I’ll pass on a portion of this message from a very knowledgeable buddy of mine who is a religious.
Pope Francis was talking about the necessity of doing good. He supported his point in a very typical Jesuit manner, with three ideas. That’s how Jesuit pedagogy works. You pick a point and then you support it using a tripod. It may never be four or two. He chose to say that **man must do that which is good **
because:
a) He is created in the image and likeness of God
b) He is a child of God
c) He has been redeemed by the blood of Christ
This includes people of all faiths and no faith, even atheists.
The secular press runs with the story, “Pope says atheists are going to heaven”
The pope never said that. He never said they were not going to heaven either. The Church does not have the power to predict who is and who is not going to heaven. We can only tell you who is in heaven (Catholicism 101) and how to get there if you want to join them (Catholicism 102).
The media often fails to understand, because the reporters themselves are clueless or the reporter wants to sell a story. Whichever the case, the media’s reporting cannot be relied on if you want to be able to pay your electric bill. You may end up in the dark (Journalism 101).
So what do we do now?
Gee . . . what if we read the pope’s sermon. It’s all over the Internet.
OK, read the sermon and he does say that everyone is redeemed. But he failed to mention that there is a difference between redemption and salvation.
Question . . . Was salvation the subject of the sermon?
No . . . But he should have clarified it?
Is it possible that he has already spoken about how one achieves salvation or that the subject may come up in another sermon?
By the way, while we’re discussing the sermon, what was the sermon about?
Answer . . .
Another question . . . you do realize that this pope is a religious, not a diocesan priest? Priests formed in religious communities will bring the spirituality, focus, agenda, and systems of their communities to the pulpit. They can’t help it. To ask a Jesuit not to use Ignatian pedagogy is like asking President Obama for his birth certificate. Good luck with both.
Ohhh . . . you don’t know about Ignatian pedagogy.
Let’s ask an easier question. Is what the pope said affecting your life of prayer? . . . your relationship with your family? . . . maybe the moral choices that you make? . . . what about your apostolic activity in the community? . . . or the Catholic teaching that you give your children?
If the answer to all the above is “No,” why are you on Xanax?
Oh, you’re concerned about all those people out there who will misunderstand. That’s important. I understand that. My guess is that you must never sleep well or eat properly, because even when the pope simply says 2 + 2 still = 4, someone is going to misunderstand and someone else is going to say that he said five. Maybe the pope should keep his mouth shut so that you can get off the Xanax, recover your appetite and get past the insomnia caused by your worrying.
Since you can’t get the pope to shut up, maybe you can pray that God places guides in the path of those who are searching for Truth, since you can’t be there to guide everyone and neither can the pope, by the way.
You don’t want do that? Ok, well you’re due for a refill on your Xanax.
I can’t come up with another answer for those who lose sleep over things like this. The media will say what it wants to say. The pope can be as clear as a diamond and someone is going to misquote him. If we develop anxiety over every episode that happens, the only way to function will be with medication. I don’t know of any good spiritual director, catechist, confessor, apologist or theologian who can get you out of your anxiety mode.
