Pope Francis is known for his informal style. This has charmed the masses, but doesn’t work so well over the phone. According to a story in the Daily Mail, the pontiff rang a Vatican receptionist directly, which is apparently a papal no-no. The disbelieving man thought the call was a prank, and said, “Oh, yes? And I’m Napoleon.” Luckily, Francis has the patience of a saint, and he convinced the man he was the real deal. The pope wanted to be connected with Adolfo Nicolas, the superior general of his old Jesuit order. He told the disbeliever, “I really am Pope Francis. Do not worry, Andreas, just connect me with Father General, I would like to thank him for the charming letter.” The receptionist realized his error, because who else talks like that? A Vatican expert explained that the pope doesn’t usually make his own calls—that's done through a secretary. But the humble man hailing from Argentina, known for cooking his own food, living in his own apartment and riding the bus to work, has other ideas. Once selected as pope, Francis notably skipped the papal limo, choosing instead to ride the bus with the cardinals. And on his way to the Mass that established him as head of the Roman Catholic Church, the pope frequently got out of his car to greet the crowds, kiss babies and, in one instance, bless a disabled man. His humility will serve him well. His modesty was in full display when, at his first dinner after the election, he told the gathered cardinals, “May god forgive you” for choosing me. The disarming comment, as New York's Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan later described it, “brought the house down.”
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...