Book Review: Pope Francis: I Believe in Mercy

Pope Francis: I Believe in Mercy

by Regina Doman

Art by Sean Lam

Dexter, MI: Manga Hero, 2013

 

Known for their work on the Manga Hero edition of Habemus Papem which told of Pope Benedict XVI, the creative team of Regina Doman as writer and Sean Lam as artist has once again joined to tell a pope’s life story. This time the attention is on Pope Francis. Intended for teens and young adults, Pope Francis: I Believe in Mercy hits all the crucial points of Pope Francis’ life to date. 

It begins with Jorge Bergoglio as a twelve-year-old who thought he was in love with a young lady. When her father told him to leave her alone, he jokingly told her he would become a priest instead. But his true call wouldn’t come until years later. The manga tells of Bergoglio’s lung disease which resulted in the removal of part of his lung and a difficult recovery. It also shows his joining the Jesuits and his efforts to help priests during the political turmoil of Argentina. Pope Francis follows the future pope as he ministered to the people of Buenos Aires, reaching out to the poor and marginalized. In 1992, he became a bishop and as the Archbishop instructed him, the Diocese of Buenos Aires became his bride. When the Archbishop died in 1998, Bishop Bergoglio took over the role but eschewed all of the trappings that came with the office. The manga emphasizes his desire to live simply and minister to all. It concludes with his election to the papacy and the continuation of his simple way of life.

The story of Pope Francis is interwoven with scenes of Jesus from Scripture. There are also passages from Pope Francis’ writings and homilies. 

Because of the subject matter included, especially in the dark days of Argentina, Pope Francis: I Believe in Mercy is definitely intended for teens and young adults rather than children. It may be helpful to have a previous acquaintance with the life story of Pope Francis as well – it is possible one might become confused in some parts without it (either that or one might read this, then go on to read more about him to learn more). Overall, however, Pope Francis: I Believe in Mercy is extremely well done and is a way to inspire young people to follow Jesus as Pope Francis has strived to do in his own life. 

Some Classic Homeschool Reading - How Children Learn

It's almost embarrassing to admit that I have been homeschooling for six years and never read a book by John Holt. Considered the father of modern homeschooling, his thought has contributed much to the homeschooling movement and while he was primarily in favor of unschooling, everyone who homeschools today owes him a debt of gratitude for all the work he did to make homeschooling legal and accepted. And so, I recently set out to correct this deficit in my homeschooling education.

I started with How Children Learn . Originally written in 1964 and revised in 1983 (Holt died in 1985), it contains Holt's observations of children learning. He was a teacher who began to realize that there was something fundamentally wrong with the school system. He set out to watch young children and see how they picked up new information because young children learn an immense amount in their first few years of life, largely through observation and imitation. He then put forth the theory that children would continue to learn without traditional school if given the opportunity to do so.

Perhaps the key passage of the book is the following:

Timetables! We act as if children were railroad trains running on a schedule. The railroad man figures that is his train is going to get to Chicago at a certain time, then it must arrive on time at every stop along the route. If it is ten minutes late getting into a station, he begins to worry. In the same way, we say that if children are going to know so much when they go to college, then they have to know this at the end of this grade, and that at the end of that grade. If a child doesn't arrive at one of these intermediate stations when we think he should, we instantly assume he is going to be late at the finish. But children are not railroad trains. They don't learn at an even rate. They learn in spurts, and the more interested they are in what they are learning, the faster these spurts are likely to be. 

I can attest to this with my own children. Isaac (now 11) learned how to read young. One day when he was four he picked up a book and started reading. I did nothing to teach him. David (now 12 1/2) struggled with learning to read. Truly, he couldn't read fluently until he was about eight. I'm sure had he been in school, he would have really struggled. Now, there is absolutely no difference in their reading ability.

Neither one of them wanted to read books by themselves until they were about eight or nine. They liked to have me read to them. Their interest level was higher than their reading ability. It wasn't until it caught up that they began to devour books. While Isaac reads more quickly than David and can read a long book in a day, the two are both avid readers.

Another example - Isaac made his sixes backwards for years. I would point it out to him, but it didn't matter. Those sixes were still always backwards. Last year (2012) when we started school in September, he took out his math book and did his problems and wrote all his numbers correctly. In June he didn't, and to my knowledge, he had not written a number all summer, but something must have happened in his brain over the summer.  He just "got" it.

It can be hard and nervewracking waiting for those connections to happen, especially when the "educational experts" say that these skills should be learned at a certain age. And there are certainly special situations where there are true learning difficulties, but in many cases, what a child needs is the ability to learn at his or her own rate. We have eighteen years to get them ready for college (if that, in fact, is even their goal). There is time to allow for differences in developing brains. That is the key point of Holt's ideas.

