Faithful remember Pope Francis during St. Patrick memorial Mass
Father Jonathan Wallis gives a homily during a memorial Mass for Pope Francis at St. Patrick Cathedral. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
FORT WORTH — Tears softly traced the sides of Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioner Mercedes Solorzano's cheeks as she shared thoughts of Pope Francis.
“He kind of became a personal pope to me and my family,” Solorzano said. “With so much sadness and misrepresentation in the world, he reminded us, ‘Let's take a step back and not judge people by who they are or what they do in life. We're nobody to judge anybody. Let's be humble. Let's help those in need.’”
Solorzano and her sister, Luz Solorzano, joined more than 200 others for the April 23 Memorial Mass for Pope Francis at St. Patrick Cathedral.
“We saw a post about this Mass on Facebook and just decided we wanted to be here with others to celebrate his life,” Luz Solorzano said.
Mercedes Solorzano added that she believes, in a world where it often seems lacking, Pope Francis brought hope.
“I hope the next pope will be inspired and build on that and, also like Pope Francis, continue to bring more people closer to Christianity,” Mercedes Solorzano said.
Sister Rosemary Stanton, SSMN, standing nearby outside the cathedral after Mass, agreed.
“Oh my goodness!” Sr. Rosemary said. “Pope Francis gave hope to the Church and taught us so much about mercy, caring, respect, and compassion for others. We're grieving, really grieving his loss.”
Parishioner Jack Duewall spoke of Pope Francis' inspiration to his faith life.
“I just felt like I really needed to come and be here tonight,” Duewall said after the Mass.
Father Jonathan Wallis, who celebrated the Mass, said he was fortunate enough to have met the Holy Father four times.
“I only spent a very little bit of time with him each time,” Wallis said. “What struck me each time was his very humble presence. He wanted people to be comfortable around him, so he never put on airs or presented himself as over and above. But you could tell he also had tremendous respect for the office. He knew he was the pope and that to be the pope was important for people. He lived up to his responsibilities but never presented himself as above others.”
During his homily, Fr. Wallis spoke of Pope Francis' positive examples.
“In his life and ministry, Pope Francis showed us the face of Jesus Christ,” Fr. Wallis said.
Fr. Wallis spoke of the Holy Father's continuous reminders of the truth of God's mercy, the Lord's resurrection, and the gift of the Eucharist and God's true presence therein.
“Reminding that the Eucharist is not for the perfect but rather powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak,” Fr. Wallis said.
Fr. Wallis' reflective homily offered a moment of lightness.
“In his weekly Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis usually ended with two things,” Fr. Wallis said. “First, he requested people to pray for him, then he said, 'Buon pranzo,' that is, have a good lunch.”
Following the memorial Mass, St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner Kim Pankl relayed that Pope Francis' examples of kindness and tolerance brought her back to the Church.
Her mother-in-law, Melinda Pankl, said she'll most remember Pope Francis' efforts toward reaching out to the poor and forgotten.
“He was in this framework of a huge, organized church but saw beyond that to the importance of working to reach people heart to heart,” Melinda Pankl said.
Pray, Fr. Wallis answered when asked what Catholics should do now.
“Pray for the power of the Holy Spirit and realize that the Cardinal electors have a tremendous weight of responsibility as they move forward and that many different pressures can be placed upon them,” Fr. Wallis said. “So pray that they're given the strength to do that which the Lord is asking them to do.”