The “Pope Francis Effect” is starting to be felt in our country now. Don’t get me wrong. People are not filling up church pews in new numbers like they seem to be doing in Europe. But folks in the USA seem to be thinking a lot more about the pope and the Catholic Church, and it’s gotten them wondering.

They are wondering about how much of the “Catholic stuff” they have to buy into if they want to be a part of the Church. They are wondering if it is “an all or nothing” deal. They love the warmth and forgiveness in Pope Francis’ voice and in his talks. They just can’t understand why that love and compassion doesn’t translate into changing Catholic beliefs. Particularly in the area of sexuality. Warmth, forgiveness and compassion — to these people who are taking a new look at the Catholic Church — ought to translate into acceptance of behaviors and life styles frowned upon by Catholic Christianity.

These Church samplers actually like the liturgy, the sacraments, the community — it’s just the rules and regs — even coming from God — that pull on their chain. They don’t want to be hypocrites, but they are not really sure they are believers — maybe they are just Church experiencers. In point of fact, most hard core Catholics seem to like the surface stuff of the faith — the “smells and bells” so to speak — much more than the teachings of the Church founded upon Christ our savior.

The old canard was that the Church was only into saying “NO!” on everything human and fun. People, even today, really complain about “outdated beliefs” and a focus on what not to do. “Can’t we just hear some positive things? Our faith should be joyful.”

Along comes Francis who is truly a breath of fresh air, and yet he refuses to change “that good ol’ time religion.”

The Church seems to be the only institution that gets examined first to find out what we can and cannot do. Who joins a health club and reads the regulations first? Who becomes a citizen of the United States by first asking and then studying all the bad things America has done? Who starts a love relationship or begets a child thinking first of all the things that can go wrong in love or in raising a baby? No one.

We join a group, claim citizenship, decide to marry and raise a family because of the joy and meaning those things give us. We know things will go wrong, but the happiness in what we do, our firm conviction that the organization we join or the person we love far outweighs anything bad ought to be a wake up call when it comes to the Church.

We love what Francis is doing because he is recovering the joy of what it means to be a Christian. True Christians always struggle with faith but they say to themselves, “This is too cool of a community not to be a part of. I may not understand all the morality; I may not be able to explain the Trinity, there might even be priests and religious leaders I don’t like, but my experience of Jesus Christ and the Church he gave us gives me the joy and strength I need to figure out stuff along the journey!”

In this uncertain and perilous age, can’t we just take a breath and catch a glimpse of what Pope Francis is trying to do? The faith stuff that we have trouble with tends to clear itself up when we practice the faith. The love we experience from God and one another instructs us through experience as to why marriage is holy and from God (not subject to redefinition by our weak and flawed intelligence.

Our experience of Christ as Savior, Brother friend lets us know in our hearts, if not our minds, that Jesus is God with the human face. The rules and regs of our faith are meant as signposts on the journey, to keep us focussed on salvation. In themselves, they are neither salvation or the sum of our faith.

The challenge Pope Francis throws at us is that experience leads to truth. The truth validates the experience. What is difficult for us to accept about this Pope is that he doesn’t throw away our heritage or our beliefs. Got to have them says he. And he shows us the way. Imitate Christ, practice mercy, experience joy, and the rest of our Catholic faith will become more clear. So don’t worry if you can’t put your arms completely around Mother Church. That will come in time. Meanwhile, smile and laugh with Francis our Shepherd–it’s time we Catholics lift our hearts in joy once more.