5th Sunday in Lent

            God says in the prophet Isaiah, “…see, I am doing something new.”  I can’t think of a better line to describe this week’s events in which God raised up the 266^th Pope.

            At 1:10 on Wednesday afternoon white smoke billowed from the world’s most famous chimney.  The bells in St. Peter rung, indicating the election of our next Pope.  I was in the school when mayhem erupted and we gathered the kids into two classrooms.  Kevin and I ran around the school ringing bells.  The students were exuberant and we all waited for an hour before we found out who was elected.  I told them they could go nuts until those drapes opened and the cardinal came out.  When he finally did, the kids were silent and we all listened.  “Habemus papam!” the cardinal announced.  Then I, with the rest of the crowd in St. Peter’s, had no idea what was happening!  No one recognized the name of the cardinal who had been elected.

            After a 15 second pause, the commentators announced, “It’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina—Pope Francis!”  Talk about God doing something new.  Pope Francis is the first pope from the Western hemisphere and the first pope from Latin America.  He is the first Jesuit to ascend to the Chair of Peter and for the first time a pope has taken the name Francis.  And this name is especially significant as it refers to St. Francis of Assisi who served the poor par excellence.

And this is just the lifestyle St. Paul encourages: “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” 

Already we are hearing many stories about Pope Francis’ devotion to the poor.  He sold the Cardinal-Archbishop’s mansion in Buenos Aires and moved into a one-room apartment.  He gave up a driver and limo to ride the city transportation to be with his people.  The day after he was appointed the Archbishop he worked in a soup kitchen.  And, as I’ve pointed out to Fr. Rich, he bought his own groceries and cooked his own meals.

            “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”  The Lord has truly done great things for us and we should rejoice in the election of our new pastor.  What pleases me the most is the wonderful blend he is in his path to holiness.  I like this because we live in a polarized society—one that is either/or.  For instance, in my experience at college one was either a pray-er or someone who served the poor. 

In fact, I was listening to a newscast in which a broadcaster pointed out that Cardinal Bergoglio was “conservative when it came to morals” but “progressive in social action”.  He then asked, “Could we call Pope Francis a conservative progressive?”  With a chuckle, the politician said something profound: “No.  He is a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.”

We praise God for His latest gift to the Church.  As we near the end of Lent let us strive to follow Pope Francis as he serves Christ and His poor.  As we do so, may we remain steadfast in Christ’s teaching while reaching out to our brothers and sisters.