A Revolution of Tenderness

A great call: to "remove my sandals" before the sacred ground of the other

Anyone who pays attention to news coverage about the pope can call to mind images of Pope Francis, possibly breaking security protocol, reaching out to some of the most vulnerable human beings in his midst. He certainly does remove his sandals before the other, so to speak, showing affection towards defenseless infants, the poor in the slums of Rio, the mother contemplating an abortion, or disabled adults and children.

He intentionally touches those that many of us might rather avoid, defying our natural fear of these encounters and embodying the connection between our faith and self-giving.

The Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction, Pope Francis writes in his November 2013 apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel. True faith in the incarnate Son of God is inseparable from self-giving, from membership in the community, from service, from reconciliation with others. The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned us to the revolution of tenderness (no. 88).

Why is true faith in Jesus Christ inseparable from self-giving? What does the pope mean when he talks about a revolution of tenderness?

How do we explain the seeming contradiction of givingnot receivingas a source of authentic joy?

Faith Leads to Self-Giving

In his exhortation, Pope Francis speaks of the basic foundation from which all of our work of evangelization must flow. This foundation rests upon our ever-renewed, daily commitment to a deep personal encounter with Jesus Christ (cf. no. 3).

And what does this foundation look like in its human expression? It is love expressed through joyful evangelization: The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. . . . In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by . . . joy (no. 1).

The joy that results from our encounter with Jesus and our acceptance of his offer of salvation is not simply a private joy. It must find expression in all of our human interaction.

Within this message of encouragement, Francis repeatedly emphasizes the integrity of the gospel message. He clarifies that we should always speak of the harmonious totality of the Christian message (no. 39). In this sense, we are to understand as a false dichotomy the division that some pundits try to define as two camps within Christian life. There are not social Catholics and doctrinal Catholics; the message of the gospel is one integrated message that applies equally to our care of the unborn and the poor. It is God's love which gives purpose to the lives of all and then compels us to love others: For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others? (no. 8).

Because this joyful love cannot be expressed in a vacuum, Francis cautions that we must always remember that the Gospel is not merely about our personal relationship with God (no. 180). Although the source of our joy will forever be based, again, upon our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and our acceptance of his offer of salvation, we are expected to, in turn, mirror this joy not simply in our relationships but also in our missionary outreach.

Francis assures us that it is the giving of our lives to others that helps to keep the fount of joy open and flowing. He writes about the imperative of self-giving and the ensuing happiness we experience in many different ways; one of the most tender is his description of the delight we encounter when we are honored to serve others, to remove our sandals in honor of the other (cf. no. 169).

Who Is the Other?

What does Pope Francis mean when he writes, in this global sense, of the other? This terminology often has been associated with certain philosophical schools of thought that emphasize human beings' isolation in the world. According to this worldview, we are alone in our own personal realities, isolated within the lonely scope of our individual experiences, without any hope for lasting joy in this world, let alone in eternal life.

In this negative context, the other, meaning human beings other than ourselves, is beyond our grasp. We are destined to live and die alone.

Such a mentality about the other is one of the unfortunate underpinnings of a relativistic worldview. If I am ultimately an isolated individual with no real possibility of connection to others, then I become a self-contained, self-obsessed island, and the sole arbiter of good and evil in my life.

Francis teaches us, however, to consistently view the other as a person with whom we are compelled by Jesus to share the joy of the gospel, a person who presents to us a unique opportunity for evangelization. The other represents all those with whom we come into contact. Each person, with his or her array of circumstances, qualities, and experiences, embodies a particular opportunity for growth in holiness, laid out before us, when we consider how we will approach, as missionaries, each particular situation.

Francis' explanations indicate that there is no opportunity for selectivity on our part. Others includes not just those who please us, not just those who share our views, and not just those who are clean, smell good, and are well-dressed.

Francis here reflects Scripture, which is remarkable for its lack of qualifiers in terms of whom we should love. Nor does Scripture advise loving some more than others: If you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors (Jas 2:9).

In fact, loving our brothers and sisters is a sign of our love for God: If anyone says, I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 Jn 4:20). Francis makes this point when he writes, Loving others is a spiritual force drawing us to union with God (no. 271).

A major theme in this exhortation relates to the pope's specific emphasis upon acts of service as sources of joy. He is urging us to lose ourselves to the service of others. The intentional and fruitful accompaniment of others is one important expression of our missionary work.

The Art of Accompaniment

As part of his exhortation to us to evangelize everyone we encounter, Pope Francis spends considerable ink describing how to accompany others. Obviously he believes that effective Christian accompaniment is an essential skill for all evangelizers.

We live in a culture, the pope points out, in which many feel they are drowning in anonymity. And yet, almost paradoxically, certain outlets in society, especially in television, print outlets, and social media, seem obsessed with revealing embarrassingly intimate or ridiculously minute details of people's personal lives.

The art of accompaniment, according to Francis, has nothing to do with an obsession with others' lives but instead involves a steady willingness to act compassionately. He reminds us that the purpose of Christian accompaniment, regardless of whatever temporal needs we might respond to in the lives of others, is always meant to lead those we accompany into a closer relationship with God. Our accompaniment becomes a meaningless, empty exercise if it is not a constant pilgrimage with Christ to the Father (no. 170). A purely secular approach to accompaniment, while it may temporarily alleviate some suffering, can never fully address the spiritual starvation from which many suffer due to their separation from Jesus Christ and thus from God the Father.

Just as any Christian discernment process emphasizes our need to listen to God, those who accompany others must also be good listeners. Listening that leads to spiritual growth is often drowned out by the deafening literal and figurative noise of the over-stimulation we often face. Listening, Francis explains, is an openness of heart which makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. In addition to listening, accompaniment also requires correction of our brothers and sisters: The Gospel tells us how to correct others and to help them grow . . . but without making judgments about their responsibility and culpability (no. 172).

Social Content of the Kerygma

The kerygma, or the first and most basic message that offers us salvation in Jesus Christ, speaks to us first as individuals. All hearers of the gospel make the decision, within the scope of their free will, as to whether or not to accept the truth that Jesus offers to each of us. The kerygma, however, as Pope Francis points out, has a social dimension: The kerygma has a clear social content: at the very heart of the Gospel is life in community and engagement with others. The content of the first proclamation has an immediate moral implication centered on charity (no. 177).

We may accept the kerygma as individuals, but we cannot possibly live out the kerygma without recognizing the communal dimension within which our yes places us.

When we choose to receive the gift of God's love, we must recognize the undeniable connection between the divine love we enjoy and genuine fraternal love (no. 179). Francis dramatizes this point by explaining that our brothers and sisters are the prolongation of the incarnation for each of us (no. 179). According to Francis, there is a profound connection between our missionary work and human advancement. Our acceptance of the kerygma requires that we love God in return, which becomes concrete in what he describes as our primary response to desire, seek and protect the good of others (no. 178).

Cry of the Poor

Will one of Pope Francis' legacies be his way of inspiring us to a greater opening of our hearts and hands to the poor? Both his frequent remarks and writings regarding the need to not simply care for but also engage the poor, as well as his choices in terms of his car and his garments show his commitment to a simple lifestyle.

During his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires and even now as pope, Francis has made a point of spending time with the poor. At World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, for example, he visited some of the poorest slums (favelas) in Latin America, in which human beings live at a level of poverty not even imaginable to many U.S. citizens. Pope Francis is modeling for us what he expects of every member of the faithful: None of us can think that we are exempt from concern for the poor and social justice (no. 201).

Pope Francis discusses at length our fundamental duty as Christians to hear the cry of the poor. The pope instructs us that, although the missionary work of the Church is directed to everyone without exception, the first group to whom we should go is the poor and the sick, those who are usually despised and overlooked. Francis urges us to never abandon the poor (no. 48).

Some of the actions for which the pope calls in relation to our care for the poor are for all Christians and Christian communities to be God's instruments for the liberation and promotion of the poor (no. 187), for the practice of solidarity in acknowledging that the social function of property and the universal destination of goods are realities which come before private property (no. 189), and for providing not only basic sustenance but also ensuring that the poor have access to education, healthcare, and most importantly, employment (no. 192).

An incarnation of hearing the cry of the poor, Pope Francis teaches, is manifest through our practice of mercy. He uses several examples to illustrate how God's word in Scripture requires the exercise of mercy towards the poor and oppressed. When we allow ourselves to be moved by the suffering of others, he explains, we can respond to the clear and eloquent biblical exhortations summoning us to the practice of mercy (cf. no. 193-94). Francis cautions against allowing the demands of our own lifestyles to distance us from the poor and hence not engage in this practice of mercy.

One fruit of the inseparable bond between our faith and the poor (no. 48) can be the wisdom God shares with us through the poor. As Pope Francis writes, We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them (no. 198). Our ministry is with the poor, not to the poor or for the poor, because the poor have much to teach us.

Sustaining the Joy

Our personal encounters with others provide opportunities for self-giving. According to Francis, this donation of self is inseparable from true faith in Jesus Christ.

Just as Jesus became incarnate and lived as a man among us, so too our own humanity can only be fully realized through giving of ourselves through membership in the community, service, and reconciliation with others (no. 88). Because Jesus became man, we as Christians are able to understand the true meaning of entering into another's life.

When we are open to all aspects of this journey with othershappiness and suffering, encouragement and correction, life and deathwe both encounter and bring to others the ultimate joy: the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.