By Fr. Gene Hemrick
Yeshua Fellow
Compassionate, sympathetic, warm hearted, and tender describe Pope Francis’s gift of humanness.
Translated into action, it is the desire to treat all people equal, deserving justice and love. It is embracing the desire we were made for our-God-given duty to care for others and God’s creation.
It is envisioning our world as one even though we are made up of various cultures.
When we reflect on Pope Francis’ deportment, he is more than a priest who became a pope. Much deeper than this he is blessed with a conscience listening to the voice of God prompting him to promote goodness, beauty and unity based on God’s caring love.
When we examine his spiritual secret, we find he is a model on how to live a joyful life.
I was trained by and taught with Jesuits. One of their trademarks is discernment as an integral part of their prayer life. Going deep within our self to discern God’s will and how to practice it is essential to the process. Discernment is not a one-time practice but is a daily exercise.
Francis tells us that devotion to prayer from morning to when he retires is daily. No doubt all his days were filled with weighing concerns. Take for example, as much as he desired to continue St. Pope John XXII’s aggiornamento, updating the church to respond to the challenges of our times and have the church adjust to them, not all agreed --- priests, bishops, laity and even some cardinals were critical of him and pushed back to the point some coined him diabolical.
And when he reached out to those of different sexual orientation because he believed them God’s creatures, some said he was unfit to be pope.
He was criticized as being political when he stood strong against labeling immigrants as undesirable.
He often reminded his cardinals they needed to put aside pomp and live St. Francis’s concern for the poor foremost.
The conflicts he experienced would have torn most of us apart, but not him. He was steadfast and never lost his gentle smile. His inspiration was a blessed gift but as he would tell us: “A gift, yes, but unworthy of me, and yes, an inspiration of the Holy Spirit at my side supporting me.”
If and when he is canonized a saint may he be -- the patron saint of the privileged who govern.