Let the Trumpet Sound

“Let the trumpet sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52

In a steady and slow cadence, Pope Francis delivered his message to Congress yesterday.  He wanted to open a dialogue with them and all of us.

Common Good and Political Leadership:

He reminded members of  Congress they are “to defend and preserve the dignity of your  (their) fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good.”  Pope Francis shared what a political leader is called to be, “A good political leader always opts to initiate processes rather than possessing spaces (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 222-223)”.  With our fractured political atmosphere and a looming federal budget confrontation, we should all hope this message was heard by members of Congress and their staffs.

We the people:

Francis eloquently pointed out we strive quietly to “build and a better life for our families”, and promote solidarity through organizations that help those in need.  We sustain “the life of our society” by hard work and feeding our families.   Family, community and solidarity with those in need are our primary concerns.  We pay our taxes, but that is not our primary concern.

Our values and dreams:

As he spoke, Pope Francis called to remember our values of liberty, equality for all, justice and dialogue for peace.  Those are very similar to St. Pope John XXIII’s four pillars of peace – truth, love, justice and freedom from his encyclical Pacem en Terris.  From our own history, he invoked the memories of Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.

In concluding, Pope Francis used the following to describe a nation that is truly great –

“A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to “dream” of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.”

Will we hear this trumpet call?  I pray that we do.

I will be writing more on this in the coming days.

Pope Francis and President Obama
static.dnaidia.com

Yesterday morning, Pope Francis gave his opening remarks of his visit at the White House.  In those remarks, he pointed out that “climate change no longer be left to future generations … It demands serious and responsible recognition not only of the kind of world we may be leaving to our children, but also to the millions of people living under a system which has overlooked them.”   Climate change has a human face!

There is a challenge, yet Pope Francis reminds us we are not abandoned.  “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home” (Laudato Si’, 13).

This morning, I woke and had my prayer and scripture time.  One of the scriptures, I prayed was Psalm 89:11 – “Yours are the heavens, yours the earth; you founded the world and everything in it.^”  We can no longer continue to profane what is God’s!

In paraphrasing Martin Luther King, Pope Francis stated, “We can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it.”

Pope Francis Remarks

Be challenged, be courageous and take action!

In Christ and Peace,

John

In his homily this past Sunday, Pope Francis reminds us Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to be the first among you must be the last of all, and the servant of all”.   The text can be found at Pope Francis Sept 20th Homily.

The vulnerable are who are called to care for – “Caring for the vulnerable of our families, our society, our people”. (10) Our service is never to be exclude others by being ” self-serving”. He states clearly the nature of our service – “Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people”. (13)

Doesn’t this remind us of our own country currently? As John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University said, “The bad news is that we are more Democrats or more Republicans than we are Catholic (Christians)”.   We are called to be followers of Christ bound together by our love for God and our neighbor.

Pope Francis concludes by saying, “Whoever does not live to serve, does not ‘serve’ to live”.

God Bless,
John

Guess who is coming to visit.

An Argentinean, the son of Italian immigrants will be visiting our country this week.   He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; we know him as Pope Francis. He will be sharing the message of God’s compassionate love and our responsibility of sharing that love with others.   His priorities are helping the poor, caring for Creation and working towards peace.   This message and these priorities are not his, they are Christ’s. He will have many opportunities to share that message during his visit. Will we really listen and act upon this message?

As Pope Francis leaves Cuba on Sunday, September 20, he will have said Mass using readings from Book Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; the Letter of St. James 3:16-4:3, and the Gospel of Mark 9:30-37. These readings are a challenge to us and our civic leaders. I believe Pope Francis’ message will be challenging too. What will be the response when he addresses Congress on Thursday, September 24  and the United Nations on Friday, September 25^t?

Will we respond by murmuring, “he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training”? Wisdom 2:12. Our country is indeed blessed, yet still many experience homelessness or do not have a living wage. Life is not always considered sacred from conception until natural death. Pope Francis on June 5, 2013 General Audience said, “So men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: this is “scrap culture”, the culture of the disposable. . . . Conversely, a ten-point drop in the stock market in some cities is a tragedy. A person who dies is not a news story, but a ten point drop in the stock market is a tragedy! So people are discarded, as if they were trash.” Does not that in many ways describe our culture?

What is the alternative response? All that we have been given is grace and gift. We have rights and responsibilities. We need to hear and act upon wisdom that is “first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconsistency or insincerity.” James 3:17. This will take hard work and commitment. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace. James 3:18

Will Pope Francis’ message fall on deaf ears and cold hearts, and be a quaint memory when he departs?

Will we hear this call to conversion and action from Pope Francis or treat his visit simply as a media event?

Will we call our elected leaders to that same conversion and action?

Let us hear that call and not lose heart! As Pope Francis advised us during a September 4^th interview on ABC News, “Be courageous”.

In Christ and Peace,

John