"I'm laughing through my tears!"
The lines are from a song by Sting off his Mercury Is Falling recording. The song keeps going through my head as I read something new online about the new Pope, or hear it on network news. (Charlie Rose BTW, has had excellent interviews with key churchmen ever since the election. Secular news has done a great job so far. As a layman - I appreciate hearing the secular take.) But I digress.
I especially love Rocco Palmo titling the Holy Father, Il Poverello del Vaticano, as well as his notes regarding the new style of the poor Pope. I never, ever thought I would see such things in my lifetime. From Palmo:
Cobbled together from what's floating around, a couple more notes on the new Franciscan Style, all of 36 hours in.
Beyond scaling back the pomp surrounding his early morning stop at St Mary Major – where he spent a solid half hour in prayer before the protectress of Rome, the ancient image of the Salus Populi Romani – this morning's La Repubblica reports that the new Pope wanted his retinue to ensure that the basilica would be kept open to the public during his visit.
"I'm a pilgrim, and I just want to be one among the pilgrims" Papa Francesco reportedly said. [...] Still, Francis did get to greet some of the staff and the confessors of the basilica, whom he urged to "be merciful to souls [who come to you] – they need you."
[...] And on one final symbolic-yet-substantive note, the pontiff has already taken it on himself to extend the simplicity outward.
Defying standard Vatican protocol – as the USCCB's eminent Sister Mary Ann Walsh first noted – Papa Bergoglio called on the cardinals to leave their red choir cassocks aside, and instead wear the less-formal black robes under their albs for last night's Sistine Mass.
Albeit not vested as concelebrants, the request was likewise hewed to by the two archbishops in attendance as the Pope's retinue: the Almoner Guido Pozzo, and the prefect of the Household Georg Gänswein, who remains private secretary to B16. - Il Poverello
I'm so happy, I can't stop crying. It is as if St. Francis came back to become Pope - or Christ himself... I know! I'm laughing through my tears. Tears of joy.
I apologize for being so uncharitable, but please stop Terry! Your pope worship is about as bad as those who are denegrating him. Give him time! I am trying to keep an open mind to him, but what I've seen so far makes me sick to my stomach. How can you have sainted him already?!
ReplyDelete...
I don't even know where to begin to respond to someone who is made sick to their stomach by the Vicar of Christ. Lumping Terry in the same camp with Roger Mahoney is a cheap shot and indicative of the kind of tantrum we've been seeing in the blogosphere from some Catholics who seem to have forgotten the example set by Christ. Rather than cast aspersions on the Holy Father or our gracious blog host, please reacquaint yourself with Phillipians 2:6
DeleteTerry, it is good to see your joy, which I share. Allow no one to corrupt it for you.
Joyce
Poor Amy!
ReplyDeleteKatherine... Why would it make you sick? In the Church's past, where there was sickness, God, in His Mercy gave us an anti-dote. St. Benedict, St. Francis, Aquinas... Something dramatic is happening in the Church and Pope Francis is a sign of God's Mercy. Don't be angry because Terry recognizes it... He's not the only one who feels they have a cause for joy.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Pat. Cardinal Mahoney is just as jubilant as Terry.
ReplyDeleteI am just saying, it's too early to tell either way. I'll just shut up and pray now, never mind me.
So what if Cardinal Mahoney is happy? What does that have to do with the price of beer?
DeleteI'm going to continue to look forward to Pope Francis Papacy and be HAPPY about it.
Why is it that gay Christians have such expensive and refined tastes when it comes to art and other luxuries of life, but when it comes to the worship of God, the inclination is more toward the abstract, plain, and tacky? Not necessarily directed at anyone here but just wondering...
ReplyDeleteSt Francis btw was all for the ornate stuff when it came to the liturgy.
I second Katherines thoughts. Watch and pray for our Holy Father.
