Pope Francis just arrived in the U.S. after visiting Cuba as part of his Apostolic Journey. It’s been a whirlwind trip with serious potential for social and political effect. A Pope does not simply visit a Communist nation without leaving his spiritual footprint. Pray for Cuba, for her people and for her leaders. In case you missed it, here are 10 EPIC quotes from his brief time there.
1. Promote your neighbors’ dignity
“Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
-Homily, Mass at Plaza de la Revolución, Havana
2. Step outside the para-diggum
“Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people,”
-Homily, Mass at Plaza de la Revolución, Havana
3. Have no fear
“Jesus is not afraid of people’s questions; he is not afraid of our humanity or the different things we are looking for. On the contrary, he knows the “twists and turns” of the human heart.”
-Homily, Mass at Plaza de la Revolución, Havana
4. Right here, right now
“Today I ask you to care for this vocation of yours, to care for these gifts which God has given you, but above all I invite you to care for and be at the service of the frailty of your brothers and sisters. Do not neglect them for plans which can be seductive, but are unconcerned about the face of the person beside you.”
-Homily, Mass at Plaza de la Revolución, Havana
5. One Body, many parts
“Unity is often confused with uniformity; with actions, feelings and words which are all identical. This is not unity, it is conformity. It kills the life of the Spirit; it kills the charisms which God has bestowed for the good of his people. Unity is threatened whenever we try to turn others into our own image and likeness. Unity is a gift, not something to be imposed by force or by decree.”
-Vespers, Cathedral of Havana
6. Tough love
“Conflicts and disagreements in the Church are to be expected and, I would even say, needed. They are a sign that the Church is alive and that the Spirit is still acting, still enlivening her. Woe to those communities without a “yes” and a “no”! They are like married couples who no longer argue, because they have lost interest, they have lost their love.”
7. Viva la revolucion!
“Our revolution comes about through tenderness, through the joy which always becomes closeness and compassion, and leads us to get involved in, and to serve, the life of others.”
-Homily, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity, El Cobre, Santiago
8. God bless mothers and grandmothers
“The soul of the Cuban people, as we have just heard, was forged amid suffering and privation which could not suppress the faith, that faith which was kept alive thanks to all those grandmothers who fostered, in the daily life of their homes, the living presence of God, the presence of the Father who liberates, strengthens, heals, grants courage and serves as a sure refuge and the sign of a new resurrection. Grandmothers, mothers, and so many others who with tenderness and love were signs of visitation, valor and faith for their grandchildren, in their families. They kept open a tiny space, small as a mustard seed, through which the Holy Spirit continued to accompany the heartbeat of this people.”
-Homily, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity, El Cobre, Santiago
9. Throwaway culture
“This throwaway culture is hurting us all, is depriving us of hope. Children are thrown away, because they are not liked, they are killed before they are born. The elderly are thrown away… because they aren’t productive. Some countries have enacted euthanasia, and how many others have a ‘hidden euthanasia’?”
-Meeting with youth, Havana
10. Hope
“There are young people who seem to have retired at 22 years old. They are young people with existential sadness, they are young people who have committed their lives to a basic defeatism…In Argentina, we say, ‘Don’t be wimpy.”
-Meeting with youth, Havana
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