REFLECTIONS ON THE VISIT OF POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis addresses joint meeting of U. S. Congress

    I can’t imagine that there were many if any preachers, Protestant or Catholic, who did not talk about Pope Francis in their sermons yesterday. I’m sure the same would be true of the rabbis, imams, and leaders of other faiths on their respective days of worship.
    I certainly did! One could have spent one’s entire time in the pulpit discussing any one of the Pope’s major addresses or sermons, or reflecting on the impact of his presence and personality on his hearers in the various venues where he appeared, and on the tens of millions who viewed any of his itinerary on television. You did not have to agree with everything the Pope said in order to be inspired by him.
    One very evident gift of this revered leader of the Roman Catholic Church is his amazing sense of the occasion, a rare quality even among those accustomed to public speaking. The Pope did not have just one message for all, like most of our political candidates. His words were audience specific and always right on target, whether to the thousands at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, or the inmates at Curran-Fromhold Prison, or the families of the victims of 9/11 at the World Trade Center Memorial. There were some common themes, of course, like justice, service, the role of the church, and the importance of dialogue, but each message was a prophetic challenge for that particular occasion.

A BIG WIN FOR HILLARY

Hillary Clinton

Hillary hit it out of the park today!

Her speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention was substantive, specific,  comprehensive, inclusive, passionate, personally engaging, inspirational, and powerful! It was hard-hitting, yet seasoned with humor, realistic in defining the challenges yet optimistic and up-beat in tone.

Above all, she was impressively presidential in her bearing and delivery, as well as in her content. There were many quotable lines, and the audience was responsive and enthusiastic. She made it very clear what kind of president she would be, what her vision is for America, and where her priorities
lie.

Meanwhile, Bernie was Bernie. His message was predictable, as he stuck to the same themes that have worked for him thus far. I responded more positively to his early speeches, but his consistently angry tone and and lack of variety in his delivery and his message have become somewhat tiring to me. I found Hillary's style refreshingly varied and exciting.

The event provided an excellent opportunity for the voters to compare and to contrast the two leading Democratic candidates. In my view Hilliary came out on top. Surprisingly, there were more Clinton than Sanders supporters present, and I would have to say that Hillary's were more vigorous and interrupted far more frequently and loudly with sustained applause than Bernie's, though the latter were valiantly supportive of their champion.
 
Let's see how the commentators evaluate the various presentations, and whether the event has any impact on the polling.


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