Pope Francis often speaks of what he calls a "culture of
encounter." During his visit to the United States, he hugged
children and the elderly and warmly shook hands with everyone
he met. The Holy Father was showing us what this culture of
encounter looks like.
Amazingly, we Little Sisters of the Poor received a very
unforgettable lesson in encounter when the pope unexpectedly
visited our home in Washington Sept. 23. At nearly the end of
a long, eventful day, Pope Francis walked through the back
door of our chapel. There he was, this international
superstar, and we had him all to ourselves for the next 15
minutes.
Before we knew it, he started greeting each of the 40 sisters
with a smile and a firm handshake. Some of the sisters kissed
his ring (a traditional sign of respect and faith in the pope
as the successor of Peter), while others assured him of their
prayers or spoke of their aspirations. Each one felt that she
had been the object of our Holy Father's undivided attention.
When it was my turn, I thanked Pope Francis for speaking
about the elderly and promoting their dignity and valuable
role in society. He listened attentively and then looked
straight at me, replying that yes, it is very important to
speak about older persons. It was an unforgettable, inspiring
affirmation of our mission.
For me, however, the most touching moment of the Holy
Father's visit happened a few minutes later. The pope came to
one of our elderly Little Sisters who suffers from dementia.
Sister is no longer able to speak, and, as I knelt a few feet
away, ready to snap a photo, I didn't think that she even
made eye contact with him. But that didn't matter. Our Holy
Father leaned over her, took her hand in his and listened as
our superior told him Sister's name and a few details about
her life. His gaze went from her hands to her face and back
again, and then he traced the sign of the cross on her
forehead before moving on.
What struck me so deeply was that even though Sister was not
able to communicate with him in any discernable way, Pope
Francis gave her just as much attention as he gave the rest
of us.
That moment helped me to understand the culture of encounter
as an acknowledgment of human dignity. God is mysteriously
present in each and every person, and each of us manifests
God's love in a way no one else can. To encounter another
person as our Holy Father does is to realize their inherent
dignity and their unrepeatable uniqueness in God's eyes; it
is to believe that they have something unique to offer.
Several weeks have passed, and I still find myself pondering
Pope Francis' interaction with our elderly Little Sister.
Just as his words to me affirmed the importance of our
mission to the elderly, his attention to her underlined God's
unique and faithful love for each of us, regardless of our
status in life.
Pope Francis taught me that to encounter another person means
to let God use me to communicate His love to him or her, to
say, "You are important to me, I am counting on you." Jesus
says this to each one of us, no matter our vocation, and He
wants to use us to communicate it to others. This is the
culture of encounter.
Sister Constance Veit is communications director for the
Little Sisters of the Poor.