Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Daddy-o

The Pope in this movie goes crazy and disappears. Sad day.

I watched a really interesting movie a few weeks ago (the wife was out of town, so didn't see it with me) called Habemus Papam. It's a strange little Italian movie from 2011 about the election of a new Pope, who turns out to be pretty nuts and runs off. It's slow and tedious at times, but, for someone with an attention span like mine, mostly fascinating.

Anyway, I was struck by the sound and affect of the Italian word for Pope, "Papa." ("PAH-pah," not "pah-PAH" as we might say in Spanish). To my ear, and the way the actors said it, this was not just a title, they way "Pope" is in English, but a term of endearment. "Santo Papa!" "Papa!"

This is, it turns out, the very origin of the title "Pope" anyway. Important bishops of the ancient world, most notably Rome's, but also Alexandria's, were called, in Greek, "Pappas" by their people. "Pappas," of course, being the root of our word "Pope." The word is supposed to be more like "Daddy" or "Poppa" than a formal title for an office.

All of this is to say that I am finding it insufficient to call Pope Francis by what is in English a formal and stiff title. My heart is so full when I read his words or hear of what he does... I want something more like "Papa!"

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Vocations for All!

Archbishop Sample always preaches with miter and crosier.
At Sunday's confirmation Mass at the university, the Archbishop, who is new Portland, spoke primarily of the Universal Call to Holiness. For him, this was the most important Vocation to talk about on the World Day of Prayer for Vocations- Holiness.

Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised.

Of course, he did mention the importance of discerning a call to priesthood and consecrated religious life. But, these particular vocations to particular states of life are always at the service of the basic, universal vocation of the baptized- holiness. Priesthood. Rulership. Prophecy.

I am just overjoyed that an Archbishop known for his conservatism and traditionalism is embracing and promoting the laity-empowering message of Vatican II. After Mass, he confessed to a group of us that he has felt personally challenged by the example of Pope Francis, challenged to live simply and humbly.

The Mission of the Church depends on the buy-in and action of the laity. We have to know that we have a mission in order to live it. That mission is holiness and we all have it.

Of course saying 'holiness' leaves a lot of room for interpretation. But, for lay Catholics to understand even vaguely that they have an important task to carry out in the world, that of offering the love of Christ to all who need it, is a step in the right direction.

My thoughts come from my own experience of confusion as a child. Although I didn't question the purpose of being Christian at the time, at least not in concrete terms, I never really understood that I had a mission to carry out in my daily life. In hindsight, it's baffling given that each Mass ends with a concrete command to "Go out and to love and serve the Lord!" I was a religiously inclined little kid (for reasons as pathological as admirable, I'm sure) and I didn't come close to getting the call I had.

Who else needs to hear that baptism is more than a membership card? I would guess most Catholics, clergy and laity alike.