Pope Francis – The Humble Servant – Leading by Example – Worldwide Prayer Hour - How Interpretations Vary - Opinion

Interpreting the Intention of the Pope - above washing of the prisoners feet - image New York Daily News - suggested meaning:

John 13-12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.(Biblegateway.com)

The World Hour of Prayer

Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, has proven to be a remarkably biblical pontiff – Yesterday, the Pope led the faithfulin a worldwide holy hour of prayer. According to NBC News, those ”participants prayed at the same time around the globe for those suffering from war, slave labor, human trafficking and the economic crisis.”, and it was the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that “such an event had taken place.”(NBC News)

Pope Francis has left the trappings of the highest office in the Catholic Church, preferring a more humble approach, and his attention to the scripture, specifically relating to Christ, has been to the letter. Although some prefer to put their own “spin” on what the Pope is offering – in an opinion piece in the Boston Globe, it was suggested : “That simply, Pope Francis engaged an age-old question: Do we need God to be good? Religious people have emphasized Dostoyevsky’s aphorism that “if God does not exist, everything is permitted.” Look where the atheism of modernity led, they say, pointing to Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. In the United States, according to a 2012 Gallup poll, an atheist running for president would draw fewer votes than a member of any other minority, including Muslims. Atheists, with no transcendent horizon, are taken to lack the basis for moral choice. This is the last respectable prejudice. (Boston Globe) Granted everyone is entitled to their own interpretation – however, as biblically correct as the Pope has been thus far, one might take it to mean that all peoples are extended the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ and to follow his tenants – rather than to abandon the teachings of the Gospels. For example, one must “love thy neighbor as thyself”, and in doing so, one is also obligated to behave in a manner that shows compassion, as well as giving. However, it is not to say, in any wise, that doing good, without the acceptance of Christ and the Holy Spirit, would allow one instant access to Paradise. It is a simple matter of understanding the point of the Gospels, and the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, are part and parcel of the road to salvation – either here, in an earthly sense, or in Paradise for those who believe in the saving Grace of Christ. Of course, that is only this opinion, believing that one might be better served by loving one’s neighbor, the atheist, and then through one’s actions and faith, and prayer, seeking salvation for all mankind – meaning to a soul a belief in the freedom of accepting Christ.