Reflection from Fr. Michael Murray, OSFS, Pastor, St. John Neumann, Reston, VA

Regarding the death of Pope Francis, I don’t presume to add anything to the expressions of love, respect and admiration from so many people for a Pontiff who, in the words of (Diocese of Arlington) Bishop Michael Burbidge, “called us to live the joy of the Gospel and be a Church of missionary disciples who go out and accompany those on the peripheries of society…and urged everyone to work together in a spirit of fraternal solidarity and dialogue to overcome conflicts and injustices, to care for our common home, and to build bridges of peace and reconciliation.”

On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the death of St. Francis de Sales in December 2022, Pope Francis wrote this in his Apostolic Letter Totum amoris est (“Everything Pertains to Love”) regarding the “Gentleman Saint”:

“I have given much thought to the legacy of Saint Francis de Sales for our time. I find that his flexibility and his far-sighted vision have much to say to us. Today he bids us set aside undue concern for ourselves, for our structures and for what society thinks about us, and consider instead the real needs and expectations of our people.”

Educated as he was at an early age through young adulthood by the members of the Society of Jesus, St. Francis de Sales acknowledged the profound influence that the Jesuits had upon the man who would eventually imitate the life of the Good Shepherd in his ministry to God’s people as Bishop of Geneva, earning him the moniker “Jewel of Savoy”. I would like to think that in some small way, St. Francis de Sales was able to return the favor nearly four hundred years later through his influence upon the first Jesuit ever to imitate the Good Shepherd in his ministry to God’s people around the globe as Bishop of Rome.