BONUS: Remembering Pope Francis | Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress & Fr. Patrick Briscoe
April 21, 2025
This transcription was generated using AI technology. Please note that there may be errors or inconsistencies.
This is father Patrick Briscoe. This is father Joseph Anthony Kress. Welcome to Godsplaining. Thanks to all who support us. If you enjoyed the show, please consider making a monthly donation to us on Patreon. Be sure to like and subscribe to Godsplaining wherever you listen to your podcasts. Friends, we wanted to check in with you because of the latest news about the Holy Father, about Pope Francis.
00:00:28:08 – 00:00:58:23
Unknown
And there are a lot of things that I’m sure people are thinking and feeling right now, and we’re in the same place. We’re not. We’re no different for for Catholics, every time, we lose the Holy Father, we lose the Vicar of Christ. Yes, we lose our head. We lose our shepherd. We lose the one who. God in his providence for reasons that are mysterious and unknown to us, we lose the one who God in His providence has given to us to lead us.
00:00:58:23 – 00:01:27:13
Unknown
Yeah, and not that that change. Losing our shepherd, losing Pope Francis, losing a losing our father is always a loss. And it’s always painful. Very much so. We have gone through this twice in our life. And so it’s still it’s not something you do regularly and it’s still kind of packs a punch. And and being in a place where you’re saying, oh, okay, the Holy Father’s dead.
00:01:27:18 – 00:01:55:02
Unknown
And, you know, even as a priest now to pray the Eucharistic Prayer and to not have a name to say there that that just it hits differently. And so there’s, there’s elements of grief involved, there’s elements of sorrow, while at the same time not getting caught up, but in the kind of like, oh, well, we’re sheep without a shepherd, or we’re lost because we know how the Lord’s providence does, sustain and fulfill us.
00:01:55:04 – 00:02:16:15
Unknown
But there is a real sense of loss. I think that’s the best. Honestly, probably the best way to articulate it is just there’s a sense of loss at this moment. We wanted to do this episode of Father Joseph, and he and I were especially passionate about it because, again, we know that for for many of our listeners, the legacy of Pope Francis is complicated and very much so.
00:02:16:15 – 00:02:39:07
Unknown
And we we want to we want to respect that and we want to respect that reality. Yeah. And so what we want to proceed, what we want to set out to do here is not not to whitewash that legacy. No. But we also realize that we’re very close to this moment and that it’s difficult, it’s difficult to take a step back and really know, and really see a complete picture.
00:02:39:09 – 00:03:02:16
Unknown
And what I mean by to close is where to close in history. Yeah, there are many things that are going to unfold, many things that we don’t yet understand, many things that remain is yet unclear to us. Of course, we have the the emotional state which can be mixed, and with which, which people are going to feel, certainly passionately differently about some aspects of the Holy Father’s legacy, about some aspects of his papacy.
00:03:02:18 – 00:03:24:15
Unknown
But it’s still necessary to to begin to think about who was Pope Francis and who was Pope Francis in the life of the church, and especially in our lifetime. Right where we have very important not only under Pope Francis, we are Pope Francis priests in that way. And in some respects, I’m not afraid to say that. And like you were saying, we’re we’re too close.
00:03:24:15 – 00:03:58:21
Unknown
Kind of just in the annals of history at this moment. And it’s not it’s not the right opportunity to put things under a microscope. It’s not the right opportunity to begin to dissect it. All right. So, I mean, in, in us kind of talk in preparing for this, it was, I think, for us just a moment to reflect, you know, just to reflect on the the years of his papacy, in his Petrine ministry, but to not to kind of dissect it or put it in a microscope and to begin to categorize the things into, lists or, you know, pros and cons or whatever.
00:03:58:21 – 00:04:27:17
Unknown
But it’s just to take that step back and honestly, just let our hearts reflect on these years, with Pope Francis as, as our Holy Father, as a vicar of Christ, and to just provide those moments of reflection in a, in a authentic but a real way. If for that reason, I want to begin with a note of gratitude, a word of gratitude to Pope Francis, because being the vicar of Christ, serving as the successor of Peter, this is, I think, the most difficult job on earth.
00:04:27:17 – 00:04:53:11
Unknown
It is. It absolutely is. One of the things that I was deeply moved by from the beginning has been Pope Francis initial and continued calls for prayers and the faithful to sustain him in his ministry. Pope Francis certainly knew what he was facing, and, he was as many of you will recall, he received a lot of votes in the 2005 conclave that many people, many people are aware of that.
00:04:53:16 – 00:05:15:08
Unknown
So there was a kind of movement. It’s interesting that most Vatican s people that were watching the conclave very closely, most Vatican s had written off Pope Francis in 2013 because of his age. And they they were thinking, no, he’s he’s too old. Everyone was it was his aware certainly of the fact that he lost a major portion of his lung when he was a young man in that surgery.
00:05:15:10 – 00:05:33:22
Unknown
And so people but people were thinking of Pope Francis as, as extremely frail. Here we are years later, many years later, actually, many years later. Actually, it was not been the case. Yeah, certainly not for the perspective. When you really back up and you look at the history of the church and you see how long papacy typically have been.
00:05:33:22 – 00:05:54:02
Unknown
Yeah. And you realize, oh, my Pope Francis actually has had, one of the longer papacy. He’s certainly not in in comparison to Pope Saint John Paul the Second, who were very proximate in our memory of ours, exactly who would loom large in our memory. But, but it’s true that Pope Francis has has remained in in good health throughout most of his papacy.
00:05:54:04 – 00:06:27:23
Unknown
He’s worked very hard. I mean, the man has not taken any of the vacations that are typically taken by, by popes, and it’s an extraordinary testimony to to his, to his derive, in that way. And so I so I wanted to express, a certainly a sense of filial gratitude, right, for Pope Francis, who, who said yes, when his brothers in the conclave asked him to undertake the Petrine ministry and who served so diligently as the successor of Peter these years.
00:06:28:05 – 00:06:56:18
Unknown
Yeah, I think that’s really important. I kind of go back to the origins of it and to reflect on like, okay, how did this come about? And to see that kind of, generosity and to say, like, you know, here was a man that, in in great humility, which I think in many ways marked, different aspects of his papacy, but his great humility answer to call and, and served it as authentically and genuinely as he as he could and did for many, many years.
00:06:56:18 – 00:07:27:16
Unknown
And, and for that, there’s no reason to not be grateful, that there’s no reason to not express that gratitude in the fact that he did, respond well when when called, he responded, well. And that’s a beautiful gift, father Joseph. Anthony, maybe, you can take us through what you felt when Pope Benedict resigned. And in the moments surrounding Pope Francis selection, because we were here together in Washington as students.
00:07:27:16 – 00:08:03:02
Unknown
And that that moment was, was a was a very particular one to live through in the history of the church. Yeah. I, I couldn’t believe it. I mean, this would be like, I just like, I know what it’s like once again, because my, my only reference point was Saint John Paul the Second and how he lived out his papacy, how he lived at the end of his life and in these types of things, and not only was unique in the history of the church, but like with if you’re only reference point is Saint John Paul the second.
00:08:03:04 – 00:08:28:18
Unknown
This this is wild. And I remember in watching I remember being in my cell on the third floor in the student tape floor, watching that helicopter fly away from the Vatican, circle over top of it a few times, and then kind of just I just those images will always stay with me and just, honestly being confused and confounded at that.
00:08:28:19 – 00:08:52:20
Unknown
And then allowing us to kind of step into this new conclave that, you know, wasn’t preceded by a funeral. And what does that mean? And how does that happen? And then, in the middle of the Roman night, having, the, the white smoke, ascend. And I was in the middle of the afternoon here in the United States.
