Day 35: Pope Francis and the Power of Service

The alarm went off at 4:20am.  I had been asleep for maybe 3 1/2 hours but that didn't matter.  I had to see what Pope Francis had to tell the world LIVE!  When I turned on the TV, he had already made his trip in the open aired jeep through the square stopping to kiss babies and to bring comfort to a sick person.  Now he was praying at the tomb of the one he was succeeding: St. Peter himself.  The Holy Father made his way out to the piazza and received the pallium and the simplest version of the Fisherman's Ring that you could get, and we all waited for his homily on this great Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary and Protector of the Holy Family and the Church.  The homily in its entirety can be found here, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130319_omelia-inizio-pontificato_en.html, but I just wanted to highlight what struck me about his remarkable homily:

"How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand...How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own....


In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!  Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened....


We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!  Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!...

Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!...


To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!

I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen."