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THE FIRST FACT

By Brother Patrick

During flights back to Rome after journeys all around the world, Pope Francis (1936-2025) answered questions at length and in depth from the traveling press corps. These airborne exchanges were on the record with no holds barred. The pope was not afraid to answer hard questions. Just weeks after his election in 2012, the Holy Father created an international stir by answering a question about morality and sexuality with these words: “Who am I to judge?” This statement signaled that Pope Francis was calling Christians and all people of goodwill to focus on mercy and mutual understanding not just doctrine and theology.

At the same time, Pope Francis was born in 1936. He was set in his ways. He was a man of his generation. He was an ardent defender of the Catholic Church and its teachings. Despite false claims from critics, he did not change anything in the catechism, except for adding a strong condemnation of the death penalty.

Pope Francis beckoned us back to the basics, back to the gospels, back to the foundational understanding of what it means to be a community of faith. He called us to love, mercy, kindness, service, and generosity. He begged us to practice what he called “God’s style of closeness, compassion, and tenderness.” He once said: “Love is the first fact whereby God reveals himself and turns toward us. So let us open our hearts and trust in God’s love for us. His love always precedes us, accompanies us, and remains with us.”

In the Gospel of John (8:1-11), Jesus also confounds people whose religious beliefs are based only on a strict attachment to rules and regulations. When introduced to a woman who is caught cheating on her spouse, Jesus pauses to think. He kneels. He appears to be working through his thoughts by scribbling in the sand with his finger. He then stands and says: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.”

Jesus does not judge or condemn. He meets the frightened woman as she is. He greets her as a beloved sinner — like you, like me, like all the hypocrites who want to punish others by casting stones. Jesus also offers the woman a second chance. He says: “Go, and from now on, do not sin again.” Don’t we all long for second chances? In our own lives? In the lives of our children? In the lives of those we love?

Pope Francis says: “The world needs forgiveness. Too many people are caught up in resentment and harbor hatred because they are incapable of forgiving. They ruin their own lives and the lives of others rather than find the joy of peace and serenity.” Especially now, during these troubled times, we can share the joy, peace, and serenity that comes with believing in the miraculous power of God’s mercy and understanding. Because of God’s boundless love for every single person, we can choose love over hatred, compassion over condemnation, and reconciliation over pitiless punishment.

God calls us to open our hearts to him and to our brothers and sisters in need. God offers us a hand in friendship, not a hand ready to cast the first stone. God commands us to put down the stones of anger, hatred, and judgment that cloud minds and poison actions. God begs us to choose the way of mercy and to embrace love as the first fact. May these choices be the cornerstone of a new foundation for all of our lives.

Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us! Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us! Our Lady of the Angles, pray for us! Pope Francis, pray for us!

Art by TPYXA Illustration – Shutterstock – 1172706070

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THE ASSISI PROJECT
A FELLOWSHIP OF FRANCISCANS IN SPIRIT
INTERCESSORY PRAYER MINISTRY

Members of the Assisi Project, ranging in age from 18 to 102, pray each and every day for all who ask for our prayers. If you would like our fellowship to pray for you or your special intention, please contact Brother Patrick at brpatrick@assisiproject.com. In communion with Pope Leo XIV and in solidarity with people of faith and goodwill everywhere, we also pray for peace, truth, and justice. In addition, we pray for all migrants and refugees; for the courage to speak truth to power; and for the poor, the persecuted, and the unjustly imprisoned. Please join us in prayer by clicking the link below! Thank you for your prayers! May God bless you! May the Risen Lord give you peace!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brother Patrick Garvey is co-founder and spiritual director of the Assisi Project. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Saint John Seminary, and the Catholic University of America. He is a writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and university lecturer. He also serves as an Associate Minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport in Massachusetts. On October 3, 2023, the Feast of the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brother Patrick was consecrated as a diocesan hermit by Bishop Mark O’Connell, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston. For more information about the Assisi Project and our ministries with adults of all ages and backgrounds, please contact Brother Patrick at brpatrick@assisiproject.com.

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ABOUT US

Founded in 2007, the Assisi Project is a Fellowship of Franciscans in Spirit with friends and followers throughout the world. We are dedicated to helping Christian believers of all ages more faithfully live the Gospel of Christ in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. We are also dedicated to promoting a devotion to Pope Francis (1936-2025) as a patron of peace, mercy, and fraternity in our sick and suffering world.

The Assisi Project is a non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization. Please support our ministry via Pay Pal (see link below) or mail a tax-deductible donation to the Assisi Project, Post Office Box 3158, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01931-3158. The Assisi Project Podcast is produced by the Assisi Project, Inc. Copyright 2025. All rights reserved. May the Lord give you peace!

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In Memory of Father Benjamin Okwy Madu