00:08:52:22 – 00:09:19:03
Unknown
Then we all gather around, you know, to watch and, trying to figure out what this new, new experience of having, a holy father and a pope, but also having a pope emeritus. And what does that mean? You know, kind of going back and forth and things. But, I do have to say, like, the beauty and the honor that both of these men showed to each other in a very particular time of the church.
00:09:19:05 – 00:09:47:11
Unknown
I actually was in many respects edifying, it was it unfolded in, in ways I don’t think any of us could have expected or perceived. And there was, you know, that was a hallmark of definitely the Pope Francis’s, first number of years, as long as, Pope Benedict was still alive, there was this kind of, duality and maybe even, like, having a pope and a pope emeritus like, that was always part of the conversation, really.
00:09:47:13 – 00:10:12:00
Unknown
And, and you have to kind of reflect on, even for Pope Francis, like, very few popes have had to deal with that. And I don’t think we maybe even put that into the equation as much as, it probably affected a lot of things and even him as a man and, and and being Pope himself, you know, for a number of years having these, this kind of reality exist for him.
00:10:12:02 – 00:10:40:13
Unknown
The certainly the resignation of Pope Benedict was a striking thing. That that was before I check the news first thing every morning in my life. I was before I made, this move into Catholic media, before my vocation led that way. And so I, I had no idea what was going on. And then arrived down in the chapel and before our morning prayers began, our our prior, our superior, who was then allowed again, the Doyle stood up and said, just very simply to the community, brothers, I have an announcement.
00:10:40:13 – 00:11:05:12
Unknown
Pope Benedict the 16th has resigned the papacy. And in the chapel. Yeah, it was it was hushed. I mean, we were we were it was that it was the chapel. It was early in the morning, but there was that overwhelming feeling of shock. Yeah. Genuine surprise. And then, and subsequently what, what what that moment was, was an interruption in our, in our religious life in a very dramatic way.
00:11:05:12 – 00:11:27:10
Unknown
And that was echoed again. I was thinking of this when you said, yes. We all went down to celebrate Pope Francis selection. Because as soon as there was white smoke, the bells of the National shrine began to ring across the street. And so so we knew we knew it had happened and our classes were interrupted and we left the classroom to go down into our common room to gather around.
00:11:27:12 – 00:11:46:06
Unknown
And, the superior again was was ready for a moment. There was a champagne toast and prayers for food and we sang the today. You know, I love those moments, like in the religious life, where your response to these really kind of pivotal moments is like, well, now what do I do? It’s like, no, no, we we sing the hymn.
00:11:46:06 – 00:12:10:15
Unknown
That’s right, I prayed. And to give glory to God for this moment, there’s something really remarkable. And, it kind of snaps you out of the, I don’t know the artificial side of it all or the like. Let’s now start to figure out and learn all the facts about this and of it. It’s like, no, let’s pause for a moment and actually praise God for the movements of the Spirit and His providence to bring about this reality.
00:12:10:15 – 00:12:34:05
Unknown
And I always really appreciate that because it begins to put forward the, the priorities for us. And then it’s like, okay, this is, you know, let us thank God and praise him for this reality. And I went, I went to echo just as we were surprised by the resignation of Pope Benedict, we were just as surprised by the election of Pope Francis again.
00:12:34:07 – 00:12:55:07
Unknown
Like his head, most Vatican is had written him off. Yeah. So this was not the commentary that that that the Friars had been reading. And so it was, so it was a, it was a it was a moment of surprise, a lot of jokes about the Jesuit pope, very, very many of those. You but you might you might expect that we’ve we we certainly have, but also kept a note that him taken the name Francis.
00:12:55:12 – 00:13:14:04
Unknown
Yes. It was like what do we do? Is he Francis? The first is he just Francis? If we call him Frank style or what do we call him that. No, but I did, I did, but that was a whole another shock or another interruption. Like we were used to these kind of Petrine names in succession. And which number is he going to be or anything?
