Father Alan Soto Hopkins met Pope Francis five months ago

Father Alan Soto Hopkins, the Parochial Vicar at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis last year in Rome. In his own words, Father Alan offered the following reflection of meeting the Holy Father. 

"When I had the blessing of meeting Pope Francis, he told me to not lose my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The love that our Holy Father showed for Our Blessed Mother was evident. For example, in his Apostolic Trips he always prayed before the icon of Our Blessed Mother under the title of Salus Populi Romani, which is found in the Basilica of St. Mary Major where he will be buried. I think this is a reminder for all of us Catholics to have a strong love and trust in Our Blessed Mother.

In the greeting that Pope Francis sent to our Diocese, he said “No pierdan la alegría!”  (Do not lose your joy!) This phrase has a special meaning for us especially as we find ourselves in the Easter Season, and so we rejoice with the paschal joy. The Gospel that is read for the Thursday of the Octave of Easter recounts how the disciples were “ incredulous for joy” when they encountered the risen Lord. Hopefully we can all experience this feeling during this Easter season, a joy that is beyond belief at seeing how the risen Lord is acting in our lives.

Finally, I want to comment on the Holy Father’s closeness to the faithful. Pope Francis’ pontificate I think can be summarized in one word, mercy. Throughout all of his pontificate we saw the Holy Father’s desire to show the world that Jesus Christ is the face of God’s mercy, and that the Church is the face of Jesus Christ. Thus, his closeness and availability to the faithful was his way of putting that into practice. As a Church I think we are all called to reflect the mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, by reminding people that they are loved by God, called to repentance, and invited to a relationship with Him regardless of our failures or weaknesses,  and regardless of what situation we find ourselves in."

Father Alan asked Pope Francis to record a short video for the Diocese of Tucson, which you can view below: