My Pope, Our Pope, the Sinner

2013-09-21, Vatican Radio

As a lay observer, I decided to use bullet points to share my interpretation of Pope Francis' recent remarks in the interviews documented by America Magazine. The mainstream media has a practice of quoting everything the Holy Father says with the accuracy of a telephone game. Here is what I gleaned from the interview:

Pope Francis:

• sees himself as a sinner who was chosen by God.
• chose not to live in the papal apartment because he prefers community life.
• takes his prayerful time when making a decision.
• is irritated when people say that Ignatian spiritual exercises are Ignatian because they are done in silence. They can be done with or without silence. 
• is close to the mystical movement.
• had a bit of a bumpy start as a young Jesuit provincial who ran the Society with an authoritative hand.
• views ministers within the Church who behave badly as spiritually barren.
• believes that the young Church (view themselves as self-sufficient) and old Church (may try to impose cultural models upon the young) must build a future together.
• sees the Church as a field hospital after battle - needing to heal and nurture the faithful.
• believes that a confessor must be neither too rigid, nor too lax.
• wants the Bishops to leave no one behind, including those who have left the Church or are indifferent.
• wants all sinners to be treated with mercy.
• does not speak much about artificial contraception, homosexuality, or abortion because the Church teaching is clear on those subjects - and that they are not at the heart of Christ's message.
• believes that the Church has a lot of doctrines and for him to focus on only a few incessantly would be wrong.
• wants the salvific message to be proclaimed first, followed by catechesis.
• sees the vowed religious as prophets, leaven. 
• thinks that the volume of complaints sent to the curia in regard to unorthodox practices at a local level are misdirected (I wonder how many are from the Diocese of Rochester). He wants those issues to be reported to the local levels.
• thinks that the current methods of  the Synod of Bishops may not be a good model and wants to look more at how things were done prior to the Great Schism in 1054.
• wants us to walk united with differences as this is the way of Jesus.
• knows that women are different than men, though they are equally important. Functionality and dignity are two very distinct things, and the Church must be clear in the treatment of women in regard to the latter.
• thinks that the moto proprio of Benedict XVI allowing wider usage of the Tridentine Mass was a good thing, but that we must be careful not to malign the novus ordo.
• warns that finding God takes patience, and a contemplative attitude
• believes that if someone says that they met God with total certainty and without a smidgen of doubt, it is not good. If someone believes to have all the answers, God is not with them.
• said that if a Christian is a legalist, he will find nothing. 
• believes that those who look for 'exaggerated doctrinal security' have an inward view of things.
• prefers to say that we must have hope rather than be optimistic. God is hope, and optimism is for humans.
• thinks that we must get out of a 'laboratory' and into the field. In the field, we can see the bigger picture of what is needed to help others. 
• views the Church as having been at times brilliant, and at other times in history, unable to think.
• suffers from a wandering mind in prayer, and sometimes even falls asleep while at adoration (I'm in good company!).

I was a little surprised by a couple of items, but on the whole the interview appears to be rather uneventful. As usual, the mainstream media has created a stir where nothing I would consider 'breaking news' was said. Full disclosure: I had not read any other blog entries, news stories (Catholic or secular) or watched any commentary about the Pope's remarks prior to making this post. After seeing the headlines flood my newsfeed on various social sites, I decided to go directly to the source. I am the first to admit that on +Ponderings+ my focus is often on the very topics (both Abortion and Obama are the most tagged posts) that our Holy Father would view as being more political than spiritual. While thinking about this tendency, I have decided that it is because I hope to have others awakened from a crooked path. I was once lost and want to create a visible waypoint for someone else. Like an ex-smoker preaching about health to a smoker. And with this thought in my heart and on my mind, I close. 

Edited to add: Here is what Bishop Richard Malone of the Diocese of Buffalo had to say about the matter:



Edited again to add: Read what Fr. Z has to say about the liberal (Catholic and non) comments on the Holy Father HERE.

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This was our 400th +Catholic Ponderings+ post!

On Sin and How to Get to Heaven

19 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live in God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, the Christ died to no purpose.
-- Galatians 2:19

Brothers and sisters, we are saved by grace alone. It is by the grace of Jesus Christ we are saved. There is absolutely nothing we can do to 'earn our way to heaven'.

Did you go to confession over the past weekend? What are you doing to accept or reject God's forgiveness?