00:13:14:04 – 00:13:39:23
Unknown
And then you’re like, wait, Francis. Oh, okay. That’s a that’s a new thing. Now, so even even that I remember was like a little, I don’t know, compounding it. Just like, what do I do with this now? So that was a his election was certainly the first of many surprises. Yeah. Which we received. But and then, then there were those early signs which quite honestly, I found very moving.
00:13:40:00 – 00:13:59:03
Unknown
It was very tender, for example, that he went to pay for his hotel room. Yeah. People were talking about this. We learned that that he was a dedicated bus rider. Yeah. When he was, the, the the archbishop of Buenos Aires, that he that he lived a life of mark and simplicity and poverty. These these are all extraordinarily compelling things.
00:13:59:03 – 00:14:16:17
Unknown
I remember vividly the first place he went as pope. He he went to pray at the tomb of Pope Pius that fifth. And which I thought was a great sign, you know, that that was kind of the Dominican moment in this. You have you have a Jesuit pope taking the name of Francis, whose first public act is to go and pray at the tomb of Pius the right.
00:14:16:23 – 00:14:36:20
Unknown
It’s like, what is this? All these. Yeah. These different movements, going on. But of course, Pius the fifth was a man of of great personal simplicity, of great personal holiness, and of and of a drive to reform the church at a difficult moment, during the successive sessions of the Council of Trent there, in the 16th century.
00:14:36:20 – 00:14:58:20
Unknown
So, so all of that is, all of that was very interesting about Pope Francis early days. Is there 1 or 2 things that that you remember? Yeah, I remember that, him walking out into the loggia over top of the, the, the Saint Peter’s Square. That’s where it I was looking for. And there were the kind of juxtapositions.
00:14:58:20 – 00:15:23:08
Unknown
Right. And and I don’t want to do much of this of, like, juxtaposing him to previous popes or anything, but there was a clear juxtaposed vision. And it wasn’t just him as Pope, two previous popes, but I think it was a reflection of where world and society was, where the previous, election of Pope Benedict, you know, you saw the square and it was filled with people and everybody’s kind of raising their hands and cheering and clapping.
00:15:23:14 – 00:15:41:10
Unknown
And then when he was elected, they take a picture from the square looking up at the loggia. And it’s not everybody clapping and cheering. It’s cell phones in there. You see screens. And the for me that was I was like, oh, we’re at a different place. This is going to be a very different in church. Just because of how the world has shifted.
00:15:41:12 – 00:16:08:01
Unknown
And because of that, it was like, okay, this is going to be a really new challenge and a different place because there’s this has been a major societal shift at this point. How we engage with reality, how we engage with these key moments. There was something really remarkable that like, I remember reflecting on like, this is a different picture, and not just because it’s a snapshot, but like it reflects the picture of the world in society right now.
00:16:08:03 – 00:16:26:03
Unknown
And so, of course, many people are going to note that Pope Francis was the first non-Italian pope that, that had been elected in centuries, that, non-European. Excuse me, non-European. This is what I mean. Now, of course, because I’m talking point is wrong. That was John Paul, the second non-European pope elected in centuries, first pope from the New World and all these things.
00:16:26:03 – 00:16:48:18
Unknown
Yeah. And that that mentality of coming from the global South, from Latin America certainly certainly shaped Pope Francis. I mean, it gave rise to, to to many comments, that he would make throughout his papacy. Yeah. That that were sometimes, frankly hilarious that I loved or, or other times they were they were very difficult. Yeah. That they cost a lot of consternation.
00:16:48:18 – 00:17:22:15
Unknown
I’m thinking of, for example, where where the Holy Fathers asked about, asked about a homosexual couple that’s married. So the, the context of the question eludes me at the moment. And Pope Francis gave his, his now famous response, well who am I to judge. And the way that that comment was misconstrued was, was very painful and very difficult and remain so frankly and in some in some corners of the church and in some corners of the world, because, the Holy Father, because the Holy Father, as Peter, as a charge to, has a charge to protect doctrine.
