In April 2018, Pope Francis met with children from the parish of St. Paul of the Cross in Corviale, Italy.1 During a Q & A time, a little boy named Emanuele approached the microphone but became emotional and was unable to ask his question.
“Come, come, come," said the pope.
"I can't do it," replied the child.
"Come to me, Emanuele and whisper in my ear,” Francis said.
“Is Dad in heaven?’” the boy asked the pope. He replied:
"If only we could cry like Emanuele when we have pain in our hearts. He cries for his father, who died. And he had the courage to cry in front of all of us because there is love in his heart for his dad.
"I asked Emanuele permission to reveal his question to the public and he said 'yes.'
"'My father died a short time ago. He was an atheist but he baptized all four of his children. He was a good man. Is dad in heaven?'
"It’s nice that a son says that about his father, that he was good. It is God who says who goes to heaven. But what is God’s heart like with a dad like that? What do you think? A father’s heart—God has a dad’s heart. And with a dad who was not a believer, but who baptized his children and gave them that gift, do you think God would be able to leave him far from himself? Do you think that? [No] Louder, with courage. [No!] Does God abandon his children? [No!] Does God abandon his children when they are good? [No!]
"There, Emanuele, there is the answer. God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier when one is a believer to baptize his children than to baptize them when you are an unbeliever. Surely this pleased God very much. Talk to your dad, pray for your dad. Thanks, Emanuele for your courage."
Brad Jersak's comments:
When I measure the classic Reformation non-starter, “Does the goodness of man measure up to the perfect righteousness of God?” [of course it doesn't] against the Pope's question, “Does God abandon his children?” [of course he doesn't!] it becomes clear to me who better understands sola gratia (grace alone). Grace is based solely on God’s father-heart of love. In the name of “none is righteousness,” even grace-alone religion forgets it is grace alone through the faithfulness of Christ—not our right doctrine of grace alone—that reconciled us to the Father's house. Francis’ vision is beautiful and expansive because it rests in the Father’s refusal to abandon or disown any of his children.
As Paul said, “For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ” (Eph. 3:19)
In a conversation with Pope Francis titled, Our Father: Reflections on the Lord's Prayer," we see the pope reflecting on the infinite reach of the Father's love as he reflects on Judas. It expresses the beautiful hope he has in the 'long' and 'wide' and 'high' love of God that also runs as 'deep' as Dante's lowest ring of the inferno.
Judas is a figure who is difficult to understand... In the end, however, when he sees what he has done, he goes to the "righteous," to the priests, and says, "I have sinned because I have betrayed innocent blood." They reply to him, "What does that have to do with us? See to it yourself" (cf. Mt 27:3-10). So he goes off with the guilt that suffocates him.
Perhaps if he had found Our Lady, things would have changed, but the poor guy goes away, finds no way out and hangs himself. However, there is one thing that makes me think that the story of Judas does not end there. Maybe someone will think, "This pope is a heretic." Not at all!
Go look at a column in the Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in Vézelay, in
Burgundy.
On one side of the capital is Judas after he hanged himself, but on the other is the Good Shepherd lifting him onto his shoulders and taking him with him. On the lips of the Good Shepherd is the hint of a smile that I would not call ironic, but somewhat shrewdly knowing.
Behind my desk, I keep a photograph of this capital divided into two sections, because it helps me meditate. There are many ways to be ashamed; despair is one of them, but we must try to help the desperate so they may find the true path of shame,2 and not travel the one that ends with Judas.3
Footnotes
- "Pope Francis consoles a boy who asked if his non-believing father is in heaven," Rome Reports (2018-04-16).
- For Francis, "the true path of shame," is exemplified by Peter's shame for denying Christ (Lk 22:54-62) and the good thief, whose confession leads him to paradise (Lk 23:39-43). Rather than the toxic shame that negates us, these are examples of the "godly sorrow that leads to repentence."
- Pope Francis, Our Father: Reflections on the Lord's Prayer (Image, 2017), 85-87.
re: "Francis’ vision is beautiful and expansive because it rests in the Father’s refusal to abandon or disown any of his children. "
At the heart - it should be so simple to "get" - and yet we humans keep missing this simple, elegant beauty of the Gospel. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Grant Corriveau | May 22, 2018 at 12:26 PM