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For further study, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Salvation and Justification:

See Article Four

AND

654 The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection.

On Forgiving and Being Forgiven

In our most recent RCIA meeting, team member David shared about a recent episode of CBS News' "60 Minutes". He spoke about a rape victim who was certain the police arrested the right man who was sentenced to prison and served more than a decade. She was horribly mistaken and many years later, she meets with the man she hated for so long for a crime he did not commit. I'll let you watch the episode yourself embedded below in two parts. Please pardon the commercial at the beginning of the videos.





We must forgive others before God will forgive us. Sometimes the hardest 'other' to forgive is ourselves. When we partake of the Sacrament of Confession, God forgives our contrite heart fully. Do you freely accept His forgiveness and forgive yourself or do you tend to carry your past around with you in order to punish yourself? Is there someone who hurt you in the past and you just cannot let the anger and pain go? How would you feel if God was as unforgiving as you may be? Whatever your sins, do not despair. Remember that you are a child of God. A father helping a child learn to walk does not punish the toddler when he falls. To the contrary, he helps the child up and encourages him once again. God is such a father yet unlike human parents, He has an infinite amount of patience. Just a few things for you to ponder as you prepare for confession - no matter how long it has been since your last. Just go.

Examination of Conscience for Adults
National Catholic Register Confession Guide for Adults
The Forgiveness of Sins - Catholic Answers
How Often Must I Forgive?
Confession and Forgiveness in Scripture and by the Early Church Fathers

On Mortification and the Importance of Regular Hospital Visits

Self-Mortification. Are you beginning to sweat yet? A touch of nausea perhaps? No, I'm not talking about self-flagellation methods such as kneeling on marbles or beating yourself with a stick. I won't comment about those practices but I would like to help you focus on how mortification brings you closer to Christ AND what you can do without leaving physical wounds on yourself.

First, you need to understand that this isn't about causing great suffering for yourself because you are just so darn sinfully rotten. It is about setting aside our human tendency to be selfish. For most of us, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we make some very narcissistic decisions throughout the day. For example, when the alarm clock goes off, many of us hit the snooze button. Sometimes many, many times. If we were truly into this whole mortification 'thing', we would simply turn off the alarm and rise. Think of making that doctor appointment you keep putting off or that medical test that is rather unpleasant; saying 'no thanks' to the cheese for our burger that we already know is plenty unhealthy; adding a few extra steps on our walk even though it means passing our destination and turning back again; you kept wanting to attend Mass or adoration during the week but just failed to carve out the time. Our will is much like a muscle which grows very flabby without exercise.

If you can set aside your own will, God's will can be done. Sounds like the makings of a great new life in Christ.

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The Importance of Regular Hospital Visits: Yes, we're supposed to visit the sick but what if you are the one who is sick? What if you have an illness that is obviously not going away with over-the-counter medication and treatment? You may not need the Emergency Room but certainly you need some further assistance than what you can get at home. Medical doctors have years of training and some amazing new gadgets to help diagnose most every physical ailment imaginable. The one thing that an M.D. cannot do is lead you to eternal life. This life may be pretty good, but when it ends - it ends.

A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. -- L.L. Nash

If you take your child to the ER at the local hospital because he has a broken limb, do you allow the doctor to only pack the arm in cotton and wrap it but forbid the doctor to put on a cast? Of course not. You want that child to receive all of the treatment necessary for full healing of the affected limb.

You may attend Mass according to Church precepts and maybe even attend daily Mass. How often do you go to confession? Perhaps you usually attend Mass on Sundays but think you are generally a good person. How often do you go to confession? Does your soul look like a mirror image of your home? Your basement? Your garage? Under the seats in your car?

So many times I have people tell me that they really don't do anything sinful and that the Church requires we only confess once a year. Imagine only cleaning your floors once a year - even if you are never home and have no pets. Sounds kind of like sloppy housekeeping to me.

Know the difference and requirements for a sin to be mortal or venial. You cannot receive the Eucharist if you are guilty of mortal sin. Though venial sins do not need to be confessed to a priest as they are forgiven through prayer, the use of Sacramentals and receiving the Eucharist, why not do it anyway? I think of it this way: though God has forgiven me of my venial sins already, the thought of them - the clutter of them - lingers in my mind and in my actions. Mother Angelica once used the analogy of venial sin being like drops of water into a cup. One drop adds to more and eventually you have a cup running over. Just like the dust in your home. If you were to let it go for long, the dust would soon be a colony of dust bunnies.

I will post more on confession in an upcoming entry. I'll offer you some tips on preparing for confession, provide links to a good examination of conscience and hopefully inspire you to get rid of some dust bunnies.

God bless you. He loves you so very, very much. As always, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Fr. Larry Richards' Message to Men