It was reported just this past week that Pope Francis made some random "calls of kindness" one of which was to an unwed pregnant woman. In tears, she expressed her fear that no priest would baptize the baby of an unwed mother. He replied, "Well there's always me!"Does this not embody a breath of fresh air not only in the Roman Church but in the larger Church as well? Or is this guy just crazy? As I'm putting pen to paper this week for my sermon, this story seems in keeping with the gospel story of a crazy shepherd who stopped at nothing to search for a lost sheep, thus putting his very livelihood in danger if something happened to the other 99.
Or what about that crazy woman who after turning her house upside down to find a lost coin, presumably spent what that coin was worth and even more to throw a party in celebration?
Can we, the church, learn anything here? If crazy, extravagant and maybe even reckless actions are lifted as virtue in scripture, can we be anything less? What does that even look like here at Incarnate Word as we find ourselves planted in a poverty-stricken and violent city?
In the city of good? Maybe our mission statement should be amended: "In the city for CRAZY good". Just sayin'...
Pastor Doug
