The Papal Window
Camminare, Edificare, Confessare
Thanks to Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., we have a new angle on the story of Francis. It’s a story that we’re also privileged to follow in “real time” with our own Francis, who surely knows more about the man of Assisi than legend permits.
Both Ratzinger and Bergoglio went into conclave as cardinals and came out as popes. Yet neither emerged from the Room of Tears as the man who would complete his papacy.
The “good stuff” of Catholic liturgy hasn’t really lacked much in the new pope’s Masses. But his overwhelming affection for service can be a bittersweet reminder of what’s really at stake.
The trend with Pope Francis is to expect little and hope for the best. Just as pragmatic is to expect the best, and to ask for it from God.
The Holy Father’s first homily helps to place his own ministry alongside those of his two immediate predecessors. It also reminds us that his will be a papacy defined most of all by the participation of Peter himself in “the only glory” of Christ crucified.
It would be wrong to speculate wildly about Pope Francis’s personality, pastoral zeal, or theological prowess. What’s clear from experience, though, is that he’s above all a man for others.