Terry, I really share your joy in this man. The one reaction I seem to have again and again the more I observe each new development, read each news article, listen to every new speech by Francis is one of speechlessness, perhaps even breathlessness.
ReplyDeleteThis Pope represents something very new and very fresh, I think that much is undeniable. I find my thoughts transported again and again to the early Christian community, her poverty and her joy, and the infectious freedom of the Gospel before centuries and "traditions" encumbered the essential message of Jesus Christ.
I presume to correct one of your readers above who charged you with "pope worship". This I don't see, at all, because I perceive in your reaction to Pope Francis something very much akin to my own reaction, which is so far removed from anything like the adoration of earthly princes. I think, rather, what I read in Terry's reaction...which I read in my own...is a joy in the possibility of a new clarity in the way the essence of Jesus Christ's message of holy simplicity might be...exemplified, I suppose, by our Holy Father.
It also seems to me that I get a strong sense that Francis is the right man for the job at the right moment in history, and that the Holy Spirit, perhaps, has provided for this happy arrangement.
Glory be to you, O Lord. Glory be to you.
Katherine and Michael, I don't understand your comments.
ReplyDeleteSome of the Eastern Orthodox reactions are worth reading.
ReplyDeleteAbbot Tryphon:
"In taking the name of a saint known for humility and a simple lifestyle, Pope Francis promises to be the Christ-like image of leadership the Roman Catholic Church, and, dare I say, the whole world, needs. With the rise of secularism, atheism, and Islam, the Christ-like witness we see in this pope, promises to be a leaven for the rebuilding of a Christianity that has been in decline. This, to my mind, is a pope we Orthodox can work with, and a man we can love."
John Sanidopoulos [referring to a conversation before the conclave]:
"I further mentioned that if I was a Catholic Cardinal and elected to be Pope, I would probably take the name of Francis, since he is among the most beloved and somewhat ecumenical of the post-schism Catholic saints, and there had never before been a Pope by that name. I also had in mind something Edgar Allan Poe wrote in his 'Marginalia': 'We, of the nineteenth century, need some worker of miracles for our regeneration; but so degraded have we become that the only prophet, or preacher, who could render us much service, would be the St. Francis who converted the beasts'."
http://www.morningoffering.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/
While I like Pope Francis, Terry's joy really warms my heart. I know that it comes from a deep love for Christ, and for St. Francis. I am so happy to see my friend so happy.
ReplyDeleteDear Readers,
ReplyDeleteI hope readers know I do not expect them to agree with me, or even like what I write here. This is a personal blog wherein I document my observations and experiences - albeit publicly. That's how blogs work. i'm not on Facebook or Twitter or other sites - I do not promote my blog or have readership drives. I do not do this for donations nor am I paid to write this - therefore the number of hits, links, or readers has no effect upon me, or the success or failure of the blog.
My blog is not required reading for anyone and if what I say, readers find disturbing, they are certainly under no obligation to continue reading what I write.
I can't help but notice that a symbol you have always had featured prominently on your blog features prominently on Francis' coat of arms. And let those that hate you...
ReplyDeleteMark:
ReplyDeleteYour observations concerning the Orthodox are very interesting. I wondered if Francis would trigger a heads up among our Orthodox brothers with his repeated references to himself as "bishop" rather than "pope". It seems he has.
I've noticed that conversation has already begun over at the forum of the Byzantine Catholic Church concerning Francis' emphasis on "bishop" and his outreach to the East, generally. Sadly the Francis-bashers from the tradosphere have even made their way over to the fora of our poor unsuspecting Eastern brothers, where the moderator has gently rebuked them.
It's remarkably significant that it has been announced from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople that Patriarch Bartholomew will be in attendance at Pope Francis' formal installation on Tuesday. Amazing.
I suppose it's too much to hope that Pope Tawadros of Alexandria might show up, but reconciliation with the Oriental Orthodox is, I suppose, still a bit further afield than it is with the Eastern Orthodox (although I'm not really sure why).