As I Have Done, So You Also Should Do: Remembering Pope Francis (1936-2025)
- Dr. Tom Wagner
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Right at about the time I was being born into my big fat Catholic family, Pope John XXIII kicked off the Vatican II Council. He said he wanted to “open the windows of the church” to let in some fresh air. For the last dozen years, that fresh air had a name: Pope Francis. In the wake of his death this week, a stunning childhood picture of him was printed in my newspaper. It struck me as so iconic, that I thought I’d share it with you. You’ll find it right below this paragraph. Whatever your spiritual tradition, I’d love for you to meditate on it with me. So…if you wouldn’t mind…please just take a pause from reading this article. Instead, linger over the face of that child in the picture like you would linger over a poem, or a piece of sacred artwork. Take a minute to notice the depth and breadth of the eyes of that little boy. Take in that smile. Notice the feeling that grows inside of you as you take him in. Let that feeling grow as you savor it…as you savor him. If you feel so inclined, whisper a prayer of gratitude, or intention.
What’s your experience? For me, that photo is so iconic because it reveals the essence of the man that little boy would become. Contained in that picture is everything I’m going to miss about that guy: warmth, simplicity, and joy. Like his Twelfth Century namesake, Francis of Assisi, there was no guile in him. Like that same namesake, he was no pushover! His official motto? “miserando atque eligendo” (English “by having mercy, by choosing him”). His unofficial motto? “Quis sum ego ad iudicandum?” (English “Who am I to judge?”)
Remember when he was elected? The church was in a pickle! For the first time in six hundred years, a pope fired himself amidst a world-wide sex-abuse scandal, and fiduciary mismanagement. Then along comes this guy, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, from Argentina, pulled out of retirement at 75 years old! I figured his fellow cardinals hired him to be a pope cut from the same cloth as Pope John Paul I, whose tenure lasted about as long as a papal sneeze (8/26/’78 – 9/28/’78). His job description? Number one, “Do no harm.” Number two? “Live just long enough until we can figure out who the next guy ought to be.” Twelve years later, I think it’s fair to say that they got way more than they bargained for. So did the whole world.
His writings, his teachings and his reforms were substantial, but it seems to me that his greatest teachings were written in the poetry and prose of his actions. The way he lived his life produced the equivalent of an unforgettable encyclical, stitched in gold, read by women and men of every faith, and no faith.
Remember when he paid for his own room and board at the Conclave just before he assumed his role as Pope? Didn’t you love the way he’d hang out and eat with the kitchen and housecleaning staff wherever he went? His papacy saw the largest migration of human beings that the world has ever known. It was no accident that his first Papal trip was to the port city of Lampedusa where so many African immigrants were attempting to make their way into Europe. Time and again he preached the uncompromising Gospel message that the alien in your midst, papers or no papers, was Christ. He wasn’t the first pope to preach and teach about the inestimable dignity of the poor, or the stranger in our midst. He was the first to turn down an opportunity to live in the lavish papal apartments, so that he could live more simply. His practice was his preaching.
The Final Message from Pope Francis to the World
He lived his life following a humble carpenter’s son who wasn’t too proud to wash feet the way that enslaved workers used to do in those days. After a lifetime of giving everything he had for the people of Argentina, and then for the world, it’s time for Pope Francis to kick off the shoes of the fisherman, and relax. I can still see that warm little boy smile on him. In eighty-eight years, that smile never went away. As you picture him in that deathless place, with that smile on his face, can you hear him quoting his boss and best friend, Jesus, one last time, “I have given you an example, that so you also should do.”
Dialogue with Pope Francis’ Life: Use these to dialogue with those in your life or share with Dr. Tom and the Sunday Morning Cafe community in the comments below.
What will you remember about this pope? What will you miss? What are the attributes you hope his successor will have?
When you think of religious leaders, what comes into your imagination? In his writings on ethics, Aristotle said that the result of virtuous living is a thing called, “eudaimonia” (English translation: a deeply happy, fulfilled life). What habits or practices did you observe in Pope Francis’ life that seemed to give him so much joy? Could you think of a way you could emulate one of those habits or practices in some small way that could give you fulfillment?
Francis was known for a leadership style that included humor, and a light touch. What are you doing these days to lighten up and not take yourself so seriously? If the answer is, “not much,” then can you name a time when you were better at that? What did you used to do in those days that made you better at it?
Pope Francis’ unofficial motto, “Who am I to judge?”, took the world by surprise. Pope Francis lived his adult life as a Jesuit. A central tenet of the Jesuit Constitution is to assume the good intent of other people, and to be slow to rush to negative judgement about someone. On a scale of “1” to “10” on a “Positive Judgement Scale,” how would you rate yourself (10 being an A+ at assuming the good intentions of another)? Do you want to improve? Is there some area in your life where you especially would like to improve?
Pope Francis was always reaching out to the poor, the stranger, the prisoner, or the marginalized. In what ways does your faith community exercise a “preferential option for the poor?” In what ways do you do that? Is there something you’re thinking of to increase your loving presence in the world?