00:17:22:15 – 00:17:44:22
Unknown
He also has a charge to announce the gospel to the world. And so there was the tension, the global engagement, and with, and with protecting the Catholic tradition, Catholic, Catholic teaching that that I think played out throughout Pope Francis papacy. As a Dominican, I certainly am more comfortable in the space where the doctrine is clear.
00:17:44:22 – 00:18:07:20
Unknown
Yeah. And that doesn’t mean from my perspective that you can be engaging. But certainly Pope Francis ready style is noted sense of humor. His willingness to make these off of off the cuff remarks, certainly that that was something new, especially as you’re pointing out in the context of the age of social media. Yeah. And, his kind of spontaneity, we had not really seen that.
00:18:07:22 – 00:18:23:14
Unknown
I mean, maybe even since John Paul the second, that kind of real, Spanish. Once again, I’m trying to not always juxtapose him to his predecessors, but but it’s helpful in a way, right? Yeah. It’s like. Yeah, yeah, but, ladies, you have to take Pope Francis has he is you have to respect the man. Exactly. And this is what I love.
00:18:23:14 – 00:18:43:06
Unknown
I mean, we can talk about the spontaneity. From our personal experience with the Holy Father at World Youth Day in Krakow, when he spoke to, all the volunteers as his final, engagement of World Youth Day that he took his script that was prepared and translated in multiple languages and for specifically translated into Polish for all the volunteers there.
00:18:43:08 – 00:18:59:15
Unknown
And looked out into the crowd and he saw his people. He saw his flock. And he looks at them and says, do you want me to read this or speak from the heart? And everybody screams like the heart. And he just close the the script and threw it on the bench and then spoke to his people that that’s wild.
00:18:59:17 – 00:19:31:18
Unknown
Yeah. And it was, it was touching. Also, it created so much chaos for us on the back end because we’re rambling. Oh, it was wild. But like, there was something spontaneous and beautiful about that. And so I think what as I reflect once again, I’m reflecting on his papacy, now that it has come to a close, there were moments where he definitely challenged me, and there was moments that were his, you know, his writings or his interviews or things were really confounding.
00:19:31:19 – 00:20:00:00
Unknown
And, I struggled with them. But what I think it really did for me was it helped me to kind of love the papacy. That’s right. And, recognizing that maybe this individual, I don’t have a lot of personal affinity for, but yet I still love the Pope. I still love him. In that role. And as the years have gone on, I was I mean, I’ll be very, very honest with you.
00:20:00:00 – 00:20:21:23
Unknown
Like, as he was going through his illness, I, I was very sad. And I had, like, very genuine prayer that I didn’t want him to suffer. And I was hurting knowing that he was hurting. And it got to that point where I’m like, okay, here’s somebody that maybe I don’t have a lot of personal affinity for or have have struggled with in many respects.
00:20:22:01 – 00:20:51:10
Unknown
But watching him in this way has created actually a deeper love and honor for him. And, there’s a great sadness there. And I think that, like, reflecting on how I received the news of his illness, how I received the news of how that kind of deteriorated, to offer, like very genuine, authentic prayers for that that were not based on, you know, this kind of personal affinity for that.
00:20:51:12 – 00:21:11:13
Unknown
And I think it has helped to kind of maybe distill how I approach this role of the Vicar of Christ on earth and how can I I can appreciate and embrace that not necessarily dependent on personality. And take that for what it’s worth. And I’m actually I’m very, very grateful for his papacy because that has helped me in personal ways.
00:21:11:17 – 00:21:38:13
Unknown
It’s definitely challenged me in very personal ways, but I have had this very profound response through his illness and, in this way that they say like, oh my goodness. Like, no, I, I, I really do love him with, you know, what I can only describe as like charity wanting good for him as, as as him, even though there’s, you know, confusion or conflict or, like I said, lack of effort and sanity at different moments.
00:21:38:13 – 00:21:56:13
Unknown
I’m off script. That’s a good word for pope, for Pope Francis. And that that comes with that comes with genuine goods and and things that are, that are genuinely challenging. I wonder, Father Joseph Anthony, what are some of the things from Pope Francis, from his teaching, from his life that you’re going to continue to carry with you?
