I remember being rather enamored with the last one. Granted, we Lutherans do some ministry and church things well, but with all the flack we have given to our Roman Catholic siblings in Christ the last half millennia, they do their fair share rather well, too. Of course, there’s their charitable organizations helping those in impoverished circumstances and many people who have been given up on by nearly everyone else, and they do some what we call “high church” worship experience fairly impressively with their beautifully crafted cathedrals and chanting and incense among other things (not everyone’s cup of Sunday morning tea, I understand). But the conclave, where the highest of higher ups in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world gather in the Sistine Chapel to determine their leader…that’s a whole ‘nother level of organized religion interest that I’m not so sure anything else can quite touch.
So, in March of 2013, I was one of ‘em keeping a rather close eye on the proceedings. Maybe for some Lutherans that would be nearly heretical to care so much about what goes on with “those Catholics,” but I kept watching anyway. It would be better for me to say I cared about who would be elected as the Pope to see the impact that possibly might be made on what is still the largest faith expression on the Christian side of things, not to mention how that successor to St. Peter (as their story goes) will shape relations with the non-Catholic sort, including the Lutherans, and if any progress will be made on the hot-button issues with the role of women, clergy celibacy, and on and on we Lutherans could go. However, at that point, I will admit I was more enamored with the drama and the secrecy and anxiously waiting for a bit of white smoke coming from a rooftop.
And yet, over the last 12 years, I will admit I’ve been enamored with Pope Francis. That isn’t to say I was lock-in-step with him on everything he said. There were times I wish he went a little further not just with the verbal proclamations but putting such Gospel into further active practice. And yet, as much as many would prefer politics be a stratosphere away from anything related to God’s church, regardless of the expression…it still happens. Nevertheless, he certainly put in his fair share of Gospel proclamations not just for those in impoverished circumstances, but for those in same-gendered relationships, the environment, and economies seemingly thriving off of a lust for financial dominance, and on and on he went, including perhaps being the most open Bishop of Rome to the us non-Catholics.
There was just something about him. I heard many say similar affirmations of Pope John Paul II, but there was something else about this one. His smile not only seemed genuine, but it displayed an infectious enthusiasm not just for God and the Roman Catholic Church, but for all humanity. It appeared that he didn’t say just his fair share of Jesus-embodied compassion and grace to appease a part of the church that perhaps had given up on their local Catholic parish because it wasn’t just high church in its worship, but looking down upon everyone in its midst; instead, it appeared that he actually meant it. There was just something about him: that maybe not all the higher-ups in the church were out to preserve their own reputation, but to use their position to create the greatest impact on the part of our humanity that desperately needed all the hope in active practice.
I don’t know what the next conclave will bring. There will be much debate to ensue about that in the coming days, including the potential impact not just on the Roman Catholic Church, but the relations with all us non-Catholics, many of us who are no longer interested in separating us against them, but recognizing that we absolutely need to work together to create the greatest impact on our local communities and beyond. But, in the meantime, we are thankful for the hope that was brought to life in Pope Francis: yet another reminder that Christ is Risen indeed, alive and well in children of God in numerous faith expressions to help us keep falling in love with the God of us all. Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done, indeed.
In Christ,
Pastor Brad