Pope Francis and My Faith

Pope Francis Memorial Mass
Sam Gibson
Salesianum School 2025 

Good morning, everyone. My name is Sam Gibson, and I will be giving today’s Salesian reflection as we remember the life of Pope Francis.

I joined the Catholic Church about a week ago, on April 19th. Little more than 24 hours later, Francis had passed, and the Church I joined had lost its leader.

Pope Francis was a great man. There are plenty of stories of his immense humility and simple lifestyle. He made sure to extend the hands of the Church in friendship to those who felt they did not belong, or had been excluded. This is his legacy.

Last night, me and 10 other guys flew back home from the BRIDGE trip to El Salvador. El Salvador is a beautiful country. The food is great, and the places we stayed always had amazing views. But that wasn’t the main goal of the trip. We were there for the people.

You see, El Salvador has had a very turbulent history. The country was ravaged by civil war in the 80s, and is currently under very questionable political leadership. Despite all this, I have never met people more welcoming and loving than the Salvadorans I had the pleasure to get to know while there. They welcomed our group of American strangers into their homes with open arms.

Whether they were telling us about the war, or about life in their little town of Guarjila, there was always a theme they would repeat over and over: Primera Dios. God First. The people we met and shared meals and conversations with kept reminding us that the only way they have been able to survive their many hardships was with God and each other.

In my entire life, I have never seen such faith. God is everything to them. We asked one of our hosts about his faith, and what he said has been, for me, the biggest takeaway from the trip. He told us, “without God you have nothing.” The people living in the town of Guarjila would seem to be living with nothing to many of us, but this is when I realized they actually have everything, when it all finally clicked for me, when I truly connected with the people of El Salvador.

Many guys have come up to me and asked me why I decided to become Catholic. My life before finding God was pretty terrible. I was heavily depressed for many years, starting in 7th Grade. There were many times on my journey when it was difficult to find things to hang on for, and a real struggle to survive just the simple day-to-day. For the 4 and a half years that this disease plagued my life, I kept reaching out for anything to make me feel better, and the things I grabbed were never the right ones. When you’re in that state of mind, your brain can barely function. I was doing terribly in school, and felt that I couldn’t make connections here. I felt alone, excluded, outcast, and unwanted. It felt like even if I were to speak up, I would be kicked to the side, that I was too far gone for saving.

After the death of my cousin, I began to take my faith seriously and felt the love of God in such powerful ways. To know and feel that God would actually love a wretched outcast loser like me was the greatest confidence booster and peace I had ever known.

This is exactly why I love Pope Francis. He used to reach his hand out to people like me. He was a perfect example of what the love of Christ really is. It’s powerful and it’s radical and it’s forgiving. Those words are all characteristics of the life and mission of Pope Francis. And it’s why I took the name of Francis of Assisi, the same Saint that Pope Francis took his name from, because I believe in that mission and want to live it out.

It’s not about your paycheck, or how nice your car is, and definitely not about how big your house is. By our standards, the people of Guarjila and even Pope Francis had none of that. What they do have is clarity: Primera Dios. God first. The only thing that truly matters. Pope Francis knew it, the citizens of Guarjila live it, in good times and bad. God, and remembering that God is present in each person you meet, are the only things that are important.

The legacy of Pope Francis is to speak for those without a voice, just as he used his position to ensure that the poor and outcast were always welcome. We might not have a platform as worldwide as a pope, but we can all do something for the people around us: those we see every day, strangers we’ve never met, and friends we haven’t made yet. All of us are sons and daughters of God. It doesn’t matter a person’s background, economic status, skin color, or language. Every single human on Earth deserves to be heard and loved, especially those who feel they don’t belong.

So get out there. Help out at the soup kitchen. Talk to someone you don’t know. Protect the

environment. Reach out to those you know are struggling. Fight for the rights of those who can’t fight for themselves or need someone to have their back. Be that voice of the voiceless. It will make you a better human and a better Christian. Keep the memory of Pope Francis by loving as he did, as God has always loved us.

Live Jesus. Primera Dios.