Walking in the Light by Rev. Teresa Stuefloten M.Div. 8/17/2025

This morning, I am speaking on Walking in the Light. By this I mean walking in the light of God, Spirit, Source, your Higher Power. When we regularly look to God for guidance through meditation and prayer, we live our life in the highest way. We live an illumined life.

A few months ago when I was in my local bookstore, I was drawn to a book displayed on the counter by the check stand. The book was titled, “LIFE, My Story Through History” by Pope Francis with help from Fabio Marchese Ragona. It is a New York Times best seller. The late Pope’s smiling face was on the cover. He had passed a month or two before. I am not Catholic, but this book just called to me, so I bought it.

I had been impressed with Pope Francis earlier in 2025 when he had rebuked the President and Vice President of the United States for their treatment of immigrants. You don’t have to be the same religion to admire someone. I just saw a high integrity, and a deep kindness and compassion in Pope Francis that I admired, so I wanted to learn more about him. I’m glad I did because he had some important things to say.

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936. He was the son of Italian immigrants. He grew up in a neighborhood of immigrants in Argentina. Some had immigrated to escape what was happening with the Nazis, so his father worked with Jewish immigrants, also. His family was sensitive to the plight of the Jews. They were especially disturbed by what was happening to the Jewish families with children being separated from their parents and sent to detention camps alone. Having young children themselves, they felt the pain of the Jewish families. His mother said of Hitler, “He really is a monster, there’s no other word!”

His paternal grandmother, Grandma Rosa, lived close by and took him to her house each day. He was very fond of her and she was a big influence on him, teaching him to pray and talking to him, about Jesus. Grandma Rosa received letters from the family in Italy, so young Jorge would hear the letters read, as well as hearing the news of the war on the radio. He developed a sensitivity to the suffering of others at a very young age.

Young Jorge learned to love others through the values of his family. He learned to be an expression of love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” I believe this perfectly describes the character of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis. He exemplified these characteristics.

Pope Francis says of injustice and hatred, “When I read in the papers about cases of anti-Semitism or racism arising today, I sometimes feel as if I am reliving those emotions. Consider, for example, the acts of violence committed by a few fanatics, the desecration of Jewish graves or the houses daubed with the star of David in various European countries after the outbreak of the new conflict in the Middle East in October 2023. It’s shameful, particularly as it often involves the young. As if they didn’t understand what the Shoah was.” (I, personally, had to look up this term because I was not familiar with it. The term “Shoah” is a Hebrew word meaning “catastrophe” or “destruction” and refers to the Holocaust.)

Pope Francis continues: “Let us also think about people with dark skin, In the United States, for example, there continue to be big demonstrations over the death of Black citizens, victims of a very specific prejudice. The story of George Floyd, and other Americans like him, has considerable resonance. But this is not just a problem for the United States, it affects European countries, too.”

“Fortunately there is always a collective reaction against social or racial injustice, against abuse of power, whenever human dignity is wounded. For this reason I like to define nonviolent protesters as collective good Samaritans, intervening to defend the dignity of human beings, all human beings. But let us remember that racism is a disease, a virus; the case of Hitler is a disease multiplied to the umpteenth power, because he eliminated not only Jews, but also Roma, people with disabilities, homosexuals, the old, even children with Down syndrome. He sent them all to their deaths, without pity. This has always caused me pain inside. I have never come to terms with it. This is why we cannot turn a blind eye to cases of anti-Semitism, racism, or discrimination. We must defend the sanctity of human life. The name of God is profaned and defiled in the madness of hate. It happens today and it happened in the criminal actions of the regime during World War II. History repeats itself. We see it every day, for example in what is happening in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The Jewish community living far from Europe really suffered during the years of my childhood; I could glimpse it in the eyes of my father’s friends when they visited, and in their children’s eyes. Some of them lived with a permanent weight on their hearts, even when they were playing with me. Perhaps they knew something about what was happening to their people and relatives, because they hardly ever smiled, and their expressions were sad. And I see this today, when I receive children who have come away from war zones. Their eyes do not smile; their smiles are always forced…

So we must not forget that the past century saw so much brutality against the Jewish people. We thought it was finished when the war ended and the Nazi regime collapsed, but the Jews continue to be stereotyped and persecuted. This is not Christian; it’s not even human. When will we understand that these are our brothers and sisters?

