![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/hudson-diner-diner-food-nyc_Fotor.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By
\nMark Mallett<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTHAT <\/b>Pope Francis!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill slammed his fist on the table, turning a few heads in the process. Fr. Gabriel smiled wryly. \u201cWhat now Bill?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSplash! Did you hear that?<\/i>\u201d Kevin quipped, leaning across the table, his hand cupped over his ear. \u201cAnother Catholic jumping over the Barque of Peter!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The three men laughed\u2014well, Bill sort of laughed. He was used to Kevin\u2019s cajoling. Every Saturday morning after Mass, they met at the town diner to talk about everything from baseball to the Beatific vision. But lately, their conversations were more sober, trying to keep up to the whirlwind of change that every week brought. Pope Francis was Bill\u2019s favorite subject of late.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat Communist crucifix thing was the last straw.\u201d Fr. Gabriel, a young priest ordained only four years, twitched his nose and sat back with his coffee cup in hand, bracing himself for Bill\u2019s customary \u201cFrancis rant”. Kevin, the more \u201cliberal” of the three, seemed to be enjoying the moment. He was 31 years younger than Bill who had just celebrated his 60th birthday. While still mostly orthodox in his views, Kevin loved to play the devil\u2019s advocate\u2026 just to drive Bill nuts. Kevin was typical of Generation Y in that he bucked the status quo<\/i>, even though he didn\u2019t always know why. Yet, his faith was strong enough that he knew going to Mass and saying Grace was a good thing; that he shouldn\u2019t surf porn, swear or cheat on taxes.<\/p>\n
To any outsider, they would appear a bizarre trio. But even the occasional waitress would get pulled into their mostly friendly debates that, admittedly, were never dull and just challenging enough to make Saturday morning brunch a tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time this Pope opens his mouth, it\u2019s a new crisis,\u201d Bill sighed, rubbing his forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the crucifix, Bill?\u201d Fr. Gabriel asked calmly, even dispassionately. And that only made Bill more angry. Fr. Gabriel always seemed to have an answer in defence of the Pope. Mind you, it ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/1_popesickle_Fotor.jpg\")
calmed him down somewhat\u2014at least until the next crisis. But this time, Bill thought that Fr. Gabriel ought to be outraged.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus<\/i>, crucified to a hammer and sickle? Do I need to say any more than that? It\u2019s blasphemous, Padre. Blasphemous!\u201d Fr. Gabriel said nothing, his eyes fixed intently on Bill and a small bead of sweat rolling down from his thinning hairline.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell geez, Bill, Pope Francis didn\u2019t make it,\u201d Kevin responded.<\/p>\n
He liked this Pope, liked him a lot. He was too young to really remember the charismatic John Paul II who likewise loved to sit with the youth, reach out from his \u201cpope-mobile\u201d and joke around with the faithful. So for him, Francis seemed like the end of centuries of pomp and untouchability. Francis, to him, was kind of a revolution in personi. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he didn\u2019t make it,<\/i> Kevin,\u201d Bill said in his most condescending tone. \u201cBut he accepted it. He even called it a \u201cgesture of warmth\u201d, an \u201chonour\u201d, which he placed at the feet of a statue of Mary. [1]<\/sup><\/a>news.va<\/a>, July 11, 2015<\/span><\/span>