The Example of a Generous Spirit

Word got out this week that Pope Francis makes clandestine excursions from the Vatican into Rome in the evening to minister to the poor. Word on the street is that he does this incognito - not dressed in papal attire but rather as a "regular" priest.
       Many of us have marveled yet again at the Pope's audacity. His actions again are riveting us. Many of us find ourselves smiling and nodding in appreciation and admiration. Why?
       Because Pope Francis consistently demonstrates a genuine Generous Spirit!
       Or to put it in a corny way, he "walks the talk."
       He does so without fanfare...
       with focus on the other, not on himself...
       with passion and COMpassion...
       with authenticity...
       with the Spirit of Christ bursting forth from his life.

     And so when a young boy walked up on stage recently while the pope was speaking to a crowd, we all gasped in one way or another. We were tempted to instruct the boy that it was not appropriate for him to interrupt the pope.
      Instead, the man with that generous spirit simply placed his hand on the boy's head and subtly invited the boy to stand next to him.
       Yet another quiet, humble act of a man who is so full of Jesus that His Spirit spills out in generosity everywhere.
       I, for one, want to be more like this man.