Tuesday, October 29, 2019

5 (more) Keys to Understanding Pope Francis, #3

Continuing the theme from my 2014 e-book (now out of...print?), on understanding the Church's first Argentinian Pope six years in, here comes key #3: 

3. Pope Francis trusts in the Holy Spirit.


Here I can speak from personal experience, not of Pope Francis, but of the Holy Spirit as the real "ruler" in a Church institution. After all, I live in a canonically established religious institute. My life is regulated by Canon Law and my canonically recognized congregation's Constitutions. I have made perpetual vows according to those Constitutions and in line with Canon Law. I have staked my life on God's faithfulness not just to me personally, but to my congregation.


Most people assume that the vow of chastity is the toughest of the three. (It certainly is the aspect of our life that speaks the most clearly to society today!) But for me (and, I think, for many women religious) the really tough vow is obedience. We commit ourselves to obey women whose directives we promise to receive as the will of God for us. That doesn't mean that we vow to be brainless doormats (we can respond with information that the superior may not have had when making a decision, for example), but the bottom line is still that the superior in a certain sense represents in a community the place or role of the Divine Master among the disciples, and her decisions are not to be shaken off.


A number of years ago a decision was made by a major superior (someone my Mom referred to as "Big Momma"). This decision affected over a hundred sisters. It was supported by a powerful member of the hierarchy. There was no form of appeal. It was simply one of those rare cases in religious life where a very large group of sisters was obliged to receive an unexpected decision in a spirit of obedience.

I have been a religious sister for over 40 years, and that was the most difficult time I have ever faced in keeping my vows.


That day's Gospel was the story of the multiplication of bread and fish in John 6. John lets us know, "Jesus knew what he was going to do; he said this to test Philip's response." Those words seemed to speak directly to our situation.

And then the next day's Gospel was the continuation of John 6, with Jesus walking on the water. The disciples cried out, but Jesus said to them, "It is I!"


I cannot describe to you what it was like to hear that Gospel proclaimed under those circumstances. The words, "It is I!" reached into my body and shook me as if the Lord wanted me to really know that it was, in fact, he who was behind all that was going on. It looked so terribly unfair, and on the human level it is quite possible that not everything that had led to the "Big Momma's" decision was entirely above-board; that it was too hurried; that all-too-human motives had entered in, without information being pursued. None of that mattered as much as the fact that in and through all of this, Jesus would still be the Master, would still be in charge, would "order all things mightily and sweetly" and in such a way that they would turn out better than if the humans in charge had done their due diligence in the most proper manner possible.


I learned over the next few days that I was not the only sister who had heard those words of the Gospel in the same striking manner.


Time has shown that what looked like a fatal and dismaying abuse of authority in the end had no dismal repercussions on our community. If anything, it strengthened our faith; I know it strengthened mine to such an extent that every time I am tested I go back to that assurance, "It is I!" to remind myself of how faithful God is. (When I write those words in my journal they are underscored three times and followed by three exclamation points. Always.)


And so I offer you this experience of mine to suggest how Pope Francis may trust in the Holy Spirit. Certainly he trusts in the Holy Spirit more than in human processes and promises!


Likewise, we as a Church are also invited to trust more in the Holy Spirit than in merely human actions, rationales, projects and plans. We are invited to trust more in the Holy Spirit than in our own fears. We are invited to trust more in the Holy Spirit than in the human qualities of the Pope. We are invited to trust that it is only the Holy Spirit who keeps the Barque of Peter afloat on the stormy waters of our times, and that as long as we stay in the boat, we have nothing, really nothing, to fear because of the one with Peter who says to him and to us, "It is I!"





Here are all the "5 (More) Keys" posts:
Key #1 (Pope Francis is Latin American)
Key #2 (Pope Francis is not afraid of chaos)
Key #3 (Pope Francis Trusts in the Holy Spirit)
Key #4 (Pope Francis is Catholic)
Key #5 (Pope Francis is the Pope












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