Posted on 03/22/2013 8:12:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As the Roman Catholic Church settles into its new era under its first pope named Francis, it seems the spirit of the pontiff’s saintly namesake may be inspiring him to break with tradition.
St. Francis of Assisi, whose association with the poor and with peace inspired the newly elected Pope Francis (formerly Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) to take his name, not only began the practice of setting up a Nativity scene, representing the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem, but he was also the first person recorded to have developed the stigmata, wounds resembling those suffered by Christ on the cross.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that Pope Francis, elected during the 40-day penitential period of Lent, should be making history during Holy Week....
--snip--
...Jesus said, in part, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.”
Pope Francis, when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, would celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass in a jail, hospital or residence for the poor or marginalized, choosing from among the people there, washing and kissing their feet.
In the past, the people that Pope Francis attended in the ritual have included drug addicts and HIV/AIDS patients, to indicate not only the idea of Christian charity – the demand that Christians love each other – but also Christ’s mercy and concern for those considered the “least” in the eyes of the world.
On Thursday, March 21, the Holy See Press Office at the Vatican in Rome announced that Pope Francis will continue this custom......
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
bttt
The more I read about him the more I like him.
Am I to understand that Pope Francis is the first to develop stigmata ?
Am I reading that correct ?
No - it was Saint Francis of Assisi.
Thank you for the correction - I’m going to start pinging some of these threads late at night when my eyes are crossed from work, so I can actually understand what’s going on.
Yeah - it took me a second too!
“Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that He might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, In which also coming He preached to those spirits that were in prison: Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.” 1 Peter 3:18-20
The article begins with this sentence, then goes on to talk about Pope Francis washing the feet of some folks. How is this breaking with tradition? Granted, it may be the first time a modern Pope has washed the feet of prisoners, but there is no 'tradition' here to break.
Sounds like just one more attempt to split Pope Francis from Pope Benedict XVI in the minds of folks, and keep them thinking that Benedict wasn't a kind or compassionate person like Francis is.
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