April/May 2025

Pope Francis died on Easter. The world, without him in it, feels even more unsteady. His kindness, humility, and compassion for the frail, the outsider, the stranger, provided a moral anchor in this era of loud, overwhelming anger, greed, and vengeance. Thankfully, he left us with words and deeds to serve as lasting guideposts. His reorientation of the Catholic church to serve the poor and refugees, to care for our common home, and to embrace faith lived through action revitalized a moral and social-justice-based approach. Among the words he left us to live by, to aspire to, are these:

“Situations can change; people can change. Be the first to seek to bring good. Do not grow accustomed to evil, but defeat it with good.” 

It’s sorrowful when an authentically spiritual, moral leader dies, but as with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and others, Francis’ unwavering commitment to justice and mercy provides a legacy that will continue long past his passing, and for that I am grateful.

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