We saw him for the first time as pope on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, greeting the world in words so relatable and familiar: Buona Sera. Good evening. Like your good old friend greeting you. Before he blessed the gathered crowd, he asked them to bless him first. How apt that we saw him for the last time on the same balcony, greeting the world Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter! And with all the energy he could muster, he was driven around St Peter’s Square to be with people, to reach out to people, the people he had always loved.
With the passing of Pope Francis, many of us feel we have lost a well-loved family member, a father and a grandfather, a friend and a close companion, a hero and an ally. We have lost a champion of the poor. We have lost a prophet who courageously spoke for social and ecological justice, a prophet who challenged us to be more like Christ.
Pope Francis himself said: To depict the pope as a sort of superman, a sort of star, seems offensive to me. The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps tranquilly, and has friends like everyone else, a normal person. He talked about God’s style which is closeness, mercy and tenderness, qualities which we saw in Francis himself and which spoke so much of the God he prayed to and loved, and who inspired him all his life.
In 2015 when he visited Manila, he met with a group of Jesuits. He was asked what his message for young people was. (At that time about a thousand of our students from various Jesuit schools in the Philippines were gathered for the Ignatian Youth Camp at the Ateneo de Manila.) This was his response: Do not be afraid to walk with others. Avoid the temptation of walking alone. His words continue to speak to all of us, young and old alike.
Thank you, Pope Francis, for shepherding the Church, for teaching us to be messengers of God’s mercy, carers of our common home, servants of the joy of the Gospel, pilgrims of hope, a Church serving the peripheries.
Thank you, Pope Francis, our brother in this least Society of Jesus, for reminding us who we are as Jesuits and what we are called to be: servants of the mission, the mission that comes from our Eternal Lord and King, the poor and humble Christ. Thank you for reminding us by your example, by how you lived and by how you died, how it is to be a Jesuit.
Well done, good and faithful servant, come share your master’s joy. (Mt 25:21,23)