A new breeze in the Catholic Church

First M.E. Church Window

When I was younger I attended the Methodist Church.  I went to Sunday School and listened to the Minister's Sermon for the kids and then we were there for Church.  I am not sure what I got out of it but I recall that it was a pleasant experience.  I am not sure that it was a great theological experience.

After my mother and step-father moved to Jackson, Nebraska I became aware of a different Church experience.  The majority of the church members were no longer Methodist.  Instead there were only one or two people in the entire church who were not members of the Roman Catholic Church.  It did not make much difference to me as we did not attend Church.  But there was this one "guy" who was different from the rest of us.  He dressed like this this.

(I have to admit that this picture has a much more pleasant demeanor than the "guy" who was my first Roman Catholic Priest. )

 We were playing in the grounds between the Church and the Education building.  As we were playing the kids and I were playing when this "dude" walked by and everybody started saying "Hello Father" to everyone. I did not say "Hello Father" but rather just said "Hello" -  I had no idea of calling someone "Father"  and as I did not say the correct words I immediately watched at the rather strange black robe swung around with him reaching to grab my ear in his grip.  The rest of the kids immediately started saying "He is not Catholic Father" over and over from all of the kids.  The priest (for that is who he was) spun around and never said another word to me and I was able to continue to play with the other kids.

I found out that I was supposed to call him Father but that left an indelible mark on me and I was never comfortable around Roman Catholic Priests from that time on.  I usually stayed away from them although I did attend Mass with Catholic friends and I did enjoy the ceremonies of the Church.  I even learned some of the Catechisms that were some of the prayers but I generally stayed away from the priests.

Eventually I did return to the Methodist Church and I was baptized and was a Methodist until I decided to become a member of the Christian Science Church and eventually I became a "Church Alumni" and generally paid little or no attention...that is until I found a Church member I can truly admire and feel that there is a person who I respect and admire and who has a great hope for the Catholic Church.  A man who lives his religion and for some reason sort of "sneaked" into the Church and who does things differently.
(Now I don't want to say that there aren'd some good priests out there...I just heard about the Timothy Dolans and the pedophile priests who have been a great blemish on the Catholic Church.  There are a lot of good people in the Church and good people who live their religion but there are to many of the other kind.)

But now there is much happening with Pope Francis. He has and will do many new things to change things regarding the Catholic Church

" The press is obsessed with him. Time recently named him Person of the Year. The Huffington Post reported the speculation that Francis, garbed as a lowly priest, steals out of the Vatican at night to care for Rome’s homeless. Legends like that suggest a new readiness to look at what a Pope can be. Francis is clearly a world figure, but a figure of what? “I would like us to make noise,” he told a throng of young people in Brazil in July. “I want the Church to be in the streets; I want us to defend ourselves against all that is worldliness, comfort, being closed and turned within."

The New Yorker has an article which will give you an overview of this remarkable Pope.  He offers much hope for our world and I for one will continue to watch and hope.