From day one up to now, believers and non-believers alike
have been inspired by Pope Francis. On The Washington Post, Kathleen Parker wrote
about Pope Francis:
“Pope Francis continues to delight and surprise as he
pursues his radical pilgrimage across the global psyche - inspiring with his
humility while also sending shock waves with his subversive spirit. Yes, make
no mistake, this humble man from Argentina who describes himself first as a
sinner and prefers simplicity to the opulence afforded by his station is, like Jesus
Christ himself, a radical. He washes the feet of the poor while eschewing
the ruby papal slippers for his own holy feet. He lives in humble quarters
among colleagues rather than in the isolation of the Vatican suites where his
predecessors have slept. He immerses himself in humanity while urging a greater
pastoral role for the church and a de-emphasis on the harsh judgments of
institutional authority.”
What makes Pope Francis tick? I think, as Kathleen Parker
somewhat hinted at, it is that his ways remind us of Jesus Christ. And the
world longs for a leader who is a living witness to Christ.
In today’s gospel reading (Lk 23:35-43), Jesus is portrayed
as the crucified King. In this reading, it is possible to bring out three traits
of Christ the King that people of today somehow recognize in the ways of the
present Pope: These are humility, compassion, and servant-leadership. These must also be our own, if we are indeed disciples of Christ the King and are edified by the leadership example of our Pope.
Christ the King is a humble King. While he was hanging on
the cross, the rulers, the soldiers, and one of the criminals beside him all
sneered at him. Each of them challenged the crucified Lord to prove himself as
the Messiah of God by saving himself from defeat and death on the cross. But He
did not succumb to the temptation to use his power. On the cross, He remained
humble and “powerless.” His way is the humble obedience to the Father, not the
triumphalistic and egoistic display of power to show his greatness. He died
utterly humiliated. But such humility was the very power of God that brought
salvation to the world.
Pope Francis reminds us of the humility of Christ. He inspires
us because he believes that humility attracts people to the Church, not power
and pride. He once told the cardinals that the strength of the Gospel “is
precisely in humility, the humility of a child who lets himself be guided by
the love and tenderness of his father.” As he himself chooses to reject the
opulent trappings of the papacy, the Pope invites the Church to leave behind
whatever remaining vestiges of triumphalism it has gotten used to over the
centuries. He invites the Church to be humble just as Christ the King is
humble. This invitation touches the hearts of many people and deeply inspires
them.
Christ the King is compassionate. The gospels have all
recounted the many incidents when Jesus manifested his compassion for the
least, the last and the lost. But today’s gospel reading highlights even more
the compassion of Christ when, as He hanged on the cross facing his own death, he
listened to the prayer of the thief beside him: “Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom.” Jesus recognized the implicit repentance in the prayer
of this thief. Right there and then, Jesus’ compassionate heart granted the
promise of eternal life to him. Herein lies the true power of the crucified
King: not in casting harsh judgment on sinners but in showing compassion and
mercy to the repentant.
Pope Francis too has been moving the hearts of thousands of
people by his simple gestures of compassion. Once, he met a man covered in
boils from head-to-toe, instead of recoiling from this man as some doctors
even do, Pope Francis embraced him. In yet another instance in Saint Peter’s
Square, the Pope noticed a man in the crowd with a severely disfigured face.
The Pope approached him, embraced him as well and prayed with him. Pope Francis
is showing the world the compassion of Christ the King. And more importantly he
invites the Church to change focus. The Church, he said, should emphasize
compassion and mercy instead of “small-minded rules.”
Christ is a servant-king.
To the world, a “servant-king” is an oxymoron, a combination of two contradictory
concepts. But for Christ, the former fittingly defines the latter. As he had
declared early on in his public ministry, the Son of Man “did not come to be
served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28).
Hence, as a King, he rules not by domination but by serving even to the point
of laying down his life for his people. He is not a king sitting pretty on a
majestic throne but one awkwardly hanging on the cross bruised, wounded, and
dying—all for the sake of whom he was sent to save.
Pope Francis too understands his leadership in terms of
service just like Christ. On his
installation he proclaimed: "Let us never forget that authentic power is
service… The pope, too, when exercising
power, must enter ever more fully into that service, which has its radiant
culmination on the cross." And he calls the Church to rise beyond her
tendency to be “self-referential” and to take the risk of reaching out to the
poor in service. The Church, like her King, must be a servant Church.
With Pope Francis
leading us in the spirit of Christ the King, we continue living out with joy
and enthusiasm our Christian faith. Pope Francis has begun pointing us to Christ once again by
his examples and exhortations on humility, compassion, and service. Just as
Christ the King is humble, compassionate, and a servant, so his Church must be,
so each of us must be.