00:21:56:15 – 00:22:14:15
Unknown
Yeah. There are two moments. There have been there are others as well. This is not just, well, I, I dug the barrel and all I can find to know there are others. But for me, the two important moments were early on in his papacy when he, introduced the name of Saint Joseph into all four Roman canons.
00:22:14:15 – 00:22:29:12
Unknown
Yeah, that was great. That’s how the. Because that’s how we’ve prayed the mass. Yeah, I was I love that I was like, I, I had, a devotion to the first Eucharistic prayer because Joseph was in that. And then all of a sudden I was like, no, no, no, now I can have all four with Saint Joseph, you know?
00:22:29:13 – 00:22:48:17
Unknown
And there was I mean, Saint Joseph, I think in many respects is somewhat emblematic of his papacy. He has a very strong devotion to Saint Joseph, that was spoken about in the early days. And we saw that when he introduced, Saint Joseph into the Eucharistic canon, all for Eucharist. And we had this year of Saint Joseph.
00:22:48:18 – 00:23:08:14
Unknown
We had some very beautiful spiritual writings from Pope Francis about Saint Joseph. And then the other moment that is so, so, so vivid for me and, brought me to tears in the moment. And I it’s hard for me to look back up. Pope Francis and not have this actual vivid image is during the Covid 19 pandemic. Yeah.
00:23:08:16 – 00:23:35:21
Unknown
When he was alone with Lord Jesus. Wow. This is, yeah, in Saint Peter’s Square. And the entire world was watching because nobody knew where else to turn. And he stood as this shining light to direct all of us back to the Lord, saying, hey, everything else may be falling down, but here’s the Lord, never abandoned in this moment, in this radically crisis that we’re all sharing in there.
00:23:35:21 – 00:24:00:01
Unknown
He is leading us. And I remember it. It rained in the square. And so there was a the the cobblestones were reflecting because they were it’s just such a profound moment. And to have not just the Holy Father, but to have Pope Francis, who has captivated the world in these conversations and has been buzz, buzzworthy and, you know, headlining all over the place.
00:24:00:01 – 00:24:23:15
Unknown
And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no. Here we are in the entire I feel like the entire world froze for a moment. And there was Pope Francis directing us to Jesus. There is nothing more Petrine than that moment. And he he once again stood up, rose up to the call, and I, I cannot, I cannot look back on this papacy and not see that image.
00:24:23:17 – 00:24:55:21
Unknown
But for me, that’s that’s the moment above every other. Nothing else compares to nothing. Yeah. 28 in 2020, the world is locked down and no one knows exactly, what’s what’s going to happen as we move through the Covid 19 experience. And there we have, as you say, Pope Francis leading us in prayer, preaching beautiful, about turning to Christ, about the moment where the apostles turn to Christ, tossed in the in the storm, in the sea of Galilee, and encouraging us all to be there with Christ in in the boat.
00:24:55:23 – 00:25:26:02
Unknown
Yeah. And seeing the Holy Father, who we understand as the head of, of the church, which allegorically, metaphorically, we often speak of as a ship. Yeah. The ship that carries us through eternity. And as you said, all that, the esthetic experience of that, seeing the, the, the blue lights of the police cars, the burning braziers all around the square, I mean, it was the theater of that moment, certainly pointed to and helped illustrate and animate this, this spirit of the spiritual teaching in that moment.
00:25:26:02 – 00:25:53:17
Unknown
I agree that that that is the the moment, bar none. For for me, it was, seeing Pope Francis for the first time, in person at the Catholic University of America when we were, we were like, yeah. He had come for the canonization of blessed you. Deborah. Sarah. And another wonderful thing that I love about Pope Francis papacy is moving these canonization for the local church to be able to sub I think, I think that’s been extraordinary.
