Easter Monday



"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

(A Prayer of St. Francis)

I am not Catholic.  I am Christian and I am profoundly saddened by the death of Pope Francis.   

I am not saddened by the fact that a "Pope" died, but that a man who truly followed in the footsteps of Jesus and lead by example has passed away.  For me, Francis exemplified what Christians strive to be.  He, like Jesus, humbled himself.  He walked among sinners and outcasts.  He advocated for those who are marginalized. He embraced those, who the world ignored.  

For me the images of him washing the feet of "sinners" (incarcerated men AND women) on Maundy Thursday show me the kind of human he was. This was not "show," but an act of love and acceptance.  Those who are shut away cannot be forgotten, though we may want to forget.  Compassion needs to be shared to all; even those who we may despise.  (Something I do not think I am capable of.)

Pope Francis was a flawed human (I will not deify him; as that would go against everything that I believe and what I think/feel he would believe), but from my perspective as a human being he followed the teaching of Christ more so than anyone else I can think of.  And because of that he was a leader.  For me he doesn't represent a leader of a religious domination, but a leader of humanity.  He reminded us (and will continue to be a reminder) that we are all of one race; the human race and that it is our call to care for one another.  That it is our duty to care for one another.

It is my hope and belief that Pope Francis will be remembered as a leader, not just of the Catholic Church, but one of the world.  As he emulated Christ, we should try to emulate him by being "good" human beings; caring for each other and for the planet that has been entrusted to us.  It is key to our survival as a people and as a planet.

Go out and serve humankind; and in doing such we are caring not just for the world, bur for ourselves.

 


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