Smoke Signals

Pope Francis 

After a relatively brief process, Catholics world-wide were pleasantly surprised today by the sight of white smoke billowing above the Sistine Chapel, announcing to the world that a new Pope had been elected.  

While some of my Protestant brothers and sisters may debate the role or importance of the papacy, there is no debating that history has been made as  Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergolio, now known as Pope Francis, I, is the first non-European to be elected pope in more than 1,000 years and the first Latin American pope as well as the first Jesuit pope.  

And, there is no debating that the lines that divide Protestants and Catholics are not thick enough to keep the motion on one side from affecting those on the other side.  It's a small world after all and history made in Catholicism has ripple effects that are felt throughout Protestantism.   

As people of faith in the God of the Bible, the bloodline of Jesus Christ transcends our differences and connects Protestants and Catholics who are all faced with the same challenges of remaining relevant in society while remaining true to the call of God.

An NBC News article quotes Pope Francis I as saying,“Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the word in body as well as spirit.... It’s true that when you get out into the street, as happens to every man and woman, there can be accidents. However, if the church remains closed in on itself, self-referential, it gets old. Between a church that suffers accidents in the street, and a church that’s sick because it's self-referential, I have no doubts about preferring the former.”

The article goes on to explain that when he was a Cardinal, Pope Francis gave up a limousine for the bus, and cooked his own meals.  His first act as Pope was to choose the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, who gave up riches for a life of poverty and prayer.

In our materialistic, self-centered society, we can all learn from a man who challenges us to live out the Great Commission, to live simply so that others may simply live, and to risk failure and pain for the sake of keeping the Gospel fire burning in our churches and in our hearts.

Here's hoping that today's smoke signals Holy fire for my brothers and sisters of the Catholic faith and that some of that fire will spread to the rest of us.

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen