{"id":1818,"date":"2015-09-22T01:14:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T01:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1818"},"modified":"2015-09-21T20:28:05","modified_gmt":"2015-09-21T20:28:05","slug":"pope-francis-a-powerful-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis: A Powerful MIssion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>Already, I a amazed at the energy with which Pope Francis is moving through his arduous Visit. I watched much of the coverage from Cuba, and kept wondering, “How does he maintain his natural, loving, joy-filled smile? He has to be beyond tired.”<\/p>\n

I think of myself when I’m tired, when the lupus fatigue brings a heaviness and lethargy to my muscles and pain to my joints. I’m hard-pressed to conduct a coherent conversation, then. But this Pontiff is absolutely beaming under travel conditions (a jammed schedule, multiple time zones, etc.) that would make even a healthy person tired!<\/p>\n

As you and I know, there are some conditions that we who have chronic illness cannot overcome, even with our expert medical teams. \u00a0For me, one of these is fatigue. But Pope Francis’ trip thus far yields some clues as to how we might tackle it, subdue it a bit<\/p>\n

I’ve noticed that Pope Francis has a lot of help. Of course he would; after all, he is Pope. But it’s a good reminder to us that we, too, might be more quick to ask for and avail ourselves of help-.<\/p>\n

Another lesson I’ve observed so far is that, of course, Pope Francis exhibits a supremely solid core of Spirit. This is vital to keeping ourselves even and peaceful, even in the midst of a hectic schedule and arduous activities.<\/p>\n

Finally, Pope Francis is doing what he loves and what he is clearly called to do. This is key and we who are ill can take great wisdom from this example: When we do what we love and what God is asking us to do, there is much less toil and much more inspiration!<\/p>\n

No doubt I’ll learn much more from Pope Francis as his Visit unfolds. But this lesson is powerful – and something to ponder and embrace now and long after the Visit is over.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Already, I a amazed at the energy with which Pope Francis is moving through his arduous Visit. I watched much of the coverage from Cuba, and kept wondering, “How does he maintain his natural, loving, joy-filled smile? He has to be beyond tired.” I think of myself when I’m tired, when the lupus fatigue brings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,360,43,1242,4,1246],"tags":[1911,645,1912],"class_list":["post-1818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-uplifting","tag-papal-visit","tag-pope-francis","tag-the-pope"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Francis: A Powerful MIssion - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Francis: A Powerful MIssion - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Already, I a amazed at the energy with which Pope Francis is moving through his arduous Visit. I watched much of the coverage from Cuba, and kept wondering, “How does he maintain his natural, loving, joy-filled smile? He has to be beyond tired.” I think of myself when I’m tired, when the lupus fatigue brings…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-22T01:14:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-21T20:28:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pope Francis: A Powerful MIssion - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pope Francis: A Powerful MIssion - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Already, I a amazed at the energy with which Pope Francis is moving through his arduous Visit. I watched much of the coverage from Cuba, and kept wondering, “How does he maintain his natural, loving, joy-filled smile? He has to be beyond tired.” I think of myself when I’m tired, when the lupus fatigue brings…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2015-09-22T01:14:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-21T20:28:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html","name":"Pope Francis: A Powerful MIssion - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-22T01:14:07+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-21T20:28:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/pope-francis-a-powerful-mission.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pope Francis: A Powerful MIssion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1819,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818\/revisions\/1819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}