Adios, Francis

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I grew up on Sacramento Street in St. Joseph, Mo., and it only recently occurred to me how the street probably got its name. St. Joseph, if you recall, was the starting point of the Pony Express, that odd service that 165 years ago carried mail by relays of horse-mounted riders from St. Joseph to Sacramento, CA.

And even though I grew up Catholic, it never occurred to me that “sacramento” means “sacrament” in Spanish. Most of us, in fact, never give a thought to the religious meanings of lots of places in the U.S., like Los Angeles (The Angels), San Francisco (St. Francis), San Diego (St. James or Jacob), San Antonio, TX (St. Anthony), Santa Fe, NM (Holy Faith). Those places, of course, were named by the early Spanish-speaking settlers.

But what does “sacrament” mean? Like me, many Catholics of my era may recall the lengthier catechism definition. But at the risk of oversimplification, I believe a sacrament is basically a sign of something holy. Catholics and some other Christians also think of sacraments as rites, such as Baptism and Confirmation.

A Sacrament?

What does all this have to do with trying to help people find God? It’s simply a way of writing about the passing of Pope Francis, who in the broad sense, was himself a “sacrament” for people engaged in that search. Writing in America, the magazine’s editor, Sam Sawyer, described Francis in this way.

Through Jesus, Sawyer added, “God chose to love us “with a human heart…and in Francis’ heart, in his desire always to be close to the people to whom the Lord gave him as a shepherd, we see … a glimpse of how the heart can cooperate more and more fully with the love of God.”

Francis was a smart guy. Intelligent and well-educated, he could talk theology with the best. But his strong suite, in my opinion, was in being a model of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, the God-become human who reached out to everyone, especially the poor, the sick, the outcasts.

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In another article in the same issue of America, the writer mentions a speech Pope Francis gave to the conclave of 2013, in which Francis was elected.

“The church is called to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries.” Francis “…reached away from the powerful and toward the marginalized; he moved the papacy away from the Apostolic Palace and toward simplicity....”

The church has a way to go, in my opinion, in reducing the appearance that the papacy and the office of bishops, with their pomp and formality, are medieval monarchies. When you view the thrones, the bows, and the extravagant vestments, you have to ask, “Is this what Jesus had in mind?” Francis was the first pope that I know of to make a good start toward changing that.

But Francis, in his concern for people on the margins, was not just about Catholicism. He is the model for the shepherd in Jesus’ parable about the lost sheep. Found in Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels, it’s about the shepherd who cares for 100 sheep. When one is lost, he leaves the 99 to search for the lost one….

Guided by the Holy Spirit

The election of Pope Francis restored my faith that the church is guided by the Holy Spirit. Along with Pope John XXIII, who initiated the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Francis was, in my opinion, the best pope among the eight in my lifetime.

So far, I’m favorably impressed with the new pope, Leo XIV, believing he, too, can be the sacrament that Francis was. But he has big shoes to fill. I hope and pray he can fill them.

By the way, the Spanish word, “adios,” used in the title of this blog, means “to God,” a departure greeting that commends people to God’s care.