Feast of
the Dedication of St. John Lateran
Cycle A
November 9, 2014
Saint Margaret Church, Bel Air
Pope
Francis
This
afternoon I want to reflect a little bit on Pope Francis.
Our
celebration of his cathedral church, Saint John Lateran in Rome, leads me to do
this. I thought it would be a good
moment to reflect on some of the things that Pope Francis is saying.
I have
selected three ideas and we might remember them by the acronym CPR – which
usually means cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.
CPR here means: Creative, Patient, and Respectful.
Theme 1: Be Creative
So,
first: Be Creative.
Pope
Francis says: We need to “abandon the
complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way.’ I invite everyone to be bold and creative in
the task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods” of
bringing the gospel to people.
Francis
knows that we are living in a different age.
For one thing, it is a more and more diverse and pluralistic culture.
So, we
may have to re-think how we do certain things.
We have to ask: how can we today, more effectively reach our youth and
young adults and all people?
We may
have to change some of our mindsets and ways.
We here at Saint Margaret’s have a planning group working on this right
now, trying to be creative as Pope Francis calls us to be.
Theme 2: Be Patient
The
second theme: Be Patient.
Pope
Francis uses one of Jesus’ images in the gospel. He says: “An
evangelizing community is always concerned with fruit because the Lord wants
her to be fruitful.
“It cares for the grain and does not grow
impatient with the weeds. The sower,
when he sees weeds sprouting, does not grumble or overreact.
“He or she finds a way to let the word take
flesh in a situation and bear fruit, however imperfect or incomplete.” And Francis adds
this: “the goal is not to make enemies
but to see God’s word accepted.”
So it
seems that the Pope does not want us to exclude or label people in a negative
way if they do not fully accept the message.
This is why I have felt that the term “Cafeteria Catholic” is simply a
bad, inappropriate expression.
Some
call others this name if they do not accept one or another teaching of the
Church. They call them Cafeteria
Catholics.
I think
we have to admit that we are all Cafeteria Christians. None of us lives the gospel perfectly and,
after all, the living out of it is the final test of following the Lord.
If we
are Cafeteria Christians, then automatically we are Cafeteria Catholics. So then this expression is useless and even harmful.
Pope
Francis calls us to include everyone who seeks God 1) in Jesus and 2) through
the Church, regardless of imperfections.
We are to be patient with one another.
Theme 3: Be Respectful
And then the third theme: Be Respectful.
Pope Francis says: “Instead
of seeming to impose new obligations, [we] should appear as people who wish to
share their joy. It is not by
proselytizing that the Church grows, but by ‘attraction.’”
So Francis wants us to show what a good thing our faith is
and how much it brings to human life.
When he speaks of not proselytizing, he means that we are not to try to force
our faith upon others as the only way to avoid hell.
Instead, Pope Francis wants us to attract others by sharing
our story, who we are, and by listening to who others are, to their story and
the truth of their lives. He understands
that we live in a secular age.
In this age, some people feel that they have an option to
live their lives without religion or without expressed faith. Pope Francis understands that the best way to
draw others to faith in this age is to be respectful, no matter what, no matter
how distant spiritually they may seem from us.
Conclusion
So, CPR – Be Creative, Patient, and Respectful.
That is something of the approach
that Pope Francis seems to be lifting up.
He invites us to pray and discern what we need to do to embrace this.
