Looking Into Francis' Hand-Written Letter to Martin

Riffing on Austin Ruse's article, Fr Zed imagines Francis writing HIM a letter. What might it be like? An interesting observation.

From Fr Z's Blog

People have asked my about the hand-written letter from Francis to the Jesuit homosexualist activist Fr James Martin.  Austin Ruse has a good piece about it HERE.

.Ruse does an autopsy on this letter and its meaning, especially the by now wearisome prevarication that Martin is, as Ruse cites the trope, “doing God’s own work in building bridges to a marginalized community.”

Irony oozes, particularly as Ruse points out, far from being a marginalized community right now, those to whom Martin addresses himself are, “among the most powerful ‘communities’ in the United States.”

The single most marginalized community in the Catholic Church in these USA is, without question or debate, those who desire traditional sacred worship.

Let’s game this out.   Let’s imagine that Francis has sent a private, hand-written letter… to me. He praises me for bringing countless people back to confession, inspiring dozens and dozens of men to try their vocations, prompted large numbers of converts, helped numerous couples get their marriages sorted out, resolved all matter of moral questions and catechized, asserted a strong influence in the liturgical translation process around the time of Liturgiam authenticam.  No, wait, let’s keep it simple.  He praises me for having brought many priests and people to experience – here we go – traditional sacred liturgical worship.

What would happen?

Immediately the New Red Guards at the Fishwrap and Amerika, RU-486 and La Crock, would pooh-pooh such a letter as being “only hand-written”, and therefore “not public”, but rather “merely private”. As a private letter, it is not published in an official organ of the Holy See.  Any such letter from Francis to someone “building bridges to a marginalized traditional community”, as Ruse put it, would be a mostly empty gesture made probably out of pity rather than “official” approbation.  Better yet, he wrote it out of mercy, ’cause that’s the kinda guy he is.

What could such a letter to me look like?  Let’s make a very few alterations to the letter which Martin received, which I shall indicate.  Remember, this is the imagined version, with a few changes.

Dear brother:

Thank you for your mail and for the photos. Please thank your nephew for his kindness to me and for having chosen the name Francisco. And congratulate him on the pontifical buskins. He made me laugh. Tell him that I pray for him and ask him to do so for me.

Regarding your P.S. [about the annual Summorum Pontificum Conference], I want to thank you for your pastoral zeal and your ability to be close to people, with that closeness that Jesus had and that reflects the closeness of God. Our Heavenly Father approaches with love every one of his children, each and everyone. His heart is to open to each and everyone. He is Father. God’s “style” has three aspects: closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is how he draws closer to each one of us.

Thinking about your pastoral work, I see that you are continuously looking to imitate this style of God. You are a priest for all men and women, just as God is the Father for all men and women. I pray for you to continue in this way, being close, compassionate and with great tenderness.

And I pray for your faithful, your online “parishioners,” and anyone whom the Lord places in your care, so that you protect them, and make them grow in the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please don’t forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and may the Holy Virgin protect you.

Fraternally,

Francisco

A few changes.   This letter could have been written pretty much to anyone engaged in any apostolate.  But… if it is addressed to a certain someone… well!  It is like the discovery of an authenticated letter of an Apostle!  3 Peter!

Would that the tradition-leaning marginalized community could get a little of that “closeness compassion and tenderness” which should be “for all men and women.”

Just a little, please?  If it’s not too much trouble?