I cannot conceal that my thoughts often go back to all those people suffering and dying in the camps in the 1940s while we were living peacefully and worry-free in our homes in Argentina. We had everything, though we lived simply. It wasn’t important to own a car or a custom made suit, to go on vacation - the important thing was just to be happy. And that, thanks be to God, was never lacking in our family. Above all, we didn’t have to live with fear that the SS would come knocking and ransack our home; there were no Nazi patrols in the street; mothers weren’t having their heads shaved, being separated from their children, and getting sent to camps wearing only a filthy coverall, stripped of all dignity. Nor were men being compelled into forced labor and then, when they were no longer useful, being murdered and thrown into incinerators.

Why did they go through this and not me? Why were so many children, just like me, separated from their parents, while my siblings and I were given the heaven-sent gift of a happy childhood? I ask the question with my heart in pieces, but I haven’t found the answer yet.” (End of quote)

When I read Pope Francis’ description of what happened to the Jews it sounded eerily like what is happening right now in the US to the immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and other countries. They are arrested on the streets, rounded up from their workplaces, and are now afraid to go anywhere. I read that immigrants are afraid to go to the doctor now and are delaying treatment for serious medical conditions. When arrested they are separated from their children and sent to places like ‘Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida.

As Pope Francis said, “When will we understand that these are our brothers and sisters?” If we want to walk in the Light, it is my belief that we need to speak up to defend our brothers and sisters. Walking in the Light means recognizing our oneness with one another. I, personally, am particularly offended that Alligator Alcatraz merchandise is being sold, making a joke of the inhumane torture and making a profit from the suffering of other human beings. This is not funny. It is a travesty against humanity.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio knew he wanted to be a priest at 12 years of age, but he had a long road ahead of him before this would be realized. He was always drawn to silence, an indication that he was walking in the Light. When Jorge was in 6th grade, his mother suffered poor health and was no longer able to care for her children, Jorge and his sister and brother were sent to Salesian Catholic boarding schools. He remembered how he loved the study time, saying, “And then the silence: it was wonderful to study for hours and hours, immersed in absolute silence, because it helped concentration.”

The call to priesthood came again when Jorge was 16. He says, “I remember that September 21, 1953, I had left the house in a hurry. I was due to meet my friends at the station and go to the student festival. I walked past the Basilica of San Jose’ de Flores, which I had been attending since I was a child, and suddenly felt the urge to go in and pay my respects to the Lord. After a prayer said on my knees, I felt a sudden desire to confess… Something strange happened during that confession, something that truly changed my life: I experienced the shock of unexpectedly meeting God. He was there, waiting for me; He knew I would come. Making confession to that priest, I felt accepted by the Lord’s mercy… I could say that I “fell to the ground” on that day, as is recounted of Saul of Tarsus, later St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, when he received the Lord’s call… A picnic with friends? Forget it! I was experiencing a particularly wonderful moment in my life - I was putting myself utterly in God’s hands! I was so overwhelmed. I felt the need to run home and be alone in silence. And I stayed there a long time.”

“Unsurprisingly, I didn’t say a word to my family about my call to the priesthood for two years, until I received my diploma and the time came to choose a university. It was 1955, and the only person who knew was Father Duarte, who followed my arduous journey of faith until the day he died. To begin with, I didn’t even talk about it with my school friends. There were ten of us in my closest circle, and we referred to ourselves jokingly as the ten muchachos. Together we organized evenings in a club in the Chicharita district: we would play billiards, discuss politics, and dance the tango. I loved Juan d’Arenzio’s orchestra…”

“The moment came to talk to my dad. I plucked up my courage and told him. He was happy with my decision, but I was afraid to tell my mother. I knew she would never accept this choice of mine, so I told her I was going to study medicine. One day, however, while cleaning the house, she found books on theology and philosophy on my desk. She confronted me about my lie and I replied with a smile, ‘I really am studying medicine, Mom, the medicine of the soul.’ She didn’t take it well, and Dad had to calm her down, after which she turned to me and said: ’I don’t know, I don’t think it’s for you, Jorge. But you’re grown up now; try to finish university and then decide.’ She had obviously dreamed of her firstborn son becoming a doctor.”

