Now the Pope’s visit to the United States is 10 days old, I wanted to share the top lessons I saw. I had a special opportunity to be at many of his events when he was here and to watch some others on TV or YouTube Live Stream. The Pope had a lot of different messages. Here are 14 lessons that stand out.

#1. Each individual is a person worthy of respect.

This has been a constant theme of Pope Francis. In his visit to the US this was seen in several different examples. In his speech to Congress he talked about individuals not arguments and at the UN, he said persons not statistics. In action this was seen with the poor, disabled and prisoners, all of whom he treated as individuals. When addressing the UN workers, he pointed out the lowliest jobs not just the bigwigs.

Francis is repeating “dialogue” to Congress. He wants us to see each other as people not arguments. #PopeInDC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

“The Pope must be happy having lunch with the Homeless.It seems to me that these are ones he rather be with.” @dianalbagford #PopeInDC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

Each individual is a PERSON, not just a statistic. –@Pontifex at #UNGA (#PopeinNYC) — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

“Everyone, big and small, has the right to dream.” –@Pontifex to school children #PopeinNYC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

Pope Francis greets a young girl in a wheelchair inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. #PopeinNYC https://t.co/1MFsO3PXQ5 #PopeinNYC — Adriane Farray (@AFarray) September 25, 2015

Pope Francis mentions cooks, janitors and security guards at the UN, not just translators and diplomats. #PopeinNYC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

When Pope Francis greets each prisoner individually, he shows us how each person has intrinsic value. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

#2. He wants us to go forth and reach out to others. At the canonization mass of St. Juniper Serra, Pope Francis talks about how he kept going forward and encouraged us to go forth. This theme of reaching out to others seem to be repeated throughout his visit. In this mass, the choice of various languages demonstrated this reaching out in action not just word.

The extra languages @Pontifex used – Chochenyo, Korean, ASL, Vietnamese, Taglog, Igbo & Creole – show his desire to reach out. #PopeInDC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 23, 2015

We go forth in joy not obligation:

If we experience Jesus, we won’t be able to hold our joy in, we’ll feel obliged to spread Gospel joy. #PopeinNYC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

#3. The Bible Interprets the World. As Christians we don’t interpret the world and interpret the Bible using 2 separate standards but we interpret the world through the Bible. When Francis addressed Congress, he set all his remarks within a biblical framework.

What a good idea of @Pontifex to frame his remarks to Congress in a Biblical narrative, namely Moses. #PopeInDC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

#4. Love is a Miracle!

We can easily focus on extraordinary miracles and forget that the love of a family is the greatest miracle of all. In Philadelphia, Pope Francis wanted to remind us of this.

Love is a miracle! says Francis. How often we reduce it to a feeling or a sexual desire. #PopeInPhilly #GoodIsWinning @popeishope @AleteiaEN — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

Only love with truth can overcome difficulties because love is based on truth while hatred is based on falsehood. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015



#5. Life Is an Inalienable Right.

Even though Pope Francis did not spend a lot of time expressly talk about abortion and euthanasia, he point out the positive that each person has a dignity that we have the duty to respect.

We have a duty to protect human life from conception to natural death. –@Pontifex to #Congress — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

Here’s what Pope Francis said about protecting all life to Congress. #PopeInDC pic.twitter.com/FKGijnKtSz — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

The most fundamental right is the right to life. –@Pontifex to #UNGA (#PopeinNYC) — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

#6. We need to stay on the positive and not get bogged down with the negative. It’s amazing how Pope Francis manages to always stay positive when talking about the possibilities for evangelization or moral issues. I know it myself that I have a strong tendency to get bogged down in the negative. Here’s 2 example from his speech to Congress:

Pope Francis takes an important tact to Congress: “family life is beautiful” instead of issuing a condemnation. — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

Religion strengthens society. Faith is a voice of fraternity & love that brings out the best in each person. -Pope Francis to #Congress — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

#7. We all have the strength to overcome our difficulties. Sometimes you can think that our sufferings will overwhelm us but we can always conquer because Christ is our strength. Only a week before the Pope came, this is 11-year old young man just to beat leukemia by 3.5 years of chemotherapy, and he traveled up from Texas to get a glance of him after he addressed Congress. This isn’t the Pope’s message but it’s an inspiration for us like the Pope.

