"A few months after the election of Pope Francis, my Jesuit High School students and I went to sleep hungry on a Brazilian beach, surrounded by three million people as the icy surf washed toward us."
From this arresting opening sentence author Sean Salai, S.J. leads you--as he led his students at World Youth Day in Copacabana--on an action-packed exploration of what it means to leave comfort behind and plunge into the adventure of bold Catholic living.
Pope Francis has insistently invited all of us to live passionate lives of faith and encounter, in particular reaching out to the poor, the lost, the lonely, and anyone who, for whatever reason, is on the margins of society. Taking six themes from Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, What Would Pope Francis Do? examines the essence of our mission, and the movements of the heart that allow us to go boldly toward those on the peripheries to build a better world.
What Would Pope Francis Do? is filled with stories of ordinary people as well as saints who have followed the call of Jesus--and Pope Francis--to go to the peripheries with the joy of the Gospel. Ultimately the book asks each of us--what have we done for Christ, what are we doing for Christ, and what will we do for Christ?
"I suspect Pope Francis would be proud of this work and the homage it pays to his message. It's the kind of thing that makes you proud to be a Catholic." --James Lee Burke, New York Times bestselling novelist
"Pope Francis famously once asked Christians to leave their comfort zones and bring the gospel to those most in need. [Salai] has a unique perspective on what that means." --Raymond Arroyo, EWTN "The World Over Live"
"For all those interested in understanding Pope Francis, and the Ignatian spirituality which motivates him, this is an excellent way to begin." --Homiletic & Pastoral Review
