Pope Francis and Our Lady

I have been blessed to have experienced the 33 Days to Morning Glory Retreat. I came to understand the Blessed Mother as the greatest of all of Jesus' disciples. Knowing her is knowing Him. Many of those who are saints, PJPII, Mother Teresa, Maximilian Kolbe, were mentored by her. This is a moving video of Pope Francis' visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patron saint of Brazil. He insisted on adding this visit to his World Youth Day itinerary.

When the now-Pope and the ever-Virgin came face to face again, veteran Bergoglio-watchers said that his moments before the foot-high wooden statue made for "the most emotional" they've ever seen him. Breaking his now-familiar form, Francis zipped past the shrine's Redemptorist priests to make it to the Madonna, needing to be prodded by his entourage both to start saying the prayer he apparently wrote on his own and – caught in an apparent trance – to depart after offering it.

And this is the beautiful prayer he wrote for this moment:

Mother Aparecida, today I feel like you once did before your God and mine, who proposes for our lives a mission whose contours and limits we ignore, whose demands we only glimpse. Yet in your faith that "nothing is impossible with God," O Mother, you did not hesitate, and so I cannot hesitate. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be done unto me according to your word!" In this way, O Mother, like you, I embrace my mission. Into your hands I put my life and we will – you-mother and me-son – we will walk together, believe together, fight together, win together as your Son and you always walked together. "Woman, behold your son! Son, behold your mother!" Mother Aparecida, You once took your Son to the Temple to consecrate him to the Father, that he might be fully available for the mission which awaited him. Lift me up today to the same Father, consecrate me to him, all that I am and all that I have. "Here I am! Send me!" Mother Aparecida, I put in your hands, and so take to the Father, our and your youth, and World Youth Day: so much strength, so much life, so much dynamism sprouting and bursting, which can be at service of life, of mankind. "Father, welcome and sanctify your youth!" Finally, O Mother, we ask you: stay here, always welcoming your son and daughter pilgrims, but also come with us, be always by our side and go along with us, the great family of your devotees, in our own missions: especially when the cross weighs heavy, sustain our hope and our faith. "Keep faithful, and I will give you the crown of life. Amen!"

Why I Am Catholic

At one of my favorite websites, Patheos, all the writers from the different isms are being asked to answer Why I Am ______ in 200 words or less.

I thought I would take a shot at it as well.

I am Catholic because I’ve been blessed to have thousands of ancestors over the centuries pass the baton of faith to me. A baton that was, at different times, shining, battered, tear-laden, and glorious, from people who were saintly, sinful, persecuted, and determined. I received that baton-gift and felt compelled (if only because it was the 70's) to examine it closely and eventually reject it. I returned after sitting in church one day, sad and confused, where I heard an almost audible voice say from the crucifix, "This is My Church."

Despite years of serious efforts to convince me otherwise, including the horrendous abuse scandals, I have clung to this gift and done my best to pass the baton to the next generation. I encouraged my children, as they did their own questioning, to analyze the world views from which they could choose. Look carefully at their families – after two or more generations raised with a particular ism. Look at their “saints” – people who have lived that ism to the fullest. Look at their dying. Look at how their weakest, most vulnerable are treated. Look at the marriages of those who have lived their tenants. I could say that with a confidence that made me want to shout my gratitude to all who had gone before me.