I like following the work of the Pope. Since I am not Roman Catholic, the Pope has
no inherent spiritual authority over me, but he does exercise a kind of
spiritual authority for all Christians.
It would be absurd to say that since I am not Catholic, the Pope does
not matter. After all, there are more
than one billion Catholics in our world---that means about one out of every six
human beings are Catholic! Those are
impressive numbers. And to think that
one human being has spiritual authority over that group is doubly impressive.
If we wanted a comparison, the best comparison would be the
nation of China. That nation also has
over one billion in population. And it,
too, is governed by a single president, Xi Jinping. Even he does not have the kind of authority
that the Pope has. But I am not really
interested in the issue of authority---either religious or political. I am actually interested in the person who is
elected to this kind of position and, therefore, acquires that kind of
authority.
Clearly, the Pope is a very visible figure. People flock to Rome in order to visit the
Vatican and catch a glimpse of the Pope.
Wherever the Pope travels, thousands of people flock to see him and to
be with him. If the Pope speaks or writes
something, the world knows it. This is
how I follow the papal happenings. I
tend to get my papal news from the television news and online reports. If the Pope publishes an encyclical---a
document treating some particular subject, I usually download it and read
it. So for a non-Catholic, I probably
have an above-interest and knowledge of papal things.
I am intrigued by the current Pope, Francis I. It was quite interesting when he was elected
Pope that he chose to be named Francis, after the great medieval friar, Francis
of Assisi. Perhaps it is because that
medieval Francis is one of my favorite historical figures that I am enamored by
Pope Francis. I hope he lives more and
more into the spirit of those early Franciscans.
I am always on the lookout for interesting papal news. Recently it was reported that Pope Francis “invited believers to always
be prepared for surprising ways in which "difficulty" and
"sin" can be converted into "new friendship" with God.” Wow, I thought, that is an amazing perspective. This is a very significant sentence and worth
unpacking.
First
of all, it makes sense that Francis would invite believers to something. I appreciate the language of
“invitation.” That is so much more
respectful than “obeying” or “ordering” or “commanding.” Invitation suggests a particular kind of
understanding of his own authority.
Imagine the power of the person who could command you to do
something. And instead of command, the
person invites you to do something. I
think most of us would feel respected, inspired and energized. Let’s look at what the Pope invites us to
do.
He
asks us always to be prepared. That
seems like sage advice. Being prepared
is usually preferable to not being prepared.
But more than that, we are always to be prepared for surprising ways to
become something or somebody new. That
is an amazing invitation to preparation.
Wow, I think, count me in. I want
to be prepared.
Prepared
for what? Here comes the power of Pope
Francis. We are always to be prepared
for the surprising ways difficulty and sin can be converted. That is amazingly good news. Anyway, who wants to sign on for difficulties
and sin? Not me! But clearly both difficulties and sin are
inevitable. I don’t know any human being
who has not experienced both. The good
news is they can be converted.
Normally,
I don’t really like the language of conversion.
But here it is quite compelling.
Intriguingly, the Pope suggests that difficulties and sins are not wiped
away; they are converted. They are
changed from one thing into another.
That says a great deal about the way the Spirit works in our
midst---converting lousy things into lovely things.
The
lovely thing into which difficulty and sin are converted is new friendship with
God. Wow, I think; that is
wonderful. From the mess of difficulty
and sin comes the miracle of friendship.
Who does not want to hear and believe this good news? Who does not want to have our messes
converted into miracles? That is good
news. I believe.
I am
quite fine with this good news coming from the Pope. It seems true to me, not because the Pope
suggests that it is true. It seems true
to me because it is grounded in my experience of the working of the Holy One in
my life and in the world. I suspect that
is why the Pope also knows it is true. It is true to our experience, not
because the Pope says it. The fact that
the Pope says it gives it credibility and weight.
I
like Pope Francis. I appreciate his
papal insight. I would like to think
that both of us are news friends of the Divine One. And there must be a whole host of other
friends, too.
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