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You're Pope for a day! See what's it really like to be pope! Could you do the job?

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Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
7/28/2016 (7 years ago)

Published in Living Faith

Keywords: Pope, day, Francis, Vatican, life, daily, office, work

VATICAN CITY, ITALY (Catholic Online) - The buzz of the alarm jolts you awake. With bleary eyes you glance at the clock which reads 4:45am. It's time to get up.

You rise from your simple bed in the same papal apartment favored by Pope Francis. The walls are bare and the floor is clean, there are no embellishments except for a few houseplants.


In the morning dark, you wake yourself, splashing some water on your face. A plain towel is what you use to dry, which you dutifully hang on its rack once finished.

Kneeling beside your bed, you begin your morning prayers. It's the perfect way to dedicate your day to God. By the time you are finished, refreshed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, it is time to ready yourself.


You shower and groom, and dress yourself for the day's work ahead. You waste no time, you have a Mass to prepare. You reflect on the daily readings and decide on the message you will deliver.

At 6:30 you step outside your apartment and take the elevator down. You make your way to St. Martha's chapel and enter the sacristy.

Once dressed in your vestments, your notes and helpers are ready to go, Mass begins at 7.

The Mass is private, but many important people are invited from around Rome. The mayor has come to hear your words today.

During your message, you share how important it is to care for the poor and those in need. "Whatsoever you do for the least of these people, you also do for me," you remind, quoting Christ.

The Mass goes off without a hitch, you're a natural! Or perhaps the Holy Spirit is guiding your steps today. Either way, you stand outside the chapel after Mass and shake the hand of every single visitor. The mayor was impressed with your homily and promises to launch a new program to help those in need across the city. Good work!

It is now eight o'clock and it's finally time for breakfast.

The guest house where you stay, Santa Martha, has a cafeteria below the ground floor. You make your way down, and take a seat at the same table used by Pope Francis. Many other people are seated around you, all eating breakfast at the same time. You cannot help but feel you are being watched.

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Now begins your day's work.

Today you will meet with dozens of people. A few are far away and cannot travel to meet you, so you will call them.


Your first visitor is a gentleman who says he was cured of illness after a great period of prayer. His family has accompanied him. Such visits are as important as those with world leaders because every soul is precious to God. The man shares his blessed experience with you and you explain how this gift is meant to be shared though a life of good work. The man and his family promise to be examples in their parish and community and thank you for the visit. After some photographs, you receive your next visitor.

This time it is a woman, a delegate from the United Nations. You discuss the problem of world hunger. She explains there is not enough money or food to feed all the people they have to feed this year. Immediately you arrange for a grant of food and money to the UN. You prepare a request to your charitable agencies around the world, more help is needed. You know they will deliver with prayer and action!

Now it is time to go into your private office to work. Letters need to be written, documents signed, calls made.

Your office is small, and your desk is merely a table. It's designed to be functional, nothing more. You would rather be outside today, it is such a nice day in Rome! Outside you can mingle with the visitors and the poor. Some homeless people live in Vatican City now, sleeping out in sleeping bags when the weather is nice. They shower in the bathrooms installed for their use. They are a varied lot of people, some are clean and keep their appearance up, others do not. Their skin is many different colors, their ages vary. But none of this matters, every single one is Christ to you, and you love all alike.

But alas! You cannot go out today, you have a very important call to make in the afternoon. Today you are calling the American president.

The president eagerly accepts your call. After the exchange of a few pleasantries you discuss a very important topic. The American president has many problems with immigrants, with abortion, and with the well being of Christians in across the country. It is very important you do not involve yourself in the nation's politics, this is simply something a pope cannot do. But you can provide information --the truth as understood by the Church.

You talk about how important every life is, from conception to death. You discuss how the poor are the most important people a president must care for. The safety and security of a nation is important, yes, but there are ways to protect a nation's borders that do not dehumanize those who seek refuge from evil. Like the innkeeper, you remind the president, that Joseph and Mary knocked on many doors that first Christmas Eve.

Finally, you talk about freedom of conscience. Christians cannot be expected to participate in acts which go against their conscience. This is an ancient problem for the Church, which produced the first martyrs for the faith.

Your conversation seems to have an impact. You pray over the phone and bless the President. You have done your work well.

Except for lunch and dinner, both in the Santa Martha cafeteria, your day is spent hard at work. Like Pope Francis, you do not slack off or take it easy. As the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics, your work is never done.

When you switch off the light in your office at 10pm, you are a bit sad you did not go out into the city. But you cannot do this because so many people will surround you and ask for pictures. It's not that you mind the people, they are wonderful! But you cannot work and take selfies with people all day.

Settling into your apartment, you kneel by your bed and thank God for this opportunity to be pope for the day. You hope you did a good job. As you drift to sleep, you can almost feel the embrace of an angel. You hear the words of God say, "This is my son, with whom I am well pleased..."

---


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