Just thought I'd mention that ...
In speaking to Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis demonstrated that he’d brushed up on his American history in advance of his historic visit to the U.S. In mentioning a few famous Americans whose lives could serve as inspirations as the world navigates current crises, he turned to two obvious choices—Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King—and two whose names might be unfamiliar to those less versed in the history of American religion: Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. - Source
Partial text of the speech here.
Each Pope brings their own personality, charism and gifts to their ministry. Remarkably they fit the times in which they reign. It must be the gift of the Holy Spirit. What else is explains it? Pope Francis is, I think, exactly what we need now. Politics aside he speaks the gospel message to a world terribly lacking in charity. His message to Congress touched me deeply. Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton's writings spoke to me in the 1970's as a young adult in rebellion to the church. Both were very flawed individuals who came to repent serious sin and accept the grace of the sacraments. They more then anyone brought me back with a much more mature understanding of what it meant to be Catholic. That Pope Francis so eloquently spoke about them only confirms to me that he is the right man for our times. His words had personal relevance for me. I think he will bring many more of the hurt and alienated back to a Church which acknowledges human failings with the forgiving love of a true father.
ReplyDeleteI think so too Wallace. I'm so deeply moved.
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