As regular readers know, the last few Christmases I have departed from the academic and offer some sort of “fun post” to highlight songs, organizations, treats, movies and anything else that has helped me enter into the Christmas season that year. This year I am changing things up. When Pope Francis passed away, it hit me really hard. So, as a way of honoring all he has given to me, I wanted to offer you some of my favorite treasures from Francis’s papacy.

Favorite closing paragraph to a document (Christus Vivit): My joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you, outstripping all those who are slow or fearful. Keep running, “attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the Holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. May the Holy Spirit urge you on as you run this race. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. We need them! And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us” (no. 299).

Favorite photo that brought me joy… from a living nativity, both a closeup photo and the zoomed-out for the bigger context… joy abounds!:

Favorite Document: Gaudete et Exsultate aka Rejoice and Be Glad, on the call to holiness in today’s world

Some of my favorite quotes from GE:

We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draws us to himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in a human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people.

I like to contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God’s people: in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. In their daily perseverance I see the holiness of the Church militant. Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbours, those who, living in our midst, reflect God’s presence. We might call them “the middle class of holiness”.

We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves.

This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through small gestures… One more step.

Holiness is nothing other than charity lived to the full.

Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy. On the contrary, you will become what the Father had in mind when he created you, and you will be faithful to your deepest self.

Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace. For in the words of León Bloy, when all is said and done, “the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”

And that is just chapter one! Share some of your favorites with me when you get a chance!!

Times when his priesthood was most vivid to me: There are two here. First, there was the encounter with the man with a skin condition:

Second, there was his encounter with the little boy, Emanuel, whose atheist dad had died and Emanuel wanted to know if his dad was in heaven:

My favorite quote from Amoris Laetitia aka Joy of Love: Tenderness, on the other hand, is a sign of a love free of selfish possessiveness. It makes us approach a person with immense respect and a certain dread of causing them harm or taking away their freedom. Loving another person involves the joy of contemplating and appreciating their innate beauty and sacredness, which is greater than my needs. This enables me to seek their good even when they cannot belong to me, or when they are no longer physically appealing but intrusive and annoying. [I love the beauty of tenderness as well as its coupling with the realism in the final sentence… so stunningly human!]

In deep gratitude, Pope Francis, for your leadership and life.