Taken from Joe Sale’s blog (offline).

Dear friends,

I am sure most of us remember what Pope Francis said while standing out on the balcony facing the crowd on his election night.  Here is an excerpt of his speech before his first blessing:

And now I would like to give the blessing, but first — first I ask a favor of you: before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me.

These words were very profound because in the history of any first blessing given by a Pope prior to Francis, it has never been done before. You can find the full text here

The reason I chose to start off with the words of our Holy Father, Pope Francis is because there is a great book that I have read and want to recommend to you.

The book is called “Pray for me: The Life and Spiritual Vision of Pope Francis, First Pope from the America” which was written by Robert Moynihan. That is a great title.

Since Cardinal Bergoglio was elected Pope and took the name Francis, there have been many stories out there about the Pope’s past and what things look like for the future of the Church.  I know that I for one wasn’t sure on what to think of the new Pope. He definitely was a stranger to me.  I will be honest, when I heard that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, I did as much research as I could about this man who was to become the next Pope.  I didn’t like everything I saw but I learned that you can’t believe everything you see. Pope Francis has helped me to do my best to live out my faith and to share the Gospel to everyone I meet.  I have read a couple books now about Pope Francis, and this book is one of them.

Robert Moynihan does a really great job at putting our new Pope into perspective.  Pray for Me in my opinion was very well written and Is the best book out there on the new Pope. This book is a good read from beginning to end as it leads us from the very beginning before Francis is shown to the crowd and gives his first blessing until Holy Week.  The book is divided in three parts which focuses on his first days as Pope, His Life, and His words. Dividing the book in three parts in those three ways was a smart move on Robert’s part because those three parts is what will help us to know and understand the man who leads the Catholic Church.

Now a quick note on the Preface,

The Preface of the book gave a good insight into Robert’s hopes for the book which I thought was a nice way to begin because it gave readers a chance to understand the author and his reasons for writing this book.  In the preface, Robert wrote a lot but the following words really stuck out at me.

Pray for me is really geared for those who would like to accompany Pope Francis on his journey of faith in the months and years ahead. You may certainly read this book cover to cover, but I encourage you to use it as a tool for contemplation, one in which you can turn to any page and open a space for prayer and meditation on Pope Francis’s life-and yours as well.

I honestly never looked at this book in that way but after reading the preface again in preparation for this post, It really stuck out at me. The words are self explanatory and will help open a much needed space for prayer and meditation on my own life.

If you are someone who is unsure of Pope Francis, I recommend that you read this book.  Hopefully this book will ease your mind and help answer any unanswered questions.

In closing, I am happy to let you know that my opinions about Pope Francis have changed for the better thanks to books like Pray For Me.  I also ask that we all pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Our Lady of Aparecida, Pray for Us.

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