April 27, 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

We never know what the next day will bring. As we continue to mourn and pray for the happy repose of the soul of our dear Pope Francis, a lot of his quotes have been used in the media to remember him.  Early on in his papacy, a church reporter said: “No matter where you are in the Church, if Pope Francis is not challenging you, then you are not listening.” Here are some of the things Pope Francis said to lead us and challenge us in our lives of faith, hope and love: 

“Whenever we encounter another person in love,

we learn something new about God.”

“You can, you must try to seek God in every human life.

Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds,

there is always a space in which the good seed can grow.”

“The Lord never tires of forgiving.

It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.”

“Mercy will always be greater than any sin,

no one can put a limit on the love of the all-forgiving God.”

“I think this is truly the most wonderful experience we can have:

to belong to a people walking, journeying through history

together with our Lord, who walks among us!”

“The most important thing in the life of every man and every woman is not that they should never fall along the way. The important thing is always to get back up, not to stay on the ground licking your wounds.”

“We are impatient, anxious to see the whole picture,

but God lets us see things slowly, quietly.”

“There’s no better way to explain happiness

than to make someone happy.”

“I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol

 and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds first, heal the wounds. … And you have to start from the ground up.”

“We all have the duty to do good.”

“God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us.”

What is your favorite quote from Pope Francis? 

Love and prayers,

Father Neil Sullivan 

P.S. As the Church prepares for the Conclave, (the real one and not the movie version) don’t get caught up in the who’s who and those considered front runners. It’s been said that the cardinal who goes into the Sistene Chapel as pope, comes out as a cardinal. Trust that the Holy Spirit will guide the cardinal electors to the pope whom the Church needs at this moment.  Pray with them!   May God’s will be done.