Touching Details for Pope Francis

“Why that smile, Sonny?” I asked my longtime handyman friend.

Sonny was a consistently silent and smiling person. But I somehow read something else in that smile he was sporting that day.

“Father, I’m so happy to have touched Pope Francis!” He confided in a much softer voice even though no one was at an earshot from us.

“You what?” I was not only surprised but naturally envious with his revelation.

Sonny didn’t respond immediately. The tone of my voice must have made him hesitate to continue.

Once again, he said softly but clearly, “I touched Pope Francis!”

My heart skipped a beat! I thought, “How lucky he was! On the contrary, I waded through a crowd of millions, mud, sweat and hunger and never got one chance to touch the Holy Father.”

“How did you do it?” I eagerly wanted to know his story.

[Cutting a long story short…]
“I was asked to repair the air-conditioning ventilation of the room where Pope Francis was going to stay.”
“…and?”
“And I touched him?”
“What did he tell you, Sonny?”
“Actually, I didn’t ‘really’ touch him, Father,” he clarified.
“But didn’t you say?”
“I meant I was able to do something for Pope Francis without him knowing me or seeing me doing it for him,” he explained.
“I’m sorry, I thought…!” I lost him for a while.
“Yes, Father. I treasured the thought that he could rest in that room after his long standing rides through heat, rain and cold,” he smiled pensively.

I realized that even though Sonny had not really touched Pope Francis, he was still a very lucky person. He may not have gotten a selfie or a photo of the Pope, but what he had done remains only to be seen by God.

Now that a little more than a month has passed since the visit of Pope Francis to our beloved country, I realize that Sonny’s example extends to all of us.

We can continue offering many constant hidden deeds and sacrifices for his person and intentions. This filial attitude echoes what the Holy Father wrote in his Lenten message for this year.

He says, “In this communion of saints [which is the Church], in this sharing in holy things, no one possesses anything alone, but shares everything with others. And since we are united in God, we can do something for those who are far distant, those whom we could never reach on our own, because with them and for them, we ask God that all of us may be open to His plan of salvation.”

This will allow “the love of God to break through that fatal withdrawal into ourselves which is indifference. (Ibid.)” May we therefore fill this season of Lent with many ‘touching details’ to accompany our Holy Father and all souls. This will be the natural response “of those who let themselves be touched by His love. (Ibid.)”