Pope Francis- head of the Catholic Church. Over one billion people worldwide look up to him. He has a lot of power, everyone wants to meet him. He travels thousands of miles to the United States and blows off well-known and important politicians to have dinner with over 300 homeless people.

This is the kind of Pope that is leading the Catholic Church right now. Instead of being driven around in limos and being surrounded by state of the art protective cars with bullet-proof windows, he rides around in an open "Pope Mobile." He gets down from his vehicles and goes up to the crowds-fearlessly. He pays no attention to "schedules" and will do what he believes the Lord wants for him.

The past few days my timeline on Facebook has been flooded with the amazing things the Pope is doing in our country. His latest encounter was with a ten year old boy with cerebral palsy. Pope Francis was on his way to the airport when he say a young wheelchair bound boy. He proceeded to tell the driver to stop, didn't give him much of an option as he was already opening the door as soon as he caught glimpse of the boy, and walked up the family. His few moments of comfort, healing, and prayer moved that family to tears and changed their lives forever. Among many other things, Pope Francis has also visited the 9/11 memorial, celebrated the holy Mass with thousands, visited a school in Harlem, New York and addressed Congress.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard about the news of the Pope's visit. I'm not going to recount his every moment, because if you're really into the news like me, you've heard it all. What I want to share is what the Pope's visit truly means to me and to Catholics nationwide.

Before Pope Francis, I didn't know much about the Pope and his influence on not only Catholics, but the world. I have been Catholic all my life, but I always saw the Pope as just the leader of the Church. I knew how amazing St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were because they were the other two Popes during my lifetime, but I got to witness Pope Francis be elected as a teenager. That was an amazing experience. I remember sitting in my living room waiting for the white smoke. I didn't know then that Pope Francis would impact the world so tremendously.

Something that I am a big believer in is changing hearts, not minds. I believe that Pope Francis is the perfect example of this. He wants to restore the Catholic Church and bring people home to Catholicism. However, he does not force this upon the people of the world. He touches hearts and lives by simply living out Christ's life. The Pope should be a reflection of Christ himself in every single way. When I think of Pope Francis and the good he is doing in the world and in the Church, I think of the hard work Christ put into His evangelization on Earth.

Thank you Pope Francis. Thank you for coming to America and showing my country what it truly means to be a Catholic. You are a loyal, humble servant of the Lord and everybody should strive to have your faith and love of the Lord.