“Grandma Rosa, on the other hand, was very happy. I can still remember her kind words, full of sympathy: ‘Remember, Jorge, our door is always open. No one will criticize you if you decide to come home one day, but if God is calling you, go: you are blessed.’” (End of quote)

So at 19, Jorge Mario Bergoglio entered the archdiocesan seminary in Villa Devoto. In August 1957 everyone in the seminary caught the flu. Jorge got so sick that he was rushed to the Syrian Lebanese Hospital where more than 2 pints of fluid were removed from his lungs. An Italian nurse realized the dosage of penicillin was not sufficient and saved his life. During his long convalescence Jorge spent a lot of time in silence. The upper lobe of his right lung had to be removed due to three cysts. After his long recovery, Jorge made the decision to leave the seminary and join the Jesuit order. He said he was attracted to their missionary vocation and he liked their discipline. So, on March 11, 1958 he joined the Society of Jesus, as the Jesuits are also referred to. He studied and taught literature and psychology at two Catholic universities.

Jorge liked to spend his evenings in silence and prayer, preparing himself for ordination as a priest on December 13,1969, four days before his 33rd birthday. His mother knelt before him afterward and asked for his blessing. His Grandma Rosa looked at him with eyes full of love and joy. His father, sadly, had already passed.

He says of his grandmother, “She was a great woman. Her heart, like that of many old people, was for me a spring from which gushed the living water of faith that quenched my thirst. She passed on the gospel by means of tenderness, attention, wisdom. Faith is born like this. It is passed on in a gentle song in dialect, in a climate of family, in the mother tongue… Grandparents are a precious resource: we must care for them and protect them… We owe them everything… they have made us what we are, constantly encouraging and supporting us.”

Father Jorge Bergoglio, at 39 years of age, was the leader of the Society of Jesus in Argentina when the armed forces deposed the Peron government and a military junta seized power. The constitution was suspended, parliament dissolved, and martial law declared. There was chaos and young people suspected of being leftist subversive were tortured, drugged and tossed out of airplanes into the ocean. It was a dangerous time for the priests because those who worked with the poor in the slums were considered to be communist sympathizers. Father Jorge hid young men who were being targeted and believes the secret services had him under surveillance. Those who protested the cruelty, even priests and nuns, were disappeared, drugged and tossed out of military helicopters.

Pope Francis said, “I prayed to the Lord so hard during those years. Most of all I prayed that he might give peace to those who were personally experiencing violence and humiliation. There is something diabolical about dictatorship. I have seen it with my own eyes. I have lived through moments of great distress, in the fear that something could happen to my younger colleagues. It was generational genocide.”

As Father Jorge, he watched the fall of the Berlin Wall on TV. He said of the fall, “… there are many walls around the world, probably less famous. Where there’s a wall, there is a closed heart; where there’s a wall, there is the suffering of a brother and sister who cannot cross it; where there’s a wall, there is division between people, and that is not good for humankind. And if we are divided, friendship and solidarity are absent. We must follow the example of Jesus…

But walls are not just physical: when we’re not at peace with someone, a wall comes between us. How beautiful the world would be if there were bridges instead of barriers; people could meet and live together under the sign of brotherhood, reducing inequity and expanding freedom and human rights. Wherever there are walls, on the other hand, we see the proliferation of mafias, criminal behavior, dishonest scoundrels exploiting people’s weakness and subjecting them to fear and loneliness… So we must love our neighbors unconditionally, without borders, without limits of any kind, going beyond the walls of selfishness and personal or national interests. It is necessary to break the barriers of ideology which amplify hate and intolerance.”

One of the things that touched him about the fall of the Berlin Wall was “the sincerity and tenderness of the many old people, who had personally experienced great suffering and had been waiting for this moment for many years… after crossing the Iron Curtain, they were so moved they couldn’t speak, but they certainly didn’t hide their tears.”

