There is an instruction regarding world leaders: “Listen to what they say and you know what they will do.” The same can be said about Pope Francis.
The pope, since day one, called Catholics to a prophetic style of living based on prayer and Eucharistic adoration, helping the poor and marginalized and bringing down rigorism. If you listen to what he actually says, you will see what he actually does and you will see they are congruent.
The latest instruction has many traditionalists in the Church upset and ready to start a revolution. Franciscan University of Steubenville professor Regis Martin writing in Crisis Magazine recommends that the pope resign and spend the rest of his life in a monastery engaged in prayer and penance.
The editor of the same magazine promotes Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s catechism Credo which dismisses Vatican II as a non-infallible Council and embraces the sixteenth century teaching of the post-reformation Council of Trent.
The reactions to the pope and his cabinet reflect a lack of and understanding what his intentions are. However, I take them as signs the pope’s plan is working exactly as he intends — pruning the Church of those who fight for a Catholicism of their own making at every turn, while others embrace Francis’ Vatican II vision for the future of the Church.
A call to serve the poor
Catholic teaching includes what is known as the special option for the poor. It was a hallmark of Jesus’ actions in ministering to those who did not have the money or power to fulfill their needs. The healed receive Jesus’ miraculous grace because no doctor could care for them or they did not have the money to receive treatment. They come to the Lord seeking his power over their disease. He ensures that they see him as the Son of God and not another form of medical treatment.
So, it was the poor whom came to Jesus first because the poor could go to no one else. The pope calls Catholics to help those who are poor for God has a special love for them. It is they that can most receive his grace and power.
The poor are the poor often for a reason. The man or woman begging on a city subway system obviously do not fit into society normally or they would not be…