our faith, how to encounter the risen Christ, and how to share our
faith/evangelize all who we encounter. All of these are great things, in my
opinion!
When the College of Cardinals met in conclave to elect Pope
Francis, they did not just sit down and pick him willy-nilly, just because they
thought that the then-Cardinal Jorge Bergolio was a neat guy. They spent much
time in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide them to the right choice. It
was solely through the power of the Holy Spirit that they came to this decision
and that he accepted the call to the papacy. In the past year, I’ve really come
to see just how amazing the Holy Spirit is, as I have seen it at work in my
life in the best of ways. If the Holy Spirit can spark these great things in
the life of someone as insignificant as me, then why wouldn’t it do the same
for these Cardinals seeking direction for deciding a new Pope! I mention this,
because I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit knew that Jorge Bergolio was
exactly what our church needed at this point in history. Just in his second
year, Pope Francis has become a household name and is changing the face of the
Catholic Church. All of this from a simple Jesuit from Argentina!
In saying this, I should mention that I do not discount the
lives or impact that previous popes have had, because they, too, were (or were
supposed to have been) chosen in the same prayerful way Pope Francis was.
However, I have a particular love for this pope because he was the one who
started to guide me back to fully embracing the Catholic faith. Yes, I went
through a short time of questioning the faith, as I think many cradle Catholics
should. As I have found, it is only through doubt that true faith is able to
come to fruition. It is mostly because of this fact that I hold a special love
for the Holy Father! However, my love for Pope Francis is based on more than on
all that I have learned about him through various media sources or what others
have said. Much of my love for him stems from his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. (Told you I was
coming back to it!)
Up to the point when I first heard about it, I had never
extensively read anything written by any of the popes or anything that was
exclusively Catholic. I guess it had never piqued my interest before then.
However, there was one day that I happened to be skimming through the Sooner
Catholic, which is the Catholic newspaper distributed throughout Oklahoma
City’s archdiocese. There was an interesting article summarizing the letter
that I just so happened to read. After reading it, I felt drawn to the letter,
so much so that I found it in a PDF online and downloaded it to read, thinking
that I would blow through it in a couple of hours.
Boy, was I wrong! It was 224 pages long. That intimidated me
at first, but I was already feeling committed to it at that point, so I knew I
should go on. Within the first couple of pages of Evangelii Gaudium, I was blown away…absolutely blown away by the depth of what Pope Francis said. And that was
just within the “Index” section…what? It got to the point that I forced myself
to stop reading because I found it to be so deep that I needed to take a moment
to ponder those words. I decided to start a Word document so that I could
chronicle my favorite quotations. I originally thought that it would only
comprise a few pages, so you can imagine my surprise when I finished reading it
the other day and I had FIFTEEN pages of 12-point font (not entirely
single-spaced) full of quotations from this document! To say I loved Evangelii Gaudium would probably be the
understatement of the year!
I could easily summarize it, but I’m not going to. I’m
certain that plenty of other people have written wonderful reviews or summaries
of it, so I’ll spare you that. What I will share are a smattering of my
favorite quotations...
“Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction
of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and
beyond their faults and failings.”
“In some people we see an ostentatious preoccupation for the
liturgy, for doctrine and for the Church’s prestige, but without any concern
that the Gospel has a real impact on God’s faithful people and the concrete
needs of the present time.”
“One cannot but admire the resources that the Lord used to
dialogue with his people, to reveal his mystery to all and to attract ordinary
people by his lofty teachings and demands. I believe that the secret lies in
the way Jesus looked at people, seeing beyond their weaknesses and failings.”
“An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or
completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to
transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it. We love
this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family
which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and
aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all
of us are brothers and sisters.”
“The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus
which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever
greater love of him. What kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the
beloved, to point him out, to make him known? If we do not feel an intense
desire to share this love, we need to pray insistently that he will once more
touch our hearts.”
I hope that these quotations may have inspired you to look
into this letter, as I feel that it is well worth everyone’s time to read it!
You can download it in PDF format from the Vatican website or it can be found
on Amazon, either way, I suggest reading it!
May these divinely inspired words of the Holy Father ignite a
fire in our hearts that will guide us to truth, and may God continue to bless
Pope Francis as he continues to instill the mission of the Church in all of our
hearts and minds! God bless!
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