Fresh Air

Fresh.

We know it when we smell it, taste it, see it, feel it, and of course find it these days.

Like Francis.

He's fresh air for many.

Similar to John XXII who opened the windows to wisdom, Pope Francis is enlarging the heart of the Church we love to reach inside first in prayer, and, then, to connect with the outer self and streets and neighbors near and far.

That's fresh.

Comments he makes off from  a scripted sheet has the former Argentinian cardinal warning bishops, among others, that obsessing about certain culture war issues may cause credibility and a moral collapse of the Church like a house of cards.

Wow!

Go figure.

In a prayer at a retreat for the gift of counsel, Pope John the XXIII pleads:

Come, Holy Ghost,
Convince me of my sinfulness.
Convict me of my sinfulness.
Convert me from my sinfulness.
Console me in the process.

Sounds like a prayer Francis would utter, no?

He's convinced of the nature of humans, yet, seeks consolation in the process of admitting one's sinfulness.

Such embracing of all God's people is a sure cry from constant attachment disorders that Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross of Spain warned about.

After all, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds already tell us what we believe.

Particular culture war issues are projects people poke at much like reading Scripture at the lowest level of its meaning -- the literal level.

Bring on the fresh air and Vatican III that Francis seems to be aiming toward.