By Emile Ng and CNS
CARDINAL Jorge Mario Bergoglio took on the name Francis with the intention of showing the world that like his saintly namesake, simplicity creates room for great love.
A year on from the Holy Father’s election, who took over from Pope Benedict XVI after a sudden but well-discerned resignation, Pope Francis has shown the world that gestures, actions and his simple, yet piercing words, speak loudly.
The way he stepped out on the balcony in only a white cassock at St Peter’s Basilica for the first time immediately spoke of Pope Francis’ tendency towards simplicity.
Within hours, media were reporting on Pope Francis’ loving actions, which included bringing out a chair for a Swiss guard, running on to the streets to greet local Italians and riding the bus intended for the cardinals in the conclave instead of riding in a private car.
These actions and gestures are a reflection of his love for simplicity, trying to live as simply as possible, “to not have many things and to become a bit poorer” like Christ.
As Pope Francis continues to teach and challenge not just non-Catholics but indeed the entire Body of Christ, the Church, how to be authentic Christians, he continues to listen for guidance and wisdom from God, who appointed him as pope and from the Church.
In listening to the Church, he has spoken of the need to “smell like the sheep”.
To lead the Church to be more fully alive and more fully possessed by God, the Holy Father needs to know the people.
Pope Francis has described himself as the kind of person who prefers “living in the thick of things, among the people”.
In a meeting with seminarians and novices in July, he said too many people – including religious – thought joy came from possessions, “so they go in quest of the latest model of smartphone, the fastest scooter, the showy car”.
He prefers to travel in Rome in a blue Ford Focus, not one of the Mercedes sedans in the Vatican motor pool.
It is a message to the world that while he is the Pontiff, the ecclesial head of the Catholic Church, he is firstly Christ’s humble servant.
Christ, the great teacher, has a humble student in Pope Francis.
He is teaching the Church to live more simply, not just for simplicity’s sake, but to leave more room for Christ to work.
As the world continues to watch and wait on Pope Francis, may the Church become convicted in the pursuit of holiness, of becoming possessed by God, for Christ’s glory.
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