The Pope Has Landed

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Received a CNN notification that Pope Francis is on his way.

First he's stopping off in Cuba to do mass in front of a massive gathering of people who have been held under the thumb of a communist regime for a long time.

But that's the point of the tour...to strengthen the relationship between Cuba and the United States. Pope Francis sort of brokered the deal that will allow peace to reign between the two countries.

And peace is good, right?

Saw a stat the other day about the trillions of dollars spent on war over the last 14 years.

We could use trillions around this country to say...oh, I don't know...pay a living wage to a lot of people.

So the Pope is bringing a message of peace.

Pope Francis will be in Washington by Tuesday and I'm sure that the message he brings will be carried all over and the notifications I get regarding his message will keep on coming.

This Pope has also received high marks for being a little more progressive in his thoughts in regard to the gay lifestyle and the past sins of the members of the Catholic church.

By all accounts people seem to like him.

Now, I'm a Catholic boy.

Was an altar boy for a long time.

(No shenanigans...so don't even ask).

Yet what always left me shaking my head a little was the dress up game that everyone seemed to play to read through the Sunday mass. We used to all have to sit quietly as the priest put on his garbs prior to saying mass. It was just a man putting on a costume.

And that's what I always thought about the Pope.

The big hat.

The Pope-mobile.

The fancy house and fancier church.

Speaking from a balcony.

Now...I'm not saying that any of it is wrong...mass should be a celebration of faith...it just always seemed odd to me.

And I've always been of the opinion that we are all created equal. The pedestal that the Pope is on was also, a slight head-scratcher.

Yet.

I am all for a message of peace in a world filled with turmoil.

I do favor the faith aspect of the language that the Pope will bring.

That faith can mean so many different things to so many different people and I know that Pope Francis will speak of including everyone when he talks about what we all need as we move forward.

It will be refreshing to hear a leader talk about love of people...all people...instead of dressing down entire races of people like Muslims, or Mexicans, or Women...just because they are different.

We can get back to the stereotypes and the hate as soon as the Pope-mobile heads for the airport.

Let's just all pause for a moment and act like we aren't no-thinking animals.

Give the Pope a week.

Let him bless us collectively.

Then we'll go back to insulting one another until kingdom come.

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