Pope Francis was a person who believed in the power of love. He said, “…some misunderstandings, some problems can be overcome only by love. Hate, on the other hand, overcomes nothing.”

His heart led him to be a servant leader. He said, “Putting oneself at the service of the frail, the poor, the left behind is what every man of God should do, especially if he stands at the pinnacle of the church: be a shepherd, and smell of sheep… These were among the best times of my life. Walking those dusty alleyways, I myself found the Lord, and he told me not to abandon those poor souls. But I also spent time listening to their stories, accepting invitations into their dwellings for a cup of mate and a chat, like old friends. Don’t think these were amusing stories, and that we had a good laugh: I wiped away many tears, because those people lived in the midst of poverty, in homes built of loose bricks and corrugated iron, surrounded by feral dogs, with no drinking water. Criminals and drug traffickers are the true rulers of these disadvantaged areas… Listening to such people patiently and with an open mind… can change things for the better.”

Eventually Father Jorge Bergoglio was made Cardinal Bergoglio and he continued his advocacy for the poor. He said, “We are living in a time when there is an urgent need to rethink the economic model and rethink ourselves, by trying to see things through the eyes of the poor and discarded, working out how to combat increasing inequality and how to overcome our indifference to such people who are our brothers and sisters. To have hope in our future, along with the young, we must develop a different economic model based on fairness and a sense of shared humanity; an economic model that gives people life instead of killing them, that doesn’t aim to speculate with their lives but puts them front and center; an economy that is inclusive and humanizing, that takes care of creation instead of plundering it.”

In a homily he said, “How many of the problems in life could be resolved if we would learn to listen, if we would learn to listen to each other. Because to listen to another means to spend a little time in their life, in their heart, and not walk on by as if they don’t concern us. And life accustoms us to walking on by, to being uninterested in the life of the other, in what the other has to say to us, or answering before they have finished speaking. If in the environments we inhabit we would learn to listen… how things would change.”

On the morning of February 11, 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio received a call from Rome, informing him that Pope Benedict had resigned. He was to come to Rome for Pope Benedict’s farewell to the College of Cardinals and the conclave to choose a new pope. He says, “I must admit that over the years I had tried to go to the Vatican as little as possible: I honestly preferred being among my own people, and seeing the splendor of the Vatican buildings also made me a little uneasy.”

Cardinal Bergoglio was not hoping to be elected the next pope, so he was surprised when he began getting questions that indicated they were considering him. He was nearly elected on the first vote, and on the third ballot he was officially the new Pope. He chose the name Francis in honor of St. Frances of Assisi.

He said, “My life had once again been thrown into turmoil by God’s plan. The Lord was at my side. I could feel him. He was expecting me, and he was walking with me during this new responsibility in the service of the Church and the faithful, as decided by the cardinals, whose actions were decided by the Holy Spirit.”

Being a humble servant of the people, when he was shown the pectoral cross, red shoes, and cassock of the Pope, he replied, “Thank you… but I’m very fond of my own things. I’ll just wear the white cassock, and I’ll keep my archbishop’s pectoral cross and my shoes - which are orthopedic!”

Pope Francis also declined to live in the papal apartment. He says, “In the afternoon after mass in the Sistine Chapel, I was taken to see the papal apartment on the third level of the Apostolic Palace, but I thought it was too grand for me: if I had stayed in that historic residence of popes, I’m sure I would have needed the services of a psychiatrist! I need to be among people to feel well; there I would have been somewhat isolated from the outside world.”

He chose, instead to live in Saint Martha’s House, in an apartment that had a small reception room for visitors, a bedroom with a bathroom and a small office, and another bathroom for visitors. He lived as simply as possible as Pope Francis, preferring to spend money helping the poor.

Pope Francis, addressing the violence in our world, said, “…in recent years we have experienced and continue to experience, some very painful tests. I am thinking of the dispersed Third World War that has been convulsing the world for too long, conflicts in various parts of the planet that are destroying humanity and the sense of community between peoples, with more and more of our brothers and sisters suffering beneath the bombs. To those who have no pity or remorse for the poor souls who are dying I make yet another appeal: Stop the weapons! Stop the bombs! Stop the thirst for power! Stop, in the name of God! I beg you!”

