As we mourn the life of Pope Francis, our community offers reflections below, including by Br. Kevin, Karen, Fr. Bill, Mari and Mike, as well as a reflection by Fr. Dan from 2023.
We at Mt. Irenaeus are so grateful for the example and teachings of Pope Francis. He repeatedly called for the Church to be a “field hospital” which helps the suffering and marginalized through love, mercy and charity.
Francis took the Beatitudes, which many regard as the core of Jesus’ teaching and made it a core of his own teaching. His stances were not always welcomed by some. He was sometimes told to stick to those things that are “spiritual” and to not get involved in politics or business or the environment. His spirituality and teaching was to care for those suffering- the poor, those fleeing war or violence or climate change and people judged unworthy by society. Some might call this political. In reality it is deeply spiritual. His witness gives us the courage to stay on track to announce Jesus, repair inequalities, to sow hope and care for our common home. Well done, good and faithful servant.
Kevin Kriso, ofm
Fr. Dan’s book, Franciscan Lectio, was presented to Pope Francis in late 2022. Here’s Fr. Dan’s Instagram reflection:
View this post on Instagram
“You can, you must try to seek God in every human life. Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always space in which the good seed can grow…Let us be lights of hope!”
These profound words spoken by Pope Francis embody who he was as a person and as a Pope. When I think of Pope Francis, the singular word that captures him for me is compassion – compassion for ALL of creation. He did not just speak of compassion but he lived compassion – you can see it in his eyes when he listened intently to the stories of the people, in the gentle caress when he blessed a child, hear it in his voice that held so much emotion when he reminded us of God’s call to care for the earth and to respond to the cry of the poor. You see it in his actions – when he visited the prisoners and called Gaza’s lone Catholic church this past Holy Saturday just to see how people there were coping. His last days on Earth were spent “going among the people” despite the risk to himself.
His compassion was fueled by love; not frivolous love but the love that is hard work – the love that says he truly believed that each and every person was a creation of God and worthy of love and compassion no matter what – and a belief that says our very own humanity is found in how we care for one another and all of the beauty that surrounds us. Today, we all feel the heavy loss of this great man who walked among us; but I believe that Pope Francis will always walk with us, just in a different form. He is free of a body that could not sustain or contain him, a body that held him back from the next chapter of his journey. He will be a forever light for all of us- if only we have the courage to seek it. Well done, good and faithful servant.
Karen Pulaski
As the soon to be Pope Francis reached the required votes to be elected pope, Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Brazil reminded the new Pope, “Don’t forget the poor!” Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as archbishop had focused his attention on the poor of Buenos Aires. In short order Franciscan Cardinal Hummes discovered that he had no need to fear that his friend, as Pope, would forget those who were overlooked. In case there was any doubt, he chose the name of the Poor One of Assisi. Francis of Assisi was, after the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the most beloved Saints in history. However, no one who held the Chair of Peter had dared to name himself after such a non-conformist reformer, Earth covered, lover of the poor.
Pope Francis was largely loved but he did anger some. His love for those on the margin, exemplified by his journeys and his nontraditional choice of Cardinals, angered some–especially the powerful. It seemed that the Pope showed compassion for ALL except the proponents of clericalism. Rather than calling clerics OUT, as Fr. Dan Riley, ofm often said, he was calling them IN. If Pope Francis’ words sometimes made you uncomfortable, he was likely calling you in. “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37).
William McIntyre, ofm
What an understated, yet overwhelming first impression Pope Francis made on me that first evening…from the name he chose at his peer’s prompting to “remember the poor” (through our favorite Saint – yay!), to the gentle, humble spirit so evident as he stepped out on the balcony to address the plaza’s crowd and the world watching on phones and televisions. In just a few minutes, he’d asked us all to pray together for him, capped by his fatherly “have a good night…sleep well.”
In the years that followed, I drew inspiration and fortitude from Pope Francis, particularly his “Laudato Si’ on care for our common home” encyclical, in my work to lead a global hospitality company’s corporate social responsibility & sustainability strategy.
Years later, just before coming to Mt. Irenaeus, a call to serve human trafficking survivors and provide humanitarian relief for migrants and refugees alongside other Franciscans brought me to the US-Mexico Border. Here’s where I felt my deepest solidarity with Pope Francis, who provided a clarion call for we Americans in citing the Gospel through his Sept 2015 address to the U.S. Congress. I share it here:
“We must not be taken aback by their (migrants and refugees) numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation. To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).
Mari Snyder
A few years ago, when we were dreaming about the Solar panel field that now sits in our valley, providing energy for Mt. Irenaeus, I was putting a PowerPoint together. It was a “case for support” to be used in persuading friends to contribute financially to this project, and upfront I wanted to include a theological basis for why this project was important. Along with founding documents of Mt. Irenaeus, I turned to Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ brilliant encyclical about the need to care for creation, released 10 years ago this May. Within the document, a line that resonated for me was one that exclaimed our faith is not practiced in a vacuum from the rest of the world. Francis shared that “The ecological crisis is a summons to profound interior conversion…it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” Being good stewards of the Earth is part of our experience of living as Christ.
What I loved about his teachings were how relevant it was to those beyond the Catholic faith. He cared for everyone, and this universal love had an impact on the larger world, which is what evangelization is all about. Pope Francis walked the walk as well, living a simpler life than other recent Pontiffs, sneaking away from the Vatican to be with those who lacked basic needs. If there was ever a leader who was the right person at the right time, in my lifetime, it was Pope Francis.
Mike Fenn
