(SAN MARCOS, Calif.) — As the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, a North Country priest is remembering his time serving alongside the beloved pontiff.
Reverend Brad Easterbrooks, the associate pastor at St. Mark's Roman Catholic Church in San Marcos, lived in Rome for five years and attended seminary in 2018 before being ordained as a priest in 2022. During his time in Rome, Easterbrooks had the opportunity to serve with Pope Francis dozens of times at Masses and prayer services.
"The sense of warmth like a grandfather. Pope Francis had a spirit of family with all who met with him," Easterbrooks said.
According to Easterbrooks, the anxiety of meeting a person of the Pope's stature, never lasted long.
"The pope was always exuding this sense of joy. He had a sense of humor about him, always had something to point to or joke about. He also always wanted to put us at ease," Easterbrooks recalled.
On one occasion, Easterbrooks was given the surprise assignment of walking around and holding the Pope's microphone during a service.
"Every time he needed to speak, I would hold his microphone up to his mouth, thinking to myself, 'better not slip,'" Easterbrooks said.
He didn’t slip. Easterbrooks remembers a handful of conversations with the pontiff. The most memorable interaction coming in January 2020, when he asked the Pope to bless a wooden figure of the Holy Family he had obtained in Bethlehem.
"I said it was for my mother, [the Pope] stopped in his tracks. [He] spent some time praying over it. Then he gave me his marching orders. He said, 'make sure she prays for me. I need the prayers of the mother of the world.’ The tenderness he spoke to me about my mother, I got a sense we were both momma's boys," Easterbrooks recalled.
Two Easters ago, Easterbrooks, by then an ordained priest, celebrated Mass with the Pope. Two years later, the Pope would pass away on Easter Monday.
"For the pope to die at Easter time gives me a lot of assurance from God that God has been present and in our midst in this time of loss," Easterbrooks said.
When asked how Pope Francis impacted life, Easterbrooks answered, ”I wouldn't be able to imagine my ministry as a priest [without him]. He gave me an image of what priest is supposed to be. He loved his people. He was with his people. He showed mercy first.”
