Four years ago, today (March 12), the Roman Catholic Church did not have a Pope! The Cardinals of the Church were in Conclave at the Vatican praying and voting on who the next Holy Father would be. On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI had resigned for reasons of health. Such an event had not happened in the Catholic Church for several hundred years. For almost two weeks, the world waited on the Cardinals to assemble in Rome in Conclave and choose another Pope to succeed the retired Pope. The Conclave took a few days to select Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina to be the new Pope. Tomorrow, Monday, March 13, is the fourth anniversary of the selection of our current Holy Father, Pope Francis.
As Supreme Pontiff, Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name, Francis, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi; He is the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European Pope in over one thousand years. Pope Francis is the eldest of five children, his father was an Italian immigrant to Argentina in 1926 and his mother was born in Argentina whose parents were from northern Italy. His parents are Mario Jose Bergoglio and Regina Maria Sivori.
As a youth, as a seminarian, as a Priest, as a Bishop and Cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was known for his humility, his concern for the poor and the needy and his commitment as a leader to dialogue as a way of building bridges between people of different beliefs, backgrounds and opinions. Pope Francis has lived a simple, less formal and humble life style in where he lived and in how he lived. Even as Holy Father, he has chosen to live in the Domus Sanctae Martha guesthouse instead of the Papal Apartments of the Apostolic Palace. Pope Francis usually gets from place to place in a regular car instead of the Papal limousine. Over the past four years, he continues to live simply, humbly and prayerfully.
Next Sunday, the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, is the Anniversary of the Installation of Pope Francis as our Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff and the Servant of the Servants of God. As we pray for and thank God for Pope Francis and for his dynamic, charismatic and effective leadership in the Church and in the world, may our admiration and our gratitude help us to follow his powerful example. Pope Francis encourages all of us to live a simple life free of any pretension, extravagance and materialism. As we strive to follow the example of Jesus and Pope Francis, may we seek to be humble before the Lord and before others, and to live simply as we strive for justice, giving witness to our faith in Christ and sharing cheerfully and generously with others, especially the poor, needy, elderly, homeless and the outcasts of society.
Several days ago, Pope Francis mentioned in one of his sermons that we should look at the Word of God as often as we looked at our cell phone. Of course, he got quite a response from so many people. The Word of God, the Bible, especially the words of Jesus in the New Testament, has so much more to teach and to inform us than whatever we look at on our cell phone. Think about the Pope’s words and take to heart what he says.
Next weekend is the beginning of our annual Lenten Mission. Father Ron Hoye will be at all the Masses the weekend of March 18-19; and he will preach the Mission on Monday, March 20, Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22 at 6:30pm. There will be no Mass during the Mission. On Saturday, March 18, the Stewardship Committee will have a Morning of Reflection from 8am to Noon. Please do your best to share in the Morning of Prayer. Some of our parishioners will share their faith and Deacon Nelson Schexnayder will be the keynote speaker on the Prodigal Son. I look forward to that morning when so many of us gather in the name of the Lord as the St. Elizabeth Seton Church Family. May Stewardship become for us a way of life as we share our talents, our time and our treasures for the Lord and for the good of others.
My prayers, best wishes, love and gratitude to you and to your loved ones for who you are, for all you do for the Lord and for the good of St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish. “May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you.” (Psalm 33)
SHALOM!
Fr. Gary
Homework for the week of March 12 – March 18
