Sooooo... this old grumpy, religion skeptical Lutheran boy is impressed. The Pope process is less than transparent. As a Lutheran we stick our chins out at a lot of things Roman Catholic and pridefully show disdain for certain aspects of Roman Catholicism like saints, and Popes and the elevation of Mary to a Deity and praying for the dead... but we fail to mention that we adopted 90% of it whole cloth and in truth, Luther never wanted to leave but in his arrogance could not countenance that what was then the churches leadership did not embrace his version of God’s all encompassing Grace.
Of course as Lutherans we seem to have lost that. Our leadership and the conservative Lutheran blogosphere which seems to govern our churches theology and doctrine are much more concerned about who their Pastors and laity are praying with than to be too concerned regarding something as silly as God’s Grace. It has rarely been more important for our Missouri Synod President to appear on TV with cardinal Dolan and decry how Obama is the anti Christ and President Harrison referred to his testimony before Congress with the Roman catholic Bishop as a martyrdom. Tears in my eyes for his suffering.
The Catholics have been suffering hugely with their well publicized scandals which they have handled, for lack of a better word, poorly. Benedict was a dogmatic Pope who embraced high church, wanted to bring back the Latin Mass (the language of Christ I think if it wasn’t German) and looked with at best a jaundiced eye on Vatican II. But, for whatever reason he stepped aside. The College of Cardinals for whatever reason was led to chose this very conservative but apparently very Jesuit Argentinian and this man, for whatever reason took the name of St. Francis as his own which holds as much symbolism as anything he could have led off with.
He is a VERY conservative guy. He is said to dislike the “social justice” arm of Catholicism and signed a document stating that being worthy for the Eucharist includes accepting the churches stance on abortion. But he is a Jesuit and he cares about the poor to his core and he might end up being a radical voice of God’s Grace and love from Rome. The National catholic Reporter stated that “At a meeting of Latin American bishops in 2007 Bergoglio said "[w]e live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most, yet reduced misery the least" and that "[t]he unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers". That is a heavy statement.
But words are just words. I am a huge fan of Maundy Thursday where as Lutherans we celebrate the only commandment given us by Christ, that we love one another the way he loved us. Catholics celebrate Holy Saturday as we prepare for Good Friday and Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. Evidently there is a Vatican tradition of the Pope doing a foot washing on that day. Christ of course washed the feet of his disciples prior to going to Gethsemane and surrendering to Judas and the mob. Foot washing is beautiful in it’s humility and it is hard to envision any act of service more intimate. It is my understanding (which is limited since I am of course a Lutheran) that the Pope would wash the feet of leaders of the church. Men. Men of station. Christian, righteous, pious, men.
But not Francis! Francis goes to a prison. Francis does not just visit the people in prison. Francis goes and he washes their feet. He washed the feet of prisoners. he washes the feet of Muslims. He washes the feet of... (gasp)... women. This is not the way of the modern Church. Our leaders like to make rules. They like to make doctrine. They like to enforce doctrine. They enjoy sitting in their enclaves making edicts and then going out to visit the faithful. Not that they are not happy when their flocks serve, so long as they serve with the right people, and of course if you Lutheran’s, so long as you do not worship with those people. Some things are not to be tolerated.
But not Francis. Francis goes to prison and serves the needs of the forgotten. The needs of the lost. The needs of the evil, broken sinners. Francis went and served people like me. I know I have quoted it before but Bruce Cockburn, Canadian rocker of may years, retold the nativity of Christ in his song “Cry of a Tiny Babe”, and he sings “It isn’t to the palace that the Christ Child comes, but to shepherds, street people, hookers and bums.” Amen a
nd God Bless our new Pope. He might not be the head of my church, I might not think he is infallible, I am sure he will take positions that offend and disappoint me but God Bless the new Pope this Easter and all my Catholic brothers and sisters for finding a man who with a humble act of mercy gives me new hope.
Happy Easter and God’s Peace.