As Pope Francis he also addressed the climate crisis, planning to attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in December 2023. A pulmonary infection prevented his attendance, but he gave his speech to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, who gave the speech for him at the conference. “What we are doing to creation, he said on my behalf, is a grave offense to God. And I’d like to add that it is a grave betrayal of the weakest among us, who will suffer the consequences more than anyone. Consider, for example, the climate refugees fleeing lands that have been devastated by drought, or populations struck by disastrous floods, storms and other weather-related phenomena. The planet’s screaming can no longer be ignored; there is no more time, we are gambling with the future of the young, with the future of humanity, itself.”

He concludes, “And finally, I think of the tragic years during which we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, a moment that has made us realize how fragile the world is and how humanity needs to stop and look in the mirror to think about itself anew.”

Pope Francis was accused by some of destroying the image of the papacy because he had eliminated the distance between it and the people. His response was, “That my vocation is to be a priest: above all I am a priest. I am a pastor and a pastor must be among his people, talk to them, enter into dialog, listen, support them, watch over them… Jesus did not place Himself above His people; He was of the people and walked among them.”

Pope Francis said “God loves everyone.” He strongly condemned discrimination of any kind. And he condemned the sexual abuses of the church, stating that those guilty of this should stand trial and serve their sentence.

I was quite touched by the story of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis, a man of deep integrity who walked in the Light of God, a humble servant who cared deeply about the poor and the outcast. He made his transition to the other side on April 21, 2025 at age 88.

This was not in the book, but I read online that Pope Francis had a dog. This is the story:

“Estabon, Pope Francis' dog, was a scarred street pup he brought into his humble Vatican apartment years ago.

The description (below) of his Holiness' farewell and bond with Estabon captures the essence of this extraordinary man…

The Pope and his Estabon:

"The Vatican is no stranger to silence. Its halls echo with centuries of whispered prayers and sacred pauses... But this silence was different. It was the quiet moment just before something precious slips away.

Pope Francis, the man who redefined humility and embraced the forgotten, was in his final moments. There were no grand farewells or dramatic goodbyes, he never wanted spectacle, only sincerity. His wish was quiet, simple, and deeply human:

"Bring Estabon," he whispered, a gentle smile appearing briefly on his lips.

Estabon wasn't bred for glory; he carried no pedigree, no royal lineage. He was just a street dog, found shivering and scared near the Vatican walls years ago. Pope Francis had quietly rescued him one morning, seeing himself reflected in the dog's weary eyes. Pope Francis had knelt that day not before important dignitaries or crowds, but before this frightened, forgotten creature. With a gentle hand and whispered comfort, he offered bread and patience, and Estabon chose to stay.

Over the years, Estabon became more than a companion. He became the pope’s quiet confidant, his shadow beneath olive trees, his warmth during lonely nights. Estabon never demanded or expected anything he simply stayed loyal and present.

In those final sacred hours, Vatican guards stepped aside, their usual rules forgotten because of the power of unconditional love. Estabon padded softly through corridors where no stray dog had walked before, until he reached the bedside of his beloved friend. In a simple room lit only by the soft glow of candles, Estabon rested his head on the edge of the bed, just as he had beneath the garden’s olive branches countless times before.

“You never left, did you?” Pope Francis murmured, his hand gently touching the dog's familiar fur.

Estabon did not move, did not whimper...he simply stayed. Quietly and faithfully, as the Holy Father’s breaths grew softer, matching the dog’s calm rhythm.

When Pope Francis finally passed, there was no crown on his head, no golden decorations only a simple wooden cross and a dog curled loyally at his feet. Witnesses whispered through tears: this was love in its purest form, silent, unwavering, and lasting beyond death.

Estabon stayed behind, a guardian of a legacy deeper than titles or fame. A humble dog who taught the world that true love asks for nothing, needs no applause, seeks no spotlight, it simply remains loyal and present…

So next time you see a stray dog, remember Estabon. Remember that sometimes, angels come with four paws and wagging tails, sent not to preach, but to teach us how to love quietly and forever.”

And so it is.

Rev Teresa Stuefloten, M.Div.