Presenting Pope Francis: How he teaches us through the ways he leads

Meet Fr. John Kingsbury, CSsR

Father John Kingsbury, CSsR, D.Min., is the Coordinator for the Conference of Redemptorists of North America. He has been assigned to parish and retreat ministry in both the United States and Caribbean and given Parish Missions across Canada for both the Roman and Ukrainian Church.

Father Kingsbury first professed vows as a Redemptorist in 1975 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1980.

His assignments have included

St. Mary's Parish, Annapolis, MD;

St. Clement Church in Saratoga Springs, NY; St. Peter & Paul in

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands;

Mount St. Alphonsus Retreat Center in Esopus, NY; and Notre Dame Retreat House in Canandaigua, NY. He has also served as rector of the formation residence for Redemptorist students, and served on the Redemptorist Extraordinary Provincial Council for 18 years.

A frequent visitor to Canada’s three Redemptorist communities: (Edmonton-Toronto, Yorkton (Ukrainian Rite) and Saint. Anne de Beaupre (francophone), Fr. John has previously contributed his homilies on Mary, Mother of God, to Devotions TV and Redemptorist TV.

In 2012, Fr. John wrote for Devotions TV:

“What a difficult situation for Mary: I am so very impressed with her flexibility! God is moving in ways that are unusual within her culture and she has to deal not only with her wondering about what God is about, but also the negative reaction of her family!

The word I have heard being used for this situation is being

“counter-cultural.” Mary had to understand that God was moving in a way that was different than the way society was going, God was being “counter-cultural” and Mary decided to follow the ways of God even though many members of her family did not understand.

“Mary reminds me that following the Lord will mean that sometimes I will hold onto values that will not understood or valued by the society I live in. There are areas of the Gospel that are not reflected in our current culture. In these cases when I follow the ways of the Lord I will find myself called to be counter-cultural. And at these times I will find myself having to deal with the same issue that Mary faced, that people will say about me and the Church, that we are all “out of our minds” to hold such values.”

► To view Fr. John's talks on Mary,

click here.

Model One's Values
When we look at the leadership style of Pope Francis, we see someone who models what he believes. This is what makes him so interesting to watch and listen to. What he believes and how he acts, match, and they reinforce each other.

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Taking Risks

When a person is named Pope they find themselves suddenly in the public eye and people are listening ot everything that you say and watching everything you do and drawing conclusions from that. But we can clearly see from Pope Francis's actions that he is a person who is willing to take risks. To move in directions that in the public eye are way out of the ordinary.

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Seeking Counsel

Pope Francis eagerly seeks out of the advice of others. What we learn from Pope Francis is the important of not making vital life decisions in isolation. Meaning only drawing from our own life experience to decide the best direction that our life will unfold and using only own own reflections to discover the Will of God for us.

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The Use of the Internet

Pope Francis is making good use of the Internet to connect with people all over the world. The Vatican already had a website to share Church Documents but Pope Francis is also making use of the internet to communicate his inner thoughts and to encourage people through the use of regular reflections.

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A Healthy Schedule

When we think of all the worldwide responsibilities that lay on the shoulders of Pope Francis we have to wonder how he designs his daily schedule. There is an endless list of people who want to speak with him, there are numerus meetings that he needs to be part of and there is also a need to provide time for his own personal prayer life.

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Mary Finding Jesus in the Temple
In the Gospel of Luke we are told that each year the Holy Family would travel by caravan to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. One year, the year when Jesus was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph, began to travel home, but did not realize that they were making their journey without Jesus, because He has stayed behind in the Temple speaking with the Elders.

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Mary Dealing with Her Relatives

What a difficult situation Mary has been placed in and I am so very impressed with her flexibility. God is moving in ways that are unusual within her culture and she has to deal not only with her wondering about what God is about, but also the negative reaction of her family! The word I have heard being used for this situation is being “counter-cultural.” Mary had to understand that God was moving a way that was different than the way society was going, God was being “counter-cultural” and Mary decided to follow the ways of God even though many members of her family did not understand.

► Watch the video

Mary as a Member of the Family of God

In the Gospel of Mathew we read about a time when Jesus was teaching and someone said to Him “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak to you.” And Jesus said in reply, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? And stretching out His hand toward His disciples He said 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.'”

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Mary at the Cross

I have found it powerful to look at various events in the life of Jesus through the eyes of Mary, especially through her eyes as a First Century Jewish Person. When I do so the Scriptures unfold in a fascinating way and I discover imagery that would have been lost to me if I just just look through my own understanding of the meanings of certain words.

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Mary at the Tomb

The second custom of the First Century was to visit the tomb for three days after a person was placed there. I have never found a clear reason as to why this practice had developed but it was a First Century Jewish practice to visit the tomb for each of the three days following burial. After three days these daily journeys would end.

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