Pope Francis just celebrated his 10 anniversary of being the Pope.. As a priest.. want to share some of my thoughts on this anniversary. Why do I write this? For a couple of reasons. Firstly, I get worn down hearing a stream of complaints about the Pope. As a Priest and a trust trying to be a faithful traditional priest.. with all my faults and failing. I try each day to live up to my vocation. 

What I love about Pope Francis. Firstly is that he is the Pope. The Cardinals a decade  ago felt that the Holy Spirit was descending upon this man from the ends of the earth to be the Pope. While I don’t think the conclave is magical and that the Cardinals can be moved by motives far from the Gospel. I have to believe that God the Holy Spirit knew what He was doing. When they made Francis the Peter of the Church. There most be reasons that I can’t not explain or know. Only God knows what we need and can see into the future. I have to think that Francis is the Pope that we need for our day and age. How many saints and reformers of the Church were cast aside in their day, but looked more favorably generations later. That doesn’t mean that Pope Francis is a saint. It just means that we the Church don’t always see clearly about what we need.

Pope Benedict said about some in the Church ‘they don’t want faith they want certainty.’ Yes Pope Francis style can be unsetting. Especially to people who want a clear answer to all of life problems. And they seek in the Church a place where all their questions are settled. As a priest I trust in the deposit of faith. The faith handed onto the Apostles by Jesus. And Yes, they are many things that can’t be changed, such as marriage os only between a man and woman. So not even the pope can change the creed or the teaching of the faith. So I am not as raddled when I hear the ‘latest news from the Pope on his flight home from a foreign country.’ But I also know that the Mystery of our Faith is just that a mystery. When Jesus loved on earth did he not unsettled many by his teaching, and did many  of the Jewish teacher think he was disregarding the law of Moses. Maybe we are living at a time that is similar to what the Jews felt about the teaching of Jesus 2 thousand years ago.  

Maybe we need to feel unsettled in our conviction time to time. Maybe we need to feel like we don’t have all the answers all the time. No one like confusion. But life is kinda of confusing at times. And there is not a ready answer for  every problem is some book somewhere. Maybe the next Pope will be the darling of many, and will correct what he think is Pope Francis lack of precision. My point is that is how the Church works. Maybe the chancery is not the head quarters of the Church. The Holy Spirit knows what He is doing. Pope Francis took his name from Saint Francis. Now St Francis was quite a complex figure and many in the Church did not like him. And the 13th century in which he lived was a difficult time in the Church. So much so that Jesus said to Francis ‘Rebuilt my Church for it is falling apart.’

There have been wicked and immoral popes. Pope Francis is neither. He is a good man  that tries to follow the Gospel. We need people in the Church that seek to love the Pope even if they disagree with him. I think Pope Francis is a good and holy man that sometimes speaks without thinking how his words can be interpreted. Kinda like Peter, who was know to speak from the hip. Peter was kinda of a loud mouth impulsive speaker. Peter didn’t always think before he spoke. 

Pope Francis has a great love for the poor, the people who often count for nothing in the world. Maybe the Church needed to stretch out a bit and have a greater feeling for those who feel left out. Maybe the Holy Spirit wanted to highlight those that don’t fit in easily into our theology. For those who we don’t have a ready answer for.. Maybe we are to feel a bit less secure in our certitudes. Mother Theresa said ‘better a mistake in kindness than a truth in unkindness.’

Pope Francis is ‘Joy of the Gospel’ called each of us to have an encounter with Jesus. That everything follow from our experience with Jesus. And is our theology does not that there he says ‘The whole house of card is falling.’ I think Pope Francis actually expect each one of us to have a encounter with Jesus. ‘ And Jesus said the first effect of this is ‘comfort for the poor.’ Maybe we need to get on our knees and repent of our sins. I think Pope Francis is calling each one of us to have a new encounter with Jesus. 

I for one say Thank you Pope Francis for being Peter in the Church. I thank you Jesus that I don’t shoulder these responsibilities. I just try in my own imperfect way to try to grow in Holiness, and confess my sins, and try to do better today and the next day.

Thank you Pope Francis for for priestly service to the Gospel and 10 years as being the vicar of Christ on earth..