The Capitol Update Five reflections on Pope Francis By Tom Venzor With great sorrow, we continue to mourn the loss of the late Holy Father, Pope Francis. We commend his soul to the Father of Mercies, who Pope Francis so often invoked and invited us into His love. I distinctly recall when Pope Francis was elected by his fellow cardinals to the See of Peter.
I was a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Omaha. It was the first time I experienced the white smoke billow from the chimney of St. Peter’s. I wasn’t born for St. Pope John Paul II’s election and, as a college student, I didn’t pay much attention to the election of Pope Benedict XVI.
When Pope Francis was elected, I read just about everything he issued, especially his homilies. I was moved by his keen insights into the spiritual life and his incisive use of images and metaphors to draw one further into the depth of God’s love. Like many others, I want to offer some reflections on Pope Francis that I will carry with me, and that I think can be of value in our work of bearing the light of Christ in the public square.
Reflection #1: God’s mercy is endless Built directly into his episcopal motto is the theme of mercy: “Miserando atque eligendo” (“Having mercy, he called him”). Pope Francis knew the human condition. He knew our—and particularly his own—failings and sinfulness.
He knew this was our inheritance as a human race. But he also knew this was not the end of the story. He preached constantly and consistently about the unending mercy of God.
It’s a mercy constantly reaching into our hearts, inviting us to respond to the love of God, and to be made whole, as we experienced through the Year of Mercy. Reflection #2: The Gospel is intended for all Pope Francis was keen on evangelizing to the peripheries of the culture. He challenged us to encounter those who have been forgotten, displaced, and marginalized.
After all, this is precisely the crowd Jesus of Nazareth spent His time with. Far too often, we get comfortable in our own situation and communities. We forget about the demand of the Gospel to encounter the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the migrant, and the imprisoned, and to offer them Christ through the witness of our life.
Reflection #3: The world longs for Christ Perhaps the greatest single moment of Pope Francis’ pontificate, for me, was in 2020, when he walked out into the piazza of St. Peter’s, in the pouring rain, to bring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to all the world during Covid. It is a moment I pray to God I will never forget. In the pain, suffering, and chaos of the pandemic, Pope Francis brought peace to the world in a way that only Christ could bring.
If even for just a second, all eyes were on Christ. Reflection #4: Preach boldly When it came to critical social and moral issues, Pope Francis did not mince words. When he spoke of the harms of abortion or gender ideology, for example, he spoke in harsh terms.
He did not allow himself to be tampered down or quieted by the world, but rather preached the Gospel boldly “in season and out of season.” But in speaking boldly, he was also always prepared to meet every single person in their specific situation, and to accompany them closer to the Heart of Christ. Reflection #5: Preach broadly Pope Francis had a knack for connecting issues and themes across Catholic social teaching. Whether he was speaking on care for creation, welcoming the migrant, loving and respecting the elderly, protecting unborn life, or any number of other issues, he was able to show how each of these individual issues were connected to the other.
In providing us an “integral human ecology” Pope Francis helped us see more clearly the interconnectedness of creation, and the need to be attentive to it all. In the years to come, we will continue mining the life and preaching of Pope Francis. I hope you—like me—have had a chance to reflect at least a little on the positive impact Pope Francis made on your life, as we commend him to the Father of Mercies.
