Morrill on Bergolio: A scholar's assessment of Pope Francis I, one year in

Professor Bruce Morrill, S.J. In February 2014 at Vanderbilt University, Professor Bruce Morrill, S.J. presented Evangelization and Social Justice: Fundamentals of Pope Francis' Mission. (Click here to see and hear Bruce Morrill's presentation.) 

Drawing upon images from the pontifical election and events that occurred since Pope Francis's election one year ago, Professor Morrill begins with a narrative that draws upon his own first impression when he heard the NPR news that Jorge Bergolio, S.J., a fellow Jesuit was elected as the leader of the Catholic Church.

With his typical engaging teaching style that uses narratives, vignettes and images, Professor Morrill's frames "snapshots " of the mission of Pope Francis I that sum up what kind of church this pope envisions - a hands-on, non-conformist missionary church that Jorge Bergolio, S.J. - Pope Francis I immediately models throughout this first year of his papacy from the first days following his election.  

Recall the moments from those first moments of the papal election one year ago. 

Pope Francis emerges from the papal balcony, waves and essentially says waves 'Hi." "Good evening. Well, my fellow cardinals went to the ends of the world to find me but here I am." 

The new pope's first act is to ask for the prayers of the people. "And the people get it," Professor Morrill tells us. "They know how to pray." In his presentation, Professor Morrill recalls that he found himself praying as NPR allowed the silence of the moment to transmit without the usual commentary that live coverage usually provides. Apparently NPR caught on quickly and simply but astutely allowed the moment to be the moment. Bravo, NPR. 

Some highlights from Professor Morrill's presentation may capture your interest enough to listen to the entire talk.  

"The whole purpose of the Church is in service to the world." Morrill on Pope Francis' mission

"I'm trying to show priests how to behave." Pope Francis to the media upon returning to Santa Marta post election to pay his own hotel bill. 

"The Gospel isn't about ideas and arguments, is it? It's about relationships which will then include dialogue, teaching and learning." Morrill, presentation.

"He has made it emphatically clear that the Church is the Church when it is a church of the poor - not a church for the poor, but a church of the poor." Morrill on the pope's actions and his preaching. (One preposition can make all the difference in the world. Nice going, Professor.) 

"The Church must be a church that goes out. It's not enough to hang your signs and say 'Come home for Lent, come on back, come on in. That's a mistake. You go out and meet them where they are." Morrill on the Church as a missionary in service of the whole world. 

Professor Morrill briefly explores Apostolic Exhortation, Evangeli Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), which benefits the whole church. However, this astute teacher tells us that this humble and in his own way, brilliant pope uses this occasion to work with the teaching of the Church to make it effective beyond just words on a piece of paper. The Joy of the Gospel is about a church that goes out to the people in real time, a church that is apostolic, a missionary according the mandate of Jesus Christ to go out to the world and be the Gospel of joy. Can that create a counter cultural mess? You bet. The Church is not meant to be preserved but spent, shared and not stored, distributed not saved.  

Professor Morrill tells us that the pope insists that's what the Church needs to be. "I would much prefer a church that goes out and makes mistakes and gets bruised and dirtied than stays in its palaces and waits for people to come to it," Morrill quotes the pope from The Joy of the Gospel. And let us say 'Amen.' 

Perhaps Professor Morrill's talk on Pope Francis I will be your kick start for a richer Lent, a time when mess and mud and dirt create space for a really good cleansing. Profound thanks to Bruce Morrill, S.J., Ph.D. on providing another of his many rich resources of wisdom, wit and wonderful theological insights.

If you're inspired to dig deeper into Professor Morrill's work, click on the link for some of his writing and books. 

An optional memorial: Our Lady of Lourdes

On February 11, 1858, Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old girl in a poor family gathered wood with several friends for her family near a rock cave near Bernadette's home town of Lourdes, France. The place was known as a garbage pit and unfrequented except by the most destitute of the people of the town.

Perpetually sick because of the Soubirous family's terrible living conditions, Bernadette was frail and fell behind her friends who were more robust in physical stature and could run faster than she. While attempting to catch up to them, Bernadette saw in the grotto cave what she described as "a girl in white, no taller than I, and beautiful." Their dialogue did not reveal the apparition's identity until later, when after many visits between them, the mysterious young woman revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception.

