Sunday, October 26, 2014

In Defense of Pope Francis


If you are generally unhappy with the present Papacy this message is for you.

1. His message is meant especially for you.
Get out of yourself. Change your life. Turn to Jesus and listen to Jesus and do more for God and for others in Christ's name. That is the Pope's message! You need to read his writings and hear him out and apply his message to your life rather than just pharisaically dissecting every word! Healthy criticism is necessary but with modesty and deference and always with an eye to what God is telling you through the Vicar of Christ, lest you be a hypocrite.

2. He is, to all appearances, a saintly man!
If he were a profligate or a hardened heretic perhaps the constant harping might be warranted. But his doctrine is consistently Catholic, though his approach is "let's get out there and do it and stop talking about what needs to be done!"

3. Christian Witness.
Would that all leaders of the Church and priests were at least honest Christians like him! He is primarily trying to give an example of how to abandon oneself to the will of God and say what God would have you say and do what God would have you do, with courage, for love of God and love of neighbor, for the situation today is urgent. A Christian (more less a minister of Christ) cannot be content closed off in one's room!