As a Catholic days like today become part of an enduring memory. As a Catholic Deacon days like today energize me in my Office and in the ministries entrusted to me. It is a day of great joy! It is a day of great hope! It is a day where we give praise to God, we recommit ourselves to our Messiah and Savior and we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit!
I was born in 1957. The Pope was Pius XII but he died when I was but 1 year old. He was followed by John XXIII and the historic calling of the Second Vatican Council. I must confess I do not remember the happy and jolly Pope because he was gone by 1963. I was 6 years old. His successor was Paul VI and while I do not remember his election, I sure do remember him. As a young altar boy and very active in the Church, he was the Pope I remember being mentioned at all the Masses for years. I was 6 when he became Pope but 21 when he passed away. I clearly remember that he made a trip to America, I believe he came to the United Nations. He made a historic trip to the Holy Land. He is considered the Pope that truly changed the Mass to the Novus Ordo and the greater use of the vernacular. For this, he is considered a reformer by many; for a noisy few, he is condemned. He wrote the most prophetic document in clearly a hundred years, Humane Vitae where he correctly predicted all the social ills of artificial birth control and the culture of death. After his funeral, the conclave for the eventual election of Pope John Paul I became the first such event I remember. The new Pope struck me as jovial but frail. I remember he seemed to struggle speaking loudly that day. Well, 30 days later, Pope John Paul was dead. What could have happened? Conspiracy theories abound but it appears he died a weak, sick man. The October 1978 conclave was one I got to watch with great interest because I was home all day that particular afternoon and watching my young son. I had the TV on NBC back then, one of the best networks at that time for covering the Church. Like everyone else, I had no idea who was just announced, but I remember the great shock at the Pope being non-Italian and the great joy of John Paul II's natural personality that electrified the gathered crowd. We know that Pope JPII remained in office until 2005. I would now see my third conclave and experience my 6th Pope of my lifetime. I was at work but as luck would have it, my boss had a TV in his office and he was gone for the day. His secretary and I sat glued to the TV as we heard that Pope Benedict XVI would succeed the great JPII. Now today, having to trust a live stream on a computer, I watched the announcement of Pope Francis I. Today was indeed a day of great joy! My 8th Pope and my 4th "Habemus Papem" that I can remember; and I trust I never forget!
As a Catholic I do not find it necessary to opine on whether or not this is a good choice, or why didn't so and so get the papacy, or will he be conservative or liberal, or why did they select an older man. No, none of these things matter. What matters is the Church has it's 265th successor to St. Peter. We have a Pope to go along with our great hope!
As a Catholic Deacon I find myself compelled to use the occassion of the election of Pope Francis to recommit myself publicly to the office to which I was ordained, to the ministry I perform and to the specific ministries assigned to me. I recommit myself to the one, holy catholic and apostolic Chuch, to my obedience to my Bishop, and I recommit myself to be obedient and loyal to Pope Francis.
This is a day of great joy! Habemus Papem!! It's so good to be Catholic!!
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