By Father Norm Douglas
Pope Francis – a precious gift and pastor to our Catholic Church, to our entire human family, and to our Planet Earth
As you receive this message, more than likely you know that Pope Francis is experiencing the greatest journey of his entire life passing through death to eternal life. He is celebrating the Easter Season, being embraced by our Risen Lord Jesus Christ and many other family, friends, and wonderfully diverse members of our human community. I am going to deeply miss his presence here among us. Hopefully all of us can find consolation in knowing that he continues to pray for us. His down-to-earth, prayerful, merciful and compassionate example of God’s universal love will forever inspire us
The following two paragraphs are thoughts expressed by Cardinal McElroy, of Washington DC. I pass them on to you.
“It is this embracing love which led Pope Francis to be a prophetic advocate for the poor and the dispossessed, the unborn and the immigrant, the victims of war and the earth which is our common home. It was this love also that animated his tender personal care for all those whom he encountered personally in their suffering –those who saw their life marked by failure, the sick, those suffering from addictions, the incarcerated, those marginalized by society, those who had lost their way in life. It was in these intimate moments of pastoral care that we saw with such poignancy the heart of the pastor who had embodied mercy and love to the suffering in Buenos Aires and refused to diminish that commitment even when the strictures of the papacy fell upon him.”
“Pope Francis's vision of a synodal Church – the people of God journeying together, nourished by Word and Sacrament, missionary in its outreach, including all and animated by the participation of all, constantly renewing itself in the light of the Gospel – stands as an enduring legacy of Pope Francis in his fidelity to the Second Vatican Council and its call to preach the Gospel in the modern world. It provides a clear foundation for the journey of God’s people in the years which are to come.”