Bernadette was uneducated and unfamiliar with this theological title; many people, including church leaders did not believe her. However, Bernadette's faith in her relationship with the Lady of Lourdes persisted; Bernadette endured many trials to see her. During one of the appearances, the Lady of Lourdes told Bernadette to dig for water in dry soil with her hands. The crowds who grew and came to watch Bernadette scorned her for her actions. However, the earth that Bernadette clawed unearthed a spring that still flows at the rate of 27,000 gallons of water daily.

In the years that followed the apparitions, millions of people continue to come to Lourdes to bathe in the spring and to pray for healing from a myriad of illness. Many cures have occurred since the first days of the apparitions. 

Bernadette Soubirous died at the age of 35 and was declared a saint in 1944. The French and Canadians regard her as one of their legendary saints and celebrate her feast day on April 16. St. Bernadette is the patron saint of illness and the poor. A really lovely film, The Song of Bernadette reveals a poignant story worth watching. 

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. 

Struck

Struck 

I met a family at the door of the Emergency Department on my rounds throughout the department's waiting rooms. Visibly shaken, one of the women asked if the ambulance that carried her husband had arrived. When I went to check on the ambulance's status, the Triage nurse asked me to escort the myriad of folks now assembling in droves, thanks to text and Twitter to the Family Room inside the Emergency Department. About a half hour later, which seems like eternity when you're waiting for news about someone in trauma crisis, the attending physician came to tell the man's wife, his children and family and friends that despite every attempt to save the man, the medical team lost him. That reality is always very difficult for clinicians, whose goal is to save lives, not lose them. The man was 46 years old and healthy until the day that he died. "Some people linger for a long time," his tearful wife reflected. "Sometimes quickly is best." I marveled at her acceptance despite her own broken heart.  

Caught unprepared

Unexpected death happens every day. More often than not, many, many people, even the most elderly ones go without a health care proxy, advance directives and pre-paid funerals. When people struggle just to make ends meets, paying an attorney and a funeral director for events that seem a long way off or unimaginable get back-burnered or dismissed entirely. However, when a death, especially a sudden death does occur, being caught unprepared can often times be accompanied by denial, leaving the survivors of the deceased person in an emotional and financial cul-de-sac. Not only must the family grieve the loss of the person who died but assume the fiscal responsibilities that accompany death. Grief is a process that cannot be hurried but so often and for so many people who find themselves without a community of faith and religious belief, grief becomes lost in the business of death and what ensues in the wake of survivors recovery.  

Cultural attitudes impact action

Different cultures adopt a variety of philosophies that inform their health care practices as well as their religious beliefs within their own faith traditions, or lack thereof. Futurist Ian Morrison claims that "Canadians embrace death, Europeans accept death, Americans put death off as long as possible and Californians are trying to find a way to reincarnate." (Truth often finds its most lucid moments within humor.) In my experience within pastoral practice within myriad settings, Morrison's insight provides a turn-key opportunity for Catholic parishes, schools and colleges in the Unites States to provide educational opportunities in the multiple rites and rituals and the beautiful options provided in the Order of Christian Funerals, practical resources such as pro-bono advice and assistance from professionals in the fields of law, health care, in funeral planning and parish ministries of support and care.

Language matters

Today, we mourned the death of Philip Seymore Hoffman whose Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Ignatius Church in New York City. Will we remember Mr. Hoffman's brilliant acting career and thank God that he lived among us and shared his gifts with us for too brief a time? Or will we remember him for his drug addition that led to his early passing? 

Today, the Roncalli Center also received news that a former Catholic presbyter passed away after struggling with cancer, obesity, pedophilia and heart disease. Will his diocese remember him for his failures or for his gifts as a preacher, as a charismatic spiritual leadership to his parish and Catholic school for many years and as an early supporter of the Permanent Diaconate, which he served as an teacher and mentor, generously providing liturgical and social hospitality for permanent deacons and their families every year on the Feast of St. Stephen, deacon and martyr on December 26? 

How does the Body of Christ pray for the dead instead of judging the dead? How can we better prepare members of the Body of Christ to live into the dying and rising of its life's work as a baptized, reconciling Church rather than working against the proverbial and individualistic grain? Can the faith of the baptized be renewed and nourished through the work of the liturgy and what ensues as an outcome of communal prayer? 

