unity

 The Pope has popped up a few times in the last couple of days  ( not literally you  understand, Im sure he is far too dignified to do much popping these days 😀 )  and as he is not usually the topic of conversation or on my radar I thought perhaps I should pay attention.

The first time he was mentioned was when I was in the hospital praying and a friend came to join us.  In between praying we got to chatting and catching up on all the news we have missed over Covid.  He sends his kids to a small village primary school which happens to be a Catholic school.  His family is not Catholic but the kids are learning lots about Catholic traditions because they attend.  A while ago for some reason I cant now remember, his eight year old son came home with a picture of the Pope.  He proceeded to put it in his back pocket and kept it there for several days.  My friend thought it was hilarious that his son had the Pope in his pocket.   We all smiled and thought it was sweet.

Then yesterday the radio was on and the news was telling that Pope Francis had refused to allow the Catholic church to bless gay marriages.  There was a stream of people being interviewed about this, mostly very upset that this ' backward and illiberal' pontiff was keeping the church in the dark ages. General tone of outrage.

Then just before I sat down to write this I clicked on one of those advert- type facebook posts with a clickbait title because it showed a picture of the Pope kissing a baby.  The headline seemed to infer that a miracle had occurred.  So I read the article.  A very young baby had been diagnosed with an incurable brain stem tumour in America.  The doctors held out no hope for her recovery but started her on a course of chemo which kept her alive for about 15 months.  The family were catholics and at about the time when the doctors were giving the little girl Gianna weeks to live they heard that the Pope was 
coming to the USA.  And not just coming to the states, but coming to a town half an hours drive from where they lived.  They also happened to have a relative who was in the FBI and was detailed to be on the Popes security team for the visit.  Long story short, they took their very sick little girl to the route the Pope was driving down, handed her to an FBI agent who held her up high and the Pope leaned out of his Popemobile and kissed her on the head.  Two months later at a brain scan doctors were amazed to find that the tumour had virtually disappeared.  The child is now three and completely healthy.

Giannas actual brain scan 3 months after kiss

Do I believe that the kiss of a Pope can heal a child of a brain tumour?   Absolutely I do.  Does this challenge my faith in any way?  Absolutely it does.

Last week in the hospital a Catholic gentleman arrived in the prayer room with anointing oil, words of knowledge and specific strategies to pray for a young man he had never met and knew nothing about.  He prayed with authority and in the name of Jesus, claiming the death and resurrection of the Lord and the power of the blood of Jesus over the situation.  But he also prayed to Mary.   Eeeek.  Everything within me stuttered and faltered when he started to do that and my mind went into overkill about the theology.  But the bottom line was, later that day when he prayed for my friend over the phone he had a word of knowledge that he had a sore back.  Told him to stand up and touch his toes and when he did that my friend felt the pain leave and was pain free for the first time in a very long time the next day when he told us all about it.  

I have had a great feeling about Pope Francis from the very start of his Pontificate.  And that's all it is.  Just a feeling.  I dont know the guy or much about what he does on a daily basis.  But there are some great stories going the rounds about the way he lives his life.  Do I agree with every aspect of His theology?  Probably not.  Might I be wrong in some aspect of mine?  Very likely.   As we head toward the end of the age are we, the church of God, going to have to lay down our doctrinal differences and agree that what unites us is by far more significant than what divides us?  Most certainly.   I am so delighted that my protestant friends are sending their protestant kids to a Catholic school where they get to learn about another tradition but still hold onto and celebrate their own.   In a land which has been torn apart by 30 years of religious wars this has got to be the only way forward.  As well as giving the hug and the kiss of fellowship to a random strange Catholic who offers to pray for your dying friend when you really need the encouragement.

Lets bless our brothers and sisters in whatever denomination they happen to reside and try to eradicate the suspicions and mistrust which the enemy so keenly wants to exploit to cause division.