Praying for the New Pope

I have been trying to avoid the internet and computer use over the last few days, but I felt like I should post about praying for the new pope.  It is so much on our minds and in our prayers right now.  I spoke before about how shocked we were by the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

On Tuesday of this week, I was sent two emails of interest related to this topic.  The first was to adopt a cardinal to pray for them to have wisdom in choosing a new pope.  I felt like this was a valid request and so we signed up to adopt a cardinal.  We were quickly sent an email to pray for one of the United States cardinals...Raymond Cardinal Burke.  I was so excited to pray for this cardinal because I already knew a few things about him.  He is very conservative...not afraid to tell how the Church feels about various issues ranging from abortion to female priests.  One of the most impressive is his stand on NOT allowing politicians who are Catholic who vote against the Church teachings.   Regardless of his views, we are glad to have this opportunity to pray for this cardinal.  We feel like we are some how participating in the election of the new pope.

Election...not your typical election....but in choosing the next leader of the Church...the cardinals come together to be guided by the Holy Spirit in this decision.  We...by praying for the cardinal...are a part of the greater Mystical Body of Christ and in our prayer we look in hope to see who will be that leader.

The second email I received was a call from the Vatican to pray for all the cardinals.  The idea was that the cardinals were all arriving in Rome by Wednesday at 10am (our time).  They would be entering into a time of intense prayer before the conclave would begin.  We (all the faithful) were being asked to pray with them at this time.  I assumed this information was going to all the churches and would spread through the media.  Since I had little access to TV or internet, I assumed there would be a lot of people praying around the world.

On Wednesday, I asked my Mom if she would like to go to her church with us to pray at the designated time.  She agreed and we headed out for this prayer time.  We arrived and the parking lot was empty.  We decided to go in to the side door of the church to go to the small chapel.  She was ahead of me with the older boys and they walked right in, but when I got to the door it was locked!  She let me in and we realized that the gates that lead into the main church were open and the chapel was closed.  So we were able to pray directly in front of the altar.

We stayed and prayed a Rosary for the cardinals to make wise choices.  I am convinced that it was meant for us to pray in the church building.  The doors should have been locked and the gates closed.  We some how (God's grace) were able to get into the church.  We left feeling so close to God and at peace with what will happen in the Vatican.  Our church will be strong until the end with God's will all things are possible.  We are only to remain faithful!