Eighty years old, dedicated to God's work, with many years of faithful service. If accomplishments and citations and medals and pomp and glory and the votes of fellow cardinals, were to be considered in heaven's court, this pontiff would be assured of a mansion on high. We get a lot of letters here at Box 53055, and you know, some of them come from people who aren't educated. The handwriting is poor, and the grammar mixed up. Some envelopes have those mysterious box numbers on them, and it takes a moment to figure out that this is coming from a prisoner.
Many people write in and confess major mistakes, blockbuster sins.
And if we didn't have Philippians chapter three, if somehow there was a thought that only people who can type, or people who can stay out of Leavenworth, or people who have been to Harvard or Yale can get to heaven, they'd be doomed and so would a lot of us. Those two words are there in the smudged, pencil-smeared handwriting. Jesus Christ is their hope, and your hope, and the pope's hope, and my hope.