Jesuits are known for their distinctive “way of proceeding.” Pope Francis is showing a distinctive way of speaking. Blogger Matthew Schmitz collects some of the striking phrases Francis has coined. It’s hard to imagine Benedict or even John Paul II talking like this:
“Babysitter church.” “When we don’t [announce Jesus with our lives], the Church becomes not a mother but a babysitter church, which takes care of the child to put him to sleep.”
“Teenagers for life.” “How hard it is, in our time, to make the ultimate decisions! The temporary seduces us. We are victims of a trend that pushes us to the temporary . . . as if we wanted to stay teenagers for life!”“Mr. or Mrs. Whiner.” “A Christian who constantly complains, fails to be a good Christian: they become Mr. or Mrs. Whiner, no?”
“Middle class of holiness.” “There are the saints of every day, the ‘hidden’ saints, a sort of ‘middle class of holiness’ to which we can all belong.”
“Charitable NGO.” “We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord.”
Photo by Catholic Church (England and Wales) under a Creative Commons license.
Thank you, God, for calling Pope Francis, whose communications and lack of fear, humility and love for the poor open the doors of the church wide.
Pope Francis said also: “Non siamo (la Chiesa, i preti) qui per mettere i bigodini alle pecore”
“We (the Church, the priest) are not here to put curlers to the sheep”
What a tremendous idea. I hope this tracking and collecting Pope Francis’ sayings continues. I wise colleague once suggested that a great way to learn about about a denomination is to study their hymns. A collection of good sayings can reveal much about a person. Fantastic idea here publishing these good words.
These are some good, good “bon mots”!
I thought Catholics thought making comparisons was ‘odious’. I do not feel any need to compare Pope Francis to any of his predecessors. Each had his own charisms and was needed by the Church at that time, as Pope Francis is needed now. Can’t we appreciate him for who he is without seeming to denigrate others? I think it demeans him, and I think he’d be appalled.
I thoroughly agree: each pope brings his own gifts to the job. One of Pope Francis’s particular gifts is a knack for striking and vivid speech. In pointing this out, I meant no criticism of his predecessors.
It seems that people are ready to love a pope (princess, president) because they fill that role and that is how comparisons happen, I would think. People do that with spouses and ex spouses too. It is not fair to compare people with one another. Especially if they are siblings OUCH.
And now, “All who do good are redeemed, including atheists.” (paraphrased) Vox Spiritus!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/pope-francis-good-atheists_n_3320757.html
I have never gotten so much meaning from so simply a message. Surely a gift for our time. That is Pope Francis.
Here’s another: this morning at Mass the pope warned against becoming “museum-piece Christians”– “a salt without flavor, a salt that does nothing.”
Jim, it isn’t possible for me to keep up with the words of wisdom from our Pope. Thanks for sharing this new one!
The Vatican Radio site has good coverage of the Pope’s speeches and homilies.
I read an interesting article from one of these blogs about salt in this day and age when we are exhorted to avoid the horrid stuff (I use it for cleaning scale from pots and pans and for disinfecting things like scratches and mouth sores). I wish I could give a link here but I’ve forgotten where this wonderful article is. It did lead to the spiritual meaning of salt though. I think we need to come up with a new terminology after all those warnings, ha.
As I said on yesterday’s post, gotta love this guy. Even the nonbelievers can like him. Now that is charisma — however unintended which makes it even better.
Pope Francis is a gift to our Church in this time. Above all, it is very evident that he loves Jesus and he loves all of God’s people. Thanks for sharing this.