Emmanuel Magazine March/April 2017 | Page 9

Pope Francis Explores the Priesthood : Ten Foundational Insights
to acknowledge that we are sinners in need of his mercy . . . . And please , do not forget to pray for me !” ( HH ).
As Francis gave a catalogue of 15 “ curial diseases ” ( which can also infect priests ) in his 2014 Christmas message , in his 2015 Christmas message he spoke about “ curial antibiotics .” He used an acrostic analysis of the twelve letters of the word MISERICORDIA to communicate the core of his positive message , imitating what Matteo Ricci did in his evangelizing initiatives in China . Francis concluded his reflection with the prayer attributed to Blessed Oscar Arnulfo Romero , noting that priests are to be “ servants , not Messiahs ” ( PP ).
8 . Capitalize on the “ Popular Piety ” of the Faithful
In his comprehensive apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium ( The Joy of the Gospel ), Pope Francis devotes several sections to “ the evangelizing power of popular piety ” ( EG , 122-126 ). Some brief selections capture his thought .
“ Popular piety enables us to see how the faith , once received , becomes embodied in a culture and is constantly passed on . Once looked down upon , popular piety came to be appreciated once more in the decades following the council . In the exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi , Pope Paul VI gave a decisive impulse in this area . There , he stated that popular piety ‘ manifests a thirst for God which only the poor and the simple can know ,’ and that ‘ it makes people capable of generosity and sacrifice even to the point of heroism , when it is a question of bearing witness to belief .’ Closer to our own time , Benedict XVI , speaking about Latin America , pointed out that popular piety is ‘ a precious treasure of the Catholic Church ,’ in which ‘ we see the soul of the Latin American peoples ’” ( EG , 123 ).
“ The Aparecida Document , to which Francis contributed much , describes the riches which the Holy Spirit pours forth in popular piety by his gratuitous initiative . On that beloved continent where many Christians express their faith through popular piety , the bishops also refer to it as ‘ popular spirituality ’ or the ‘ people ’ s mysticism .’ It is truly ‘ a spirituality incarnated in the culture of the lowly .’ . . . It is ‘ a legitimate way of living the faith , a way of feeling part of the Church , and a manner of being missionaries ’; it brings with itself the grace of being a missionary , of coming out of oneself and setting out on pilgrimage ” ( EG , 124 ).
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