He can’t wait

I was just looking again at this homemade video of Pope Francis’s roadside stop in Calabria, which Rocco posted the other day. I’ve been moved each time I’ve watched it, by the simplicity and joyfulness of the moment.

But the thing that keeps popping out at me comes at about 00:13 on the timecount. When the Pope’s car stops. What I keep noticing is that the Holy Father barely waits for the car to stop before opening his door. I can picture the driver saying, “Damn, let me stop the car first!” He was not stopping along the road there out of some sense of obligation. That much was obvious anyway. But that door bursting open while the car was still in motion — it says he was sort of busting to get out of there, to get with the people, to be with his flock.

God bless him. And Lord, make us worthy of him.

(Part II on Benedict’s Caritas in Veritate tomorrow.)