In the absence 

In the often under-utilized Vigil for the Deceased, perhaps we can take solace in the language that reminds us that no matter how unprepared we may be to embrace and accept death, there are many mansions in God's house where all saints and sinners depend on the love and mercy of God to find a home. Maybe we can begin to believe that as survivors of those people who leave us, many times unexpectedly and too soon that God is most present when we believe that God is absent. May we be struck with unexpected grace that helps us to find what we need when we need it most.  

Prayer

My brothers and sisters, we believe that all the ties of friendship and affection which knit us as one throughout our lives do not unravel with death.

Confident that God always remembers the good we have done and forgives our sins, let us pray, asking God to gather (the person) to himself. 

Lord, in our grief we turn to you. Are you not the God of love who open your ears to all? 

Listen to our prayers for your servant (the person), whom you have called out of this world:

lead (the person) to your kingdom of light and peace and count (the person) among the saints of glory. 

We ask this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen. 

From the Vigil for the Deceased, Order of Christian Funerals, 87

Falling in love with God - Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

America Magazine posted a memorial article earlier on Pedro Arrupe, S.J. to mark the 23rd anniversary of Don Pedro's death where he uttered "the last amen of my life, and the first alleluia of my eternity." Do read the entire article, a really beautiful post. Thank you, America Magazine. 

So many things could be said of Don Pedro regarding his leadership of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Fr. Arrupe served as the first post-conciliar Superior General who participated in the final session of the Second Vatican Council. He infamously stayed the course and led his religious order through a bitter tug of war with the Vatican on behalf of the poor and social justice. After suffering a stroke that immobilized him, Don Pedro's faith continued to inspire thousands through his writings evoked by his own physical suffering that lasted ten years. 

Many quotes from Fr. Arrupe's canon may be found in books and in on-line resources. We remember him today with one of his most popular quotes.

Falling in Love with God

Nothing is more practical than finding God,

that is, falling in love 

in a  quite absolute, final way. 

What you are in love with, 

what seizes our imagination,

will affect everything. 

It will decide what will get you out of be in the morning, 

what you will do with your evenings, 

how you will spend your weekend, 

what you read, 

who you know, 

what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude 

Fall in love, 

stay in love, 

and it will decide everything. 

Pedro Arrupe, S. J. 

Ending Noel

Water – an essential element of all life. 90% of the human body is comprised of water. Water replenishes plant life, provides oxygenation for humans and animals to breathe and avails a natural habitat for sea life to live and thrive. Without water, the community that inhabits Earth would perish. 

For Catholic Christians, today's feast of the Baptism of the Lord ends the season of Noel with a plunge into the water of life that moves initiated Christians into the challenge of the Gospel priority of the poor and the concern for community. In other words, all about "me" becomes all about "we."

How does the Christian community, which finds its source of systemic support in parish life welcome the stranger, the doubter, the mentally and physically challenged? How does a parish community embrace the unwanted, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the imprisoned, feed the hungry and bury its dead? How does a parish identify itself as a Christian community within this Jesus, the Christ who comes as God in enfleshed, takes on our human condition by becoming one of us and enters into radical solidarity with every living person?

"We are urged to move quckly beyond the intimate scene of Jesus' birth toward the more challenging vision of his baptism. In short, we are asked to move in the direction of life itself: from concern from intimacy to concern for community.

A Christian parish become its best self when it accepts the challenge of community. The parish community, as the real expression of a local church, cannot limit its attention to the search for justice and intimacy among it own members; it must be prepared to take up the cross, standing against evil and injustice wherever they exist in the world. This may seem like a harsh message for the Christmas season, but in fact it is the church's message at all times, in all seasons. There is, ulitimately, only one mystery Christians celebrate: the paschal mystery, Jesus' dying and rising in a new human community called "church." Nathan Mitchell

May all Christians begin anew in Ordinary Time (which is anything but ordinary) with renewed strength and gratitude for their own baptism that prompts initiated Chritians not only to preach the Gospel in words but to become the Gospel in visible deeds so that humankind may not perish but thrive through the water that gives life to the world. 

Merry Christmas.  

Postscript: Hopefully some parishes today celebrated an Asperges rite and a renewal of Baptismal promises. If not, consider tucking this suggestion away in your archives for next year's celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.