How has Pope Francis impacted your spirituality so far?

[shelby_sun]

I absolutely agree.Where did I miss the teaching of the church other speak of that it is our “duty” to point out others sins and correct there way in any way we see fit. How can I do this as a sinner myself? Yet i am told, on this site, I am not being a good catholic unless I do so. I thought we were to live our faith and be a good example to others.

 

[JReducation]

I absolutely agree.Where did I miss the teaching of the church other speak of that it is our “duty” to point out others sins and correct there way in any way we see fit. How can I do this as a sinner myself? Yet i am told, on this site, I am not being a good catholic unless I do so. I thought we were to live our faith and be a good example to others.

Very often people don’t understand the whole concept of fraternal correction. I always like the parent and adult child analogy.

For example, I’m the parent of two adults. How else could I now be a religious, right? Anyway, when I see them doing something or they mention something that I know is a sin, I simply say so. I very calmly say, "That’s not right, because . . . . " Once said, I leave it at that. If they want to discuss it, they will respond.

If I nag them about it, that’s no longer being a dad. That’s harassment. I can certainly come back later and ask, “What happened with . . . ?” Again, if they want to discuss it, they will bite the bait. Otherwise, I let it drop.

This is the same way that we should deal with everyone, not just our adult children. The Church has never said that we’re supposed to go out there and nag people to death. Good preachers don’t do that.

The most effective preachers of modern history have been Archbishop Sheen, Bl. John Paul II and Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta. They stirred more hearts and consciences than many other preachers who jumped up and down. None of them every nagged anyone. They pointed away from the evil they saw and over to Christ.

 

[shelby_sun]

Very often people don’t understand the whole concept of fraternal correction. I always like the parent and adult child analogy.

For example, I’m the parent of two adults. How else could I now be a religious, right? Anyway, when I see them doing something or they mention something that I know is a sin, I simply say so. I very calmly say, "That’s not right, because . . . . " Once said, I leave it at that. If they want to discuss it, they will respond.

If I nag them about it, that’s no longer being a dad. That’s harassment. I can certainly come back later and ask, “What happened with . . . ?” Again, if they want to discuss it, they will bite the bait. Otherwise, I let it drop.

This is the same way that we should deal with everyone, not just our adult children. The Church has never said that we’re supposed to go out there and nag people to death. Good preachers don’t do that.

The most effective preachers of modern history have been Archbishop Sheen, Bl. John Paul II and Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta. They stirred more hearts and consciences than many other preachers who jumped up and down. None of them every nagged anyone. They pointed away from the evil they saw and over to Christ.

Bro. I completely agree. I so wish people had to read your post before they respond on any other. You to give me hope in our Catholic faith. I hope Pope Francis can bring those who are arrogant to the right way, Thank you so much. You are a blessing to this site.

 

[JReducation]

Bro. I completely agree. I so wish people had to read your post before they respond on any other. You to give me hope in our Catholic faith. I hope Pope Francis can bring those who are arrogant to the right way, Thank you so much. You are a blessing to this site.

This is very interesting for me, because when asked how has Pope Francis inspired me or impacted my spirituality, I don’t really have a single answer. I have never met the man. I can only go by what I see and what his Jesuit brothers tell me about him. He reminds me very much of St. John Bosco.

Many people don’t know this, but St. John Bosco wanted to be a Franciscan Friar. Eventually, he settled for being a Secular Franciscan. He took many lessons from St. Francis and adapted them to his personality and to the situation in which he found himself, which is important. We can’t just pick up something and run with it. We have to make it our own. In order to do so, we bring our personality and our context into the mix.

If I were going to point to yet another thing that Pope Francis can teach us is how to take the influence of a great saint, in his case it’s St. Francis of Assisi, but it could be any saint. To take that influence and make it our own without losing our personality and to use it correctly in our context. We don’t mold the context. The context is what it is: family, parish, papacy, youth ministry, religious education, the office, parenting, etc. But we do what we do with those values as a point of reference.

St. John Bosco did this. He used St. Francis of Assisi as his check list. Yet, he was not Francis’ clone. He’s very much a unique personality. Pope Francis does the same thing. One thing that we can learn from him is how to preserve our identity and at the same time use the values of a saint or saints in our daily lives, by using that person as a check list of “Do’s and Don’ts.”

 

[Sirach2]

Many people don’t know this, but St. John Bosco wanted to be a Franciscan Friar. Eventually, he settled for being a Secular Franciscan. He took many lessons from St. Francis and adapted them to his personality and to the situation in which he found himself, which is important.
St. John Bosco did this. He used St. Francis of Assisi as his check list.

