By REY FLORES
It is not my place or anyone else’s place to pass judgment on anyone, but especially not on a Pope. I understand that Pope Francis has not been everyone’s favorite Pope, but I am forever grateful for him for one specific reason.
Just the day before I wrote this, I spoke long distance with my father, who was baptized in the faith and I assume received all of the sacraments, but has not taken his religion very seriously. He is one of many who were poorly catechized and malformed in the faith.
My father has been a hard worker all of his life who left home at the age of 15 to seek his fortune and provide for his parents and brothers and sisters. He has certainly had his highs and lows, but thankfully now at the age of 83 he is as healthy as anyone of us can hope to be at that age.
Since we live about 740 miles apart from each other, we do not talk very often, but that day was special. Since my parents are from Mexico, my Dad has been watching the news coverage of Pope Francis’ visit there this past week.
My father attended my wedding and all of my children’s Baptisms, but aside from that, he doesn’t attend Mass or in any way keep himself close to any of the sacraments. He says he “prays to God” and that he trusts that God always looks out for him.
During our conversation, out of the blue he said, “I love that man. The Pope loves the poor and that is what I try to do too.”
He said this with a quiver in his voice as if he were about to cry. I sensed that my dad was somehow profoundly moved by this Pope. I have never heard my father acknowledge any Pope, but especially not with such emotion.
While I have seen my father cry during some difficult situations, he rarely shows this kind of emotion, so that is why I was taken aback by all of this.
I said, “Yes, he does talk a lot about the poor and he likes to practice what he preaches.” As these words came out of my mouth, I thought to myself that I too have been moved by Pope Francis in ways similar to how I was moved by Pope John Paul the Great when I was a child.
After I hung up the phone, I felt comforted by the fact that God does indeed have my father in his hands despite his not attending Mass. That is my next project: to get him to go to Mass regularly. Lord knows I’ve tried to literally push him into a confessional every time he’s attended one of the Masses we’ve invited him to.
I have also given him scapulars, rosaries, holy cards, and crucifixes. He does always have an image of Jesus or Our Lady of Guadalupe at his condo, so the belief is there to some degree.
It is generations of people like my dad who have been kept from the Church and all of her sacraments. It is people like my dad whom I ask all of you to pray for — that the Lord bring them back into the faith. Let us pray that God will shower them with the grace to fully embrace Jesus in the tabernacle, knowing full well that He is there always.
I recall that during my parents’ long, painful, and drawn-out divorce when I was in my teen years, my dad took me to some Protestant church that one of his co-workers attended. I too had been a lapsed Catholic ever since graduating from Catholic elementary school. It struck me as odd that my dad wanted to attend some kind of religious service, but because of his ignorance of the faith, he at least thought he was doing the right thing for him and for me.
I don’t know if he ever went back, but I certainly didn’t. At that time, I had absolutely no interest in going to any kind of church of any denomination, but that’s another story for another day.
If Pope Francis has the ability to move an old rebel like my dad, then that says a lot about our Pontiff. I am very hopeful that not only my dad but my sisters, and all of those people who may not be very orthodox or attend Mass regularly, may be brought closer to Jesus because of Pope Francis.
I have been asked by many people what I think about Pope Francis, and I have read about and heard people being very disrespectful toward him, but up until now, I did not feel comfortable writing about him.
My response has always been: “I trust the Holy Ghost on this one. It’s above my pay grade to pass any judgment on the Pope.” Today I understand that was nothing more than a cop-out. I should have been more respectful and courageous in defending our Pope from detractors within and outside the Church.
Maybe because Pope Francis’ first language is Spanish that had something to do with my father’s newly found interest in the faith. All I know is that the Holy Spirit works in ways we may not understand, and I also know that I am tremendously optimistic about the recent developments with my dad.
A few years back I also witnessed the miracle of my father-in-law Bill who had been away from the faith for decades. He too had the Holy Spirit working in his heart until he became a regular Mass attendee and communicant. The really neat thing was that he returned to the very same church where he had been an altar boy many years ago. Due to health reasons, he is not able to attend Mass now, but I ask that you please pray for him too.
I want to especially express my gratitude for not just Pope Francis, but for all of our priests, bishops, and all the clergy, both living and deceased. These brave shepherds need our prayers every day. The Devil attacks them more because of their holy vocations, so we need to help build their armor with all the prayers, sacrifices, and fasting we can offer up for them, especially now during Lent.
Lastly I have one question for you all: Have you thanked your priest today?
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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