The Spirit of Saint Francis: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis

by Pope Francis

“Some people want to know why I wished to be called Francis. For me, Francis of Assisi is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.” 
— Pope Francis, March 16, 2013.

Published in cooperation with the Vatican, this original collection brings the life and legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi to life through the pope's uplifting and challenging words.By taking the name of one of the most venerated figures in Christendom, Pope Francis set a high bar for his papacy. Saint Francis renounced wealth and honor in order to proclaim the Gospel message to a lost generation. His exuberant love for God and radical example of Christian life awakened hope in countless followers and renewed the Church. 

Pope Francis’s inspirational homilies, addresses, and writings on Franciscan ideals such as simplicity, humility, forgiveness, joy, compassion, peacemaking, and care for creation give you a simple way to renew your faith.

Genres: Catholic, Spirituality, Christianity, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2015

About the author

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) was the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, a title he held ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III, who died in 741.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technologist and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He was accused of handing two priests to the National Reorganization Process during the Dirty War, but the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina, and the administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him a political rival. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March.

Throughout his public life, Pope Francis had been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, concern for the poor, and commitment to interfaith dialogue. He was credited with having a humble, less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors. In addition, due to both his Jesuit and Ignatian aesthetic, he was known for favoring simpler vestments void of ornamentation, including refusing the traditional papal mozzetta cape upon his election, choosing silver instead of gold for his piscatory ring, and keeping the same pectoral cross he had as Cardinal. He maintained that the church should be more open and welcoming. He did not support unbridled capitalism, Marxism, or Marxist versions of liberation theology. Francis maintained the traditional views of the church regarding abortion, euthanasia, contraception, homosexuality, ordination of women, and priestly celibacy. He opposed consumerism, irresponsible development, and supported taking action on climate change, a focus of his papacy with the promulgation of Laudato si'. In international diplomacy, he helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pope Francis speaks in a gentle way that we can all take to heart. He and Saint Francis are of one mind, bringing the church back to following Christ as re-building the church. We are so blessed to have him as our leader.

[MariMel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and inspirational lessons from Pope Francis.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspirational words. A book to be read again and again.

[Italo Italophiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since the new pope selected the papal name Francis, St. Francis of Assisi, who the pope honored by his choice, has been a hot topic. That's a good thing. St. Francis (b.1182-d.1226) personified love, compassion, peace and humility.

There are quite a few self-absorbed people who do not consider those four traits qualities, but see them instead as weaknesses. Pope Francis has made it one of his missions to dispel that cynicism whenever he can.

This book is made up of many short quotes from Pope Francis, all translations approved by the Vatican. Each of the ten sections is preceded by a quote from St. Francis, well selected, and well pared with the pope's quotes.

The aim of these short readings are to strengthen faith and to give hope for a better, more loving future to the Catholic faithful in the economically advanced countries, who are suffering from spiritual depression.

"We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to open our cold hearts and shake up our lukewarm and superficial existence."

The ten sections, which can be delved into randomly, a reader choosing the section depending on where they need the most spiritual balm, are:

We Are Infinitely Loved
God Never Tires of Forgiving Us
Entrust Yourself to God's Mercy
Dive into Prayer
Discover True Joy
Choose Simplicity and Humility
Do Not Forget the Poor!
Preach the Gospel at All Times
Be Instruments of Peace and Pardon
Respect and Protect Creation

The pope is an enthusiastic speaker, who loves to encourage the faithful to live dignified and fulfilled lives. His words are joyful, spontaneous, inspirational, positive, and uplifting. They are often infused with humor and self-deprecating comments about his own fallibility.

Underlying the text is a call for lapsed persons of the Catholic faith to return to the sacraments of confession and communion, and to return to prayer and to acts of charity.

There are pleas by the pope for the flock not to succumb to the banal, faithless life of secular societies, a life that can be short of morals and long on self-indulgence, which kills the good in mankind.

"For God's love burns away our selfishness, our prejudices, our interior and exterior divisions. The love of God even burns away our sins."

I enjoyed most the more concrete quotes of ministry to the faithful and fallen Catholics alike.

"Love of God in Jesus always opens us to hope, to that horizon of hope, to the final horizon of our pilgrimage."

I enjoyed least the very un-Catholic call for evangelizing. I've always admired my Catholic faith for being one of example, of everyday Catholics trying to be living examples of their faith's tenants. The evangelizing is to be done by the priest on Sundays at mass.

Pope Francis has clearly embraced the widespread evangelical missions that have encroached on the Catholic faithful in many parts of the world. If you can't beat them, join them? Or perhaps it is the Jesuit in him speaking?

Another oddity was the discarding of the capital letter for the pronoun referring to God, which I can only guess has fallen by the wayside in an effort to make the text more accessible to a wider audience.

It is clear that the overwhelming goal of the book is to bring comfort from pain, and to make this a better world full of better people. That is a wonderful goal. The book is intended to be used as a book of prayer-meditation.

"Prayer is the breath of faith...prayer is the dialogue of the soul with God."

The quotes have been chosen to encourage us to live more like St. Francis in spirit. That is also a wonderful thing, and a difficult thing to do in a world full of cynicism and materialism.

I recently heard a British journalist say something to effect of:

"In our society that sees goodness as stupidity, to be a good person is something very few understandably attempt."

All I could think when I heard that was:

"I don't ever want to live in Britain, a society that sees goodness as stupidity! Can it be true? Please, Lord, let it not be so!"

Somehow, I think this book would be wasted on such a society.

But if you are someone who strives to be good, then this book might help heal the wounds suffered by evil, and encourage you not to abandon your honorable values.

"...he is not abstract but has a name: God is Love."

Please visit my full and illustrated review at Italophile Book Reviews.
http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot...

[Pam Cipkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for an inspirational book on Pope Francis amid all the new titles that have come out about our new pontiff, this is an excellent choice. It is not a biography, but a collection of vignettes, excerpts from speeches, homilies, and salutations, and postings from the pope’s @Pontifex Twitter account. Most entries are less than a page long, which makes this a great book to pick up and just read a passage or two at a time. The entries are broken down into themed chapters, including Love, Forgiveness, God’s Mercy, The Poor, and Respecting and Protecting Creation.

Many of the entries are very conversational, and show the humbleness and humanity of Pope Francis, and of the love and care he has for his flock. His Jesuit and Ignatian background stands out in passages where he invites people to picture themselves in scenes from the Gospel, when he speaks of seeing God in all things and in working to achieve more, and in his call for social justice. I’m happy I purchased this on my Kindle instead of just borrowing it from the library, as I made lots of highlights I can refer back to.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a small collection of portions from Pope Francis' audiences, homilies, speeches, and social media. The content is fine, but I wish it had included some context other than just when and where the statement was made. Some of the selections were absolutely beautiful and spoke to my heart. Others were lofty and a lot harder to understand on a theological level.

It is a very quick read, and it was the perfect book for the rainy day today!

[Fred Kohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the most part I found these short excerpts insipid and trite. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing Godawful about this book, and it certainly had its moments. I expect a lot of it was that the format didn't really float my boat, and I'm certainly not going to rule out the possibility of reading a book by Pope Francis in the future, because I definitely feel his heart is in the right place.

[Christopher Quolke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of quotes from this Pope.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. The words apply to all of us. I listened to this book.

[Albert Hong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Pope Francis! But more for his life than the eloquence or newness of his words. Grateful for his leadership in framing what is important for the church. The actual writing is fairly simple.