Would you like a Signed Copy of the Catholic Baby Name Book?

As you think about Christmas gift giving, please consider giving a signed copy of The Catholic Baby Name book to someone who is expecting or someone who simply enjoys learning about names and saints. The cost is $15 including shipping and I am happy to dedicate it to whomever you would like. If you would like a copy, please email me at pfmacarthur@comcast.net. Thank you!

Homeschooling Resources for Those on the Autism Spectrum

Are you homeschooling a child on the Autism Spectrum - this site has a wide array of resources:

Home-schooling Resources for Parents with Kids on the Autism Spectrum

Patron Saint Quilts - Quilt Block in Honor of St. Rita

The 20th (and last) quilt block for my Patron Saint Quilt is done! This one is in honor of St. Rita, a patron saint of impossible cases. To find out more and download the free pattern, please visit: Quilt Block in Honor of St. Rita

A Thief in the Night

Today I attended the wake for my next door neighbor. He came home from work on Thursday, told his wife he wasn't feeling well, laid down on the couch and died. His twenty-year-old daughter frantically performed CPR, but there was nothing that could be done. He was only fifty-three years old.  He was an organ donor and his death helped four other people live. This offers some consolation to his family, but they are still in a terrible state of shock.

We humans all live with the reality that we will die. We do not know the day or the hour. Many have mused about what they would do if they knew that it was their last day, but the truth is, most of us will not know. The obituary page of the newspaper is filled with people who woke up in the morning with no idea that they would meet God that day.

We cannot live under a cloud of fear that death is looming around every corner, but we do need to always be ready. My neighbor had no opportunity to say goodbye to his family, but he was a kind and generous man and his love for them was evident every day. They have no need to wonder if he cared about them. We need to live lives filled with love and kindness - every day.

We also need to always be ready to meet God. It is easy to put off care of our spiritual lives, thinking we have plenty of time to get our spiritual house in order, to repent of our sins and make amends. The reality may be very different. Today is the day to make sure we are in a state of grace, and then we need to make sure we stay there. We need to put God first in our lives. What we do here on earth is important, but it is only a blink of an eye compared to the eternity that awaits. Make sure you are living in such a way that if that eternity began today, you'd be at peace.

All Soul's Day - Chaplet for the Faithfully Departed

November 2nd is All Soul's Day - a day which is especially set aside in the Church to remember all those in purgatory.

Chaplet for the Faithful Departed

O Lord, my Creator and Redeemer, I believe that in Your justice You have willed purgatory for those who pass into eternity before having completely atoned for their sins. And I believe that in Your mercy You accept suffrages, especially in the sacrifice of the Mass, for their comfort and liberation.

Enliven my faith and grant me sentiments of compassion towards these suffering brethren.

Eternal rest, grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, through the intercession of Mary and all the saints, please free from purgatory the faithful departed. 

I pray you, O St. Michael, prince of the heavenly army, take them into the eternal light which was promised by God to Abraham and his descendants.

I offer You, Lord, sacrifices and prayers of praise. Accept them on behalf of those whom we commemorate this day. Admit them into the eternal light and joy.

Eternal rest, grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

O good Master Jesus, I entreat You for the sake of all to whom I am bound by motives of gratitude, justice, charity, and relationship: my parents, brothers and sisters, spiritual and material benefactors, the members of our Congregation and my relatives.

I recommend to You the forgotten persons, those who were more devoted to You, to the Blessed Virgin, persons who on earth had great responsibility: priests, the authorities, superiors, religious. Call them soon to eternal salvation.

Eternal rest, grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

I thank You, O Jesus divine Master, for having come down from heaven and redeemed the human race from so much evil with Your doctrine, sanctity and death. I pray You for the dead who are in purgatory because of the propagation of evil through the press, radio, television, and the motion picture industry.

I believe that they, once freed from their sufferings and admitted into eternal happiness, will pray for the modern world so that all the means given for the elevation of this present life may be used for the attainment of everlasting life.

Eternal rest, grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

O merciful Jesus, for the merits of Your sorrowful passion and for the love You have for me, I beseech You to forgive me the punishments I have merited for the present or future life by my many sins. 

Grant me the spirit of penance, delicacy of conscience, hatred for any deliberate venial sin, and the necessary dispositions to gain indulgences.

I bind myself to help the poor dead as much as I can, and You, O infinite Goodness, give me an ever-increasing fervor so that when it is time for me to leave this world, I shall be admitted at once to contemplate You forever in heaven.

Eternal rest, grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.