Are you praying for the pope?

You should be. 

The Italians call him "Il Papa." He is our spiritual father. Does a child have the right to disrespect his natural father? Does the 4th Commandment say, "Honor your mother and father unless they offend you, sin against you, or make mistakes that hurt you?"

We have an obligation to pray for the pope just as we have an obligation to pray for our natural fathers, especially as they approach death.

That thought struck me today as I read about Pope St. Gregory the Great who's feast is today in the traditional calendar. I read this in Butler's Lives of the Saints:

A correspondence with John, Archbishop of Ravenna, who had modestly censured him for trying to avoid office [of pope], led to Gregory's writing the Regula Pastoralis, a book on the office of a bishop. In it he regards the bishop as first and foremost a physician of souls whose chief duties are preaching and the enforcement of discipline....To the twofold duty of enforcing discipline and of preaching the pope set himself vigorously from the moment of his assuming office.

Would that the same could be said of Pope Francis. But now, in his hour of great need, I'm asking St. Gregory to intercede for him. None of us should wish the damnation of anyone. God certainly doesn't. But he will not force anyone kicking and screaming into heaven. God gave us free will so we could freely choose the good. Let's face it, no one over the age of reason (except the Blessed Mother) is innocent. We all are guilty of sins, faults and failings. Even those who are said to never have committed a mortal sin, like St. Therese of Liseux and certainly the little children of Fatima, had character flaws and faults that led to venial sin.

In yesterday's post I quoted Dom Noonan who wrote, "I truly fear for [the pope's] salvation." I also fear for my own salvation if I fail to forgive the sins of others including a pope who has done so much harm to the flock. 

So I will be praying for the pope today, as I do every day, in the realization that when I pray for others, especially those who hurt me, I am working out my own salvation.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.