Brother, do you have your St. Francis’s mixed up with regard to St. John Bosco? I love this saint and have studied his life, watched videos on him, etc. St. Francis de Sales was the saint he was most dedicated to. When he founded his religious order, it was called Salesians.

 

[JReducation]

Brother, do you have your St. Francis’s mixed up with regard to St. John Bosco? I love this saint and have studied his life, watched videos on him, etc. St. Francis de Sales was the saint he was most dedicated to. When he founded his religious order, it was called Salesians.

No I don’t. If you read his autobiography, he tells you about his Franciscan yearning. His original plan was to become a Friar Minor. His spiritual director advised him to enter the diocesan seminary, so he did. He continued to be influenced by Franciscan spirituality. He later joined the Secular Franciscans.

It is through the reading of the Introduction to the Devout Life that he encounters St. Francis de Sales. Little by little the pieces begin to fall into place. He visits a detention center for boys and realizes that they have no place to go when they come out, other than go back in. He begins his work at a Franciscan house, named St. Francis of Assisi.

However, he has to give something to his boys as he calls them. He gradually introduces them to the Christian life using the method of Francis de Sales. When he contemplates what will happen to his oratory when he dies, he realizes that there has to be a stable community of men to serve the boys. He founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales. De Sales is their model as a teacher, because of his wisdom, simplicity and his patience. Francis of Assisi was not a teacher.

However, Francis of Assisi continued to serve as their model of poverty and commitment to the poor and the voiceless. He is also their model of fraternity.

It’s interesting, because we can see how God always has a plan. I don’t know if John Bosco knew it, but St. Francis de Sales was also a Secular Franciscan. A lot of his simplicity is drawn from the St. Francis’ Rule for the Brothers and Sisters of Penance. St. John Bosco does not mention knowing any of this in his biography. We can only wonder how much he knew.

But one thing is certain. His passion for the poor and his life of poverty and service was modeled on Francis of Assisi. His methods, his content, and his pedagogy come from Francis de Sales. If one reads the Salesian constitutions, one finds both saints speaking through Bosco.

That’s why Pope Francis reminds me of Bosco. Pope Francis blends two schools of spirituality almost seamlessly as did John Bosco.

It also goes to prove that there is only one Christian Spirituality. There are many approaches to it that are very complimentary.

 

[Sirach2]

If one reads the Salesian constitutions, one finds both saints speaking through Bosco.

Thank you so much!

 

[clem456]

Another awesome sermon by Pope Francis:

news.va/en/news/pope-francis-mass-with-st-peters-fabric

The Lord saves us by His love: not with a letter, nor with a decree, but with his love,” a love so great that it led him to send his Son, who, “became one of us, walked with us,” and this, he said, “saves us.” The Holy Father went on to explain that “salvation” means, “the recovery of that dignity, which we have lost,” the dignity of being children of God.
This is a dignity that grows, said Pope Francis, “until our final encounter with Him,” adding, “this is the way of salvation, and this is beautiful,” he continued, “for [it is a way] that only love can [forge].” The Holy Father went on to say, “We are worthy, we are men and women of hope: this is what it means to be saved by love.” The problem, he explained, is that sometimes we want to save ourselves, “and we believe we can do it,” for example basing our security on money - and we think: “I have money, I am secure, * all, there are no worries, I have dignity: the dignity of a rich person.” “This,” said Pope Francis, “is not enough,” adding, “Think of the parable of the Gospel, of the man who had the full granary, who said, ‘I’ll make another to get more, and then I’ll sleep soundly,’ and the Lord says, 'You fool! This evening you will die '. That salvation is wrong, it is a temporary salvation, it is also apparent salvation.”
The Holy Father went on to say that, at other times, “We think we save ourselves with vanity, with pride,” that, “We believe ourselves powerful …,” and that “We mask our poverty, our sins, with vanity, with pride … Even that ends,” he said, but, “true salvation is in the dignity that God gives back to us in the hope that Christ has given us at Easter. “Let’s make today an act of faith,” said Pope Francis, “[Let us say]: Lord, I believe. I believe in Your love. I believe that Your love has saved me. I believe that Your love has given me the dignity that I had not. I believe that Your love gives me hope.” *

 

[Beachcomber]

One thing I now do is look up his homilies. After I read Pope Francis’ first one, I was hooked. He speaks to people on an equal level, encouraging them to become more spiritual. I really like this guy.

 

[ajecphotos]

This is the first pope that i have ever sat up and noticed!!

May God fill him with the Holy Spirit to help him guide the church in the way of the Truth.