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A Prophet for Today

As I am sitting to write this reflection it is one day after the death of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  Among the many things to be admired about him, the ones I appreciated the most were how consistent his message was around caring for our common home, the earth, and caring for each other.  He also gave us a new and refreshing perspective on what it meant to be a leader when he told us that the shepherd should smell like the sheep.  For me, this was a much-needed message for an institution that for centuries thrived on the setting apart of clergy from the people they serve.  I only hope that whoever becomes his successor carries on in the same vein.

In keeping with these themes, on Tuesday, April 20^th we celebrated Earth Day, and my parish unit hosted an ecumenical prayer service where we prayed for care for our common home.  After a short video presentation, the people gathered were invited into a conversation on what challenges we are facing in trying to implement the actions needed to protect the environment.  It was felt by most there that apathy was at or near the top of the list.  People either don’t think there is a problem (this, unfortunately, includes some of our political leaders) or don’t want to be inconvenienced in trying to solve the problem.  And despite the papal encyclical entitled “Laudato Si, Care for our Common Home” written by Pope Francis and released in May of 2015, many people who sit in our pews don’t see caring for the earth and all its inhabitants as having anything to do with their faith journey.  If this is you, I encourage you to get a copy of that encyclical and read it with an open heart and mind.

Another event that was hosted in our parish unit this week was an evening entitled “Enlarge Your Tent, A Conversation on How to be a Welcoming Church”.  I was fortunate to be a part of the planning team for this event and I would like to share a little bit of the story on how we arrived at this title.  It originally was going to be entitled “All Are Welcome”.  But then one member of the team asked, “Are all really welcome?  Are we really that accepting, or are there people that we don’t think should have a seat in our worship spaces?”  The next title suggested was “Everyone Belongs”.  While this had a nice ring to it, we again questioned its validity.  We then went to Scripture and the “Enlarge Your Tent” title is taken from the Book of Isaiah, 54: 2.  We felt this title challenges us to think about who we don’t fully welcome and why that is.  Are you truly welcome if you cannot fully participate?  I have had people say to me in the past that they were working on getting their life together so they can come back to church.  I would hope our response to that would be, “come back to church and maybe we can help you get your life together”. 

I sometimes hear people say there are no modern-day prophets.  I think Pope Francis was a prophet.  He did what prophets do, which is to call us out of our comfort zones and away from our feelings of superiority and encourage us to roll up our sleeves and get to work in the vineyard of the Lord, our world.  Care for the earth and care for each other.  What better way for us to pay tribute to a prophet.  Rest in peace Pope Francis.

Mark Mahoney
Pastoral Associate