Francis New icon. “The Church is for everyone, everyone, everyone. (Todos, Todos, Todos ) Like his namesake, Pope Francis was telling us that if you are looking for Jesus, don’t go looking in the tomb, don’t go looking in heaven, look around you. If you’re looking for Jesus go walk around your neighborhood and you’ll probably find him, but especially in the least of these, and those on the margins. While painting this icon I kept reflecting on the story of St. Francis of Assisi coming upon a leper on the road, the most despised person of his time, and he had a conversion of sight and hugged and kissed the leper. Pope Francis was asking us to have a conversion of sight. Looking to the margins, to the refugee, the migrant, the foreigners, and the strangers among us. This is where Christ is to be found and where the Church should be. Yet, also like St. Francis we are called to seek to understand and not be understood. Listening, for instance, to LGBTQ Brothers and Sisters, and Native Peoples, and others who are a gift to the Church but for far too long the Church has neglected and even rejected. Truly, how can these encounters with “the other” change us as the Church? Francis will be missed but it’s my hope this spirit of what he was calling the Church to be continues on… Giclee Signed Prints, Digital Downloads and Original Icon available is our store: kellylatimoreicons.com