Look Past Your Expectations and Get Ready for Pope Francis!

Hey there! I'm linking up with BIS sisterhood to talk about expectations today. Ooh, big word. Loaded word. So let's talk about expectations in light of the forthcoming papal visit, shall we? 

During my short radio interview on Monday, Gus Lloyd asked me what I thought the fruits of the papal visit would be. I have to confess, my mind went blank.

Yes, I had thought about how Pope Francis’s trip is a huge, monumental event.
Yes, I had thought about how Pope Francis can affect tons of people on his journey to the United States.

But do I have specific expectations for what will come from this trip?  

I feel like many people have different expectations and agenda’s for the pope’s visit. Some people probably hope that he comes and kicks everyone into one political agenda or another. Some people will want Pope Francis to make everything in the Church less orthodox. Others will want him to completely change church policies. Not going to lie, I would not be opposed if he kicked some pro-life respect into certain political leaders. But the more I thought about our expectations for the pope, the more I realized our problem: 

We can sit around list off our expectations for the Holy Father and his trip. We can sit alert, waiting for our expectations to be fulfilled. And then we can completely miss what God is actually doing in the process.

When we hold our expectations in front of our faces, and then we don’t see our expectations fulfilled, we can become disappointed, let down, and discouraged. This is totally understandable! If I’m expecting to eat pizza for dinner, but then the pizza fails to appear, I will not be a happy camper. If people are sitting around, expecting Pope Francis to do X, Y, and Z on his trip to the U.S., they might become very disappointed in the end. Not only that, but in their disappointment, they may not be able to see what God has done through the pope.

Lives being transformed.
Merciful love pouring out onto hearts.
Lukewarm Catholics being called into action.

These just name a few things that could—I’m not guaranteeing that they will—happen when the pope comes. But if we’re too busy sitting with our expectations and agendas, we might totally miss the heart of the Holy Father’s message and actions.

As the days flash by leading up to the visit, I encourage you to stay away from all of the stories and sources that are speculating and proclaiming their expectations for the papal visit. Honestly, getting all wound up in a tizzy over one person’s speculations is not going to enrich our lives in any way. Instead, I encourage you to pray for our Holy Father. Pray for his safety, pray for all the people he will meet with, and pray that you will be open to hear his message.

 Look past your expectations and prepare yourself for whatever God has in store.  And get ready for our Papa, because he’s coming in just a handful of days! 

I felt like this quote kind of jives with the topic of Pope Francis, and I really just wanted an excuse to post an awesome St. Josemaria quote. As always, you are free to use or redistribute any of my quotation images.