I think it would be wise to consider that Pope Francis’s historic speech to the U.S. congress was primarily an offering to our nation’s political leaders on what is key for making progress and attaining excellence: contemplation. He who seriously brings the debates and challenges of the day to prayer can be a humble leader of men.

I thought that was a point very much underscored by the pope’s mentions of Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. Vastly underappreciated about Day is how this New Yorker brought everything to Jesus Christ in prayer. She questioned herself before God and had a deep respect for apostolic succession in the Church. She was a most humble servant, even when she raised her voice.

I’m sure most readers here are not fond of Day’s politics, but there was much more to her. She was someone who gave of herself with radical generosity. As Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles put it earlier this year: “I don’t know if she was a saint, but she sure makes me want to be one.”

She also has a biography that speaks to God’s mercy. After having an abortion in her youth, she eventually sought the sacrament of Confession, and even still would bear the tender wounds of the decision in her final years. She spoke to how deeply we as a people have had our hearts and bodies and minds and families and relationships and politics and culture ravaged by this evil.

We saw his teaching on contemplation too as the Holy Father talked to the homeless in Washington, D.C., later Thursday morning. He focused on St. Joseph, another contemplative protector.

So much of this papal visit is about showing us fatherhood through the person of the pope. At each stop, he reminds people he came here for the World Meeting of Families.

I know there is a lot of talk about what he did or didn’t say in his address to Congress. But consider that he is leading with an invitation to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” Come and see and follow. You will want what Jesus offers as you see what He does in your life.

To everyone Pope Francis offers a full vision of creation and its beauty and our responsibilities to be good stewards of these gifts. This vision extends “womb to tomb” as one priest outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC put it tonight waiting to pray with the pope.

He invites people in so then they can consider all of what the Church teaches. And he’s leading the way for all Catholics to do the same. There is much more to say, of course. But it will soon be time to pray with Pope Francis here again, this time at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

Follow @KathrynLopez on Twitter for additional thoughts on Pope Francis.

And more about Dorothy Day here and here.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.

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