Review of “Embracing the Way of Jesus” by Pope Francis

I was excited to read this book, a collection of sermons and writings by Pope Francis, because I was interested in getting a deeper understanding of the pope’s perspectives on many of the issues he discusses in it. The publisher describes the book as “a beautifully curated collection of excerpts from the homilies and writings of Pope Francis, all centering on Christianity as a way of life—or, as the earliest Christians would have understood it, ‘the Way’.” It is a book about discipleship, how to follow Jesus, and carries the theme of “the way” throughout, contemplating The Way of the Cross, The Way of Prayer, The Old Testament Way, and others.

Having been raised Catholic but since becoming a Salvationist, I was curious to see if and where Pope Francis departed from what I have seen as traditional Catholicism. Many of his public statements have certainly raised the ire of the more conservative elements of the Catholic Church even as they have been celebrated by many Catholics and non-Catholics around the world. His chosen name – Francis – also communicated the specific focus for his papacy: the poor, the dispossessed, the disenfranchised.

The book is surprising in a few ways. First, it is extremely evangelical in its tone. The idea of evangelism, taking the message of the gospel to the world, is not one associated with what I learned from the Christian Brothers’ schools I attended. There the focus was more inward, to learn about the faith. Pope Francis consistently speaks of reaching out to others and of living in a way that creates harmony and provides a glimpse of Christ to those we encounter. “It is the task of Christians”, he writes, “to spread the redeeming power throughout the world, becoming missionaries and heralds for the Word of God.”

Secondly, the book has an emphasis on the Holy Spirit that I did not hear in Catholic school, but which I hear regularly in the tradition of the Salvation Army. Pope Francis connects the Spirit to our ability to reach out to others, since the Spirit “grants us the courage to take to the streets of the world, bringing the Gospel!” He also highlights the role of the Holy Spirit in creating openness and diversity within the church (while Pope Francis tends to speak of “the Church”, which I take to mean the Catholic church, he does also more broadly to the church of Christ, the community of all believers). He believes the Spirit stimulates plurality and multiplicity in the church while simultaneously building unity within the church, and contrasts this with our human efforts to foster diversity and unity which end up in division and uniformity.

The third surprising aspect of this collection is the emphasis on the Old Testament. In the Catholic Mass, there is a reading from each of the Old and New Testaments, but these had always felt to me as the precursors to the reading from one of the gospels. The Old Testament especially had never been a focus in school, and even amongst many Protestant evangelicals it is less often preached on or studied. Pope Francis quickly establishes the relevance of this part of scripture to our lives today, drawing particularly on the global refugee crisis and God’s call for us to care for each other.

“Has any of us wept because of this situation [refugees drowning in their attempts to reach Europe] and others like it? Has any of us grieved for the death of these brothers and sisters? Has any of us wept for these persons who were on the boat? For the young women carrying their babies? For these men who were looking for a means of supporting their families? We are a society that has forgotten how to weep, how to experience compassion – ‘suffering with’ others…It is exactly in this chaos that God asks man’s conscience, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ and Cain responds, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’”

Pope Francis also looks to the New Testament on this issue, reminding readers that Jesus was a refugee as his family fled the country he was born in to save them from a despot who wanted him dead. The pope says to all of us, “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one another!”

It is this human and humanist perspective that will likely surprise many readers. In the western world particularly, a humanistic point of view is most often associated with secular humanism and its rejection of the role of God and the place of religion in fostering love and valuing of humanity. Pope Francis strongly rails against injustice, poverty, disenfranchisement, persecution, greed, and many other evils that are the rallying points for the secular humanist. Yet many would reject the church as not having anything of value to say on these issues.

Pope Francis does not address homosexuality here (which may have been a choice by editor James P. Campbell), an omission that is troubling given the lack of a good relationship – or between the LGBTQ community and the church. It is important and necessary to understand the pope’s views of the discrimination against and disenfranchisement of LGBTQ persons and to hear his perspective on how Christians should reach out to the community and its individual members in the context of his belief that “the simplest expression that epitomizes all the Gospel, all the faith, all theology: God loves us with a free and boundless love.” Without it, one cannot help but wonder if his clear commitment to social justice, broadly stated, excludes this group.

Overall, the book is a plea for Christians to get to the essence of what it means to follow Jesus, and how that should shape how we live. The passion and compassion of Pope Francis comes through strongly, as does his thoughtful and scriptural perspective on Christ. It will challenge Christians of all denominations to consider how God loves us and how we should love and care for others.  

Verdict: Highly recommended

Embracing the Way of Jesus is published by Loyola Press.