Pope Francis has a new exhortation. Follow Christ, he reminds us.

Pope Francis greets the congreation at his inaugural Mass

Pope Francis recently published his new apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. In this exhortation, the pope outlines his papacy, and gives us his own expectations and encouragement for being disciples of Jesus Christ. It is a long document, over 50,000 words! It is long, but worth the read. One of the things that seems important to me is to whom this is written, and who will read it.In a way, Pope Francis is speaking to the choir. I say this often when I am speaking to people within the Church. I am, or at least I think that I am, saying something that I think they should already know. I'm encouraging them about how they are encouraged to be Catholics, and encouraged to be as Catholics.

Pope Francis reminds us of the joy of following Jesus, and how that joy is and can continue to be communicated. He encourages us to be Catholics who, like Jesus, are accepting of those who are different than we are, who struggle like we do, and, regrettably, who sin, just like we do.

He is absolutely right.

What concerns me though, is not the Pope's words. I like them. I love what he says. What concerns me is those who speak of Pope Francis, not as the leader of the Church, the moral guide of the whole world, the Vicar of Peter and papa of all people, but who speak of him as the only one, or as if the Church finally has someone who is like Christ, or who accepts them.

Have they not read the scriptures?

We are called to be like Jesus. That means that we work on all of the aspects of the good, not just one. It means that we are accepting, as Jesus is, of the person, no matter where they find themsellves. We condemn no one. Everyone is loved, and every person is redeemable. But in accepting a person, we also echo the words of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery, "[go] and sin no more."

Woman Caught in Adultery

(John 8:1-11) Jesus wants all of us to be with him. But he also wants all of us to be the best we can be, to be like him.

Pope Francis is reminding us of an old Catholic truth, that we love the person, but hate the sin. We accept the person, who approaches the God who is love, and is seeking the guidance of the Most High. That does not generally mean that any of our lives will stay the same after we encounter him. What I need to work on is not what you need to work on. What Jesus will confront me about may not be the same thing that he will confront you about. But be assured. He will call you out on something. That is scary - I'd rather stay in my comfort, and in my own control... and sometimes... in my sin. But none of us is perfect, we all do have something that we must work on, and we follow the one God who is the King of the Universe.

Pope Francis reminds us of this. His words do their intended purpose, to exhort us to be more like the one we follow...

Jesus Christ.