00:25:53:19 – 00:26:14:22
Unknown
So so here we are, you know, giving thanks for, for a unit, Sarah, and for his contribution, to the spreading of the gospel in our country. And when, when Pope Francis walked into the basilica, which was filled with young religious and seminarians, the place just went ecstatic. It was a lecture. It was really a lecture.
00:26:14:22 – 00:26:32:13
Unknown
So. Yeah. And I think many people have that experience when they see the Pope. And I just remember looking at, you know, tears came to my eyes. I remember looking at and I remember saying to myself, This is Pete. Yes. And then several years later, when we were World Youth Day and he gave this off the cuff address, he said, I don’t know if I’ll be at the next World Youth Day.
00:26:32:15 – 00:26:49:13
Unknown
It was it was very I mean, again, he, he, he really he lived much longer than anyone thought, even even maybe he himself thought, but but he gave this off the cuff address at World Youth Day, and he said, but I do know that Peter will be here. Yes. He said, whether I’m here or not, Peter will be here.
00:26:49:13 – 00:27:17:00
Unknown
And it it taught a kind of confidence in the papacy beyond the man, that that really should be at the heart of our Catholic devotion to him. Well, as we wrap up this episode, do you have any any final thoughts for our listeners about Pope Francis father? Yeah, I think with, with his papacy, like I said, there’s this temptation to look back and immediately kind of canonize it and, and find all the good bits in it.
00:27:17:05 – 00:27:35:05
Unknown
Or maybe we go to the opposite extreme, and you look back and just kind of start to, dissect it and put it under the microscope and break it down, condemn it and condemn it events and, you know, and you’re trying to judge it against previous purposes or things like that. And at least where we are right now, I don’t find that any of those things are, appropriate.
00:27:35:05 – 00:27:55:05
Unknown
Like history will unfold as it does, and God’s providence continues to move and clarify and give, give are true optics that when we begin to look at things from the God’s eye perspective of things, I do think that the the most that we can do and the best that we can do is just to reflect on that.
00:27:55:07 – 00:28:24:08
Unknown
And that includes honest reflections on the goods and the bads. But to be honest in that and, to allow this moment to say, you know, we we had, Pope Francis as our vicar, as our shepherd on this earth for a number of years. And, for that there is a lot of, gratitude. But it has been challenging and to not be afraid of any of that, but to allow the grace of God to permeate those reflections.
00:28:24:08 – 00:28:53:02
Unknown
Right. And, yeah, I think that we continue to, to pray for him in those ways, and we pray for the church that’s, I if there’s anything about his papacy, he he was very concerned about the church, and, and all of its many facets. And so we need to kind of at least receive that as part of his legacy and to pray for the church in that way.
00:28:53:04 – 00:29:15:01
Unknown
For me, I’m going to continue to take solace in his spiritual writings, some, some of which really spoke to me his, letter on Saint Teresa of these who, for example, or his, his, letter on the Sacred Heart, the encyclical on the Sacred Heart, these marvelous teachings. So, so I’m going to continue to take solace in them, and I’m going to be praying for Pope Francis.
00:29:15:01 – 00:29:36:00
Unknown
You know, again, that he when he first appeared as you said, on the loggia, in that that posture of humility, I’m just saying good evening. Capturing the hearts of the Italians, especially. But but but certainly the rest of the world by his authenticity. He asked for our prayers. Yes, for our prayers continually throughout his papacy.
00:29:36:02 – 00:29:56:20
Unknown
And even now, remembering him, we ought to foremost continue to pray for him. Absolutely. So turning to our listeners, thanks for tuning in to this episode of God’s Finding. We hope that you will join us in praying for Pope Francis. If you enjoyed this episode or any other episodes of our podcast, please consider becoming a monthly Patreon supporter.
00:29:56:22 – 00:30:14:17
Unknown
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00:30:14:17 – 00:30:37:07
Unknown
Certainly follow us on social media for the latest from the lives of the Friars, and check out upcoming Godsplaining events and shop Godsplaining merchandise and Godsplaining.org. And we too would like to ask that you would pray for us. We’re praying for you. God bless.