This 11-year-old cancer survivor came from Texas for the honor of seeing Pope Francis. #GoodIsWinning @popeishope pic.twitter.com/o38ru5oTKT — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

And the Holy Father pointed out that our strength comes from prayer:

This is a lesson from Pope Francis we all want to take away. pic.twitter.com/UbnMaJdBUc — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 26, 2015

#8. Religion has a priority in society. So often today people think that religion is a mere accidental add-on to the rest of life but Pope Francis clearly brought out that religion is a central part of culture not an add-on. He pointed out that faith is the source of so many values even secular people cherish:

He pointed out private practice is insufficient:

Religious freedom is not just private practice b/c the religious dimension is an essential part of any culture. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 26, 2015

And others recognized how he was redefining it:

Here’s a line I quoted from an op-ed where the author understood the Pope’s mission.

“The pundits would like to make [Pope Francis] out to be a politician, but his charge is much greater than that.” great words by @JebBush — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

#9. Build a culture of solidarity. Francis continual goes out to encounter people but his encounter is not a mere meeting but something establishes solidarity between him and the one he meets. When speaking to Catholic Charities, he encouraged all of us do similarly:

“Jesus wanted to show solidarity with every person. He wanted everyone to experience his companionship, his help, his love.” @Pontifex today — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2015

#10. Our true joy comes from Christ.

Pope Francis has mentioned on a few occasions that our true joy comes from Christ. This photo, from his vespers in New York, expresses that reality well. Many people seemed to recognize this reality because this was my most popular tweet from his whole visit (despite the fact I made an error: “The Joy of the Gospel” is technically an apostolic exhortation not an encyclical).

This picture of @Pontifex makes me think of the title of his encyclical: The JOY of the Gospel. #PopeinNYC pic.twitter.com/2JmEZuq5Vx — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

And he explained this later in New York:

“Jesus is joy, and he wants to help us to feel that joy every day of our lives.” –@Pontifex to school children #PopeinNYC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

#11. Family life has special value.

Pope Francis said that the main purpose of his visit to the United States was to strengthen family life. The whole World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia was about that. Francis is very down to earth when speaking about marriage and the family but isn’t afraid to point out when government goes against the family.

A family is made by mutual love based on truth, not by mere sexual relationships. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

Marriage requires bravery, especially in modern society. We must help people understand the joy of commitment & fruitfulness. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

God gives family it’s identity, not a government (even a supreme court). #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

#12. The Church has continuity. Many people I spoke to liked what was new with Pope Francis but in this visit he did tended to emphasize continuity over newness. We can see this in references he made to previous speech at the UN, in his use of “the new Moses” which was made famous by Pope Benedict, and in the choice of using Latin and singing the Mass traditionally.

Many say Francis is radically different but a lot of his speech is connecting to the past to show continuity. #PopeinNYC — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

In Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict XVI pointed out the relationship between Moses & Jesus. Francis repeats this connection. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

Francis chose Latin for the Eucharistic Prayer. Why? I think he wants to show the Eucharist is universal through time & space. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 26, 2015

#13. We are all important in the Church.

So often lay people can consider themselves second-class Catholics but this is not the case. The whole idea behind the World Meeting of Families is that families are valuable. Pope Francis pointed this out directly a few times.

We can’t rely on priests & nuns to do everything; lay people need to build up the Church. #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 26, 2015

We think we aren’t important but the Church needs every member. #PopeinNYC #GoodIsWinning pic.twitter.com/s33BjE4l3M — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 25, 2015

Pope Francis thanks all who came to Mass. Each of us is valuable to the Church. #PopeInPhilly #GoodIsWinning @popeishope @AleteiaEN — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 27, 2015

#14. Humility. One thing we always see with Pope Francis is that he does not consider himself the greatest but sees the value of each person. Before the World Meeting of Families he sent out a short 30-second video in which he said that he would be there because all of us would be there, not vice versa. And here’s another sign of his humility:

Humility! “I pray for each of you & I ask you to please pray for me.” #PopeInPhilly — Fr Matthew Schneider (@FrMatthewLC) September 26, 2015

Notes: I based this list on the parts of his trip that I experienced; anybody’s list is going to be based on their experience. Many of my tweets were produced live with the event and at times captured a summary of what Francis said and not a direct quote (and even if I direct quote, I have good enough Spanish to do a personal translation though that may not match the official translation).