As we watched the coverage on EWTN, even on my perch thousands of miles away from Rome the transcendent beauty of the Church brought tears to my eyes and a prayer of thanksgiving for this preserved Faith. The world can only watch in awe (and maybe some in disdain) as the Church, in it's glorious processions and majestic chants gives witness to Him who is Truth and Beauty.
My children, in particular, were so taken by what was unfolding in front of them. The oldest kept saying how he's thankful that he's old enough to remember all of these. The rest were on the look out for their adopted cardinals with a keen interest on the rituals of conclave. As I thought about this yet unknown pope I am reminded of my own faith especially as a child. I have very vague memories of Pope John Paul II's election. We lived in the (Third World) boonies with no television or up-to-the minute access to anything outside my country, let alone my village! It might have been my sister who went to a Catholic high school who brought home the news to us. When Pope Benedict XVI was elected, I was an adult with children and knew of him and his work as Cardinal Ratzinger.
This generation is much more advanced, more technology-savvy, more information hungry and as such, certainly more impatient. I expected my children to ask many questions, to want to know "more" or "complain" about the extra omnes. To my surprise they were very attentive and respected the way the Church does it's thing. I was prepared for it to be another catechetical moment but it was obviously not necessary. Beauty has a way of communicating Truth in silence.
I'm not reading the mainstream media coverage. There will always be a divide on the presentation of truth between the secular and the religious so there's no point for me to even reconcile those two. Curiously, the secrecy of the conclave throws the TMI generation for a loop and yet even they are not demanding transparency.
When I think of the faith of my youth as a cradle Catholic, it doesn't even compare to my children's faith. Theirs is not just out of the cradle but one that is being nurtured into maturity. It is this thought that makes me cry in prayer - that the Lord has given me a vocation/task that I have found myself oftentimes unworthy or unqualified to do. And yet when I observe the faith of my children I see how grace truly does perfect nature. My feelings of unworthiness do not matter because in reality, it's not about me, it's about God's grace working in broken vessels.
When we pray for the future pope, I think about how this is really going to be the pope of my children. We pray that this new Holy Father is one who is truly holy, who loves the Church as the Body of Christ, who loves the Liturgy, who loves the Blessed Mother and of course, one who loves the young people.
One thing remains for tomorrow....a prayer that no Pope gets voted until I get home from all my doctors appointments! ;-)
Foederis arka, Ora pro nobis!
Ark of the Covenant, pray for us!
*all photos from: http://www.news.va/en
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| it begins... |
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| oath of fidelity and secrecy |
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| extra omnes - no leaks, no tweets, no facebook status updates |
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