Last Saturday, September 27, Pope Francis led a vesper service at the Church of the Gesu in Rome to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). In the course of his homily, he offered the following:
“The ship of the Society [of Jesus] has been tossed around by the waves and there is nothing surprising in this. Even the boat of Peter can be tossed about today. The night and the powers of darkness are always near. It is tiring to row. The Jesuits must be ‘brave and expert rowers”: row then! Row, be strong, even with the headwind! We row in the service of the Church. We row together! But while we row–we all row, even the Pope rows in the boat of Peter–we must pray a lot….”
I nominate Francis as an honorary member of our crew teams!